The Buffalo Bills are being linked to two very different fixes in the latest mock draft watch: a run-stuffing defensive lineman and a bigger receiver who could add another layer to the passing game. Three weeks before the NFL Draft, the projections put Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at No. 26 from Toledo and KC Concepcion at No. 25 in a trade scenario.
The defensive fit is easy to see. Buffalo ranked 30th against the run last season and allowed 5.1 yards per carry, so adding a player described as “a massive run defender” would answer a clear need. McNeil-Warren, who was called “the rangy, playmaking safety McNeil-Warren,” also fits a secondary that already includes Cole Bishop, a 2024 second-round pick, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, whom the Bills signed in free agency earlier this offseason.
The receiver fit is a little different, but it matters just as much. The Bills traded for DJ Moore from Chicago earlier in the offseason, which addressed one part of the wideout room, but the mock still points to another need for more big-play ability after Buffalo sent Stefon Diggs to Houston. Concepcion is listed at 6-foot and 196 pounds and lined up outside more often than inside last season, which is why one projection framed him as a player who has the size to challenge corners on the boundary.
That is the thread running through Buffalo’s offseason: patch the run defense, keep rebuilding the pass game and add a young edge player to supplement what the team already has there. Bradley Chubb, as one draft note put it, “is not a kid,” and Tyson came with a concerning injury history, so the search for younger, more durable pieces continues. The Bills also have a recent template for taking athletic speed rushers, with Von Miller remembered as the first explosive, quick-trigger edge threat from Texas A&M they brought in.
One other projection in the mock draft watch landed on Howell, a 6-2, 253-pound option with 30 1/4-inch arms, a 4.59 40 and a 1.58-10 second split at the combine. The draft profile also said he has the kind of locker-room presence teams value, which keeps him in the conversation as Buffalo looks for players who can help now and still fit the roster a year from now.
