Buffalo Bills add several Senior Bowl standouts in 7-round mock draft
89th Overall: Travis Jones, DT University of Connecticut
Measurables: 6-4, 333lbs.
2021 Stats: 48 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 4.5 Sacks
Travis Jones is a massive human being, and Buffalo could use another massive human being to play 1-tech. Jones is yet another top performer from the Senior Bowl after a strong career for Connecticut.
Jones projects as a solid run defender at the next level who can eat up blocks from an interior offensive lineman. He had several strong reps at the Senior Bowl, but some of his tape from Connecticut is even more impressive because of the slightly lower level of competition. However, one particular rep stood out to me from the Senior Bowl when surfing through practice footage on Twitter.
In this rep, Jones beats Zion Johnson, who was named the practice player of the week for the Senior Bowl. Jones wins with his hands early and engages Johnson first. He then gets Johnson slightly off-balance and maneuvers into the hole, impacting the play.
Carson Strong with nice command at the LOS but a really nice play from UConn’s Travis Jones, who bullied Zion Johnson to get the stop #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/FIgTZJ6UeD
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) February 1, 2022
Jones does not show a ton of pass-rushing skills unless he faces offensive linemen who are clearly not strong NFL prospects. To add an ounce of optimism, I would say that Jones could develop that part of his game, considering he does show it against inferior competition. Luckily his value in the third round is still solid for the Buffalo Bills because he can easily be a day one impact player stopping the run.
Just like the interior of the offensive line, Buffalo is a little thin at defensive tackle. The only players under contract are Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, and Eli Ankou. Only Lotulelei and Ankou play the 1-tech position, and both showed in the second half of the season that they are average replaceable players.