Another exciting draft has come and gone for Orchard Park, New York, and the Buffalo Bills. This version once again did not disappoint.

With the Bills poised to become Super Bowl contenders once again, led by superstar quarterback Josh Allen, let’s see who the Bills chose to help them reach the pinnacle of success.

Former Utah Utes’ TE Dalton Kincaid (86) – Christian Petersen / Getty Images

Buffalo Bills 2023 NFL Draft Picks

Round 1, Pick (25) | Dalton Kincaid (TE)

In round one, the Bills traded up two spots from their original pick at number 27 with the New York Giants to number 25 to fill their number two tight end need. They ended up selecting Dalton Kincaid from the University of Utah. If you watch Kincaid play, he is not a natural tight end; he is more of a natural receiver in a tight end’s body.

He is kind of undersized at 6’4″, 240 lbs., and was flying under the radar. To some draft experts, the former Utah player has some of the best ball skills in a TE prospect.

While he did not run the 40, he would probably run it somewhere in the 4.5s. The fastest for a recent TE is current Atlanta Falcons starter Kyle Pitts, who ran an eyepopping 4.44 back in 2021.

Kincaid is absolutely the number two the Bills have been looking for ever since we’ve paid Dawson Knox a ton of money. He’s the only tight end Allen has been throwing to. Now, we will have another guy open when Knox is in trouble.

He kind of reminds me of Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz. How much scarier did the Bills just make their offense with just this one selection in the draft?

I definitely think this was a good choice made by the Bills.

Round 2, Pick (59) | O’Cyrus Torrance (OG)

When you take a look at a player like O’Cyrus Torrance, you sit back and go, “How did the Bills grab him in the second round?” He played for the Florida Gators, and even though they were only a .500 overall team, they played in the toughest conference in Division I football (SEC).

Also, his teammate was a daredevil at quarterback in both throwing and running the football but only made 13 career starts in, Anthony Richardson (congrats to him on going 4th overall to the Indianapolis Colts).

The most impressive stat as an o-lineman that jumps out is that he never allowed a single sack in college. I don’t care what level of football you play, your number-one job as an 0-lineman is to keep the quarterback protected, and he did that to perfection. Did I mention he’s a big boy at 6’5″, 330 lbs?

Those numbers sound like a first-round prospect to me, and this is exactly what the Bills are getting here. I would start him at right guard right out of the gates, and he will make sure to keep Josh Allen upright this year and beyond.

That is another great pick by the team.

 

Former Tulane Green Wave LB Dorian Williams (2) – Tyler Kaufman / AP Photo

Round 3, Pick (91) | Dorian Williams (LB)

While he might not be as big as Tremaine Edmunds or as good in coverage, he is very fast and is a tackling machine at 6’2″, 230 lbs. Williams ran a 4.49, which would make him one of the fastest linebackers on our current core. In 2022 at Tulane, Williams racked up 131 tackles, five sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

To me, this is a solid third-round pick for the Bills. It does fill a hole at linebacker and while it may not exactly satisfy the public by replacing Edmunds, it does allow the Bills to be more versatile with how they used their linebackers with Head Coach Sean McDermott calling the plays.

Now with more speed in the linebacking corps, they can use Williams’ 4.49 forty time to good use by blitzing him like a second Von Miller in late-game situations. This is key especially when they are playing Mahomes and the Chiefs or Burrow and the Bengals.

Also, he already can tackle, which is another fundamental element you can’t coach.

It is a necessary pick for the Bills.

 

Former Florida Gators’ WR Justin Shorter (89) – Matthew Hinton / AP Photo

Round 5, Pick (150) | Justin Shorter (WR)

The Bills traded down from pick number 137 in the fifth round to the Washington Commanders in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick (No. 150 overall) and a 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 215 overall).

The Bills chose Justin Shorter when they received the 150th overall pick from the Commanders. Shorter is anything but short. He is a big, physical receiver with decent speed at 6’4″, 229 lbs. and ran a 4.55, 40-yard dash.

Shorter racked up a career-high 577 receiving yards in 2022 with the Gators.

The 5-Star recruit out of high school is compared to current Tampa Bay Bucs receiver Mike Evans and current Bills teammate and wide receiver Gabe, “Big Game Davis.”

Shorter will reunite with ex-Florida Gator teammate O’Cyrus Torrance in Buffalo for the summer and will look to make the squad in the fall.

The No. 1 ranked receiver in his 2018 high school class was also a teammate and one of the go-to-receivers for now Indianapolis Colts’ rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.

This is a nice boom-or-bust pick in the fifth round. Shorter has Evans or Davis potential to make the team, and if he does, he could be a Davis replacement. If he doesn’t make it, he could wind up in either the XFL or the USFL and earn more playing time to better himself as a pro athlete and earn another shot at making a different NFL roster.

This does fill a need at receiver for the team.

Round 7, (Pick 230) | Nick Broeker (G)

*Buffalo traded its 6th-round pick (No. 205 overall) to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2023 7th-round pick (No. 230) and a 2024 6th-round pick.

*Buffalo traded its 6th-round pick (No. 215) to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2023 7th round-pick (No. 252) and a 2024 6th-round pick.

At Ole Miss, Broeker played in more than 40 games and never missed a game due to injury. While playing last year, he did not give up a single sack.

The 6’4″, 305 lb. athlete is a guy that in the NFL can play both left tackle and left guard, but will probably transition to left guard since you already “shnnow” Dion Dawkins starts at left tackle for the Bills.

Broeker is also superstitious and tells us why he puts a Snickers wrapper in his left sock.

I believe that he was a “best player available” pick in the 7th round for the Bills.

 

Former Oregon State Beavers’ CB Alex Austin (5) – Brandon Sloter / Getty Images

Round 7, (Pick 252) | Alex Austin (CB)

While Austin was their last pick of the draft, he is a very smart athlete who attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where other NFL players such as; DeSean Jackson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and more than 50 other NFL athletes frequented.

The 3-star recruit tallied 60 tackles and deflected 14 passes over his junior and senior years. He received team All-League at both the CB and wide receiver positions in 2018.

At 6’1″, 195 lbs. Austin started all four years of college at Oregon State (2019-2022) when he could have transferred to another school.  While it doesn’t sound like a big deal to the public, it is a big deal to most coaches and GMs nowadays.

We’re living in a time where it’s easy for a college athlete to enter the transfer portal after two years when the going gets tough or when the athlete doesn’t get his/her way.

He was a two-time Honorable Mention for All-Pac 12 Conference in his last two seasons with the Beavers. He had an astounding senior season with an all-time-high 57 tackles and ten pass-break-ups in 12 appearances.

By staying committed to his original school at Oregon State for four years, it shows that Austin really showed commitment to one program and put all the hard work into winning and was loyal to improving himself at being drafted at that school.

For those reasons, he should have a fighting chance all the way to NFL cut day at making the Bills roster. If he doesn’t, he will definitely succeed in either season 2 of the XFL or season 3 in the USFL.

He is a good football player in a very important position at corner. You hear GMs say this more often than not, but I’ll keep repeating it, “It’s a passing league, and you can never have enough corners.”

I think that it was a good pick to add to our special teams unit and beyond.

For another NFL story, please check out:

Buffalo Bills: Greatest Draft Class of the Last 20 Years