The 2016 NFL mock draft machine is chugging along full-throttle these days, what with the first round of the live event now less than a week away, and nobody is working harder at it than ESPN.
On Thursday alone, noted draft experts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay collaborated on a three-round mock draft that aired live on television, while Louis Riddick - one of the best NFL analysts on the planet that not nearly enough people have heard of - conducted one of his own on Facebook Live.
In both of those mock drafts, the Bills selected Clemson pass rusher Shaq Lawson with the No. 19 overall pick.
The final results of the #MelToddMock. pic.twitter.com/HWUIYptOIV
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 22, 2016
Here it is. #MockDraft1.Only pic.twitter.com/VnidikNa3e
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) April 21, 2016
(Kiper and McShay, for the record, picked Ohio State wide receiver Michael Thomas and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins with their second- and third-round Bills selections, respectively.)
Lawson, as noted by Kiper, led the nation in tackles for loss during the 2015 season at Clemson with 24.5, and also contributed 12.5 sacks after Vic Beasley's departure ushered him to the top of the depth chart. The 6'3", 269-pound junior combined a solid college career with surprisingly good Combine workout numbers to fly up draft boards, and given the Bills' need for a versatile athlete with pass-rushing ability - not to mention Rex Ryan's ties to the Clemson program - Lawson has, and will continue to be, a popular mock draft pick for the Bills.