Buffalo Bills Draft Picks: Results, Analysis and Grades

Four months of hype, rumors and predictions are finally over as we have arrived at the signature event of the NFL offseason, the draft. 

Over the next three days, we will be on a wild ride through 256 picks, six of which will be made by the Buffalo Bills front office. No first-round pick will mean Bills Mafia will most likely have to wait until Friday night's prime-time event before they welcome Buffalo's newest son. Fans should still stay tuned to tonight's action, though, especially with general manager Doug Whaley itching to trade. 

A bulked-up roster has left fewer holes than the organization has been used to over the last decade, which makes this weekend even more of an adventure. Whaley is a straight shooter and has been fairly honest throughout the last few months in his responses to media requests. However, even those most in tune with the organization have to be wondering what the franchise has up its sleeve this weekend. 

Will the Bills draft a quarterback early? Will they keep investing in young offensive line talent despite mixed results? Will they trade up or down from their current positions?

The questions are endless, and in just three days, we will have answers to all of them. 

With a suddenly high-priced starting lineup, Buffalo will need to do right by their picks in the middle of the draft this year. Whaley and company need to be able to supplement the rich talent with players who will make an impact at a lower cost. Players like Nigel Bradham and Marcell Dareus are just two veterans in line to get raises, and at some point, the Bills will need contributors on cheaper rookie contracts. 

We will be here with you for every pick in the draft. Check back after each Buffalo selection for analysis and a grade based on need, value and fit. 

Buffalo Bills Selections

Stay tuned for all six of the Buffalo Bills selections here. Live analysis and grades on the slides to follow. 

Round 2, Pick 50: CB Ronald Darby

The Buffalo Bills are on the board!

With their first pick of the 2015 NFL draft, the Bills threw a curveball by selecting Florida State cornerback Ronald Darby with the 50th overall selection. 

Cornerback was not high on my radar for the first selection, but it should not come as a total surprise considering who now roams the sidelines as the team's head coach. Rex Ryan loves big, fast corners and Darby certainly fits the bill. No pun intended. 

Darby is very similar in style to rising star Stephon Gilmore as a cover corner and, like Gilmore, will struggle to come up with timely interceptions.

The former Seminoles' world-class speed is likely what made him appealing to Ryan after running a 4.38 at the combine. His closing speed is easily among the top at his position in this draft, but below-average hands make him a curious pick for the team this high considering the other values on the board. 

In fairness to the Bills war room, I guess you can never have too many corners in a pass-happy league.

Grade: C

Round 3, Pick 81: John Miller

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

After picking up a defensive back in the second round, Buffalo addressed its need on the interior line by picking guard John Miller out of Louisville. 

The Bills have had great interest in Charlie Strong's former recruits at Louisville and most recently took Preston Brown in the third round in 2014. Knowing the Bills interest in Cardinals products, I had mocked Jamon Brown to them as late as last night, but Brown ended up a few rounds higher than projected and ahead of his teammate, Miller. 

Miller is the road-grading guard the Bills were thought to be looking for in the middle of the draft. He uses his wide frame well and stays within his own skill set because of limited athleticism. Miller will deliver a big punch if he gets a good jump and gives solid push up the middle of the line as long as he isn't asked to move much laterally. 

Ryan and Greg Roman want to run with a powerful approach, which fits Miller's strengths perfect. He likely won't be an immediate solution to the problem spot, but he will push anyone the Bills currently have on the roster. 

Grade: B

Round 5, Pick 155: Karlos Williams

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Whaley and Co. must be really happy with the roster they already have, spending a fifth-round pick on another luxury in Florida State running back Karlos Williams. 

That makes two Seminoles drafted by Buffalo out of only three picks. Darby, a starting corner, was selected in the second round and now Williams on the other side of the ball. The Bills have selected six Seminoles since Whaley joined the staff in 2012. 

Williams was a running back to watch coming into the fall of 2014, but he had a very disappointing year and eventually lost his starting gig. He has a great size-speed combination, but production and character concerns made him slip a few rounds lower than he would have gone based on skills alone. 

The Bills must have been comfortable with their investigation into his dropped battery charges and added him to a positional group that, again, is very deep. 

Running back was a position to watch for the Bills on the final day, but it is curious to see them address it this early with other better values still on the board. Instead, they stockpile another luxury pick with another Jimbo Fisher product. 

Grade: C

Round 6, Pick 188: Tony Steward

John Raoux/Associated Press

With the first of two picks in the sixth round, the Buffalo Bills selected outside linebacker Tony Steward out of Clemson. 

Steward was listed as a probable undrafted free agent by all major draft outlets and was not even listed among Matt Miller's Top 400 here at Bleacher Report. 

Both Ryan and the Bills have connections to Clemson, with the head coach's son a member of the Tigers program. Buffalo has also dipped into the pool of Clemson players of the last few years, drafting at least one Tiger in four of the last five drafts, including first-rounders Sammy Watkins and C.J. Spiller. 

Steward was a special teams standout at Clemson, which is probably the appeal for the Bills this late in the draft. 

It makes you wonder what the Bills were hearing about Steward's potential to get picked up by someone else to spend a sixth-round pick on him, when he might have gone undrafted otherwise. 

Grade: D

Round 6, Pick 194: Nick O'Leary

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

After adding some linebacker depth with pick No. 188, Buffalo picked up AP first-team All-American tight end Nick O'Leary from Florida State. 

O'Leary won the Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end in 2014 but fell to the sixth round because of very limited upside. The Florida State product is a typical high-volume collegiate tight end who will have to carve out a role as a dual-functioning split end. 

His limited physical attributes were quite clear during the NFL combine, but you can't teach O'Leary's ability to find open space. What he lacks in straight-line speed, he makes up for in craftiness. 

After average production over his first two seasons, O'Leary became Jameis Winston's most reliable target over the last two years. O'Leary's 81 receptions and 1,175 yards put him tops of all college tight ends during that span. 

Buffalo needed to add a tight end who did something a little different from new offensive toy Charles Clay. While Clay can stretch a defense vertically, O'Leary will have a good chance to make the team with his underneath route running and in-line blocking. 

Grade: A-

Round 7, Pick 234: Dezmin Lewis

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It took until the seventh round, but the Buffalo Bills finally made a pick I can back 100 percent. 

Lewis is the first non-ACC product in Buffalo's 2015 draft; in fact, his level of competition in college was quite far from that of the ACC. 

A dominant receiver at Central Arkansas, a member of the Southland Conference at the FCS level, Lewis surprisingly dropped to the seventh despite being projected as a fourth-round prospect. Level of competition is a concern, as it is with all FCS products, but he produced against good FBS programs when given the chance.

During his collegiate career, Central Arkansas matched up against Texas Tech, Colorado and Ole Miss in season openers. Lewis caught 22 balls for 235 yards and a touchdown in those three games combined, which lessens the convenient questions about his competition level. 

Lewis also looked very smooth during the week of the Senior Bowl, which is why he started to rise from a general unknown to a firm mid-round prospect. 

He ran a bit slower during the combine than teams would have liked, but he put up a 4.48 40-yard time at his pro day. At 6'4" and 215 pounds, that is the type of speed I want my team to take a flier on. 

Grade: A