Five at Five: 2026 NFL Draft prospects to keep in mind for Buffalo (16.0)

Two. More. Days.

We’ve almost made it, Bills Mafia. 

The big day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is nearly here, and it’ll be another indication that football is one step closer to returning to our lives in the fall.

Of course, let’s not rush the spring and summer . . . it’s been a long winter!

But, with warmer weather on the way, along with rookie minicamp, OTAs, and the veteran mandatory minicamp in June, we’re just heating up at the FAMbase blog.

Remember to always stay glued right here for your latest Bills news!

With that said, go ahead and take a gander at this pack of prospects! Remember, you get an extra one to make it a six-pack tonight.

Down the hatch!

Nadame Tucker, EDGE, Western Michigan University (6-foot-1, 247 lbs/Age: 25)

Western Michigan University EDGE rusher Nadame Tucker is one of the most interesting prospects in this draft class.

Set to be 26 years old in June, Tucker’s season last year with the Broncos was nothing short of remarkable. 

In fact, you could even deem it a miracle, and you wouldn’t sound hyperbolic.

Nearly the equivalent to what the Buffalo Sabres are doing in the NHL currently (good luck, boys!), Tucker — a native of Teaneck, New Jersey, who had never played football until his senior year of high school — tied impending top-10 pick David Bailey of Texas Tech for the most sacks in the country last season with a total of 14.5. 

Oh, and he just so happened to also record an FBS-leading 21.0 tackles for loss to go along with his career-highs in total tackles (55) and forced fumbles (4).

The fact that he was a former basketball player turned football player makes his story compelling enough, but there’s more to it than that.

Not only was he more accustomed to the court than the gridiron just six years ago, but Tucker’s full story is a true testament to what it means to never give up believing in yourself — no matter how bleak things may be.

Why do I say that?

Well, after committing to football on a full-time basis following his senior year of high school, Tucker spent two years at the JUCO level with two different programs before getting his shot in the FBS, which began in 2022 at the University of Houston, after he recorded 50 tackles and 12 sacks in 11 games with Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 2021. 

But, just when things appeared to be on the upward swing for the New Jersey native in his newfound sporting niche, Tucker seemingly hit a wall during his three seasons with Houston.

From 2022 to 2024, the undersized pass-rusher recorded zero — yes ZERO — sacks while with the Cougars, and he managed to appear in only 10 games en route to collecting a mere 10 total tackles during his three seasons on campus. 

Not exactly the type of build-up that’d you’d expect right before a legendary season like he had in 2025, is it?

It’s true, though. 

The 6-foot-1, 247-pound EDGE defender went from the brink of irrelevancy to now being on the verge of becoming a part of the NFL brotherhood.

First off — what a story. Hats off to you, Nadame.

But, he’s more than just a good story.

Even in spite of his less-than-ideal age, Tucker is a good prospect.

He may never become a full-time starter in the league due to his lack of length and bulk, but the potential to become a pass-rushing specialist is there for Tucker.

According to @MathBomb (Kent Lee Platte) over on X, the former JUCO standout scored a 7.10 out of 10 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) after he clocked a time of 4.73 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the combine in February to go along with a 9’-11” broad jump, a 33.5” vertical jump, and a 10-yard split of 1.63 seconds.

The 2025 First-Team All-MAC selection and MAC Defensive Player of the Year, of course, isn’t perfect in his game . . . not even close.

But, given his athletic background, there’s plenty for future NFL coaches to work with, and some team is undoubtedly going to pull the trigger on selecting the older prospect.

He isn’t Akheem Mesidor, but there’s a chance he could be an “elderly” diamond in the rough.

In order to make it at the next level, though, he’ll need to come up with a more diverse pass-rush plan, as well as learn to not be such a liability against the run.

But, he can conceivably do that by improving his technique with hand placement and attacking with better angles.

This is definitely an interesting player.

I wouldn’t hate the idea of the Bills taking a late-round dart throw at the Western Michigander.

He’s projected to go anywhere from Round 5 to Round 7.

Jeremiah Wright, Offensive Guard, Auburn University (6-foot-5, 331 lbs/Age: 24)

Instead of “another day, another dollar.”

Here at the “Five at Five” series we should just say, “another day, another old prospect.”

But, that’s OK.

Older prospects in this draft class need to be shown some love, too.

Respect your elders, as they say.

At 6-foot-5, 331 pounds, Auburn University guard Jeremiah Wright is another massive mauler in the middle of the offensive line in this year’s class, and he terrorized his opponents while manning the right guard spot during his time with the Tigers . . . well, after he did so from the defensive tackle position, that is.

Yup.

Wright, a two-way player along the lines of the Selma High School football team coming out of Selma, Alabama, in 2020, appeared in six games on the Tigers’ defensive front during his freshman year before tearing his ACL in the team’s spring camp the next offseason, causing him to miss the entire 2021 regular season.

