We’re about a month into the Buffalo Bills’ offseason, and a virtual consensus continues to build on what type of position the team will be targeting in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. That position, of course, is wide receiver. Already, ESPN’s Todd McShay and Mel Kiper have separately mocked different wideouts to the team, and this week we see that SB Nation is no different. SB Nation’s full-time draftnik Dan Kadar has the team taking a chance on a wideout that was one of the biggest risers during the 2019 season at the position in his latest mock draft, released on Tuesday. Here’s what Kadar had to say about his selection:
22. Buffalo Bills: Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
Bills general manager Brandon Beane has been open this offseason saying the Bills need to upgrade at wide receiver. While a bigger target like Higgins would probably be preferred, Jefferson has decent size and showed this season he knows how to create after the catch.
Grif’s take
Jefferson was the sixth wideout drafted in the mock, with Kadar even suggesting that the young player wouldn’t be the team’s most ideal fit at the position. From that perspective, Kadar is correct: Jefferson projects as a more well-rounded option at the wide receiver position in the mold of a Robert Woods or even former LSU Tiger Jarvis Landry. Not exactly a burner, or a jump-ball specialist, Jefferson gets by with crafty route running and an ability to do everything well enough.
Considering the early run on the position in the middle rounds, if this scenario were to come to pass it might behoove Brandon Beane and the rest of the front office to pursue other positions. Prospects at defensive end, like K’Lavon Chaisson or Terrell Lewis, or cornerback, such as Kristian Fulton, would make sense in this context. That way, the Bills would see better value and could attend to their wide receiver need in later rounds.