Bills land intriguing playmaking CB in early 2025 NFL Mock Draft

The Buffalo Bills add an intriguing piece to their seconding in NFL Draft on SI's latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft.

Kyle Silagyi | Sep 20, 2024

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Though the Buffalo Bills have gotten off to an immensely promising 2-0 start to the 2024 campaign, it’s never too early to look slightly ahead and consider some of the options the organization could add in the 2025 NFL Draft. NFL Draft on SI’s Cory Kinnan recently offered his (admittedly quite early) prediction for how next April’s first round will shake out with his 2025 NFL Mock Draft, slotting Arizona Wildcats defender Tacario Davis to Buffalo with the 29th overall pick.

“A long, lanky cornerback, Arizona frequently lets Davis play on an island and he does it well,” Kinnan wrote. “Listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Davis has a knack for getting his hands on the football. A year ago, Davis racked up a massive 12 passes defended and one interception. The Bills need secondary help. Both at cornerback and safety. Here they address the cornerback position with a new hopeful lockdown player in Davis.”

We don’t have any issues with Davis as a player, as the 20-year-old would be a strong addition to any NFL secondary. Tall cornerbacks are suddenly in vogue with the emergence of New York Jets defensive back Sauce Gardner, and Davis certainly fits that mold; though his collegiate interception total isn’t anything to write home about (he entered the 2024 campaign with one career pick), he’s aggressive when it comes to playing the ball, tallying 15 pass deflections in his true sophomore season.

Quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 76.9 when targeting Davis last season, per PFF, a number he’s improved upon in his junior campaign; signal-callers have a passer rating of just 62.5 when throwing at the defender through three games this year. He’s allowed seven receptions for 63 yards this season, per PFF, recording nine tackles along the way.

Davis is demonstrably prolific in zone coverage and has a penchant for making plays on the ball, attributes that would, in theory, make him a fit in Buffalo’s defensive scheme. He wouldn’t be a poor selection, and while the Bills may ultimately end up taking a cornerback in the first round of the 2025 draft, it’s not a necessarily pressing need at this juncture; both Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford have looked terrific to start the 2024 season, with Benford, in particular, grading out as one of the league’s best cornerbacks analytically while supplementing his patented physical and technically sound play with splash plays in the form of one interception and one pass deflection. Buffalo’s cornerback tandem held Marvin Harrison Jr. to one reception for four yards in Week 1 before holding the dynamic Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill to 41 and 24 yards, respectively, in Week 2; in laymen’s terms, they’ve been pretty dang good.

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Douglas will be a free agent at the conclusion of the season, but the team may already have its succession plan on the roster in the form of 2022 first-round pick Kaiir Elam, who consistently flashed throughout the summer after an underwhelming start to his professional career. It also wouldn’t be asinine to see the team re-sign Douglas in order to ‘keep a good thing going,’ so to speak.

There’s a substantial amount of time between now and the first night of the 2025 NFL Draft, and Buffalo’s needs will obviously change based on how the rest of the 2024 season progresses and the team’s subsequent roster moves. That said, cornerback—while not necessarily a position of luxury for the team, at this juncture—does not seem to be an area they need to invest premium draft capital into at this time.

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