Orchard Park, NY (WGR550) - The 2026 NFL Draft may be remembered as the “upside down” draft for the Buffalo Bills.
Usually, teams find potential starters early, then fill in for depth later. The Bills, even unintentionally by sticking to their board, may have done that in reverse this year.
To start the draft off, they traded out of the first-round entirely Thursday night, electing not to select anyone until pick No. 35 overall. And when they finally did, it was Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker, followed by Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun 27 picks later.
Even though they were the team’s first two selections, both are considered depth players behind starters ahead of them.
Then came Day 3 and round four. The Bills held the very first pick of the day in their hands, but traded down yet again, this time one spot, picking up a seventh round pick from the Raiders next year in return, before eventually choosing three new players.
And all of them have a chance to play right away.
First, at No. 102, it was Boston College offensive lineman Jude Bowry, who played left tackle for the Eagles, but may project to guard in the NFL. If he stays at tackle, Bowry could become the Bills swing tackle, replacing the departed Ryan Van Demark, who started four games last year and two in 2024 because of injuries to either Dion Dawkins or Spencer Brown.
If the Bills decide Bowry’s best spot is guard, he would compete right away with Alec Anderson, Austin Corbett, and Chase Lundt for the starting left guard spot, the only position that appears to be wide-open on the roster right now.
Speaking of Lundt, the Bills went back to his former school, UConn, for their next selection, taking highly productive wideout Skyler Bell with pick No. 125, who has a big opportunity in front of him to unlock significant playing time.
Bell was one of only four players in all of college football to catch over 100 passes last season (101). He also had the second-most receiving yards in college football (1,278), and third-most touchdown receptions (13). Bell had seven 100-plus-yard receiving games last season, tied for the most in the nation.
Bell is an older prospect. He’ll be 24 in July. He began his career in the Big Ten at Wisconsin and played five years of college football.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him lining up and catching passes from Josh Allen pretty early in his NFL career.
There could also be an opening on the Bills roster for playing time at inside linebacker next to Terrel Bernard. Maybe even an available starting job.
It looks like Dorian Williams would be in that role right now, but he’s far from a certainty to be the starter. The Bills chose Kaleb Elarms-Orr out of TCU with their third fourth-round pick, No. 126 overall.
Elarms-Orr can go sideline-to-sideline. He’s fast and can track down ball carriers. He can also be an effective blitzer. It might be too tough for him to beat out Williams or even Joe Andreessen - who projects well in the new defense - right away, but he should absolutely have an opportunity to do that, and maybe eventually does.
Finally, with the 167th pick overall and first of two fifth-round choices, the Bills selected safety Jalon Kilgore, who may underscore this point as much as anyone.
New defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard specifically said in his introductory press conference he does his best with "guys who don't fit in a box." Jalon Kilgore is that guy. He's the ultimate chess piece. Kilgore can play safety, nickel cornerback, cover tight ends, and play in the box against the run. He’s a big-nickel type player.
NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein had Kilgore pegged as a second-round pick. Dane Brugler had him as a third-rounder. Sometimes players like that fall because they don't have a true position and teams aren't exactly sure a plan for where they want to play them.
It sounds like Leonhard does, and in his hybrid defense that could happen pretty quickly.
The depth may have come early in this draft. The potential starters may have come later. A bit of an upside down type of draft.
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