The Buffalo Bills will be on the clock in the first round of the NFL draft in less than two weeks.
Buffalo currently has the No. 26 pick in the draft, and it must make a solid selection this year after the challenges it faced last season.
The Bills selected Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston in the first round last year, but he didn’t have the best season, appearing in only 11 games and starting three of them.
Bills Take Luther Burden In Redraft
If the Bills had drafted a more impactful player in the first round last season, they might have reached the Super Bowl. There were several other players Buffalo could have selected in that round, and Nick Baumgardner from The Athletic pointed out one player the Bills should have picked.
Baumgardner published an article on Monday, redrafting the 2025 draft and highlighting what he would change in each round. He had Buffalo selecting Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III with the 30th overall pick instead of Maxwell.
“Getting Burden in the second round was a great value pick by the Bears, who should be in position to get even more out of him now that DJ Moore (ironically enough for our redraft purposes) is in Buffalo,” Baumgardner wrote.
The Bears selected Burden with the 39th pick, which is excellent value. He should have gone in the first round, but unfortunately, he fell down the draft board. Burden played in 15 games for Chicago, recording 47 receptions for 652 yards and two touchdowns.
The statistics may not look all that impressive, but at times, he was the fourth option on the Chicago offense. Burden was competing for targets alongside other receivers like DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, while also trying to fit in with tight end Colston Loveland and even Cole Kmet.
If the Bills had drafted Burden, he could have emerged as the No. 2 or even No. 3 target on the team, playing alongside a better quarterback in Josh Allen rather than teaming up with Caleb Williams in Chicago.
Did Keon Coleman Prevent The Bills From Drafting Burden
One reason the Bills likely didn’t select Burden in the first round was that in 2024, Buffalo used its top pick on wide receiver Keon Coleman. The Bills drafted Coleman early in the second round after trading down. In his rookie season, he recorded 29 receptions for 556 yards and four touchdowns, and the Bills probably expected him to build on that success in his second year.
However, that didn’t happen; Coleman took a step back, recording 38 receptions for 404 yards and four scores across 13 games.
Even though Coleman had a tough season, Bills general manager Brandon Beane still believes in his young receiver.
“I think Keon understands what he can control and what he can’t, and we all mature at different times,” Beane told Joe Buscaglia from The Athletic on Tuesday. “It’s not an ability thing with him. I think he’s shown plenty when he’s been dialed in and connected with the quarterback and the play call and everyone, all is one. But when you let the stuff that occurred off the field, that then affects what your opportunities are on the field.”
It will be interesting to see how Coleman bounces back this season and how the Bills plan to utilize him.
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