Just a few days ago, Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane shared some thoughts on edge rusher Von Miller and where the veteran stood in relation to his injury timeline.
Miller, of course, tore his cruciate ligament during the Bills’ Thanksgiving game last season. A serious injury like this late in the season immediately raises questions about when he would be back – or if he would be back next season.
With Miller turning 34 in March, it’s not an injury he’s looking to bounce back from. But at the same time he is crucial for this defense.
Beane wouldn’t rule out Miller missing the entire 2023 season, but wasn’t sure when he would come back either.
“I think Von is in a good place. I think he’s fine. I expect him for a good part of 2023; I’m not completely ruling out 2023, but I don’t want to say that either. I think it’s too soon,” Beane said.
With that sort of update, the Bills should be seriously considering an edge rusher in the early rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The edge rusher position is top-heavy in the 2023 NFL Draft, requiring the Buffalo Bills to spend early
This year’s Edge Rusher class is pretty good, with a solid dozen names up for grabs in the first two and a half rounds. The Bills are picking at No. 27 in the first round, and many would like to see them chasing an offensive lineman there.
But in the second round, Buffalo’s pick at No. 60 looks like a great place to start thinking about an edge rusher.
Some of the names you could look at with this selection:
Nolan Smith, Georgia
Luke van Ness, Iowa
Will McDonald IV, State of Iowa
Zach Harrison, Ohio State
Durell Nchami, Maryland
Even beyond the second round, there are maybe another seven or eight edge rushers that could get hit in the third round. Again, this is a top-heavy position in this year’s draft, and the Bills would be doing themselves a favor by making sure they capture one within the first three rounds.
We all saw what happened to the pass rush after Miller was eliminated. It got very inconsistent, and the Bills sometimes relied on someone like linebacker Matt Milano to fill in the gaps. But they couldn’t get a legitimate and consistent pass rush with those front four after Miller left.
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