The 2026 NFL Draft has come to a close, and Bills GM Brandon Beane has assembled his newest batch of greenhorn recruits for his play callers, offensive coordinator turned-head coach Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
And that's a wrap on the 2026 NFL Draft. 👏 pic.twitter.com/rJ5ZXLWXyc
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) April 25, 2026
Every draft class is a window into how the front office and coaching staff view their team's roster at each position on the depth chart, and this year is no different. With that being said, it's time to evaluate which players on the Bills now find themselves under pressure to prove their worth ahead of OTA's, preseason, and eventually, the much-anticipated regular season opener.
4 current Bills players who face pressure after 2026 NFL Draft
CB Maxwell Hairston
It was a turbulent first year in Buffalo for 2025 first-round pick Maxwell Hairston, which included him missing nearly the first two months of the season due to an injury he suffered in training camp. Hairston emerged relatively unscathed to enter the 2026 offseason as the presumptive starting cornerback alongside Christian Benford.
However, it appears that the Bills aren't willing to hand Hairston the starting gig without a fight.
On Friday night, the Bills used the 62nd overall pick to draft Davison Igbinosun, a hard-nosed boundary cornerback from Ohio State. At a team-arranged press conference later that night, GM Brandon Beane stressed that he felt that the team's roster wasn't strong enough at that position, and backed up his words the next day, using the 220th overall pick to draft the speedy Toriano Pride Jr. out of MIssouri, another cornerback.
With rumors still swirling about the possibility of bringing back legendary veteran Tre'Davious White for another year, the Bills cornerback room has gotten real crowded real fast. It's up to Hairston to translate his immense talent into a sophomore season breakout, but he'll first have to win over the coaching staff to secure that opportunity.
WR/PR Mecole Hardman
A few short months ago, Mecole Hardman opened the scoring of the Divisonal Round playoff matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos, catching a pass from Josh Allen on a designed rollout and waltzing 4 yards into the endzone unotuched.
After the NFL Draft, it's now fair to wonder whether Hardman's name will appear on Buffalo's 53-man roster come September.
Mecole Hardman is a fleet-footed wide receiver who hangs his hat on yards-after-catch (YAC) production, and provides significant surplus value as a punt returner. On Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills selected Skyler Bell out of UConn, a shifty wide receiver capable of lining up anywhere with a reputation for creating game-breaking plays after the catch.
Then, they added Jalon Kilgore from South Carolina (round 5, pick 167), a multi-positional, hyper-athletic defensive back who spent three years in college as a core special teamer returning punts.
With his relatively miniscule 1-year, $1.3 million "reserve/futures" contract, the Bills wouldn't suffer any significant cap penalties if they decide that the additions of Bell and Kilgore to their ranks makes the value Hardman brings to the roster irrelevant. In other words, Hardman is a cut candidate who will need to play his way onto the team this summer.
OL Alec Anderson
The Buffalo Bills' significant loss of starting left guard David Edwards to the New Orleans Saints via free agency had seemingly been replaced in-house. The ever-improving "swing" or "extra" offensive lineman Alec Anderson, signed by the Bills as an undrafted free agent (UDFA) in 2022 and re-signed on a 1-year deal this past offseason, was pegged to slide into the starting role in 2026, the favorite to win this key position battle on the horizon.
Very few people expected Brandon Beane to address the team's offensive line in a meaningful way during the 2026 NFL Draft, but the GM defied expectations, drafting versatile freak athlete Jude Bowry from Boston College with the 104th overall pick before doubling down with battle-tested, pro-ready Texas A&M guard Ar'Maj Reed-Adams with the team's final selection (round 7, pick 241).
Anderson has the chance to prove his worth as a starting-caliber guard, tasked with holding his own both in the run game and the pass game for one of the most productive offenses in the NFL. However, filling the shoes of Edwards won't be easy, and both Bowry and Adams should push him this offseason to earn his place among the returnees of the Bills' stellar offensive line.
P Mitch Wishnowsky
Here's a simple one to close out: Mitch Wishnowsky, re-signed to a 1-year contract in early March.Tommy Doman, drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the 239th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, is also a punter.
It will likely be less dramatic, but yes, I expect only one of them to be on the team's 53-man roster for the start of the regular season.
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