Day Two Mock Draft

The Bills were able to come away with Defensive Tackle, Ed Oliver in round one last night and better yet didn’t have to sacrifice any draft capital to move up and acquire him. The Bills likely will trade up at some point in rounds 2-4 as they have a plethora of draft selections; 40th and 74th on Friday and 112,131,147,158,181,225,228 overall on Saturday. At the end of the article, players will be ranked overall for Round two, should the Bills truly go BPA (Best Player Available)

Potential Trade Values:

Moving up from 40: -Cost (40, 112) will get you to 34th

Moving up from 74: Cost (74,131,147) to 58th overall range

Options for the Bills in Round 2 – Previously highlighted in Mock 1.0

2nd Round – (40th Overall)

Dalton Risner – Offensive Tackle/Guard – Kansas State – 6’5 312lbs.

With the 40th pick in the 2019 draft the Bills use the pick to draft a versatile guard/tackle, Dalton Risner from Kansas State. Risner not only fits the Bills from a playing standpoint but also a culture standpoint, something McDermott will love. Risner runs his own foundation called Rise Up, which aims to share his story, faith, and passions as a means of inspiring others. Rise Up is a camp for kids battling cancer, which gives them an outlet to just be kids and not think of everyday life. McDermott will fall in love with this guy, as he just seems to “get it.”

“You know, man, the big thing I found at Kansas State was just making an impact, making an impact on someone that’s 70 years old or 5 years old” Risner said. “I love to make an impact, and if I can make an impact on someone through my faith, and the trials and tribulations I went through, or just my story or the stories of my friends, that’s what means the most to me.”

I’m spending a lot of time just talking about the person Risner is, because I really think he’s the poster-boy of a player McDermott and Beane want to infuse in their locker-room to create a family, team bond. Risner’s body is a canvas, of constant reminders of where he’s came from and where he wants to go. Risner embodies faith, football, and family something the Bills look often into infusing to their locker- room.

On the field, Risner is a mauler; one of my favorite prospects in the draft, at 6’5, 312lbs Risner was a four-year starter at Kansas State, something the Bills coaching staff will love, a captain for three of those seasons. Risner is best suited to lineup at right tackle at the next level but is versatile enough to kick inside to guard and even has played some center. With the Bills starting their draft with TE, Noah Fant, selecting Risner to groom into a right tackle role will be vital for the growth of Josh Allen. Risner has a high football IQ and eats, sleeps, and breathes football. Extremely competitive, Risner uses his strength and well-rounded technique’s to ward off pass rushers. Risner doesn’t quite have the length to play left tackle from wide edge rushers but makes up for it with his balance and hand techniques. Risner’s best trait is his power at the point of attack, he’s able to latch on to defenders and stick using his short area quickness. Risner lacks proper footwork on occasion, however makes up for it with his nastiness and tenacity in the trenches, this guy won’t quit, plays every snap as hard as possible, often looks to finish his defender and isn’t happy until he’s on his back. Risner is tough, played through injuries to both shoulders and high ankle sprains, he feels guilty leaving the field and is always there for his teammates. If the Bills select Risner, It will allow a lot of roster flexibility as they try to figure out who plays left and right tackle with Dion Dawkins contract looming and Ty Nsehke an aging stop-gap.

Day 2 – OL Best Available

1. Dalton Risner – OG/OT 2. Cody Ford – OT/OG 3. Jawaan Taylor – OT 4. Erik McCoy - OT 5. Greg Little – OT (Round 3) 6. Bobby – Evans – OT (Round 3) 7. Dru Samia – OG – (Round 3+)

Other Possibilities

Irv Smith Jr – Tight End – Alabama 6’2 242lbs.

After missing out on T.J. Hockenson at 8 overall and Noah Fant at 20 overall the Bills could be looking at Tight End, Irv Smith Jr from Alabama. Smith Jr, ran an impressive 4.6, forty at the combine and has former NFL pedigree as his father was a first round pick for the Saints, something Beane and McDermott covet. Smith isn’t the best run-blocking and is pretty raw in route-running but has a bunch of talent to grow

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in both areas. Smith Jr has enough speed to also cause chaos downfield. At Alabama he was asked to run many routes and was able to gain separation using his hand strength and route running. Averaging 16.3 yards a catch, 710 yards, and 7 touchdowns, Smith Jr was vital in Alabama’s offense. Smith Jr, has the speed to win vertically which will help at the next level with the new age of tight ends that offenses are employing. If the Bills aren’t able to land Fant or Hockenson, Smith Jr is a nice addition to help the offense be versatile.

Day 2 – TE – Best Available

1. Irv Smith Jr 2. Dawson Knox (Late 2/3) 3. Jace Sternberger (Round 3) 4. Kahale Warring (3+)

Jaylon Ferguson – Defensive End- Louisiana Tech – 6’5 271lbs.

The FBS record holder with 45 career sacks, Ferguson ended his senior season with 17.5 sacks leading the nation, 26 tackles for loss, 64 tackles, 3 pass breakups and two forced fumbles all in 13 games. Ferguson is an extremely productive pass rusher who has also grown every season in disrupting the run game. In the NFL, Ferguson projects to be a 4-3 defensive end and the potential to wreak havoc in a few years. Ferguson was a high impact player in college, 27% of his tackles were for a loss, got bigger and stronger in one year’s work, stout at points of attack and unhinges from blockers using his violent hands. Ferguson is always charging forward using his fury of hand moves to do whatever it takes to chase down the QB. Ferguson will need some work at the next level, but going to a 4-3 team with a defensive minded head coach and an experienced defensive coordinator in Leslie Frazier will speak volumes for his development at the next level. Ferguson lacks bend and flexibility when rushing the passer and often relies on his hand usage with a speed-to-power conversion and low pad level, his cross chops are able to toss around right tackles with ease. If Ferguson is able to develop a second move and fine-tune his body, he’d be a great rotational player in year one behind Lawson, Hughes, and Murphy. Ferguson may slide down the draft because of a fight at a McDonald’s as a freshman and a public intoxication charge while in college as well. The Bills have done their due diligence with Ferguson, using one of their thirty allotted pre-draft visits on Ferguson. Ferguson wasn’t invited to the combine because of prior incidents in college, however at his pro-day was able to clock in with a respectable 4.75 forty yard dash, and 24 reps on the bench press. With Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson to become unrestricted free agents after the 2019 season, getting a pass rusher is a top priority for the Bills.

