
The Buffalo Bills made 10 draft picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, impacting both veterans and rookies. Key winners include the running back room and quarterback Josh Allen, while Dorian Williams and Javon Solomon face challenges due to new additions.
No one expected the Bills to prioritize running back in the 2026 draft⊠then again, teamâs draft plans can be unpredictable. Heck, I donât know of anyone who predicted the Bills would trade up for an outside cornerback in the second round. Nonetheless, Buffalo didnât add a running back of any kind in the draft or free agency. Until the inevitable training camp/preseason signing of Darrynton Evans occurs, Buffaloâs running back room is set â James Cook, Ty Johnson, , and Frank Gore Jr. on the practice squad.
Winners include the running back room, quarterback Josh Allen, and defensive players T.J. Sanders, Landon Jackson, and Phidarian Mathis.
Josh Allen is considered a winner due to the addition of receiver Skyler Bell, who fits the team's needs for a sudden outside separator.
Dorian Williams and Javon Solomon are seen as losers, facing increased competition for their positions due to new draft picks.
The Bills focused heavily on defense, selecting seven out of ten picks for that side, providing new opportunities for defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.

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These four are reasonably young defensive line pieces likely to be trusted with new, more block-devouring responsibilities in the Jim Leonhard defense â by the way, I think they are physically and skill-set wise more up to the task than whatâs believed. Of course, many thought defensive line would be emphasized by the Bills early in the draft⊠and it simply wasnât. And itâs not as though Beane picked a tall, long, and thick, classically built 3-4 defensive end in Round 6. Zane Durant is 6â1â and 280-ish pounds. Big win over draft weekend for this youthfuil, promising, and low-key important bunch.
OK, so the Bills didnât select a receiver until No. 125 overall in this draft. An earlier pick at the position wouldâve, on paper, resulted in Allen being a bigger winner out of the draft. Iâm still listing Buffaloâs superstar quarterback as a winner because Skyler Bell is the *exact* stylistic receiver the Bills desperately needed â a sudden, outside separator â and the type Allen flourished with (see: Stefon Diggs, John Brown, Cole Beasley, and Emmanuel Sanders) earlier in this career. Bell is 23 and has an NFL-ready game. I love Bulldog of WGR 550âs prediction that Bell will be a fixture in three-receiver sets by Halloween.
How about seven of 10 draft picks on the defense for Leonhard? And of course we canât forget the defense-laden draft a year ago, when Beane made six of nine selections on that side of the ball. Not much more you can ask for as a new defensive coordinator. So many developmental opportunities here. Huge winner.
I still believe in Williams. All he did when Matt Milano went down with a serious injury in 2024 was lead the team with 117 tackles with five tackles for loss on a bit less than 60% of the defensive snaps. Now, Williams didnât have an interception nor a pass breakup that year, and his lack of coverage improvement could ultimately prove to be the reason he loses the full-time job heâs been waiting for since his rookie season. Kaleb Elarms-Orr has serious speed, plus coverage instincts, and I evaluated him as one of the most reliable tacklers at the position in the class. Leonhard will likely deploy more than two inside linebackers in his scheme, yet KEO will likely push Williams (or Bernard) for one of the full-time roles in the new-look Bills defense in time.
Before the draft, Solomon, the clubâs 2024 fifth-round pick, was the penciled in as the EDGE4 behind Greg Rousseau, Bradley Chubb, and the rehabbing Michael Hoecht. This oneâs pretty straightforward â second-round pick T.J. Parker instantly slots in likely near the top of Buffaloâs edge-rusher rotation, thereby hurting Solomonâs chances of more defensive snaps in Year 3.
Hancock was fifth-round pick by the Bills in 2025 after a reasonably productive career at Power 4 program and a fantastic pre-draft workout. The Bills then spent a fifth-round pick in 2026 on a reasonably productive safety from a Power 4 school who tested outstandingly before the draft. Jalon Kilgoreâs presence creates somewhat of a crowded safety room in Buffalo.
While Iâm on the topic of a crowded position room, the Bills interior offensive line room is beyond capacity after the additions of Jude Bowry â Iâm presuming he plays guard in the NFL â and Arâmaj Reed-Adams. Beyond those two rookies, thereâs the starters â newly minted Connor McGovern, Alec Anderson, OâCyrus Torrence. Behind them on the inside are veteran journeyman Austin Corbett, Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Lloyd Cushenberry, and Nick Broeker. The Bowry and Reed-Adams picks may very well lead to a vintage Beane late-August trade of a veteran blocker.