The Buffalo Bills finally decided to not trade back once again and they stayed put at No. 35 selecting Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker. When the Bills traded back three times in the first round, they were passing up on players that many fans thought they would have taken. Instead, a good amount fell to them, but the Bills ended up choosing Parker to start off their draft class.
Edge rusher was a need for the Bills and them selecting Parker takes care of it. Maybe they will add another one, but they have other needs to address first. One position that immediately comes to mind is linebacker and there was one prospect that Buffalo could have drafted…but now they will face him twice a year.
Bills see perfect linebacker prospect come to the AFC East and join Miami Dolphins
At pick No. 43, the Dolphins submitted their pick and they drafted Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who would have been an amazing fit for the Bills’ defense. Rodriguez was absolute baller the last two seasons at Texas Tech where he had back-to-back 125+ total tackle seasons. To go along with that, in the last two years he has also had 10 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions.
Long story short, Rodriguez would have been the perfect Matt Milano replacement for the Bills. Instead, he will now be going up against Buffalo twice a year in the AFC East. Even though Miami is in a middle of a rebuild, getting a player like Rodriguez is a solid addition for them for the future.
Buffalo has to address their linebacker room and the direction that they go in will be extremely interesting because they need someone who can compete for a starting role, and then they also need to just simply add depth.
Prior to the draft, Jeremy Fowler had reported that the Bills had done “extensive homework” on Rodriguez. When that report had come out, it would have made total sense for the Bills to take Rodriguez at some point whether or not they traded back or not.
Something must have changed for the Bills as they had four different opportunities to take Rodriguez, but decided to gain extra draft picks and then eventually pick T.J. Parker. The Dolphins have a great chance at making the Bills regret not picking Rodriguez and with Jeff Hafley leading the way for Miami, he could very well have himself a star that no one is talking about.
Add us as a preferred source on Google