The Buffalo Bills' 2025 season is over, putting the 2026 NFL Draft on tap. Brandon Beane and the front office will first have to handle free agency, but Bills Mafia now has nothing to look forward to until the draft rolls around in April.
Despite their perennial success over the last half-decade, the Bills have several clear roster holes that went unaddressed in the 2025 offseason. Buffalo has still not gotten Josh Allen a bona fide No. 1 receiver to work with, while its offensive line continues to be subpar in pass protection.
The Bills' most obvious issues will be with their defense, which fell off a cliff in 2025. Bobby Babich's unit allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game, but gave up the fifth-most rushing yards in the league.
Beane has been hit-or-miss in the draft since taking over in 2017 and now prepares for his ninth rodeo with seven picks in 2026. The Bills are not projected to receive any compensatory picks, according to an NFL.com projection in May, but those will not be officially decided until March.
Regardless of what happens in free agency, Buffalo cannot let another draft go by without addressing its clear roster needs. The Bills have to nail this upcoming draft if they ever wish to get over the playoff hump that currently has them tethered to a leash.
WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
Many Bills fans wanted to see the team take a receiver in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead, Brandon Beane went with Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston and only took one receiver in the seventh round.
Buffalo cannot afford to take the same course of action in 2026. Receiver is atop the list of positions the Bills need to address in the first round, putting Texas A&M's KC Concepcion on the shortlist of prospects to monitor over the next three months.
The Bills do not know exactly where their first-round pick will end up yet, but it will be in the range of Concepcion, who is currently rated as the 26th-best prospect of the class by Pro Football Focus and 35th by ESPN. Concepcion is an explosive athlete and dynamic with the ball in his hands, a trait Buffalo covets. His 15.1 yards per catch ranked 24th in the FBS in 2025 among receivers with 50 or more catches.
Once Joshua Palmer and Tyrell Shavers went down, the Bills were forced to turn to scarcely used reserves, Mecole Hardman and Keon Coleman, in the playoffs. That lack of depth played a big part in their unraveling down the stretch.
LB CJ Allen, Georgia
If it is not a receiver, the Bills need to address their dire linebacker needs in the first round. Buffalo suffered from arguably the worst linebacking group in the league in 2025, which contributed to its finish as one of the bottom-five run defenses.
The Bills would love to have Sonny Styles or Arvell Reese, but both will be gone before they pick in the 25-28 range. However, the consensus No. 3 linebacker of the class, Georgia's CJ Allen, should still be on the board by then.
Allen is coming off a career-high 88-tackle season, which led to consensus All-American honors. While he occasionally struggled in coverage, his 88.6 PFF run defense grade ranked 12th-best among Power Four linebackers.
After watching his linebackers get shredded down the stretch, Brandon Beane desperately needs to add a player who possesses the pursuit and athleticism that Allen does.
C Jake Slaughter, Florida
The Bills might have a center issue in the offseason, with starter Connor McGovern set to hit unrestricted free agency in March. Depending on what happens in free agency, Brandon Beane could be giving the position a long look in Pittsburgh.
Center is not a position Buffalo should address in the first round, even if it is looking to draft its new starter. Florida's Jake Slaughter, who comes in as the second-best center of the class by ESPN and PFF, should fall into Beane's range as a Day Two target.
Slaughter was the seventh-highest-rated center in the 2025 college football season by PFF, with his physical attributes aligning with those who succeed at the next level. Most importantly for the Bills, he was an elite run-blocker as a senior, which is what they look for up front.
Slaughter earned an 80.2 PFF run-blocking grade and an 89.3 pass-blocking grade in 2025. The Bills need to improve both in the 2026 NFL Draft after letting Josh Allen absorb 40 sacks last season.
DE R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma
The Bills temporarily addressed their edge-rushing needs by signing Joey Bosa in 2025, forcing them to tend to the same area in 2026. Bosa is set to hit unrestricted free agency with A.J. Epenesa, while a torn Achilles could keep Michael Hoecht out for the entire season.
Buffalo is set to lose a significant amount of production from a unit that ranked in the bottom half of the league with 36 sacks in 2025. The issue is dire enough to warrant first-round attention, but the Bills are not likely to add an edge-rusher until rounds two or three. If that is the case, Oklahoma's R Mason Thomas fits what they need in their next defensive prospect.
Thomas' sack numbers regressed in 2025, but he showed off how dynamic he can be when healthy by rattling off 6.5 sacks in a six-game stretch in the middle of the season. Despite appearing in just nine games and seemingly battling injuries in those he did play, Thomas recorded a career-high 26 tackles and two forced fumbles in his final year of college football.
Thomas' speed and athleticism are not something Buffalo's defense has had in a while. The Bills' front-seven struggled without a consistent edge-rusher to pair with Greg Rousseau, which played a significant role in their struggles.
Thomas' injury woes might scare a team like the Bills, which struggled with health on its defensive line in 2025. However, they might have made him a buy-low target, as Thomas was viewed as a potential first-rounder in the preseason.
WR Elijah Sarratt, Indiana
A veteran, sure-handed receiver like Indiana's Elijah Sarratt would be the perfect Day Two play for Buffalo if Brandon Beane does not target the position in the first round. Even if the Bills end Day One with a KC Concepcion-like player, fans would not be upset with Beane following it up by using either his second or third-rounder on Sarratt.
Few prospects have as much high-level experience as the 22-year-old Sarratt, who has the making of an immediate go-to No. 1 receiver in the NFL. Although he is not considered a top-five wideout, Sarratt's 88.1 PFF player grade ranked fourth in the FBS in 2025. Even better, his 89.7 grade against man coverage was fourth-best in the country, higher than any other prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Bills have a lot of run-after-catch playmakers on their roster, but they have not had a receiver who could reliably win one-on-one matchups since trading Stefon Diggs in 2023. Among the top names in the 2026 NFL Draft class, no one was better in that department than Sarratt.
Sarratt's one-on-one ability heightened in the red zone, where he was Indiana's go-to player all year. The James Madison transfer led the FBS with 15 receiving touchdowns in 2025 and should immediately have a role near the goal line at the next level.
