The Athletic: Buffalo Bills NFL Draft big board: Who fits best for Joe Brady and Jim Leonhard at No. 26?

Buffalo Bills NFL Draft big board: Who fits best for Joe Brady and Jim Leonhard at No. 26?

After ruling out some positions, we evaluate potential fits among players the Bills might consider drafting.

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Arvell Reese of the Ohio State Buckeyes would be an attractive option for the Bills if he's available. Luke Hales / Getty Images

The 2026 NFL Draft is quickly approaching, and while the Buffalo Bills made some moves, they still have several areas they need to and likely will address through the draft and post-draft free agency.

However, as Bills general manager Brandon Beane pointed out last week, most veteran free agents are in a holding pattern until after the draft to find the right fit. That puts full focus on Beane to find young talent in the vision of head coach Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.

As the draft nears, we’re attempting to put together what the Bills’ draft board could look like. This big board is an exercise in ordering prospects based on a player’s projected value, team needs and the precise skill sets the Bills could be targeting with their first-round pick.

There are a handful of positions you won’t see on this list, which will take some of the bigger prospect names out of the equation.

• Quarterback — Josh Allen. Enough said.
• Running back — James Cook is signed for the long term and coming off his best season.
• Tight end — The Bills have three tight ends they love. Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid and Jackson Hawes are all signed for multiple seasons.
• Defensive tackle — They used two of their first four picks in 2025 on defensive tackles, while having Ed Oliver signed to a long-term deal.

With the Bills picking at No. 26, here are 26 names that make sense for the team, considering everything they could be looking for in the first round.

1. Arvell Reese, Edge/LB, Ohio State​

Is he a linebacker or an edge rusher? For the Bills, they couldn’t care less if they could get Reese. The team has mentioned defenders who can line up in several roles, and Reese would do that swimmingly as an outside linebacker/inside linebacker hybrid. He could drop into coverage and rush the passer, keeping the guessing game going for the offense. The Bills don’t have anyone like Reese on their team.

2. David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech​

Bailey was a close runner-up to Reese in this version of the Bills big board, but it was the positional versatility that was the ultimate decider for Reese. As pure edge rushers go, Bailey is an outstanding fit for Leonhard’s scheme by bringing the explosiveness the Bills’ room really lacks. Bailey would instantly be positioned for a starting job in their base defense and plenty of sub-packages.

3. Rueben Bain Jr., Edge, Miami (FL)​

No surprise here, as edge rushers lead the top of this board. It’s a clear need to add some explosiveness to that position, and despite his short arms, Bain would be a handful for teams to deal with in Leonhard’s defense. His overall power, combined with that athleticism, also makes him a fun watch, giving him the potential to be one of the best of the class.

4. Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State​

An off-ball linebacker at No. 4 is crazy in most draft years, but his talent, athleticism and potential fit into the Bills’ defense would be excellent. Styles is likely to be a top-10 pick, and if, for some reason, he had a massive slide on draft day, the Bills would likely be very interested in finding a way to bring him in. They don’t have a second-round pick anymore, so Styles would probably have to get down into the late teens before it becomes a legitimate possibility.

5. Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State​

There is always debate over the positional value of safety and selecting one in the first round, but a talent such as Downs cannot be dismissed. His instinctive play shines through, making him an immediate and impactful player. If he were to become available at No. 26, it’s a no-doubt-about-it type of selection.

6. Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State​

The strong likelihood is that Tate will be long gone by the time the Bills pick, but he would be an outstanding fit in their offense and could pair with the DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir tandem quite well. Tate would be a big step toward making the Bills’ passing attack more explosive and more difficult to defend.

7. Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU​

Delane will be the only cornerback you see on this big board, because it would be a pretty big surprise for the Bills to invest another first-round pick in a cornerback when they did so last year with Maxwell Hairston and signed Christian Benford to a long-term deal. Delane’s ability across all schemes makes him a take-him-and-figure-it-out type of player, though.

8. Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State​

If the Bills were to actually use a first-round pick on a wide receiver after just trading for Moore, finding someone who can be a long-term fit with him and Shakir should be a priority. Tyson can move all around the formation, having the all-around skill set to play at all three positions, including some contested-catch skills. He also possesses the plus route running and separation that are proven to work well with Allen.

9. Makai Lemon, WR, USC​

Lemon is mostly a slot receiver, and the Bills are committed long term to Shakir, which is why Lemon falls below the other top receiver names. But if Lemon gets to them at No. 26, much like with Delane, you take the talent and figure the rest of it out. The Bills are unlikely to face that conundrum, however.

