After a successful first day of the 2019 NFL Draft, where the Buffalo Bills added an instant playmaker to their defense in defensive tackle Ed Oliver with the No. 9 overall selection, Buffalo is back at it Friday in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Bills have nine additional picks remaining, with two of those coming during Friday’s second and third rounds: one in the second round (No. 40 overall), and one in the third round pick No. 74).
Buffalo also has two selections in the fourth round, two in the fifth, one in the sixth and two in the seventh, should general manager Brandon Beane feel like packaging some of those lower-round draft picks to trade back up in the draft.
When are the Bills expected to make their picks Friday night? Here’s our best guess.
Round 2 starts at 7 p.m. Eastern, with Round 3 to follow. Picks can take up to seven minutes in the second round, and five minutes in the third round.
If the teams ahead of Buffalo use up the maximum amount of time (seven teams picking times seven minutes apiece), it will be 49 minutes from the start of the second round of the draft at 7 p.m. Eastern until the Bills pick in Round 2, putting Beane on the clock at approximately 7:49 p.m. EST.
But on further analysis, Buffalo will be picking before that. Here’s what recent history has to say about when Buffalo will be on the clock for the second round:
- In 2018, the Denver Broncos went on the clock around 7:35 p.m. EST to select SMU wide receiver Cortland Sutton.
- In 2017, the Carolina Panthers went on the clock around 7:45 p.m. EST to select Ohio State wide receiver Curtis Samuel.
- In 2016, the New York Giants went on the clock around 7:45 p.m. EST to draft Oklahoma wide receiver Sterling Shepard.
- In 2015, the Tennessee Titans went on the clock around 7:35 p.m. EST to draft Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.
That means the Bills will probably be on the clock for their second-round pick sometime around 7:35/7:45 p.m. Eastern Friday and have their pick in soon after that.
As for the third-round selection, assuming there isn’t a big break between rounds, if the teams ahead of Buffalo all use up their allotted five minutes (nine teams picking times five minutes apiece), it will be 45 minutes into the third round (if not sooner) when the Bills go on the clock for pick No. 74.
That’s if they don’t trade up—something that’s a possibility given general manager Brandon Beane has shown a penchant for wheeling and dealing in the past. Stay tuned!