Bills target defense in choosing LB Parker, CB Igbinosun in NFL draft after trading out of 1st round

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — After spending Day 1 of the NFL draft adding picks and improving Buffalo’s draft positioning, Bills general manager Brandon Beane spent Friday finally adding players.

And the first priority was restocking a defense that’s transitioning to a 3-4 scheme under new coach Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.

Buffalo opened its draft by using the 35th selection to pick Clemson linebacker T.J. Parker. The Bills then traded up four spots — sending the No. 182 pick to Denver — to select Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun at No. 62.

At 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds, Parker was a three-year defensive linemen for the Tigers and will make the switch to outside linebacker in Buffalo. He’s projected to be part of a rotation playing behind Greg Rousseau and free-agent addition Bradley Chubb.

At 6-foot-2 and 189 pounds, Igbinosun was a three-year starter at Ohio State, after transferring from Mississippi. Though the Bills have two returning starters in Christian Benford and Maxwell Hairston, Beane said he’s learned teams can’t have enough cornerback depth because of injuries.

The Bills would not have been in position to add Igbinosun if not for the work Beane did a day earlier in trading back three times to add two picks. The deals also improved Buffalo’s draft positioning by giving the team five of the first 126 picks, after initially entering the draft with two over that span.

“You’re giving yourself a chance at better players that you have on your board, guys that you value the most,” Beane said. “What we did yesterday allowed us to be more aggressive and take the sixth-round pick we had today to go secure a corner.”

The Bills are retooling on the fly while remaining competitive after Brady was promoted from offensive coordinator to take over as head coach in January after Sean McDermott was fired following nine seasons. Buffalo is on a seven-year playoff run while failing to reach the Super Bowl.

The defense, which was McDermott's specialty, has taken much of the blame for the team's playoff shortcomings.

The Josh Allen-led offense, meantime, was mostly returning intact. And Buffalo had already spent a draft asset in trading a second-round pick to acquire receiver DJ Moore in a trade with Chicago last month.

Entering the draft with the 26th pick, Beane was already leaning toward trading down in noting the team’s draft board had fewer than 26 players with first-round grades.

“Once we saw the last player come off our board that we had a first-round grade on, we started being more aggressive with the calls,” Beane said. “We worked hard to get this ammunition, and we still feel there is some pieces that we would like to add tomorrow that can help this team this year and going forward.”

The Bills have six picks left and are scheduled to open Saturday with the first pick of the fourth round, 101st overall. Buffalo still has depth needs at defensive tackle, safety and receiver.

Parker is regarded as a hard-hitting tackler, who still needs to develop his pass-rushing technique. The 21-year-old does have versatility in showing a capability of dropping back into coverage.

He finished his college career with 41 1/2 tackles for a loss, 21 1/2 sacks and six forced fumbles over 39 games. Parker especially excelled in his sophomore season in which he had 19 1/2 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks and set the single-season record with six forced fumbles.

“I’m a guy who’s gonna play with attitude, run to the ball, get there as fast as possible and put the pain on somebody,” Parker said. “We’re playing fast, physical football in this league, and I’m trying to bring the nasty to the defense.”

Brady had previously said wanting what had been a so-called “bend-but-don’t-break” defense under McDermott to adopt a attacking style similar to his offense.

The 22-year-old Igbinosun had four interceptions and 22 pass breakups in 56 games with the Buckeyes. He was also a member of Ohio State’s 2024 national championship team.

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