Buffalo Bills 2020 NFL Draft: Quick reaction grade for Tyler Bass

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 21: Tyler Bass #16 of the Georgia Southern Eagles kicks a field goal during the third quarter of 2019 Cure Bowl against the Liberty Flames at Exploria Stadium on December 21, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 21: Tyler Bass #16 of the Georgia Southern Eagles kicks a field goal during the third quarter of 2019 Cure Bowl against the Liberty Flames at Exploria Stadium on December 21, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

This is our grade for the Buffalo Bills selecting kicker Tyler Bass out of Georgia Southern in the sixth round.

The Buffalo Bills after selecting quarterback Jake Fromm, select place kicker Tyler Bass out of Georgia Southern. This is the first time the Bills selected a kicker since 2013 when they picked Dustin Hopkins.

The selection of Bass, especially at this point in the NFL Draft, is certainly an interesting one. He wasn’t the first placekicker taken in the 2020 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots took one in the fifth, but selecting Bass in the sixth should put Stephen Hauschka on notice.

This is not them using their final pick in the NFL Draft and seeing them take one here means he has a real chance at making the roster in 2020.

In college, Bass went 54 of 68 on field goal attempts and 114 out of 116 on extra point attempts. This is a rather small sample size for a college kicker but he appears to really helped his draft stock with his performance at the Senior Bowl.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted out a video of Bass hitting the upright from 58 yards out and he hit it about halfway up. That is some serious leg power, which is an area Hauschka struggled in last year, that should be able to compete against the winds in Western New York.

Entering this NFL Draft and with the lack of glaring needs, I thought that the team could select a kicker. However, I expected it to be in the final round so the value may not be there but the thought process certainly makes sense.

Grade: B

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