While ESPN draft analysts Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. are known for their bickering, in terms of the 2021 NFL Draft and the Buffalo Bills, the duo is actually on the same page as things currently sit.
On Wednesday, McShay released his second mock draft of the offseason and switched his pick. After slating Ohio State offensive lineman Wyatt Davis to the Bills, the selection is now Alabama running back Najee Harris.
Harris is a dynamic rusher who caught plenty of eyes in 2020. In doing so, he capture Kiper’s attention as he also sent Harris to Buffalo in his most-recent mock.
In terms of the latest guess, here’s how McShay breaks down the move:
It has been three years since we had multiple running backs in Round 1, and Kiper will shake his head at this pick, but the Bills’ run offense was a visible issue during their playoff run. Quarterback Josh Allen led the team in rushing over three games with 145 yards and no running back broke 65 in total. During the regular season, the Bills averaged 4.2 yards per carry, but no player broke 700 yards on the ground.
Devin Singletary looks more effective as a third-down back and Zack Moss struggled to stay healthy this season. After spending third-rounders on each of them over the past two drafts, it’s time for Buffalo to get a true difference-maker in the run game to balance the Allen-Stefon Diggs connection in the pass game. Harris showcased his strength, size and speed en route to 1,466 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns this season.
Kind of funny that McShay makes his own Kiper comment, isn’t it? Evidently he does not read his co-worker’s analysis because trust us, Kiper made the exact same pick for Buffalo recently.
But as McShay references, he does have two first-round rushers as Clemson’s Travis Etienne is selected at No. 23 overall by the Jets. On the potential Bills rusher in Harris, as eluded to, he projects as the type of do-to-all running back that the Bills do lack.
Harris recently helped Alabama take home a national title… rushing for 79 yards (3.6 average) and catching another 79 yards in that game. The 6-foot-2, 230 pound rusher averaged an impressive 5.8 yards per carry on the season.
Considering we’ve had several early-offseason connections made between the Bills and Harris, he’s a guy to keep on your draft radar for now… but we’ve got a long ways to go.
Via a quick skim in McShay’s latest draft, we’ve also got a bit of AFC East mentioning to do. The Jets take a quarterback at the No. 2 pick, BYU’s Zach Wilson, which would spell the end of Sam Darnold‘s tenure in New York. The divisional interest also continues as the Dolphins move back from the No. 3 pick to No. 8 in a deal with the Carolina Panthers and land Alabama wideout Jaylen Waddle. So on the flip side, no new QB in Miami.
Lots of AFC East intrigue potentially lining up at the top of the draft.
[lawrence-related id=78200,78198,78194,78189]