The question was appropriately timed, given that Sunday afternoon at Jacksonville the Bills will move past the midway point of this season.
In a short Zoom meeting with the media late Friday morning, coach Sean McDermott was asked to assess Buffalo’s 2021 draft class to this point.
Of course, the Bills’ fifth-year boss speaks in measured terms and is particularly careful about dispensing praise.
Thus, when the question was asked, he opted to answer it in assessing the whole group, rather than on an individual basis.
“MOST OF our draft class has come in and contributed … some earlier than others, which is to be expected,” McDermott said. “I’ve been very encouraged by the back-end … the lower draft guys and some of what they’re doing at practice.
“Without going too far showing our hand on things, I think we’re in a pretty good position now. What’s important is how those guys learn this league, how the process works and how important it is to their development knowing their number could be called any day.”
LAST APRIL, the Bills had eight draft picks, no fourth-rounder (Stefon Diggs trade), and three in the sixth.
Seven of those selections remain as seventh-rounder Jack Anderson, a guard from Texas Tech, was plucked off Buffalo’s practice squad by the Eagles.
Cornerback Richard Wildgoose, from Wisconsin, and the third of those three sixth-rounders, is on the practice squad. The other six are on the Bills’ roster in some capacity, two of them heavy contributors.
Top draft pick Greg Rousseau, the defensive end from Miami taken with the 30th selection of the first round, has been an immediate starter and has the team lead in sacks (3), is tied for first in quarterback hits, tied for second in tackles for loss and has an interception.
Third rounder Spencer Brown, from Northern Iowa, moved into the starting right tackle spot within the first month, benefiting directly from the demotion of Cody Ford, the second-round pick in 2019. Ford, a guard/tackle from Oklahoma, failed at both positions on the right side of the Bills line and rarely plays (14 total snaps in the last four games).
There was a sense he was in trouble when Buffalo took two tackles in the first five rounds of the draft. Sure enough, right tackle Daryl Williams moved in to guard and Brown played well in three starts at the tackle spot though he will be sidelined for at least two weeks with a back injury.
SECOND-ROUND pick Carlos “Boogie” Basham, an end from Wake Forest, has become a victim of the Bills’ crowded depth chart on the defensive line. He’s been inactive on five of seven game days, but has 1½ sacks.
Tommy Doyle, from Miami O., the second of two tackles Buffalo drafted last spring, has been active only twice in seven games.
The Bills’ first sixth-rounder, Houston wide receiver/kick returner Marquez Stevenson, made the 53-man roster but immediately went on injured reserve with head and foot injuries. He’s eligible to return but has yet to be activated.
Finally, Pitt safety Damar Hamlin, the second of those sixth-rounders, has played in all but one game, virtually all on special teams, leading the team’s rookies in snaps on the kicking units.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
