The Buffalo Bills addressed their biggest area of need in the NFL draft, boosting their defense with a particular focus on the secondary and defensive line.
Now, some pundits believe the additions could help the Bills reach an elusive goal — the Super Bowl.
The Bills earned praise for their approach to the draft and have gotten a vote of confidence in early power rankings, with some picking the Bills to finally get over the hump and bring the Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo.
Bills Picked as Super Bowl Contenders
In his first NFL power ranking after the draft completed, SI.com’s Connor Orr put the Bills at No. 2, behind only the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Orr gave the Bills praise for taking care of their biggest need last week, addressing a defense that fell flat in the team’s AFC Championship game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I love hammering certain sides of the ball in order to create a healthy positional ecosystem,” Orr wrote. “Buffalo clearly went into this draft on a mission. The team’s first five picks were: cornerback, defensive tackle, edge, defensive tackle and cornerback. Landon Jackson out of Arkansas is sneaky relevant given the lack of confidence we should have in Joey Bosa to stay healthy for an entire season.”
Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus also have high expectations for the Bills in 2026. While the pair didn’t specifically put the Bills as Super Bowl winners, their 2026 mock NFL draft was a de facto power ranking that had the Bills picking No. 32 overall — the spot for the Super Bowl champion.
Bills Aced NFL Draft
The Bills continued to earn good grades for their NFL draft approach. Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports gave them the highest rating, just one of three teams to earn a perfect “A” grade. Wilson wrote that cornerback Maxwell Hairston, the No. 30 overall pick in the draft, was his favorite selection for the Bills.
“Maxwell Hairston reminds me of Devon Witherspoon in that he may be undersized, but he plays much bigger than that,” Wilson wrote. “He battled a shoulder injury last season, but when he’s healthy he’s as close as you’ll get to a lockdown corner in today’s NFL. Hairston, who ran a 4.28-second (!!) 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, will have a chance to win the Day 1 starting job.”
Wilson said the Bills also got great value in defensive lineman Deone Walker, who he rated as a Top 15 talent in the draft.
“He battled a back injury in 2024 and his play suffered,” Wilson wrote. “But you’re not going to find a 6-foot-7, 330-pound athletic defensive lineman just walking around looking for work. If Walker is healthy and locked in, we could end up looking back at this being one of the best players in this class.”
While the Bills used six of their nine NFL draft picks on defense, the team quickly addressed some offensive needs after it ended. The team signed 25-year-old wide receiver Elijah Moore, who has amassed more than 2,000 yards over his four NFL seasons.
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