Bills OC Joe Brady praises talent, character of late-round draft pick

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady recently praised center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, whom the team selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Georgia offensive lineman Sedrick Van Pran (63) gives direction during the second half of a NCAA college football game against Kentucky in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sedrick Van Pran-Granger’s resume is not one generally available in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

He was a three-year starter and multi-year captain for a Georgia Bulldogs team that was historically dominant throughout his tenure, anchoring an offensive line that set the tone for a program that won two National Championships throughout Van Pran-Granger’s collegiate career. He matched his leadership ability with excellence on the field, earning All-SEC honors in the 2023 season in addition to finishing as a finalist for The Dave Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center.

Van Pran-Granger’s physical profile perhaps prompted him to slip a bit in the 2024 NFL Draft despite his resume—he’s a solid, though not stellar athlete with non-ideal arm length and hand size, with these being among the several factors that have led some prognosticators to project the 22-year-old as solely a center at the professional level.

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His perceived lack of positional versatility is seemingly not an issue for the Buffalo Bills; after moving on from stalwart starter Mitch Morse in the offseason, the team needs a center. Connor McGovern, who started 17 games for Buffalo at left guard last season, projects to slide over to center in the 2024 season, but he may be a stop-gap option while the team secures its center of the future.

Enter Van Pran-Granger.

The team selected the Georgia lineman with the 141st overall pick in the 2024 draft, adding not only an immediate depth option, but a potential long-term piece. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady spoke about Van Pran-Granger ahead of a Tuesday OTA practice in Orchard Park, praising him as both a football player and human being.

“Take the football element out of it, just the person and the personality,” Brady said. “When you play at a school like that and you’re a three-time captain… that doesn’t happen. You know the type of person you’re getting, the type of work ethic, the type of preparation. You’re getting a football player, doing the right things off that. 

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“Then you get him on the football field, he’s going against the best of the best for three years and didn’t flinch. Having the ability to be athletic enough to be able to do everything we look for in our center, be stout and give a nice pocket for the quarterback. We didn’t think he’d be around that time, and we were happy that he was.”

Buffalo’s current brass is historically one that values character nearly as much as it values ability, and Van Pran-Granger seems to be a fit in this regard. It’s difficult to imagine him usurping McGovern on the depth chart outright as a rookie, but if the team ultimately opts to keep the veteran at left guard, the center spot would appear to be Van Pran-Granger’s to lose.

Even if the rookie does not contribute immediately, he does figure to be a potential long-term building block for the Bills’ offensive line. Giving a three-year SEC starter a year to develop under Aaron Kromer—who is widely viewed as one of the league’s best offensive line coaches—seems like an appealing scenario.