Cashius Howell has the speed and explosiveness that the Bills are lacking from their outside linebackers.Joe Buvid / Getty Images

10. Cashius Howell, Edge, Texas A&M​

I’ve got Howell on his own ahead of the next two pass rushers because his speed and explosiveness are a cut above the others’, and that’s what the Bills are lacking the most in the outside linebacker room. His 10-yard split time in the 40-yard dash was in the 92nd percentile at 1.58 seconds, something the Denver Broncos targeted when they took Nik Bonitto in 2022, despite length concerns. Howell has a shorter arm length than Bonitto, but at No. 26, his elite bend around the edge can make the risk worth taking.

11. T.J. Parker, Edge, Clemson​

Both of these edge rushers have the explosiveness the Bills could be looking for, but each has something that could hold them back more than Howell. Parker has great size, length and acceleration (90th percentile 10-yard split), but Howell is more polished in his arsenal of moves. Mesidor has the pass-rush moves and size, but he’ll be a 25-year-old rookie, and that’s a tough thing for teams to negotiate, considering he’ll be on the verge of his 30s by the time his second contract comes around. Parker is three-plus years younger than Mesidor. Regardless, both players have enough merits to be the Bills’ pick at No. 26.

13. Dillon Thienemen, S, Oregon​

Truth be told, I struggled with how to rank players 13 through 17 because you can make a legitimate case for all of them. This group is more like a flat tier to me, with the Bills going with their favorite of the bunch.

I put Thienemen ahead of the rest because of his versatility and how well he’d pair with Cole Bishop. Thienemen can play both free and strong safety, and he can play in the slot. They could easily find a first-year role for him, even if C.J. Gardner-Johnson is the starter. The Bills have talked all offseason about the importance of positional versatility on defense. Allen is a plug-and-play inside linebacker who would pair with Terrel Bernard in 2026. Concepcion is a fascinating target for them because he offers speed and separation, would fit well into the Bills’ rotation with his positional versatility and could be a potential explosive kick and punt return answer. Thomas is likely closer to an early second-round pick based on current projections, but if edge-rush talent gets wiped out, his speed and explosiveness off the edge give the Bills a good fallback plan. McNeil-Warren is a more prototypical safety, but one who comes with a lot of turnover production, which speaks well to the Bills. He could come in and challenge Gardner-Johnson for the starting job as early as this season.

18. Keldric Faulk, Edge, Auburn​

Faulk is a 20-year-old, nearly 6-foot-6, 276-pound power-based edge defender who could even give them reps at defensive end in this new odd man front. My lone hesitation on Faulk is how redundant his skill set could be with Greg Rousseau, whom the Bills just invested in with a long-term contract, but you could make the case that it would allow Rousseau to be a full-time outside linebacker. Regardless, upside is upside, and someone with Faulk’s youth and versatility has to be taken seriously. Faulk is ranked below R Mason Thomas only because it’s a cleaner fit for the skill set the team currently lacks at edge rusher.

19. Anthony Hill Jr., LB, Texas​

We’ve gotten to the point of the big board where, because of all the omissions at other positions, the Bills’ pick at No. 26 likely has already been listed. That said, in a worst-case scenario, you need 26 names that they could realistically select. If the Bills choose a trade-down scenario, Hill could be a realistic target either later in the first round or in the early second round. His combination of size (6-2, 238 pounds) and athleticism seems like a strong fit for what the Bills are looking for in an inside linebacker.

20. Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana​

I quite like Cooper’s game. I think his top talent of gaining yards after the catch on short-yardage targets, however, may clash with how the Bills want to deploy Moore and Shakir. That was enough to move him below a pair of defenders, but not too far.

21. Francis Mauigoa, T/G, Miami (FL)​

I lumped this quartet together because all four are potential options to be a plug-and-play starter at left guard. While it may not be the ideal use of a first-round pick based on positional value, it would solve a potential problem for years to come. Mauigoa, Fano and Proctor are listed ahead of Ioane because of their tackle-guard versatility to help out at several positions.

25. Denzel Boston, WR, Washington​

I have some slight doubts that the Bills would go after another receiver in the first round this year with a similar archetype to Keon Coleman. Boston is a big-bodied, contested-catch winner who may struggle to uncover in the deep areas of the field, which is what they hope Coleman will become. Brady’s recent comments about Coleman, combined with the messaging all offseason about their belief in the receiver’s talents if he can get the off-field piece figured out, are noteworthy. It’s slightly reminiscent of the pushback Beane gave on right tackle Spencer Brown ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, before Brown’s third professional season. They do not sound like they’re actively trying to push Coleman down the depth chart with a massive draft investment that wins the same way he does — at least not yet.

26. Zion Young, Edge, Missouri​

Young isn’t the explosive edge rusher the Bills lack, but he’s an all-around edge defender who would be useful immediately for their rotation. Young would also carry long-term starting potential in the Bills’ defense. The Bills should be interested, but his duplication of skills with those of Rousseau and Bradley Chubb lands him at No. 26.