Final Five at Five: 2026 NFL Draft prospects to keep in mind for Buffalo (17.0)

Wow.

We’ve really done it, Bills Mafia.

We’re now on to the final edition of “Five at Five” (remember, it’s a six-pack again this time) here at the FAMbase blog, which means tomorrow marks the first night of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Incredible.

These articles, which have been released daily at the FAMbase blog over the past 17 days have been a painstaking labor of love for yours truly. (See what we did there? 17. Josh F’n Allen, baby.)

Honestly, I’m not sure how many of you have actually tuned in to read them in the past two-and-a-half weeks, or if you’ve even enjoyed them . . . but, for those of you who HAVE . . . from the bottom of my heart — THANK YOU.

I’ve recently taken on a bit of a larger role here at the blog (possibly more on that down the road), and I hope that the effort I’ve put in for you folks hasn’t gone unnoticed since the beginning of the offseason.

With that being said, following the conclusion of the draft on Saturday  . . . things may slow down a tad for me, but not for long.

So, fear not. 

WE. HAVE. YOU. COVERED.

However, sometimes it’s necessary to take a breather. AND . . . I’m going to do just that after rookie mini camp. 

But, it’s not time for that quite yet. 

No. 

We still have one last edition of this newest draft series to get to, don’t we?

Yes. Yes we do.

And, as we begin to do so, you might notice a bit of a theme toward the end of tonight’s final version.

Those close to me might even pick up on a few “Easter eggs” of sorts, given that the inspiration behind this 17-part draft post all started with my “Golden Egg” article that dropped on the site way back on Easter morning.

There’s a reason I decided to get back into writing, specifically about the Bills, when I joined the FAMbase blog last September.

Confused? Don’t be.

I’ll explain my short tangent at the end.

But, with that said, here is our final version of “Five at Five.” Tomorrow is the big day. We did it.

Cheers, folks! 

This month has been extremely tiring, but it’s also been a blast to share with all of you — no matter how many of you that actually is.

So, without further ado, LET’S GO!

Jarod Washington, Cornerback, South Carolina State University (6-foot-2, 190 lbs/Age: 23)

After being named the 2025 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, helping his team win the 2025 HBCU National Championship, and being listed as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Top Defender), South Carolina State University cornerback Jarod Washington has been generating quite a bit of buzz around various league circles this offseason.

The lengthy 23-year-old finished his senior campaign with the Bulldogs by tallying 32 total tackles, two interceptions, one fumble recovery, and one interception returned for a touchdown in 12 games . . . oh, and he also led the FCS in pass breakups with a total of 20.

The defender’s best outing came in a game against Howard University where he recorded a season-high six pass breakups to go along with one pick six, which he returned 27 yards to “the house,” and one blocked kick that he returned 56 yards for a score.

Simply put — the senior was stupendous last season at South Carolina State, and he’s now trying to get himself drafted at some point over the next few days.

And, if he is, it will mark the first time that a player has been drafted into the NFL from S.C. State since 2022 when current Dallas Cowboys cornerback Cobie Durant was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round at pick No. 142.

It’s unclear when or if he’ll be drafted, but it very well could happen.

Washington possesses a tremendous blend of size and speed for the position despite having played in the HBCU, and the defensive back should be able to find a spot along the boundary in the NFL depending on how well he adjusts to the increased level of competition.

I also wonder if a potential switch to safety could be made down the line? I don’t know, but he’s an intriguing prospect, nonetheless.

And, since he reportedly ran the 40-yard dash at his pro day in 4.42 seconds, had a 10-yard split of 1.55 seconds, and a broad jump of just under ten feet (9’-6”), regardless of where he lines up, there’s good reason to believe that he’s a quality enough athlete to stack up with his competition at the professional level.

His natural playmaking skills also just might set him apart.

So, given that he has excellent triggering ability and instincts from the position to pair with his physical prowess, there’s even a chance that Washington could eventually fight for a contributing role on some NFL team’s roster in the not too distant future once he gets his feet wet in the league.

At the very least, the 2025 First-Team All-MEAC and Second Team AP FCS All-American selection has a great chance of sticking on the back-end of someone’s roster as a depth player and a big time special-teams contributor.

The Fredericksburg, Virginia, native, who was rumored to have a zoom meeting with the Bills earlier this offseason according to Syracuse.com’s Ryan Talbot, finished his time as a member of the Bulldogs with 75 total tackles, 33 career pass breakups, four interceptions (3 returned for TDs), one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble.

