Justin’s 2023 NFL Draft Wishlist For the Buffalo Bills
Iowa Linebacker - Jack Campbell
Image: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen
The 2023 NFL offseason is well underway, and the Buffalo Bills have been busy. Granted, this offseason hasn’t started with the bang we had last year of signing Von Miller, but some tinkering has been done to improve an already outstanding roster. Brandon Beane has added players, who at least on paper are upgrades to some positions last year. Beane has upgraded Mckenzie with Harty, Kumerow with Sherfield, and brought in a different style of RB to compliment Cook and Hines in Harris. Also, the additions of McGovern and Edwards will hopefully be upgrades at the starting guard position and OL depth.
While the team lost Edmunds at LB, they brought back All-Pro Po on a very modest deal, my favorite move of the offseason. Beane also bolstered the safety depth, possibly bringing in a long-term replacement in Taylor Rapp. The team also restructured Tim Settle and brought back Jordan Philips to establish a floor on the defensive line.
With these moves, Brandon Beane did a good job filling needs before the draft. This has been something that we’ve seen from Beane every year; he likes to fill holes and depth through free agency to give himself flexibility in the draft. With that said I will be looking at my top three wishes for the 2023 draft.
Linebacker
With the departure of Edmunds, this has immediately become a huge need for the Bills. We have heard Beane and McDermott discuss the possibility of the replacement being on the roster. I personally don’t have faith in the combination of Dodson, Bernard, and Spector to replace Tremaine Edmunds. While it’s not a great strategy to fall in love with players in the draft, I have done just that with Jack Campbell. I don’t feel like this class has many options at LB that give you similar skill sets to Edmunds that the Bills covet. Campbell has the combination of speed, size, and coverage to make him a great fit in this defense. While I prefer the option to trade down and maybe take him earlier in the second round, I think the Bills have left themselves in a very tough spot and need to ensure this position is addressed. If Campbell is there at 27, I’m not sure I would play games with trading down and missing on the most obvious hole on the roster.
Trenches
Go get some big boys! On the defensive line, I mentioned that the team had kept Settle and brought back Philips. Even with those two moves, the team currently has zero DTs under contract for next year. I would love to see a Daquan Jones extension, but even with that, we need to add to this room. On the offensive side, Beane has seemingly done a good job bolstering the starters and rounding out depth. We hope McGovern upgrades Saffold ( and it would be hard not to), but we also thought Saffold would be an upgrade last year. We also have question marks at RT. I personally have faith in Spencer Brown, as he’s had a bizarre path to the NFL, and was thrust into a starting job almost immediately. He played eight-man football in high school, missed a season in college due to Covid, and missed last offseason with back surgery. I still have faith in Brown, but there’s no denying his up-and-down play to this point, and I would like to see some meaningful competition.
Weapons for Allen
No. This is not where I say I want Bijan Robinson. I feel like the RB room gets harsh criticism, despite the ground game being reasonably efficient in the relatively limited use. I don’t think investing heavily in the ground game is the way to go. Yes, we can work on balance, but you have Joshua Freaking Allen. Supply him with weapons! While I like the additions of Harty and Sherfield, I think an investment can still be made at receiver. We should be looking for someone who can play the opposite of Diggs and possibly even be his replacement. Gabe Davis has been up and down, but even if he has a great year, he will probably price himself out of Buffalo if the Bills even want to bring him back. Regarding weapons for Allen, I don’t consider this exclusively a WR proposition. This is a very deep TE class, and drafting a TE could allow for a legitimate threat from both spots in 12 personnel and make both the passing and run game more effective. The days of Bobby Hart coming in as the jumbo TE could be behind us.
Justin Goddard’s Mock Draft 2.0 for the Buffalo Bills
Let me know what you think in the comments, and drop your favorite prospects you’d like to see the Buffalo Bills target in the draft.
