Buffalo Bills 2022 NFL Draft Prospect to Know: Ty Chandler
After four seasons at the University of Tennessee, Ty Chandler played one season with the University of North Carolina and had a breakout season. He has worked his way into likely being a Day 3 draft pick and the Buffalo Bills could be a team that targets him to help the running back position.
Measurables/Stats
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 204 pounds
Arms: 32 1/8″
Hands: 9″
In four seasons with the Vols, Chandler had 2,046 rushing yards, 465 receiving yards and 16 total touchdowns. During that stretch, he never had more than 700 rushing yards or four rushing touchdowns.
However, that changed in his first season with the Tar Heels. He would have 182 rushing attempts, 1,092 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns with 216 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
This past season, Chandler had some huge games like against Virginia when he had 20 rushing attempts, 198 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He would follow that up about two months later with 22 rushing attempts, 213 rushing yards, and four rushing touchdowns against Wake Forest.
NFL.com Scouting Report by Lance Zierlein
"His impressive 2021 should pump some life into Chandler’s draft stock. After sharing carries at Tennessee, Chandler took a bigger bite out of the pie at North Carolina, seeing spikes in yardage, yards per carry and touchdown production. He’s a smooth strider who can become a little disjointed when processing and attacking the blocking scheme. Chandler needs to turn up the play speed in the early stages to attack the fleeting run lanes he will see in the pros. In a deep running back draft, Chandler’s ability to catch passes and return kicks should help improve his chance of being selected on Day 3."
How Ty Chandler fits with the Buffalo Bills
If the Buffalo Bills were to draft Ty Chandler, he would likely be a pass catching running back for this offense. As Lance Zierlein noted in his scouting report, this is certainly a strength of his game and the Bills have been looking for a running back to help in this area.
The added bonus though is that Chandler does have experience returning kicks. In his first three seasons with the Vols, he had 35 kick returns with an average of 22.3 yards per return. Chandler also had one kick return for a touchdown in his first season with Tennessee.
The Buffalo Bills don’t have a clear favorite right now to return kicks and it should be an open competition with players like Isaiah McKenzie, Marquez Stevenson, or even Taiwan Jones. If the Bills were to draft Chandler, he should factor into that position battle this summer.