It will be interesting to see where Washington lands, and I wouldn’t mind the Bills adding him sometime late on Day 3 if he is still on the board. 

However, that would preferably be as a double-dip option at the position, which could happen given the team’s lack of depth behind starters Maxwell Hairston and Christian Benford.

I’ll be rooting for Washington on draft weekend, and you guys should, too!

Small school players will always have a soft spot in my heart.

Aiden Fisher, Linebacker, Indiana University (6-foot, 232 lbs/Age: 22)

Want to know one thing that’s been very interesting to see throughout this entire “Five at Five” process?

Well, for starters, you get well-versed in several prospects, especially ones that you might not normally dive into.

But, secondly, when you peel the curtain back a little bit more from these draft-eligible prospects, you also see just how interconnected many of them really are.

For FAMbase readers who have stuck with us throughout the month of April, how many times did you see Iowa Western Community College mentioned?

Definitely more than once.

Well, this isn’t that same connection, but if you just read Washington’s profile above then you probably caught that he was a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Coincidentally — and I swear I DID NOT plan this ahead of time — the next player mentioned on our final iteration of the newest draft series at the blog is ALSO a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia.

And, although they weren’t teammates growing up, their respective high schools were just six miles apart from one another.

WHO KNEW?

Certainly not me.

Like the saying goes, though, “it’s a small world.” And, the NFL’s an even smaller one.

With that said, like Washington, Indiana University linebacker Aiden Fisher also enters this year’s draft coming off a national championship victory.

Fisher’s just so happened to occur at the FBS level, while Washington’s was at the HBCU level.

Even still, the parallels of their careers are pretty crazy, to say the least.

Unlike his fellow Virginian counterpart, however, Fisher isn’t the best athlete, and he’ll need to rely more heavily on his cerebral gifts in order to carve out a career for himself at the professional level.

In college, though, his athleticism was sufficient enough, and his football IQ helped him to become a dominant player at the second-level of Indiana’s defense over the past two seasons after he transferred from James Madison University in 2024 when head coach Curt Cignetti took over the Hoosiers’ program in the same season.

Cignetti was also at James Madison prior to heading to the Big Ten program in the Midwest, so it speaks volumes on how much the head coach must have trusted him given that he brought Fisher along with him to the bigger school.

And, seeing how things played out last season for both individuals, I’d say it was a good decision by Indiana’s head man to bring his former linebacker with him.

After tallying 108 tackles, seven pass deflections, six tackles for loss, one-and-a-half sacks, and one interceptions with the Dukes in 2023, Fisher went on to register 215 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks, five pass breakups, two interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one defensive touchdown across 28 games in two seasons on the Bloomington campus. 

In 2025, Fisher finished his collegiate career by racking up 97 tackles to go along with career-highs in tackles for loss (10.5), sacks (4.5), interceptions (2), and forced fumbles (1).

Now, he’ll be hoping to cap off his illustrious collegiate career this weekend by being selected in the draft.

Projected to go anywhere on Day 3, the Big-10 linebacker isn’t favorably viewed by some scouting analysts due to his mediocre size (6-foot, 232 lbs/31-⅛” arms), lack of ranginess, and his overall sub-par athletic ability in coverage, but he’s a great run defender who sneakily slips blocks and shoots gaps to blow things up behind or near the line of scrimmage by effectively reading formations unfolding in front of him and anticipating the play before it happens.

His instinctiveness alone gives him a shot to stick around at the next level, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he winds up finding his way into some team’s starting lineup when all is said and done.

If Curt Cignetti signs off on a player, then so should NFL coaches and general managers.

Fisher has all the makings of a quality late-round addition simply for the fact that he’s a better football player with pads on than an athletic tester with shorts on.

Sometimes people try to overcomplicate the evaluation process of players a bit too much, in my opinion.

Fisher might be a classic example of this.

Jaren Kanak, H-Back/Tight End/Linebacker, University of Oklahoma (6-foot-2, 232 lbs/Age: 22)

We’ve highlighted many different collegiate chess pieces on “Five at Five” so far this offseason, but we might’ve saved the most intriguing one for last.

A dual-threat quarterback who also played on defense and at wide receiver coming out of Hays High School in Hays, Kansas, in 2022, the University of Oklahoma’s Jaren Kanak just might be the ultimate jack-of-all trades in this entire draft class.

He’s a top-notch athlete, as well.

A fixture on special teams and on defense in his first three years as a Sooner, Kanak appeared in 39 games for Oklahoma from 2022 to 2024, and he even started nine games at linebacker for the team in 2023 as a sophomore.

