How the NFL draft reshaped the Bills’ linebacker depth chart

Yahoo Sports3h ago29 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

The Buffalo Bills' GM Brandon Beane aimed to draft Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 31 but lost the chance to the Jets. Instead, he successfully targeted Clemson edge rusher TJ Parker after trading down to No. 35.

Key points

Brandon Beane intended to draft Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 31.
The Jets traded ahead of the Bills to select Cooper.
Beane traded down to No. 35 to select TJ Parker.
TJ Parker was the top edge rusher on Beane's board.
Beane felt confident about adding a three-down player.

Mentioned in this story

Buffalo BillsNew York Jets

Omar Cooper Jr.TJ ParkerClemsonIndiana

ORCHARD PARK - There is some scuttlebutt emanating from New York that Buffalo Bills president/general manager Brandon Beane had every intention of picking Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 31 in the first round of the NFL Draft.

However, he never got the chance, reportedly, because the Jets got wind of this and made a trade to jump ahead of Buffalo to No. 30 where the 49ers were sitting so they could beat Beane to the punch and get the best receiver on the Hoosiers’ national championship team.

Sorry, but that doesn’t fly for me because if Beane truly wanted to pick Cooper, he could have had him at No. 26 with Buffalo’s original first-round pick, and at No. 28 after he traded down to the Texans’ spot. Why would he risk losing the player with a second trade down to New England at No. 31?

After the Jets got Cooper, Beane quickly made his third trade down, but I don’t think that had anything to do with Beane moving out of the first round and landing at No. 35, the Titans spot near the top of the second round. I think he was targeting Clemson edge rusher TJ Parker all along and he was highly confident he’d still be there, which he was.

“It was one of the strengths of this draft,” Beane said of the edge rusher group. “Some of them are more (designated pass rusher types). I would say TJ is a three-down player. When I went home (Thursday night), I felt confident we were going to add some type of rusher, whether it was a three-down, whether it was a DPR-type, and TJ was the guy we had No. 1 if it fell that way.”

Here’s a look at how the draft impacted the Bills’ depth chart at linebacker:

TJ Parker should be an immediate contributor

Dec 7, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers defensive end T.J. Parker (3) reacts after a play during the second quarter against the Southern Methodist Mustangs in the 2024 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images