Rapid Grade After Bills Draft Missouri Cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. in Seventh Round

Following yet another move around the draft board, the Buffalo Bills selected Missouri cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. with the 220th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Pride Jr. is the third defensive back the Bills have selected in this year’s draft, as he joins fellow cornerback Davison Igbinosun and safety Jalon Kilgore as hopeful boosts to Buffalo’s secondary. The main thing Pride Jr. offers is speed, as he ran a 4.32 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he also recorded a vertical jump of 37.5 inches and a broad jump of 10-feet, eight-inches.

He finished the 2025 season with 24 tackles, a couple of interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also added four passes defensed, finishing his career with 16 PDs, five INTs and two fumble recoveries.

Pride Jr. received a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 73.3 during the 2024 season, which ranked him 262nd out of 897 players graded at his position. While this isn’t a selection that moves the needle dramatically in one way or another, there’s nothing about it that should leave fans disappointed.

Final grade: B-

Missouri Tigers cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. (2) celebrates after a play against the Boston College Eagles during the second half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Pride Jr. is a wait-and-see type pick, as many in the sixth and seventh rounders are.

At that point of the draft, it’s more about firing a few well-placed darts on high-upside players, which Pride Jr. appears to be given his speed and leaping ability. According to PFF, of his 572 defensive snaps a season ago, the vast majority [463] were played on the boundary, giving the Bills another option behind expected starters Christian Benford and 2025 first-round pick Maxwell Hairston.

Igbinosun is another player who should challenge for a spot near the top of the Bills’ depth chart, while both players may have an outside chance of unseating Hairston for a starting role. Buffalo brought in a new defensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard, this offseason, and it will be interesting to see how each player fits into his new attack-style system.

If history is a guide, Benford’s path to earning a starting role should say enough. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022, and it didn’t take him long before he forced his way into the Bills’ starting lineup. Perhaps Pride Jr. could do the same sooner rather than later. He certainly has impressive athletic traits.

Along with him and Igbinosun, 2025 sixth-round pick Dorian Strong should factor into a competition for playing time if he can return from a frightening neck injury that required an offseason procedure.

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