In that season, the Kansas native recorded 62 total tackles, two sacks, two pass deflections, and one forced fumble.

Eventually, though, Kanak was relegated back to spot duty on both special teams and defense before making a switch to tight end in his senior campaign last year — a position he had never played before at any level.

Surprisingly, or I guess not surprisingly given his physical attributes, Kanak’s transition was nearly seamless, and the 6-foot-2, 232-pound Swiss Army Knife finished last year with 44 receptions for 533 yards in 13 games for an average of 41 receiving yards per game.

The do-it-all player failed to find the end zone, but he was still a productive member of the Sooners’ offense, and it’s intriguing to think about the possibilities of what the 22-year-old could become as an h-back/tight end in the NFL once he has more experience under his belt.

And, despite some being skeptical of his ability to continue his upward trajectory in the league, I wouldn’t count Kanak out, especially considering what he did at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

At the event, the former Hays High School standout ran the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds, had a 10-yard split of 1.61 seconds, a vertical jump of 36”, a broad jump of 9’-11”, and he also put up 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.

The performance definitely opened some eyes, and it should give Kanak at least a small chance of hearing his name called in the latter portions of Day 3. 

So, why did I list him?

Well, the Bills do have a need for a fourth tight end/fullback role now that Reggie Gilliam has moved on to the New England Patriots, and Kanak appears to be the type of athlete that could come in and fill that role early on.

And, given his background as a linebacker, I see no reason to believe that he couldn’t come in and immediately contribute during all four phases of special teams . . . I’m not going to lie, I’m extremely intrigued by Kanak.

If he can figure out the blocking portion, then there’s no questioning that he could come in and help the Bills in the Gilliam role. 

Kanak is already a better receiver than Gilliam could ever think of being, and he’s seemingly capable of being just as physical.

So, while there’s some knocks on his technique and functional strength as a run blocker, seeing his bench press numbers should douse the flames surrounding those worries.

He clearly has the strength to do it. It’ll just be a matter of perfecting his craft.

Would I take a flyer on him in the seventh round? Maybe.

As a UDFA?

ABSOLUTELY. 

And, it’s funny — I seem to remember Gilliam being a UDFA, too. Oh, that’s right. That’s because he was.

Yeah, folks. 

If the Bills have literally any interest at all in replacing the fullback role heading into next season, then fans are going to need to keep an eye out for Kanak landing in Buffalo if he makes it out of the weekend undrafted.

**Alright, folks. This is it.

We’re down to the final three prospects of our “Five at Five” series here at the Buffalo FAMbase blog for the 2026 NFL Draft cycle.

It’s been real.

It’s been fun.

Can I say it’s been really fun? 

At times, yes. Others? Admittedly — no.

I’ll spare you the majority of the details, but the reason that I took on this draft venture at the blog was because I was feeling inspired, as I mentioned above in the opening remarks, after writing about a dozen draft prospects that could be considered hidden gems in this class on Easter weekend.

It was an ode to my Mother, Debbie, who sadly passed away rather unexpectedly seven years ago.

And, I can’t even believe that I just typed out the word seven . . . or that I’ve chosen to divulge any of this information on a football blog.

But, Mafia supposedly means family, right?

So, I’ll finish. 

There’s a point, I promise. And — any family members reading — see if you can spot the hidden “Easter egg” in the final grouping of prospects. I truly didn’t mean for it to arise, but when I found the player in my research . . . I had to list him, regardless of what his actual chances of carving out a career in the league are.

Anyway, back to my mother. 

She IS the whole inspiration behind me doing this series, after all, and she’s also the reason for me joining this blog last September and getting back into sports writing (most of you wouldn’t know it, but I’m a former smalltown newspaper journalist).

So, when I was asked to join in (shoutout Muki Hawkins – @wufosports, and Robyn Mundy – @RobynMundyWYO) on the FAMbase fun at the end of last summer, I took it as some sort of sign to not give up — on myself OR the Bills.

Why?

Well, in my senior yearbook — in a special area where parents were allowed to leave their children notes and quotes of inspiration — my Mom wrote a few things for me to remember.

Of those few things, a couple were: 1. Never miss a Sunday dinner. And, 2. NEVER give up on the BIlls.

I won’t, Mom. I promise. 

Neither will your granddaughter . . . but, she also doesn’t have a choice. (haha!)

