Bills considering position change for recently-signed former first-round pick?

Buffalo Bills practice squad safety Lewis Cine may be transitioning to a new position.

Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Lewis Cine’s professional football career has not gotten off to the start generally anticipated of players selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

The Minnesota Vikings nabbed the safety with the 32nd overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft after his breakout junior season at Georgia, earning National Championship Game Defensive MVP honors in his final collegiate contest. Praised for his tenacity and aggressive nature as a prospect, he was never able to live up to his draft pedigree in Minnesota, with injuries limiting him to just 10 games and 10 defensive snaps over two seasons.

He signed with the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad after being released by the Vikings in August, this after initially agreeing to join the New York Jets’ reserve unit. Most pointed to his prior experience with current Buffalo cornerbacks coach Jahmile Addae (he was Cine’s position coach at Georgia) and Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s history of developing defensive backs as reasons for his change of heart; five weeks into his debut campaign at One Bills Drive, however, it looks as though the team is developing the 24-year-old along at a different position.

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WROC-TV’s Thad Brown noted at Wednesday’s practice that Cine was going through individual drills with the linebackers, indication that the team may have quietly changed his position. He was photographed with both the safeties and linebackers in Buffalo’s 2024 team photos; he’s still listed as a safety on the Bills’ website.

Found this interesting today...

Practice squad safety Lewis Cine was doing individual drills with the linebackers.

Former first round pick is listed at 6-2, 199.
LBs are getting lighter, but sub-200 might be a reach.
Really athletic coming out of college. Maybe worth look pic.twitter.com/KgCUeYAbpT

— Thad Brown (@thadbrown7) October 2, 2024

This could just be an instance of the Bills testing the young defender out in several spots before making a final decision on his position. Praised for his tackling, ability against the run, and play near the line of scrimmage coming out of college, Cine has a skillset that could theoretically translate to linebacker, but he’s a bit light; as Brown notes, he’s listed at 6-foot-2, 199 pounds, so some added bulk may be necessary if a full transition to linebacker is ultimately made.

It’s difficult to place too much stock into Cine’s snaps in Minnesota (as there were only 10 of them), but seven came inside the box. He played 822 defensive snaps throughout his 2021 junior campaign at Georgia, with 155 coming in the box and another 118 coming in the slot.

A recent first-round pick who is still just 24 years of age, Cine certainly has potential; it will be interesting to see where Buffalo deploys him on defense should it be forced to elevate him from its practice squad at some point this season.

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