Six first‑round options for the Bills as draft night nears

Yahoo Sports3h ago20 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

The Buffalo Bills face uncertainty in their first-round draft strategy as they prepare for the upcoming NFL draft. With key wide receiver prospects gone early, it's unclear how GM Brandon Beane will approach the 2024 draft.

Key points

Buffalo Bills face uncertainty in draft strategy
Bills need a wide receiver for the 2024 draft
Top wide receiver prospects were picked early
Joe Brady is the new head coach
Brandon Beane's draft decisions are unpredictable

Mentioned in this story

Joe BradySean McDermottJim Leonhard

Buffalo BillsPittsburgh

Unlike the previous two NFL drafts when there was a strong consensus regarding what the Buffalo Bills were going to do in the first round, your guess is as good as mine or your neighbors as to which way Brandon Beane will go Thursday night when the festivities get underway in Pittsburgh.

The Bills were in need of a wide receiver in 2024 when they had the 28th pick of the first round and there was speculation that Beane might try to trade up high enough to take a swing at one of the top three - Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze.

Ultimately the price was way too high as they were all gone within the first nine picks, and when Brian Thomas went to the Jaguars at No. 23, Beane cut bait with no more first-round grades on receivers. He traded back twice and out of the first round to pick Keon Coleman at the top of the second round, a receiver who hasn’t panned out through two seasons.

Last year, there was an even greater unanimity that cornerback was the play and sure enough, Beane stayed put at pick No. 30 and took Maxwell Hairston, one of only two corners taken in the opening round. After an injury-plagued rookie year, the jury is very early in its deliberation on whether Hairston turns out to be the right call.

With Joe Brady having replaced Sean McDermott as head coach, and Jim Leonhard hired as the new defensive coordinator, to use a baseball analogy, trying to gauge what the Bills are thinking is like deciphering the strike zone of MLB umpire CB Bucknor’s strike zone. It’s all over the map.

With their first-round pick, No. 26 overall, you can make a viable case for edge rusher, nose tackle, linebacker and even safety due to the switch from McDermott’s base four-man line, nickel scheme to Leonhard’s 3-4. Also, you could easily see the Bills giving Josh Allen another receiving weapon, or making sure he’s protected properly by taking a guard to fill the opening left by free agent Edwards’ departure.