Round 1, 20th Overall: Caleb Farley (CB), Virginia Tech
The Buffalo Bills finally gets a starting caliber cornerback opposite of Tre’Davious White with the long limbed Farley, who offers everything teams want at the position.
A two-year starter at Virginia Tech, Farley was really solid in his freshman season with two interceptions and seven passes defended in 13 games. The talented cornerback would become more recognized due to his great sophomore season, where he finished with four interceptions and 12 passes defended in just 10 games.
At 6’2″ and 197 pounds, Farley is an ideal size to fit in the Bills defensive scheme, which relies heavily on zone coverage. Quarterbacks will have a tough time targeting him considering the amount of the field he is capable of covering.
Farley is plenty capable of playing man coverage in college and the Bills could use that to their advantage. By having a lockdown cornerback on each side, it would be similar to what the Jaguars had with Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye from a few years ago. Joe Marino cites why Farley is so successful in man coverage:
"Outstanding is press coverage – does well to stay square, crowd, remain balanced and leveraged with terrific hand placement. Has the power in his punch to redirect receivers and destroy route timing. Sticky in man coverage as routes elongate – naturally mirrors routes and stays connected. Often looks like he’s running the route for the receiver."
Having Farley as somebody with no physical limitations and the ability to bully receivers at the line it should contrast greatly from the limited cornerbacks who have occupied the spot over the last couple of seasons (Levi Wallace & Josh Norman).
In the red zone, Farley is tough to beat and there’s almost no point to try and create a jump ball situation against him with his great size and ball skills.
He makes the pass breakup above look effortless and never gave the North Carolina receiver a chance.