From there — for whatever reason — Auburn decided to switch their former three-star recruit back over to the opposite side of the trenches once his recovery was finished, and he wound up appearing in 12 games and making one start at right guard in the first year of the transition in 2022.

After that, Wright took the opportunity and ran with it as he appeared in 35 games along the offensive line since making the move back to the other side of the ball, and he even started 24 consecutive games at right guard over the past two seasons for the Tigers.

NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein noted on his scouting report how the Alabama native plays with a nasty demeanor — Bills Mafia would love that — and there’s reason to believe that his ceiling is still fairly high given that he just made it back to playing on offense three years ago.

He has huge 10” hands and 33-⅛” arms, so he has the tools you look for when trying to “build them in a lab,” so to speak.

However, in reality — like every prospect — Wright has his “warts.”

He can sometimes play off balance when trying to make good initial contact with his opponent, and he’s not very instinctive in pass protection at this point.

But, regardless of those facts, there’s a lot to like about his upside heading into the league.

At the very least, the road grader should provide a team with quality depth in his career . . . and, you never know, somewhere down the path of his NFL journey he might pave his way to a starting position.

WIth that in mind, Wright is another quality guard prospect in this mid-to-late round market, and he should hear his name called at some point on Day 3.

Cyrus Allen, Wide Receiver, University of Cincinnati (5-foot-11, 180 lbs/Age: 23)

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, University of Cincinnati wide receiver Cyrus Allen just might be one of the purest separators from the position in this year’s draft class. 

But, he’s also one of the smallest.

Weighing a meager 180 pounds and standing at 5-foot-11, the former Bearcat probably won’t be “Mossing” anyone at the catch point at the next level, but that’s OK.

The defenders have to be able to meet him there first.

And, that’s not an easy thing to do.

Allen is smooth in and out of his breaks, has a good feel for adjusting his route-running tempo, and he possesses the necessary speed to take the top off of a defense in the NFL despite potentially being a slot-only player at the next level.

He’s certainly athletic enough to cut it in the NFL, too, and — despite not receiving an invite to the combine in February — he displayed those abilities last month at his pro day on the Cincinnati campus by posting a 36” vertical, an 11’-0” broad jump, a three-cone time of 6.9 seconds, a 20-yard shuttle of 4.17 seconds, and a 40-yard dash time of 4.49 seconds. Allen also put up 14 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.

Simply said, the wideout opened some eyes with the performance, and it undoubtedly led scouts to go back to his film after the session.

If they did, what they should’ve seen was a player that quickly and decisively got open for his quarterback on a consistent basis during his time at Cincinnati, Texas A&M, and Louisiana Tech, which is where he started out as an underclassman in 2022.

During his time split between the three schools, Allen recorded 137 receptions for 2,221 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also added 14 carries on the ground, but the speedster only managed to muster up 20 yards.

In 2025, Allen led the Big 12 conference with an astonishing 13 touchdown receptions on top of adding 674 receiving yards on 51 receptions.

It’s unclear why he isn’t getting further buzz, but he’s on par with many of the other mid-round wide receivers in this class, and it wouldn’t be crazy to see him wind up having one of the longer NFL careers amongst his counterparts.

He’s a crafty wideout who makes things easier on the one who’s throwing him the ball, and having a propensity for finding the end zone definitely isn’t a bad thing, either.

There’s also some punt return potential with Allen as he had 12 punt returns for 247 yards (20.6 YPR avg.) in his first two years with Louisiana Tech before relinquishing those duties over to his teammates while at Texas A&M and Cincinnati.

With all of that taken into consideration, an Allen-to-Allen connection in Western New York would be pretty nice, folks.

It’s unclear if and when the team will actually take a receiver in the draft, but this one would be a quality mid-round addition.

The former Landry-Walker High School graduate is projected to be taken off the board anywhere from the start of Round 4 to the beginning of Round 6.

Ethan Burke, EDGE, University of Texas (6-foot-6, 269 lbs/Age: 22)

A native of Austin, Texas, EDGE defender Ethan Burke was a dual-sport athlete (lacrosse and football) growing up who decommitted from both the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan to stay home with the Texas Longhorns after coming out of Westlake High School in 2022.

And, he put together quite a career for himself while donning the orange and white.

Standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing 269 pounds, Burke was a massive presence along the Longhorns’ defensive front during his four years with the team, and he also made quite a few impact plays on special teams, which included two blocked field goals just last season.

Although he was mostly just a spot starter at Texas, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein noted in his scouting report of the 22-year-old that the massive pass-rusher plays with relentless aggression and his high-effort often led to positive plays for his team.

NFL coaches love high-effort players, and, when they just so happen to come gift-wrapped in a tantalizing package like Burke, that’s just icing on the cake.

