Bills Overlooked Draft Pick Will Hurt Buffalo's Offense in Long Run

The Bills' drafted an offensive lineman with their first of three fourth-round picks and it was a mistake.

Boston College offensive lineman Jude Bowry (OL06) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

I don’t feel there were enough people upset about the Buffalo Bills’ fourth-round selection of Boston College offensive lineman Jude Bowry.

With its third overall selection of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Bills drafted an offensive lineman [!] from one of the worst teams in the weakest Power 4 conference in the country.

While Buffalo must replace its starting left guard from a season ago, David Edwards, and its swing tackle, Ryan VanDemark, there are several in-house options available for the Bills to do so and welcoming Bowry into the fold never made any sense, particularly as early in the draft as the Bills did. That leaves me questioning how much this pick will hurt the Bills moving forward.

Full house

Boston College Eagles offensive lineman Jude Bowry (71) blocks against Stanford Cardinal linebacker Ernest Cooper (44) during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Bowry will join a Bills’ offensive line group that has enjoyed remarkable continuity over the past several seasons. That will be tested with Edwards’ and Van Demark’s departures, but Buffalo was already well-stocked to replace those two players.

Alec Anderson was re-signed this offseason, while the team brought in two other interior offensive linemen in Austin Corbett and Lloyd Cushenberry. Additionally, Buffalo has 2025 sixth-round pick Chase Lundt already on the roster, along with 2024 fifth- and sixth-round picks Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and Tylan Grable.

That’s six players that the team has spent either free-agent dollars or draft capital on over the past two years. It would appear that it would behoove the Bills to give that group a run at turning into contributors in the two roles available with the offseason program well underway, rather than bring another cook into the kitchen in their 2026 fourth-round OL.

Potential replacement

Buffalo Bills tackle Dion Dawkins (73) during AFC practice at the Flag Fieldhouse Moscone Center South Building. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Along with factoring into the competitions that are set to come this season, Bowry is also a candidate to potentially replace the team’s current starting left tackle, Dion Dawkins, down the road. Dawkins is under contract through the 2027 season, but beyond that, Buffalo could be looking for his heir apparent in Bowry, who I’m not certain is capable of transforming into the player Buffalo got when it selected Dawkins in the second round in 2017.

He has only two years of experience at the collegiate level, playing in 21 games during the 2024 and 2025 seasons at BC.He allowed just one sack during those two years, according to Pro Football Focus. However, the lack of extensive experience, coupled with the lack of high-level competition on his team’s schedule these last couple of seasons, doesn’t have me all that enthused about Bowry’s prospects at the NFL level.

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