Ranking the last 10 first round picks in NFL Draft for the Buffalo Bills

#4-Ed Oliver, 2019, Pick #9

The Bills, after acquiring their soon to be star quarterback, decided to grab a defensive tackle with the ninth pick in the 2019 draft. His name is Ed Oliver. With not reaching too high in this draft, and being at #9, Beane decided to stay put.

After seeing the first defensive tackle off the board in Quinnen Williams to the Jets, his big hope was to land Ed at #9. The Lions were on the board before the Bills, and they decided to select T.J. Hockenson, which Brandon Beane was ecstatic in landing his guy at #9.

Ed Oliver was a key piece for this defense moving forward, shoring up the interior of the defense. Even though he was not as productive as other DTs that went after him (Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, and Jeffery Simmons) he had been solid for the Bills, in the same way that Tremaine was.

His rookie season included 43 tackles, 24 solo, 5 sacks, and one forced fumble. From there, he hasn't been able to produce at least another 5 sack season, until 2023. 2022, he had been dealing with a foot injury that plagued him for the 2nd half of that season. Also, with being a smaller defender, the worry always was that he couldn't produce without a large 1T next to him.

That had shown a bit in the 2022 playoffs when DaQuan Jones was injured, but again, that injury affected his play as well. From that offseason, the Bills signed Ed to a modest contract that seemed like an overpay relative to the production up to that point. The 2023 Ed Oliver proved everyone wrong, and he had a career year, logging 9.5 sacks and an INT. If it wasn't for his breakout year in 2023, I would have given him a C+, but because of 2023, I give him a solid B.