Bills get DL reinforcements
It’s the offseason again, and that means it’s time for the return of “Mock Mocking or Mock Marveling.”
Buffalo Bills fans understand that mock drafts are thought exercises. Very rarely are they intended to be predictive before the week of the actual NFL Draft is upon us, and mock drafts before free agency are especially volatile. They are intended to generate not just clicks, but also individual reactions to a multitude of different possibilities.
Mock drafts are also much better after free agency has slowed down. Prior to contracts being signed and trades being made, mock drafts can sometimes be exercises in fans yelling about which needs are more important using only their team’s first-round selection as ammunition. Thought exercises after needs have been partially or fully addressed can be of narrower focus. But that doesn’t stop the mock drafts from coming early in the offseason and in this instance, we’re reviewing a pre-free agency mock draft that’s sure to get some people in Bills Mafia buzzing with its potential impact.
Last year, the first iteration of this articles series saw the LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. mocked to the Bills by Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network. While the Bills ended up trading down twice on the first night of the NFL draft and didn’t make their first selection (Keon Coleman) until day two, it’s likely that many amongst Buffalo fans would have been very happy in hindsight to have landed the Louisiana State product. Alas, Thomas went at pick No. 23 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Why bring this up? Because sometimes players mocked at the bottom of the first round in mid-February end up getting picked higher in April. Jordan Plocher of Pro Football Focus released a mock draft to get us started this offseason, and I suspect the situation on this one could play out similarly to the Thomas Jr. mock from last February.
In the mock, Plocher writes:
30. BUFFALO BILLS: DI KENNETH GRANT, MICHIGAN
Grant would give the Bills a big-framed player (6-foot-3 and 339 pounds) to line up next to Ed Oliver. Grant recorded an 87.5 PFF run-defense grade in 2024.
This article series is titled “mock mocking or mock marveling” for a reason. It’s about the gut and initial reaction that I have to the player being selected for the Bills in the selected mock draft — and in this case, my overwhelming response is “marveling”.
After watching the Eagles front four dominate the Super Bowl en route to a breezy Philadelphia victory, it’s likely that defensive linemen will see a bump to their already notable value this NFL Draft. Kenneth Grant is the type of player I have a difficult time imagining getting to the Bills at 30. The Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6 feels like the first potential place for Grant to be picked, with the Jets, Panthers, Saints, 49ers, Cowboys, Dolphins, Cardinals, Seahawks, Broncos, Chargers, Vikings, Texans, and Lions all being teams between that pick and the Bills pick at No. 30 that could feasibly select a defensive tackle. Given Grant’s status as a high-ranking DT (either DT2 or DT3 in most rankings), that’s simply too many teams with probabilities at the position to feel even minor confidence that Grant will last until the Bills pick.
But things like that happen all the time, so we’ll entertain the pick in this case.
Grant is a dream fit of talent and need for the Bills at 30, and the reason I selected this mock draft in particular is because the NFL Combine is right around the corner, and it feels like that Grant will become a very popular name among Bills fans. He occupied the number 3 spot on Bruce Feldman’s 2024 College Football Freaks List, and nobody will be surprised when he lights up the RAS scoreboard in Indianapolis.
As an example. here’s a clip of him running down Penn State running back Kaytron Allen:
Michigan DT Kenneth Grant was No. 3 on the Freaks List. Easy to see why. pic.twitter.com/8j76HOatL9
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) February 17, 2025
Grant shows flashes of elite quickness for a 340-pound lineman, with a swim move and a long arm in his repertoire and very strong tape against Michigan rival Ohio State. In addition, his football character was praised by scouts at the Senior Bowl.
One of the key things to consider when selected any defensive tackle for the Bills is whether they can both command and hold up to double teams. With the team employing linebackers like Matt Milano, Terrel Bernard, and Dorian Williams, asking the second level to take on additional gap assignment to make up for the defensive interior’s inability to play two gaps is likely a net neutral proposition at best. Can Grant consistently play two gaps while maintaining disruption ability?
How does this hypothetical pick land on you Bills Mafia? Sound off in the comments below.
…and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive and look for new episodes of “The Bruce Exclusive” every Thursday on the Rumblings Cast Network — see more in my LinkTree!