Buffalo Bills select safety Damar Hamlin with the 212th overall pick

The Buffalo Bills were back on the clock nine picks after selecting wide receiver Marquez Stevenson out of the University of Houston. The pick to select Stevenson, along with this pick, was the two picks the Buffalo Bills received from the Houston Texans in their trade for the Bills pick at 174th overall in the fifth round.

The Bills, after three straight picks on the offensive side of the ball, return to the defensive side with the selection of safety Damar Hamlin out of the University of Pittsburgh. He is an experienced safety who has played 46 games over five seasons with the Panthers. He only played in two games in 2016 and nine games in 2017, missing time both years due to injury. However, he would play over 10 games each season the last three years.

Hamlin finished with 275 total tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, six interceptions, and 21 passes defended during that time. In the final three years at the University of Pittsburgh, Damar Hamlin averaged over six tackles per game and had nine of his 10 tackles for a loss during that stretch.

At 6’1″ and 200 pounds, he does have enough size to come down to the line of scrimmage to support the run but can drop back into coverage if need.

The selection of a safety certainly makes sense as the position has some questions in terms of depth behind their starters, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. It is also interesting that Damar Hamlin played four seasons with Dane Jackson, the Bills’ seventh round pick last year, at the University of Pittsburgh from 2016 to 2019.

The Buffalo Bills have two draft picks left in the 2021 NFL Draft with the next pick, 213th overall, and then in the seventh round with the 236th overall pick.