The 2021 NFL draft was held April 29 through May 1 and every Buffalo Bills draft pick has been analyzed here.
After last season s virtual draft, Cleveland played host to festivities this year with a handful of potential draft picks present and socially distanced because of COVID-19.
Here s a pick-by-pick look at how each player Buffalo has selected will fit.
Round 1, No. 30 overall: Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami
My take: Selecting Rousseau made perfect sense considering how the board played out. Buffalo has an impending need at defensive end and wouldn t be able to get one with Rousseau s ceiling if it waited any longer. He is still learning the position but should be able to contribute as both a defensive end and interior pass-rusher. Next to 2019 first-round pick Ed Oliver, he could provide the type of pressure Buffalo often lacked last season.
5 thoughts and a grade on Buffalo Bills drafting Wake Forest DE Boogie Basham
Updated 1:54 AM;
Today 1:51 AM
After Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane drafted Gregory Rousseau on Thursday night, he was asked whether adding an edge rusher was the plan going into the NFL Draft.
“(We wanted) Anybody that can affect the passer, so we could have gone interior, on the edge,” he said. “Pass rusher is a premium position. After you get quarterbacks, probably the next highest position is pass rusher.”
About 24 hours laters, Beane pulled the trigger on another pass rusher in the second round by taking Wake Forest defensive end Carlos “Boogie” Basham Jr. There were other options on the board. But after watching the Bills struggle to get to the quarterback last season - especially in the AFC title game - he’s not taking any chances when it comes to a repeat performance in 2021.
Top 5 things we learned from the Bills | 2021 NFL Draft night two May 01, 2021 at 01:21 AM Copied!
Brandon Beane had a trade in place with an NFC team to move out of the second round on Friday, but only if the one player the Bills had their eye on was no longer available.
Instead, the Bills got their guy in defensive end Boogie Basham with the 61st overall pick. They added offensive tackle Spencer Brown in the third round at No. 93 overall. What we try to do prior to the draft is just set us up to take the best player on our board, the Bills general manager said afterward. That s what we ve done.
Greg Rousseau a top-10 talent, steal for Buffalo Bills, says Manny Diaz
Updated Apr 30, 2021;
Posted Apr 30, 2021
Miami defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau (15) celebrates with head coach Manny Diaz in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Pittsburgh, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes open the season Sept. 10 at home against UAB, with Miami looking for much better play from the offense in 2020.AP
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Gregory Rousseau tumbled down the draft board on the first night of the 2021 NFL Draft and landed right in the laps of the Buffalo Bills.
Rousseau, once Daniel Jeremiah’s top edge rusher, was productive in his redshirt freshman season (15.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss) with the Miami Hurricanes, but opting out in 2020 and an underwhelming pro day led to his stock plummeting leading up to the draft.