Continuing his custom from last night, Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley gave a short press conference to reporters following the team's selection of Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
According to Whaley, the team had three players under consideration for their first-round pick. Shaq Lawson was the top player on Buffalo's board, and Ragland was number two on that list. At the start of the second round, the Bills began calling teams starting with Cleveland looking to trade up in the draft for Ragland.
Clarifying himself somewhat from remarks made at Buffalo's pre-draft luncheon, Whaley praised Ragland's athleticism, saying, "Don't let the size fool you." He stated that the 6'1", 247-pound linebacker could play the weak-side inside linebacker position for Buffalo, next to Preston Brown, a highly similar athlete.
Whaley says Ragland and Preston Brown will play in tandem. pic.twitter.com/NzUSe0nyCf
— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) April 30, 2016
He also praised Ragland's mastery of defensive scheme; the Crimson Tide play a similar playbook to the Bills, and that impressed Rex Ryan and the other Bills staff when they met with Ragland.
As a weak-side player, Ragland would take over as the starter above recently-signed free agent Zach Brown. His responsibilities would include more coverage and roaming than Brown's, which would be suited for gap-filling and taking on blockers. But the two players could also be viewed as interchangeable between those two roles.