It was the 2020 season where the Buffalo Bills discovered that Josh Allen was indeed their franchise quarterback. While he had shown flashes in his first two seasons, his third year was where he made a massive jump and proved that he was the face of the franchise.
After Buffalo made it to the AFC championship game that season, it was clear that they were in the Super Bowl window from there on out. Now it was time to shape out the rest of the roster, including finding a premier edge rusher who could get the ball back to the offense.
In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bills drafted Miami edge rusher Greg Rousseau in the first round who recently just got a four-year extension from the team. For the past four seasons, Rousseau has improved his game and has become a solid disrupter, both against the pass and rush. His numbers aren’t the most impressive, but for anyone that watches Bills games can see that Rousseau applies a lot of pressure.
Now imagine a world where the Bills didn’t draft Rousseau…
PFF 2021 redraft has Bills losing out on Greg Rousseau, drafting a current division rival
Max Chadwick, Trevor Sikkema, and Dalton Wasserman from Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently created a 2021 NFL redraft based on how players have performed up to this point in their careers. Believe it or not, the Bills wouldn’t have had the chance to get Rousseau in this redraft as he went to the Cardinals at No. 16 overall.
Instead, at No. 30 in PFF’s redraft the Bills selected current New England Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams. Here’s a bit on what was said about Williams:
"If it's to be believed that Milton's 2024 campaign is his new normal, then he should be picked much higher in this redraft. His 0.31 PFF WAR in 2024 ranked sixth in the league last season. While his 91.7 PFF pass-rush grade was incredibly impressive, his 41.0 PFF run-defense grade left a lot to be desired. We’ll see how well-rounded Milton's game can be with the Patriots in 2025 and beyond."Chadwick, Wasserman, Sikkema, PFF
Before joining the Patriots in free agency, Williams was with the Philadelphia Eagles for four seasons and he broke out last season in time to land a four-year, $104 million deal from New England.
Now granted, I believe that the Bills are more than happy with getting Rousseau in this draft but having someone like Williams to pair next to Ed Oliver would have been great for the middle of the trenches. Instead, the Bills will face off against Williams twice a year when they face New England. We will soon find out whether or not the Patriots made the right move to invest a lot of money into a defensive tackle who has had no more than five sacks in a season.