For as much as the Buffalo Bills invested in their defense before this season, there was very little return on investment. While players like Deone Walker and Joey Bosa delivered, the defense is still a little bit of a mess that needs to be fixed this coming offseason.
When the 2025 NFL draft approached, the obvious thought was that Buffalo was going to get a cornerback early on. Even though the Bills had their CB1 in Christian Benford and brought back Tre’Davious White, the secondary still need some help that could be developed over time. The Bills ended up taking CB Maxwell Hairston, who has shown some flashes this season but also has a lot of work to do to grow as a player.
The Bills took an interesting route in this past year’s draft. It’s one thing to invest in one side of the ball, but you would think that they would add some early talent for both sides of the ball. Instead, they waited to draft their first offensive player in the 5th-round (TE Jackson Hawes).
Then when it came to the wide receiver position, the Bills didn’t draft one until the final round in Kaden Prather, who didn’t play in one game for the Bills in the regular season.
This season, the Bills surely could have used an impactful rookie receiver considering what the result has been for their wide receiver group. This has been arguably the worst receiver group that Josh Allen has had in his career. It surely makes you wonder how the offense could have looked if they drafted a wide receiver in 2025 early on.
Bills start the fix to WR position in 2025 NFL re-draft
Brent Sobleski from Bleacher Report put together a 2025 NFL Re-Draft that has the Bills correcting the wide receiver position. With the 30th overall pick in Sobleski’s re-draft, the Bills selected WR Jayden Higgins, who was originally the 34th overall pick to the Houston Texans.
"Higgins has the traits the Bills want in a WR1. He's actually slightly bigger (6'4", 214 lbs), longer and definitely faster than Coleman. As a rookie, he produced more as well. His 41 receptions would rank second on the Bills, with six touchdown grabs leading the way. Imagine playing in an offense where Josh Allen is throwing to him."Brent Sobieski, Bleacher Report
Higgins finished the regular season with 41 catches for 525 yards and 6 touchdowns. He will now be able to contribute in the playoffs, depending on how long Houston stays in it.
Even in an offense that has Nico Collins, Dalton Schultz, and another rookie receiver in Jaylin Noel, Higgins showed signs of being a solid wide receiver in this league. The fact that his regular season stats would have put him as one of Buffalo’s top receivers shows how underwhelming the Bills’ receivers have been this season.
In terms of receiving yards, he would have only been behind Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid. That should show Bills fans just how much Brandon Beane must fix this position this coming offseason.