By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
We knew this year’s Bills draft would be defense-oriented. After all, in Buffalo’s three playoff losses to Kansas City and one to Cincinnati, the past four years, the blame has fallen squarely on that side of the ball.
So, this past Thursday through Saturday, general manager Brandon Beane made good on his promise to upgrade the ‘D’ by selecting three cornerbacks, two tackles and an edge rusher. Indeed, his first five draftees were defenders, only the second time in franchise history that has happened.
On Thursday, with the 30th overall pick, the Bills took Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston. Then, Friday night, Beane traded up from the 56th pick t0 No.41 and selected South Carolina tackle T.J. Sanders. In a deal with Chicago that involved six draft picks (Buffalo sent its 56th, 62nd and 109th picks to the Bears for Nos. 41, 72 and 240) and the tone was set.
The Bills then used No. 72 to claim University of Arkansas edge rusher Landon Jackson.
In the fourth round, Buffalo tabbed Kentucky tackle Deone Walker and in the fifth Ohio State cornerback Jordan Hancock. The first offensive selection came late in the fifth round, Georgia Tech tight end Jackson Hawes. At the top of the sixth came another defender, cornerback Dorian Strong from Virginia Tech and Buffalo’s draft ended with two offensive players, UConn tackle Chase Lundt in the sixth and Maryland wide receiver Kaden Prather in the seventh.
In short, Beane spent six of his nine draft choices on perceived defensive positions of need — cornerback, edge rusher and tackle — while pretty much ignoring Josh Allen and the other side of the ball.
And Beane was defensive about it … excuse the pun.
“People forget our offense – look at the rankings last year – I don’t think we’ve regressed,” he said. “The offense is on paper, but I didn’t leave last season on offense going, ‘Man, this didn’t work.’ I didn’t see us coming up short in games or in the playoffs on the offensive side of the ball. (If the) best player on the board was a receiver, I promise you, we would have taken him at the time. That is not how we valued it. And so that’s what we did. Right or wrong, that’s just how I feel like you build a team.”
Beane added, “I can tell you 100% (that wasn’t the plan) going into it … ‘Hey, we have to get X-number of defensive players out of this draft.’
“I did think the way the board was stacked, where the strengths of the board were, two of our first three picks would be, I felt pretty good … would end up that we would have a defensive player there that we liked, that filled a need, as well, at the value.”
IN FAIRNESS, there was a defensive need as six players who saw action in the AFC Championship against Kansas City — cornerbacks Rasul Douglas and Kaiir Elam, edge rushers Von Miller and Dawuane Smoot and tackles Jordan Phillips and Austin Johnson — are no longer on the roster.
“We want it to be deep,” Beane said of the defensive line. “We want it to have a variety of skill sets, and we want competition. I want it to be hard as hell to be one of the however many D-linemen we keep together on this 53(-man roster).”
Only three offensive players are missing from last season’s offense, wide receivers Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins and third-string tight end Quintin Morris.
Still, the current wide receiving corps — Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel and free agent Joshua Palmer hardly strikes fear into opposing defensive coordinators.
Still, Beane defended his picks.
“It was truly the board,” he said. “Until we got to the very end of the draft, it was the highest player on the board. I would say either how we graded them, how we viewed them, but I thought it was stronger, more depth on the defensive side of this draft.
“That’s how we do all our work, and it makes it easy. If you set your board right, it takes a lot of the last-minute drama on the clock away, and we’re truly talking about them as we get within five, four, three, two picks. ‘All right, now we’re down to, there’s two picks left. This is going to be choice one. This is going to be choice two.””
Here are Lundy’s Draft Guide’s assessments of each one of the Bills Day 3 draft choices:
Fourth round, No. 109, Deone Walker (6-foot-7, 340), defensive tackle Kentucky:
Overview: Entered the year as a potential Top-10 pick, but playing the interior dropped his production to the Top 40. He didn’t do enough at the Senior Bowl to push his draft value back to preseason levels.
Strengths: Unbelievable production for a player of his stature … dwarfing most offensive linemen. Outstanding versatility. Took reps as an outside linebacker and managed to win.
Weaknesses: Sloppy build with a lot of weight stashed in his upper body rather than his legs. Too often late to recognize where the ball is.
Pro assessment: Walker will have to regain his 2023 form but his upside is phenomenal.
Fifth round, No. 170, Jordan Hancock (6-feet, 185), cornerback Ohio State.
Overview: “Position-versatile defensive back with good size but average coverage talent. Hancock is strong enough to play near the line or on the back end, and his heaviest usage has come from the nickel spot.
Strengths: He’s an above-average tackler in run support and in space but has average thump. He struggles to make up ground quickly against shifty route-runners.
Weaknesses: He does his job from zone by keeping catches in front of him and tackling quickly but lacks playmaking instincts.
Pro assessment: Hancock’s size and versatility helps, but he might not excel enough in the coverage phase to become a long-term starter.
Fifth round, No. 173, Jackson Hawes (6-4, 265) , tight end, Georgia Tech.
Overview: Yale transfer who parlayed his blocking skill into a Senior Bowl invite. Not much production or prestige in his profile. He plays with a “come back with the shield or come back on it” temperament that coaches will love.
Strengths: One of the most dominant run-blocking tight ends in the draft. Could moonlight as an offensive tackle. Elite effort player who gets around well for his size.
Weaknesses: Lacks lateral agility and change-of-direction.
Pro asssessment: He should hear his name called sometime on Day 3 (No. 173).
Round 6, No. 177, Dorian Strong (6-feet, 180), cornerback, Virginia Tech.
Overview: Smart and technical and displays impressive refinement for a young cornerback. Dependable man-coverage player. High IQ defender who stands out in zone coverage.
Strengths: Great athlete with good speed. Smart player with good understanding of coverages. Greatly improved tackling with minimal missed tackles.
Weaknesses: Light, thin corner lacks the mass for the position. Poor tape when aligned on big-body receivers. Physicality and ball skills may not translate fully against bigger, strong NFL receivers.
Pro assessment: Will make plays due to his game IQ and speed despite lacking the traditional size.
Sixth round, No. 206, Chris Lundt (6-7, 305), offensive tackle, UConn.
Overview: Redshirted in 2019 and missed 2020 when UConn canceled the season. Play-strength will be a big topic for scouts.
Strengths: Body control, hand usage and footwork are NFL-ready. Held his own against higher-level compoetition.
Weaknesses: Likely a bit too tall and lean for seeing time at guard at the NFL level. Finesse blocker who lacks a physical edge to his game and was outmuscled too easily.
Pro assessment: Developmental player with multi-position flex.
Seventh round, No. 240, Kaden Prather (6-3, 210), wide receiver, Maryland.
Overview: Began his college career at West Virginia then transferred to Maryland.
Strengths: Explosive off the line and carries that quickness and energy all the way down the route. Great long speed for his frame. Fits prototype of what an NFL wide receiver should look like. Makes hard grabs look easy.
Weaknesses: Needs to clean up his route-running. Wastes a lot of movement making his breaks and needs time to get through his cuts. Never found a good path to being a top receiver.
Pro assessment: Prather is not a supplemental league talent but he should fix his routes to make sure thsat doesn’t happen.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
