The Buffalo Bills currently have eight picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, including four in the opening two rounds. General Manager Brandon Beane and his staff are hard at work identifying talent in order to build upon their playoff run of 2017. While the front office does their homework, our scouts have been doing theirs. Here is who they have identified as possible fits for the Buffalo Bills.

The Red-shirt senior and four year contributor (41 games) for the University of Michigan has great production. He finished his career with 130 total tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 2 forced fumbles. Hurst is currently earning his masters in child/youth social work services. He offers the speed/power combo that would make him a perfect understudy to Kyle Williams.

-Dan Lavoie (@DanRLavoie)

The burner out of Texas Tech caught scouts’ eyes as one of Pat Mahomes’s main targets. Despite the talented signal caller heading to the NFL, Coutee improved his production as TTU’s main deep threat out of the slot. Coutee has elite acceleration ability and consistently wins up the seam, and is adept at running underneath routes with lateral agility. Coutee might slip out of the top one hundred picks, and would add some much needed firepower to the Bills’ offense.

-Brad Kelly (@BradKelly17)

Keke Coutee was a standout against Kansas State Stem attacks DB’s “short arm” (inside arm), done in order to get DB to “freeze.” Once Coutee has him beat vertically, he snaps his head back to track the ball Elite acceleration. pic.twitter.com/PJl1RY1GXf — Brad Kelly (@BradKelly17) February 15, 2018

The Virginia defense played him in a lot of weird spots on their 3-man front. He’s not fast enough to play as a 5-technique, but they played him there anyways. At the Senior Bowl, the burst from Brown was consistently on display. He proved that he should have been playing as a 3-technique a long time ago. He looks much more comfortable rushing an interior offensive lineman compared to an offensive tackle on the outside. He plays stoutly, works his hands, and does a nice job penetrating the backfield. Whether Kyle Williams is back or not, Brown is definitely a fit at defensive tackle for the Bills.

-Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft)

Andrew Brown is physical @ the POA. Blocker can’t dig him out. RB runs right up the blocker’s back! #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/mGinM5SaSD — DLineVids (@DLineVids) January 28, 2018

General Manager Brandon Beane has made it clear from day one, it is his job to find this organization a franchise quarterback. Darnold’s 2017 campaign was littered with bad decisions leading to turnovers, but his arm talent and athletic ability seem too perfect for new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s offense. Daboll will likely stay true to his Patriots roots and employ the Erhardt-Perkins passing scheme. However, I expect him to augment it with some college flair that he picked up while at Alabama last season. The typical short passing game will likely include a fair amount of Run-Pass Options that he implemented for QB Jalen Hurts, and that plays right into Darnold’s strengths. Darnold displays the ability to read coverages pre- to post-snap and anticipate and throw accurate balls, especially in the short area, but he is also able to play outside the structure of the play. He’s the big, athletic quarterback Beane is used to, and I believe the one that the organization has fallen in love with.

But it’s these kinds of plays that have coaches at the next level drooling. On this play in the Cotton Bowl, Darnold moves the second level defender and anticipates the dig route to WR Burnett a full window over.

Scouting Report: https://t.co/e60h7PVXeJ pic.twitter.com/xwMYcRJISb — Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) February 16, 2018

-Erik Turner (@Cover_1_)

_______________________________________________________________

We have you covered off the field too at Cover 1 | The Shop

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Subscribe to the Cover 1 | Buffalo Podcast on iTunes

Subscribe to the Cover 1 | Buffalo Podcast on Google Play

Subscribe to the Cover 1 | NFL Draft Podcast on iTunes

Subscribe to the Cover 1 | NFL Draft Podcast on Google Play

Become a Premium Member Today!

Exclusive members-only content

Sneak peek at content

In-depth analysis, including scheme, play and player breakdowns

Scouting reports and advanced analytics analysis

Access on unlimited devices

And More!

_______________________________________________________________

Affiliate Sponsors