DeAngelo Malone reportedly has private workout with Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills are reportedly showing interest in DeAngelo Malone out of Western Kentucky ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft
One player that could be moving up the Buffalo Bills draft board is edge rusher DeAngelo Malone out of Western Kentucky. According to Aaron Wilson with Pro Football Network, the Bills are one of three teams that have private workouts scheduled with Malone before the NFL Draft later this month.
He also has a number of visits scheduled with other teams over the next few weeks as well.
"With the NFL Draft just a few weeks away, Malone has visits with the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, and Atlanta Falcons. He also has private workouts with the Buffalo Bills, Colts and Cincinnati Bengals, according to a league source."
Malone played five seasons for Western Kentucky and was named CUSA Defensive Player of the Year twice (2019, 2021). He has 349 total tackles, 59 tackles for a loss, and 32.5 sacks in 61 career games.
DeAngelo Malone has the skills to develop into a 4-3 linebacker for the Buffalo Bills
At first glance, Malone doesn’t look to be a good fit for the defense the Buffalo Bills run as he projects to be more of a 3-4 linebacker while the Bills typically play four down linemen with two linebackers. However, the scouting report by Lance Zierlien on NFL.com talks about a player who does have “range and talent for consideration as a 4-3 linebacker”.
At Western Kentucky, he was a linebacker that could be seen making plays consistently behind the line of scrimmage and if the Bills were to draft a player like Malone, it could give the coaching staff more flexibility to play with three linebackers on the field to match up against some more of the physical, power running offenses.
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However, he does look like a player who will need time to develop and may not be ready for a prominent role on the defense for a few seasons. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to contribute as a rookie but it likely would have to come on special teams. He could be a replacement for Tyrel Dodson, who has been a big special teams contributor but could be seeing an expanded role on defense in place of A.J. Klein, who was released this offseason.