Buffalo Bills Draft: 3 linebackers the Bills could target

Nolan Smith is coming from the Georgia Bulldogs, the reigning NCAA Champions and one of the best defenses in the country; however, his senior year was cut short after eight games due to a torn pectoral muscle.  He’s ready to roll though, as we saw at the combine with his ridiculous 40 time of 4.39 and 41.5 inch vertical, both falling in the 99 percentile.  He’s 6’2″ and weighs in at 238.  NFLDraftBuzz.com has him projected as a late first-rounder.

Smith’s junior year was by far his best, recording 28 total pressures, with seven sacks on the season.  While in coverage, he allowed a quarterback rating of 68.8 as well.  Edmunds wasn’t a middle linebacker when he was drafted but the Bills moved him to the position.  Could they do the same with Nolan Smith?  He definitely has the speed to cover ground and not too many receivers will outrun him either.

He clearly has some pass rush skills though, but the Bills didn’t really utilize Edmunds much in that way, so drafting Nolan Smith, the Bills did visit with him, and not using him to pressure the quarterback, think Micah Parsons, seems like it would be a waste of his true talents.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Matt Milano move to Edmunds’ old spot and draft Smith to take Milano’s.  The team does use Milano to blitz more often from his linebacker position, so that would be fun to see Smith in that role.