Anyway, to wrap this unannounced detour up — in short — her passing left a massive hole in my life and in my heart that will never completely heal . . . nor would I ever really want it to.

This opportunity to write for the blog has been great, and I’m going to keep pushing forward with it.

And, with that said, the “Five at Five” series is the type of content that I want to continue bringing readers, as well as — hopefully — more stories like this. . . or this. . . or this. (If you’re new here — just click the links after, OK?)

At times, I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish through with this grueling series in such a short amount of time after deciding to do it on a whim in just under three weeks, but my Mother’s memory kept me going, and now — after this iteration of “Five at Five” is concluded — I will have covered over 100 prospects for you to read up on during draft weekend between my mock drafts, my “Golden Egg” write-up, and this series (watch out for my Bills’ big board and final Bills’ mock draft tomorrow).

So, keeping all of that in mind, let’s finish out strong, shall we?

These last three might be a little bit more of a rapid-fire style, but hey — I need some SLEEP.

So, just cool out, OK? 

The majority of you won’t understand, but yes . . . I meant cool, and not chill.

As in, “Cool out, guys!”

Got it?

Cool.

Let’t get back to it!

Michael Wortham, Wide Receiver, University of Montana (5-foot-9, 190 lbs/Age: 23)

University of Montana wide receiver Michael Wortham should be mentioned as one of the best (I’m talking Day 3, let’s not get crazy) playmakers in this draft class, and I bet some of you — or most of you — didn’t even know he existed before reading this.

No offense, Michael. 

Anyway, with that said, pay attention for a second, Bills Mafia. 

Rapid fire, remember?

Originally a BACKUP quarterback at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, when first coming out of Center High School in Antelope, California, in 2021, the now 23-year-old spent two years at the JUCO level before transferring to Eastern Washington University (shoutout Cooper Kupp!!) in the FCS following a breakout 2022 campaign at Sierra for Wortham where he recorded 3,025 all-purpose yards (2,180 passing, 845 rushing) as the starting quarterback.

As a member of the Eastern Washington Eagles, the California native only managed to register 126 passing yards, 582 rushing yards, and 13 total touchdowns on offense (10 rushing, 3 passing), but he somehow found himself becoming an ACE in the returning game on special teams over the course of his two seasons with the FCS squad.

And, in 2024 he set a school record — plus led the Big Sky conference — by amassing 1,093 kickoff return yards. 

He also added 610 yards of total offense (313 rushing, 209 receiving, 88 passing) and seven touchdowns that season.

It was an electric performance, and it earned him All-Big Sky First-Team honors, as well as AFCA All-American Second-Team recognition.

Wortham hit the transfer portal once more, though, in 2025 for a chance to make an even greater impact elsewhere in his redshirt senior season  . . . and he did just that with Montana.

In his lone season there, the speedster earned AP First-Team All-American honors, AP First-Team All-Big Sky honors, and he also was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which is known as the “Heisman of the FCS,” after he finished the year for the Griz with 85 catches for  1,224 receiving yards to go along with 345 rushing yards, 862 kickoff return yards, and 10 total touchdowns.

His 2,265 all-purpose yards set a new record for the Montana program, and the performance was enough to earn him an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl earlier this offseason, which is where he also apparently excelled according to various other reports, as well.

After the All-Star circuit, Wortham followed up his performance on the gridiron by running the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds, the three-cone drill in 6.75 seconds, and by posting a vertical jump of 37.5”.

Now, the do-it-all former quarterback is hoping to become the second straight wide receiver to be drafted out of the school after Junior Bergen was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Can Wortham do it? I don’t know.

But, I’ll be rooting for him . . . because my days of having a soft spot for small-school playmakers dates all the way back to when I was just a young kid scouring through YouTube clips on an Apple iMac G3 series desktop in my family’s “computer room” looking for any player I could find to rant about on the Buffalo Bills message boards. 

And, sometimes Debbie would tell her son it was time to go to bed.

Well, I’m still not going to bed at a reasonable time — and I’m still searching for any and all clips and notes that I can find on players — but now it’s my poor wife telling me to go to bed instead of my mother.

Oh, boy. Haha.

Anyway, let’s keep Wortham in our thoughts over the coming days. I’ll give a silent cheer for all of us collectively if he hears his name called on Day 3.

Good luck, Michael. 

*WOW* 

That wasn’t much of a rapid fire. It was more like a slow burn. My apologies. So, let’s try that again.

Squirrel White, Wide Receiver, Florida State University (5-foot-10, 178 lbs/Age: 21)

Alright, alright. 

