Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills selected six new players during the 2023 NFL Draft back in April.
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Here’s the role I see each of them playing, as the team gets set for training camp in two weeks:
Round 1: Dalton Kincaid - Tight end
I can’t imagine any scenario short of injury where Kincaid isn’t a primary contributor immediately.
The Bills have been searching for this type of tight end to add to their offense for a few years, and finally decided to invest huge resources into it, trading up two spots in the first round for the consensus best pass-catching player at the position in this year‘s draft.
How all of that shakes out with fellow tight end Dawson Knox, as well as the wide receiver group and how offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey chooses to utilize all of them and personnel groupings, remains to be seen.
Regardless, Kincaid should have a significant impact right away.
Round 2: O’Cyrus Torrence - Guard
Torrence was a really nice pickup by the Bills for where they were able to draft him. Many considered him a first-round talent.
He’ll obviously make the 53-man roster, but from there, it will be interesting to see how high he can climb on the depth chart.
Connor McGovern and Ryan Bates are penciled in as the two starting guards flanking center Mitch Morse. Behind them, there’s plenty of competition including Torrence, Ike Boettger, David Edwards, Greg Mancz, and follow drafted rookie Nick Broeker.
I think Torrence will have a good, productive career, but it feels too ambitious for him to start right away. He will most likely be the main backup - or secondary backup - to one or both of the starters, at least to start the season.
Round 3: Dorian Williams - Linebacker
It could be an all-or-nothing type of situation for Williams.
He could earn the starting middle linebacker job, which was vacated after Tremaine Edmunds left via free agency. If he does, obviously, he’ll play a lot. If he doesn’t, he’s almost certainly a core special teams player, but may not see the field much on defense.
As of right now, I see him having an uphill battle to beat out both Tyrel Dodson and Terrel Bernard for that spot, especially considering how much will be asked of that player. This includes calling the defense under new play-caller and head coach Sean McDermott.
Dodson has done it before, and Bernard is already a full year-plus into the system.
Williams certainly has those opportunities to show he can do it at training camp, and probably in preseason games.
It will be a really interesting spot to watch, and he will be a main player to keep an eye on.
Round 5: Justin Shorter - Wide receiver
Shorter’s pathway to the roster is simple, but not easy.
He will have to be the sixth wide receiver who can carve out a role on special teams. Fortunately for him, that’s exactly one of his strengths. He could earn one of the starting gunner jobs on the punt team, and then be a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency receiver on game day.
The Bills may be faced with a tough decision on him at the end of camp, balancing him taking a spot on the 53-man roster for his limited role versus risking losing him to waivers if they want to put him on the practice squad, where he’d be a great fit to develop.
There is other competition for those special teams roles, and Shorter will have to prove he’s more versatile and valuable than others in the group.
Round 7: Nick Broeker - Guard
All you have to do is look at the names I posted earlier who Torrence will be in competition with and then apply it here. And for Broeker, a seventh-round choice, it will obviously be much more difficult.
Even if he shows that he might be worthy enough for a spot on the 53-man roster, will the team want to keep and have two rookies as their primary depth on the interior offensive line? That seems a bit risky, and not something Bills would typically do given their current win-now situation.
Broeker is most likely destined for the practice squad, unless he has a pretty outstanding training camp and gives the team no choice but to give him a spot.
Round 7: Alex Austin - Cornerback
There’s probably very little chance for Austin to make the roster out of camp.
Not only will he come in with nine other players at that position that he’ll be competing with, but eight of them were here last year. The ninth was a third-round pick in the league just three years ago. On top of that, five of them have been in the Bills organization and system for multiple years.
Austin is the ideal practice squad candidate, and where he will almost certainly wind up as they give him a chance to develop.
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