Buffalo Bills fall out of top 5 in ESPN’s post-2024 NFL Draft power rankings

The Buffalo Bills have established themselves as perennial contenders throughout the better half of the last decade, as evidenced by the team’s six playoff appearances over the last seven years and four straight AFC East titles .

The vast majority of that success, however, came with players like Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Tre’Davious White and Mitch Morse on the roster, all of whom left their respective lockers at One Bills Drive in the 2024 offseason. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane made a concerted effort to add youth to his roster and regain long-term salary cap flexibility this spring, resulting in a current roster that , while still solid and led by former All-Pro quarterback Josh Allen, is not as robust as in previous years.

This idea of ​​a general, if not slight, weakening of the team’s roster is reflected in ESPN’s NFL Draft power rankings after 2024, as the Bills dropped three spots, dropping from 5th to 8th place. Alaina Getzenberg, Media Bills reporter. , summarized Buffalo’s offseason moves and why they’re leaving the team outside the top five.

“This is a Bills team in transition, and that is reflected in the numerous roster changes made this offseason,” Getzenberg wrote. “Several key players who left are 30 or older – including Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, Mitch Morse – with only two of last season’s ten team captains still on the roster. As a result, there was an injection of youth when the Bills drafted 10 players last month. Unlike recent years, later draft picks have a better chance of making Buffalo’s roster this upcoming season, something general manager Brandon Beane acknowledged. This will be a different looking Bills team in September.

Related: Are oddsmakers projecting a fifth straight AFC East title for the Bills?

The Bills are no longer the highest-rated AFC East team in ESPN’s power rankings. The Miami Dolphins come in 7th. Elsewhere in the division, the New York Jets come in at 17th while the New England Patriots are ranked 30th.

A slight decline for Buffalo is not unexpected given its offseason moves; The team, admittedly, is leaning heavily on young receivers like Khalil Shakir and rookie Keon Coleman to fill the voids left by Diggs and Davis, while the secondary will look noticeably different for the first time since head coach Sean McDermott took over in 2017. That said, the reinforcements the Bills now rely on have shown promise in the past, and Allen, ultimately, is still one of the best quarterbacks in pro football – it cannot be counted.

Getzenberg notes that Buffalo’s later draft picks have relatively clear paths to the roster; That’s not only true, but it’s perhaps a bit understated, as several of the players selected by the team on Day 3 not only have a clear path to the roster, but also to relatively important. Fourth-round pick Ray Davis projects as the team’s No. 2 running back. Fifth-round pick Sedrick Van Pran-Granger could realistically start at center while reigning FBS sack leader Javon Solomon projects as the team’s DE4. Washington linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio will likely be a key special teams player for the Bills.

While Buffalo fans may be falling victim to the cycle of “talking to each other about your team’s draft picks” at this point, it appears the team has added some solid reinforcements in the draft, especially considering the state reorganized his list.

While it’s never fun to see a team fall (slightly) in the power rankings, No. 8 seems like a fair ranking for the Bills. Even though they aren’t as strong as they used to be, they are still one of the strongest teams in the NFL and should become a force in January.