Kansas City, Mo. (WGR 550) - Following the departure of former first-round linebacker Tremaine Edmunds during NFL Free Agency last month, the Buffalo Bills address the position on Friday during the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
With the 91st overall selection, the Bills pick up linebacker Dorian Williams out of Tulane University.
Williams spent four seasons playing college football in New Orleans at Tulane, appearing in 49 games and registering 316 total tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 13 passes defended, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
The 21-year-old linebacker was a huge piece of a Green Wave defense that helped turn the program around as a senior, picking up 132 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, seven passes defended, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. Tulane went from a 2-10 program to a 12-2 record in 2022, as well as a win in the Cotton Bowl over USC.
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Here is what NFL Draft analyst Chad Reuter had to say about the 6-foot-1 and 228-pound linebacker from Indian Land, South Carolina:
"Williams is a South Carolina native who flipped from Coastal Carolina to Tulane late in the recruiting process. He enrolled in school a semester early and contributed in 11 games as a reserve as a true freshman (nine tackles). Williams was a second-team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2020, ranking second in the FBS with 16.5 tackles for loss (with 4.5 sacks) and leading his squad with 98 tackles (also three pass breakups) in 12 games (four starts). He garnered honorable mention All-AAC notice in 2021 (73 tackles, three for loss with one sack, three pass breakups) after starting eight of 12 games played. Williams was ejected for targeting in the first half against Ole Miss. He was a first-team All-AAC pick as a senior because he filled up the stat sheet in 14 starts, tying for ninth in the FBS with 132 tackles (ranking third with 81 solo stops) and posting 8.5 tackles for loss with a team-high five sacks, two interceptions, seven pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He was the Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP with 17 tackles in the win over USC."
The Bills will next pick in the fifth round (137th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft, a pick that was originally owned by the Arizona Cardinals.