Day 2 – DE – Best Available

1. Jaylon Ferguson 2. Chase Winovich 3. 4. Oshane Zimines 5. Maxx Crosby (3+) 6. Joe Jackson (3+)

J.J. Arcega-Whiteside – Wide Receiver – Stanford- 6’2 ½ 225lbs.

The Bills round out their receiving depth chart on J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Arcega-Whiteside enters the draft as a redshirt junior, who had a strong senior season catching 63 passes for 1,059 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns which ranked in the top-five nationally. In his bowl game, Arcega-Whiteside scored three times against TCU. Arcega-Whiteside is a big, and strong target which will compliment and round out the Bills depth chart perfectly. The closer to the red-zone you are the more dangerous Arcega-White is. As both parents were professional basketball players in Spain, he is great at boxing out opponents, and also has a knack for high-pointing the ball and coming down with it. While not the fastest, Arcega-Whiteside possesses great quickness and body control to be able to shield defenders and come down with back- shoulder throws. With John Brown the primary deep ball threat, and Robert Foster developing and a deep ball threat, the Bills could use a bigger receiver on the roster to make contested catches to pair with Zay Jones and Cole Beasley underneath. If the Bills are able to add Fant and Arcega-Whiteside in this draft, they will have a stable of pass-catchers that all do something different and will allow Josh Allen to throw the ball downfield and take what’s underneath for him. With Arcega-Whiteside’s size and technique he’ll project nicely to the (X) receiver role in the NFL where he’s able to release from the line of scrimmage with ease, use his ball skills to stack defenders versus press coverage and win at the point of attack. Having a big target on third down will only benefit the Bills and Josh Allen’s progression. Allen isn’t the most accurate, so having a big target he can toss it up to and trust he’ll be able to come down with it, is something the Bills will benefit from, as they have lacked this type of player for years. Arcega-Whiteside projects as a dominant possession receiver, who won’t demand the ball often but will always need to be accounted for because he often finds space and is able to make some pretty spectacular catches and be a pest in the red-zone.

Day 2 – WR – Best Available

1. A.J Brown

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2. D.K. Metcalf 3. J.J Arcega- Whiteside 4. Kevlin Harmon 5. Parris Campbell 6. Hakeem Butler 7. Terry McLaurin 8. Deebo Samuel 9. Riley Ridley 10. 11. Emmaunel Hall

Rock Ya-Sin – Cornerback – Temple – 6’0 192lbs.

If the Bills are true to their word with drafting best-player available, they could be looking at cornerback, Rock Ya-Sin. You can never have enough versatile corners in the NFL and the Bills used one of their thirty pre-draft visits on this former two-time state champion wrestler. Perhaps McDermott wasted a pre-draft visit just to wrestle the guy, or maybe there is real interest. The Bills appear set in the secondary with Tre White, Levi Wallace, EJ Gaines, Kevin Johnson and Taron Johnson however Johnson and Gaines were signed for one year deals and you may be able to have Ya-Sin back-up Poyer in the secondary, as they are identical builds and Ya-Sin lined up all over at Temple. Ya-Sin was a first-team conference selection as a senior, posting 12 pass breakups and 47 tackles, two for loss, and two interceptions. Ya-Sin only has one season of FBS production but was able to step right in and be a tough corner who isn’t afraid to tackle, another trait McDermott loves. The Temple Owls give out single digits to their toughest players and Ya-Sin wore number-six proudly. Someone like Ya-Sin is a coach’s best-friend, an eager to learn young-man with toughness and grit with all the physical tools to make a leap year-to-year. Primarily a man-cover corner Ya-Sin is a great project to become a starting cornerback fairly quickly in this league. Ya-Sin’s wrestling background and discipline are characteristics the Bills covet.

Day 2- CB- Best Available

1. Rock Ya – Sin 2. 3. Greedy Williams 4. JoeJuan Williams 5. Julian Love 6. Amani Oruwariye 7. Lonnie Johnson Jr. 8. Sean Bunting 9. Justin Layne

Overall Rankings: (Want/Need)

1. Rock Ya- Sin – CB 2. A.J. Brown – WR 3. Bryon Murphy – CB 4. Jaylon Ferguson – DE 5. Irv Smith Jr – TE 6. Dalton Risner – OT 7. D.K. Metcalf – WR 8. Cody Ford – OG 9. Greedy Williams - CB 10. Juan Thornhill – S 11. Taylor Rapp – S 12. Chase Winovich – DE 13. JoeJuan Williams – CB 14. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside – WR 15. Kelvin Harmon – WR 16. Jawaan Taylor – OT 17. Greg Little – OT 18. Julian Love – CB 19. Parris Campbell – WR 20. Zach Allen – DE 21. Dre’Mont Jones – DT

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22. Hakeem Butler – WT 23. – S 24. Oshane Zimines – DE 25. Erik McCoy – OT 26. Nasir Adderley – S 27. – RB 28. Terry McLaurin - WR 29. Dawson Knox – TE 30. Amani Oruwariye -LB 31. Blake Cashman – LB 32. Amani Hooker – S

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