NFL Draft Recap: Buffalo Bills: 2023 NFL Draft Outlook

May 6, 2023

2023 NFL Draft recap for the Buffalo Bills. Which positions did they address? Which players did they draft? What might the fantasy value of these players be this season?

The Buffalo Bills had a quiet and competent draft day. They didn't make any crazy trades. (They did gain two seventh-round picks and two 2024 sixths.) They didn't target any unexpected positions.

Taking Dalton Kincaid as the first tight end with pick No. 25 in the first round, the Bills foreshadowed a tight end run that would take place in the beginning of round two.

Besides Kincaid, who else did the Buffalo Bills add, and what does it mean for the Bills' 2023 prospects?

Who Did The Buffalo Bills Draft On Offense?

Everyone agreed that the tight end class was good this year, but there was disagreement about who was the TE1. The Bills think it is Kincaid. The Utah product has some of the best hands of the group. And he'll need to use them well because the Bills struggled with getting production from the slot and over the middle.

The Bills still have Dawson Knox for the long term, so they will look to get Kincaid involved in creative ways in two tight-end sets and different alignments.

Following the Kincaid pick, the Bills added a pass blocker to the line in Florida guard O'Cyrus Torrence. They need help there because Josh Allen was taken down 33 times behind the line, and he also had a bad habit of fumbling when he was under pressure. Hopefully for Bills fans, fixing one problem will fix both.

The Bills picked Torrence's teammate, wide receiver Justin Shorter, in the fifth round. Like Houston (and now Texans) WR Tank Dell, Shorter is the opposite of his name; he's 6-4 and weighs 229 pounds. As he only dropped three passes in his entire collegiate career, he could become a trusted target for Allen. The Bills rounded out their offensive selections with Ole Miss guard Nick Broeker.

Who Did The Buffalo Bills Draft On Defense?

Bills GM Brandon Beane described third-round pick LB Dorian Williams as a "tackling machine," and it is no wonder why. Williams accumulated a total of 316 tackles in his four years at Tulane. He led the American conference in solo tackles twice and in total tackles once. He ranked second in the entire NCAA in solo tackles in 2020. And he got to the ballcarrier before he gained many yards; 27.0 of his tackles were for losses, including 15.5 his sophomore season.

The Bills were focused on offense. Their only other selection of a defensive player came in the seventh round. That was Oregon State cornerback Alex Austin. The 6-1, 192-pounder made 10 pass defenses his senior season. He made two interceptions in both 2021 and 2022 and returned one for a touchdown. Having drafted some playmakers, the Bills scored an A in RotoBaller's team-by-team NFL draft grades.

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