Round 5 – Pick 147 overall
Original Selection: Vosean Joseph
Re-Draft Selection: Mack Wilson
At the time of the draft, many Bills fans were excited about the future of Vosean Joseph when the Bills selected him at 147th overall. It seemed like the Bills found significant value in the 5th round by drafting a rangy athletic linebacker to provide depth behind Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds.
Considering how concerning the lack of depth behind Milano and Edmunds was this year, the miss on Joseph back in 2019 certainly stings a bit more for Brandon Beane and company. Due to a season-ending injury last year Joseph only played preseason snaps for the Bills in his rookie season. Furthermore, because of an abbreviated preseason this year, Joseph couldn’t do enough to carve out a spot for himself on the Bills roster this past year.
When looking at 147th overall, it’s obvious I will be going in another direction other than Joseph for this pick considering he didn’t even make the team in 2020. The two names that make the most sense and have had the most production in the league since 2019 are Darius Slayton and Mack Wilson.
Slayton is a burner of a receiver that has the jets to run by most corners in the league and this deep threat he possesses allows him to get open underneath as well. He took a slight set back this past year, but that could partly be due to the lack of a fully healthy Daniel Jones for the full season. If I didn’t take Terry McLaurin with the 74th overall pick Slayton would be considered much more seriously for this selection.
That leaves Mack Wilson as the next best option to replace Vosean Joseph as the 147th overall pick in this Buffalo Bills hypothetical re-draft. Although Wilson had a great career at the University of Alabama, he did not get as much love during draft season as he slid all the way into the 5th round. Wilson may not be the best linebacker, but the bar Joseph set for this re-draft pick is not very high. Wilson just needs to be a viable depth linebacker option.
Additionally, with the pending free agency of Matt Milano and the current cap hit A.J. Klein has, Wilson would be an excellent cheap alternative plan if the Bills decided to move on from Milano and Klein in this hypothetical scenario.