C+
Buffalo Bills
Flashes of a plan, unevenly executed. Bills: C+.
by Klondike ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 1 steals
· 4 reaches
The Bills bet big and early on Nick Barrett, 73 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right.
The Kilgore steal is the beam this whole class leans on. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped safety, which is a strange place to end up.
Job largely done: linebacker settled and 5 of 9 of the wish list covered. Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
If Malachi Lawrence and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 26 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare, a steep price for the projection. A real need, handled.
A straight-up fair deal on Ted Hurst at the 91st overall pick, value and slot in agreement. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jalon Kilgore at No. 126 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Nothing to complain about; Beau Stephens went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Kaleb Elarms-Orr at pick No. 168 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Nick Barrett at Round 6, Pick 1 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Logan Taylor at No. 220 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.