The Buffalo Bills can now turn their focus toward the NFL Draft now that Joe Brady is settled into his new role as head coach. While free agency will be an opportunity to add some star power to the roster, the draft will go a long way in giving Bills Mafia a clearer idea of what Brady is looking to build in Buffalo as his tenure gets started.
That said, not every player in the draft is going to fit the vision Brady is aiming to materialize in Orchard Park. Between Brady’s established ideas on offense and the new identity coming with defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, plenty of players who will hear their names called in the first few rounds of the draft simply won’t be a fit for Buffalo one way or another.
Let’s take a look at some specific players the Bills likely won’t target in the upcoming NFL Draft.
2026 Draft propects Joe Brady's Bills likely won't be selecting
Ohio State WR Carnell Tate
It’s not that the Bills shouldn’t or wouldn’t have interest in Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, the consensus top player at his position in the class. Instead, the Bills are much less likely to make a drastic trade-up to select him or a player like him.
The Bills certainly need wide receiver help, but ultimately, they need a veteran who is a proven No. 1 target rather than another young player to develop into the role. After all, Keon Coleman is just 23 years old, and if the team is continuing to publicly back him as Josh Allen and Brady have, moving up for another young talent at the position just muddies the depth chart.
Tate is a fantastic receiver, and one Buffalo would love to have on its roster, but it’s not as though he’s the hottest receiver prospect to come out of Columbus in recent years. He’s not Jeremiah Smith, either. Whether the Bills look to a receiver in the first round is something the Mafia can debate for the next few months. Moving up for one, though, seems largely out of the question.
Arizona State CB Keith Abney II
Keith Abney II is a likely Day 2 selection and a fantastic zone-scheme cornerback out of Arizona State. While he has effective experience in man coverage, his athletic profile signals greater issues at the NFL level. That’s why he, and similarly talented cornerbacks, likely won’t be on the Bills’ radar.
In 2025, the Denver Broncos ran man coverage on 33% of snaps, the second-highest rate in the league. Having Patrick Surtain as a shutdown corner affords any defense the chance to do so, but with Jim Leonhard taking over the defense in Buffalo from Denver, man-coverage talent will be a requirement for cornerbacks if they are to suit up for the Bills’ defense going forward.
If the Bills do look for secondary help on Day 2 of the draft, names like Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds and Ohio State’s Davison Igbinosun will better match the aggression and man-coverage skills Leonhard values in his defensive scheme.
Texas Tech DL Lee Hunter
Just as Abney isn’t the fit for Buffalo on the back end of the new defensive scheme, Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter is in a similar situation. Hunter is also a Day 2 prospect, and at 6-foot-4, 320 pounds with 35-inch arms, his size profile is enough to draw some intrigue.
However, Hunter doesn’t bring what Buffalo needs for its interior. Hunter is a run-gap filler rather than an interior pass rush threat. Of course, the Bills want to do better to stop the run after finishing 28th in run defense in 2025. However, Brady and Leonhard have preached more on the importance of affecting quarterback play since taking their new positions.
With Ed Oliver as a veteran piece capable of doing it all and rookie Deone Walker proving to be a strong run defender in Year 1, the Bills should be more interested in acquiring interior pass-rushing threats to work into the rotation on passing downs. Hunter’s Red Raider teammate, Skylar Gill-Howard, a 6-foot-1, 290-pound gap penetrator with 6 sacks at Northern Illinois before missing most of 2025 with injury, is a better example of a player who might better fit what the Bills are looking for up front.