This player probably doesn’t even have a chance of getting drafted over the course of the next three days, but hey — even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while, right? Or that’s at least how the saying goes . . . I think.

Anyway, there are conflicting reports regarding his time in the 40-yard dash, but squirrels are supposed to be fast, so I’m going to side with the ones that I saw which had him in the 4.2 to 4.4 range with his time instead of the one that had him at 4.63 seconds.

All joking aside, the main reason I obviously listed this player is for his incredible nickname. His real name is Marquarius Malik White. 

But, how can you leave a guy named Squirrel off a list? 

Exactly. You can’t!

In all seriousness, though, when looking through prospects, I found one under-the-radar player that — in the SEC in 2023 — had 67 receptions for 803 yards and two touchdowns, and who also has a career punt-return average of 12.9 yards per return.

That player? None other than Mr. White.

Or — you know — Squirrel!

With that said, he transferred from the University of Tennessee to Florida State University for his senior season in 2025 after recording 131 receptions for 1,665 yards and six touchdowns in his first three seasons with the Volunteers after coming out of Clay-Chalkville High School in 2022, which is located in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama. 

A dual-sport athlete who also ran track in high school, White finished his senior season at Clay-Chalkville with 49 receptions for 1,162 yards and 16 touchdowns before taking his talents to Tennessee. 

Unfortunately — for whatever reason — Squirrel’s senior year in college did not go as well for him after transferring from the Volunteers to the Seminoles, as he finished with just five catches for 52 yards and no touchdowns while appearing in 10 games, which is exactly why he isn’t being talked about . . . at all.

But, any player that can put up 803 yards in the SEC certainly has to have at least SOME sort of potential for more. 

AND, he’s one of the younger players in this weirdly old class of prospects as he’s still just 21 years old.

So, we list Squirrel. DEAL WITH IT.

Who knows? Maybe he’s the next Robert Foster. 

Remember him? 

With that in mind, I’ll be watching to see if he gets signed as a UDFA by some team, and I’ll be rooting for him if he does.

I hope he finds his nut.

AND. HERE. WE. GO.

THE FINAL PROSPECT OF “FIVE AT FIVE.”

Scooby Williams, Linebacker, Texas A&M University (6-foot-2, 231 lbs/Age: 23)

Scooby.

If my family is reading, I hope you get the reference. (R.I.P., Mom. I love you. XoXo)

And, for others . . . it’s OK. You don’t need to get it.

But, much like the player listed before him, I put Texas A&M University linebacker Scooby WIlliams in this pack of prospects because of his great nickname . . . mostly.

He’s 6-foot-2 and 231 pounds, so he has decent enough size for the linebacker position, and he’s presumably a quality athlete.

But, that’s unable to be confirmed from outsiders due to the fact that Williams did not do any athletic testing at either the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in February or at the Texas A&M Pro Day at the end of March due to a lingering ankle issue that caused him to miss several games last season.

Regardless of that fact, it appears that there might be a little more to be learned about Williams than simply just passing him by after seeing that he had just 19 total tackles (4 TFLs, 1 INT, 1 sack, 1 FF) in seven games with the Aggies last season.

The two seasons prior?

Williams recorded 20 starts in 23 games in the SEC between the University of Florida (2021-2023) and Texas A&M from 2023 to 2024 en route to tallying 96 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one sack, and one interception.

He’s seen as a fluid enough athlete in space, and he’s apparently incredibly tough because he played the majority of his 2024 campaign with a torn meniscus according to Chad Reuter’s statistical write-up of the player on NFL.com. 

Scouts don’t view him like they do most other linebackers in his class, and because of that he’s projected to go anywhere from the end of Day 3 to becoming an undrafted free agent.

But, despite that fact, there appears to be some potential with this player.

Lance Zierlein noted how he attacks blocks with good downhill force in the running game, while also showing that he has a solid ability to stay with offensive players in man and has decent spatial awareness when in zone.

With that said, SCOOBY had to make this list.

The Bills have a need at linebacker, and there’s a possibility that they add more than one player at the position starting as early as tomorrow’s opening round. 

A late-round flyer on Williams could be interesting, but I have a feeling he may go undrafted. 

If he does . . . he’d be a player I’d be interested in bringing aboard as a UDFA signing.

Best of luck, Scoob.

Keep going!

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.

THAT’S IT. WE DID IT, FOLKS. 

ENJOY THE START OF THE 2026 NFL DRAFT TOMORROW AT 8 P.M. ET LIVE FROM PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.