One Overlooked Draft Pick Who Will Help the Bills is Toriano Pride Jr.

Selected near the beginning of Round 7 of the 2026 NFL Draft, Toriano Pride Jr. may not be the Buffalo Bills’ most high-profile draft pick, but he has an intriguing skill set that points to him having a fruitful NFL career.

The Bills drafted Pride Jr. with pick No. 220, the fourth pick of the seventh round, and while seventh-round picks don’t typically turn into primetime players, the former Missouri defender is impressively athletic, and additional evidence also supports that he will outperform his draft slot.

Open sesame

Missouri Tigers cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. (2) warms up before a game against the Massachusetts Minutemen at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The Bills aren’t exactly overloaded with adequate options at the cornerback position, whether it be on the boundary or inside at nickel cornerback. Buffalo traded away longtime veteran Taron Johnson to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason and signed free agent Dee Alford to replace him in the slot, while second-round pick Davison Igbinsoun will help bolster the team’s group of outside cornerbacks, which entered the draft starving for depth.

With the selection of Pride Jr., the Bills have now drafted four cornerbacks over the past two seasons, as he joins Igbinosun and 2025 draftees Maxwell Hairston and Dorian Strong. Hairston was a first-round pick and is an expected starter opposite Christian Benford entering his second professional campaign. Strong began his career on a high note, but a concerning injury has stalled his development at a critical point.

Aside from the aforementioned group, Buffalo’s other veteran options aren’t likely to move the needle, opening the door for Pride Jr. to sneak in and steal the show come training camp. It wasn’t long ago that the Bills’ 2022 sixth-round pick, Benford, worked his way into a starting job over first-round pick Kaiir Elam, who was selected in the same draft. A first-team role may not be in the cards for Pride Jr., but there is a path for him to become a contributor in Year 1.

Inside the numbers

Pride Jr. exhibited a nose for the football during his time with Missouri, recording a couple of interceptions and four passes defensed in each of his past two collegiate seasons. Of his 573 defensive snaps in 2025, over 80% came on the boundary. However, he also played a bit at nickel cornerback and contributed on special teams. That could open another path to the roster, where the Bills are always looking for high-value pieces to earn playing time, whether it’s on kick coverage, as a gunner on punt or elsewhere.

He earned a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 73.3 in 2025, which was in the top half of players graded at his position. Despite predraft evaluations that were critical of his ability to stop the run, Pride Jr. was also graded as a better-than-average run defender by PFF, which gave him a grade of 74 in that department.

His athleticism is off the charts, as he ran a 4.32 40-yard dash, which helped him earn an athleticism score of 74 at the NFL Scouting Combine, which was 11th best among players at his position.

At the end of the day, Pride Jr. is unlikely to develop into a star right away. But if he can acclimate to the professional level and catch up to the increased physicality at a rapid rate, he will have the opportunity to compete for a role on the roster come this summer.

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