The 2020 NFL Draft is just under a month away, which means that The Game Haus will be doing draft profiles for every team. Each NFL team will be looked at heading into this year’s draft including what their needs are and who they could be targeting. The Buffalo Bills will be the 19th team evaluated.
Summary
The Buffalo Bills surprised the world by making the playoffs in 2020. Last offseason, they gave Josh Allen a whole new offense. They gave him five new offensive lineman, a new cast of wide receivers and two new running backs. It paid off because Josh Allen showed legitimate improvement as a starter this past year. The defense had pretty much the same group of players, but they showed improvement as well, being one of the better units in the league. Sean McDermott was a legitimate Coach of the Year candidate this past season because of the team’s play. Though the Bills were a wild card team because the Patriots won the division, they were arguably the most impressive team in their division.
After having to rely on undrafted free agent Robert Foster as his number one receiver Josh Allen was given Cole Beasley and John Brown to be his number one and two receivers. Though both are primarily slot or secondary receivers they acted like primary targets when asked upon by Allen. However the Bills did trade multiple draft picks including their first-rounder for Stefon Diggs. Diggs was a number one receiver playing for number two reps behind Adam Thielen. He is a huge upgrade and now completes the Bills receiving core.
LeSean McCoy had rapidly declined between 2017 and 2018. The Bill brought in Frank Gore to complement McCoy. But they also drafted Devin Singletary in the third round to give some youth to that group. Before the season started the Bills surprised the league by cutting McCoy leaving then with Gore and Singletary as their starting running backs. Gore, even though he is past his prime carried a majority of the load for most of the season. Towards the end Singletary saw more snaps and became a valuable weapon for the Bills down the stretch. Now that Gore is likely not to return to Buffalo, Singletary will get his shot at being a true number one running back.
It could be argued that the Bills defense is their biggest strength. It isn’t bold to say that the Bills could have the best all-around secondary next season. They have elite safeties, added Josh Norman who had one of the best seasons ever by a cornerback under former defensive coordinator (now head coach) Sean McDermott, and an emerging star Tre’Davious White. The Bills have a largely talented linebacker group in Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano and AJ Klein. Ed Oliver showed promise in his first year and will likely take steps forward in year two. Oliver will be lined up next to the rotation of Star Loutulelei, Quinton Jefferson, Vernon Butler and Harrison Philips next season after losing their sack leader Jordan Philips. The weakness to the Bills’ defense is the defensive edge rush Shaq Lawson has been somewhat disappointing, Jerry Hughes has not put up great sack numbers in a few season and Trent Murphy has never been great at getting to the quarterback. After Shaq Lawson departed, the Bills signed Mario Addison who has played for McDermott in Carolina and had 39 sacks in the past 4 seasons. He’s a huge upgrade over Lawson and becomes the team’s premier edge rusher.
2020 NFL Draft Picks
First Round (zero picks):
Second Round (one pick): No. 54
Third Round (one pick): No. 86
Fourth Round (one pick): No. 128
Fifth Round (one pick): No. 155
Sixth Round (two picks): No. 188, 204
Seventh Round (one picks): 239
Team Needs
Redzone Target- The Bills don’t appear to have a need at tight end and have a nice trio of wide receivers, but lack a larger pass catcher can be effective in the red zone.
Defensive Tackle- The Bills have tried to replace Jordan Philips with a few rotational pieces at defensive tackle, but none of them are as good or could put a dent in the void left by Philips
Interior Offensive Line- It is unsure if Daryl Williams will be a starting guard, tackle or swing tackle and if Cody Ford will start at guard or tackle, but either way the Bills need some youth on the interior of their offensive line.
Running Back- Devin Singletary could be the league next breakout star at running back after showing a lot of promise last season. But the Bills should consider adding another one in the later rounds to back up Singletary and take snaps to change the pace
Defensive Back- Though they have one of the best secondaries in the league, the Bills have three older starters at safety and cornerback. They should add some youth to back up the players they have now who could develop into starters down the road.
2020 NFL Draft Targets
Second Round:
Pick No. 54: Jonah Jackson, G, Ohio State
Jonah Jackson is one of the best guards in the draft whose name has been rising up boards in recent weeks. Jackson could compete for a starting job next season, but if he loses to the veterans on the roster the Bills could use him as a high end back up with starting potential down the road.
Third Round:
Pick No. 86: Adam Trautman, TE, Dayton
This years tight end class is extremely weak, which is not shocking considering the state of tight end in the NFL. Trautman has been viewed as one of the better tight ends of this year’s group. He has been compared to George Kittle because of his size, playmaking ability and blocking ability. If this is so Trautmans potential is through the roof and could be the Bills starter at tight end for the foreseeable future. if selected here he will have to compete with last year’s third-rounder Dawson Knox and Tyler Kroft for reps.
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