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Pro Football Focus is known for digging deep into the numbers. That’s exactly what they did for the Bills in some recent analysis.
Buffalo, picking at No. 30 overall in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, will have to wait awhile make a selection. But despite not recording a sack last year, PFF thinks if Penn State’s Jayson Oweh is available, the Bills should take him.
Oweh was tabbed as Buffalo’s selection as a “forward-thinking prospect” that could help the team in the long term. Here’s why the football analytics outlet thinks so:
Oweh may not have recorded any sacks in 2020, but he did end the year with an 80.3 pass-rushing grade and an 89.7 run-defense grade. His pass-rushing repertoire and physicality are both areas where he needs to improve. Then again, that’s to be expected for a player who only started playing football in 2016.
Buffalo has its starters penciled in at edge defender — Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison — with 2020 draft pick A.J. Epenesa rotating in, as well. Hughes and Addison are both getting up there in age and will be free agents following this season. That means edge could quickly become a need for Buffalo.
The Bills are in a sweet spot to grab a talented player like Oweh in the back end of the first round to prevent that from happening while allowing him to continue developing in a part-time role.
On paper, addressing the defensive end position is the Bills’ biggest need for 2021 right now. But to PFF’s point, Buffalo could stand to address both the short term and longer look at the position.
Addressing the pass rush has been a struggle for the Bills under head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane. In 2020, Buffalo only had 38 sacks, putting the club right in the middle of the NFL in that statistic. The lone reliable pass rusher the Bills have had in recent memory is Jerry Hughes… but he’s been around Buffalo long before McDermott & Beane. Time to find him some help and a long-term replacement. Perhaps Oweh could cover both bases?
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