Despite being so tall, the hometown kid plays with good leverage and is quite good at shedding blocks to make stops in the running game, but he must improve his technique in order to become a more consistent pass-rushing threat.

Ultimately, like Zierlein also mentioned in his report, Burke may have to bulk up a little more in order to become a 3-4 defensive end at the next level instead of a pure outside linebacker, but guess what? 

That’s still valuable.

This try-hard player is another favorite of mine in this class.

He has a chance to be a quality rotational player at the next level, and Burke’s innate ability to make the game-changing play will serve him well moving forward.

He finished his career with 114 total tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, five pass deflections, three blocked kicks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception, and one defensive touchdown.

Opinions vary on his draft status, but Zierlein says he’s a priority free agent or a seventh-round pick.

I tend to think he could be picked somewhere between Round 5 and Round 7. There is plenty of upside with Burke.

Kevin Coleman Jr., Wide Receiver, University of Missouri (5-foot-10, 179 lbs/Age: 22)

Soon-to-be 23-year-old wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. spent time with four different teams during his collegiate career.

And, although he was never with a team for more than one season, the diminutive do-it-all playmaker made sure that his presence was felt at each one of his stops along the way.

He’ll hope to do the same at the next level . . . except for the whole bouncing from team to team thing, I’d assume.

Originally a member of the Jacksonville State University Fighting Gamecocks after graduating St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2022, Coleman Jr. went on to play for the University of Louisville (2023), Mississippi State University (2024), and the University of Missouri (2025) over the last three years after he earned SWAC Freshman of the Year honors (32 rec., 475 yds., 3 TDS/23.3 yds. per kickoff return/8.7 yds. per punt return) as a true freshman.

The step up in competition from the SWAC to the FBS didn’t prove to be an issue, though, as the shifty St. Louis native finished his final three seasons between each school by recording 166 receptions for 2,026 yards and nine touchdowns.

He also tallied 57 punt returns for 459 yards (8.1 yds. per return) and one touchdown across his time with the three programs.

Last season, Coleman Jr. led Missouri in receptions (66) and receiving yards (732), while also adding one receiving touchdown and 76 rushing yards on nine carries (8.4 YPC avg.). 

On punt returns, he had 15 returns for 189 yards and the previously mentioned return for a touchdown. His punt return average of 12.6 yards per return last year was also the highest of his career.

With all of that said, he’s not the biggest player, and he’ll need to work on his route-running technique more at the next level, but he’s tough as nails for being as small as he is.

Likely a slot-only player at the next level, Coleman Jr.’s abilities to make plays in the running game and the return game should offset any downside that there is with him being pigeon-holed into a certain role as a receiver due to his size.

Some team could be getting a late-round steal with Coleman Jr. as he’s not projected to be selected until late on Day 3.

Any team looking for simply a “playmaker,” should consider giving this player a call on draft weekend. 

They likely won’t regret it when all is said and done.

Wesley Williams, EDGE, Duke University (6-foot-3, 256 lbs/Age: 21)

A native of Gainesville, Virginia, Duke University EDGE rusher Wesley Williams is a prospect in this year’s draft class who is still just 21 years old — seemingly a rarity in the COVID era of college football these days — and he’s just one year removed from a season in 2024 where he had career-highs across the board in tackles (48), tackles for loss (13.5), sacks (7.5), pass deflections (2), and forced fumbles (1). He also was tied for fourth in the FBS in blocked kicks (2).

In addition to his contributions on special teams, Williams’ adequate size and frame should allow him to either be a defensive end in a 4-3 or as a stand-up rusher in a 3-4 scheme, which makes him even more intriguing as a potential pick for the Bills.

He could also conceivably rush some from the inside given his stocky build and solid repertoire of moves.

Williams finished his four years with the Blue Devils by registering 29 starts in 41 games en route to collecting 131 total tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, four pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.

At the combine in February, Williams did nothing but improve his stock as he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.89 seconds, had a 10-yard split of 1.68 seconds, a vertical jump of 35.5”, and a broad jump of 10’-0”.

And, although he lacks ideal length in terms of arm size (31-⅞”), Williams’ relentless motor should more than make up for limbs that are “supposedly” an inch too short.

An Honorable Mention All-ACC recipient in each of the last two seasons, the former Blue Devil should be a solid pro as a rotational player along a defensive front at the very least, and he’s going to make a fine mid-round selection for some team.

Maybe Buffalo?

Writer’s note: Bills Mafia, I truly hope you’re enjoying my work so far this offseason, especially the recent NFL Draft articles. If you do, please consider giving me a follow over on X (formerly Twitter). My handle on that platform is @JGreen_PRsports. I’m really trying to get my work out there, so to anyone who reads and shares — THANK YOU. It is greatly appreciated.

HOLD ON TIGHT, FOLKS! THE 2026 NFL DRAFT IS ALMOST HERE!