Buffalo Bills 3 best players to target with 2025 NFL Draft first-round pick

The Buffalo Bills own the No. 30 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and should have several intriguing players on the board when they make their selection. So, let’s look at the Bills’ three best players to target with their first-round pick.

Before discussing the players that general manager Brandon Beane should be focusing on, there are a few things to point out.

First, there is a good chance that the Bills won’t pick at 30 in the 2025 NFL Draft. In the last few drafts, Beane has made a habit of trading a few spots up to target a player he likes or moving a few spots down if there are several players on the board who he could see in Buffalo.

For example, in 2022, Beane moved from 25 to 23 to select Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam, and in 2023, he went from 27 to 25 to take Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid. Last year, Buffalo traded back from 28 to 32 and then from 32 to 33 (the first pick of the second round) before taking wide receiver Keon Coleman.

The last time the Bills stayed put was in 2021 when they took Gregory Rousseau at pick 30.

So, there is a good chance that the Bills end up taking a player somewhere in the 20s this year or maybe not even making a first-round pick at all.

The other important note here is that this is a good draft for the Bills, so they should be able to fill a position or serious need wherever they pick. The 2025 NFL Draft is short on sexy skill players but long on positions that the Bills need, like interior defensive line and the secondary.

With all that in mind, here are the Bills’ three best players to target with their 2025 NFL Draft first-round pick.

DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan

The most popular Bills mock draft pick this year is 6-foot-4, 331-pound Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. As the measurements suggest, he is a mountain of a human being and will be just what the team needs on the defensive line.

Last season, the Bills ranked 12th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed, which doesn’t sound as bad as it was. To be near the middle of the pack despite playing in six games where they won by 20 or more (meaning the other team had to pass a ton) and in three aerial shootouts against the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Rams is quite bad.

Buffalo needs to get better against the run, and the 6-foot-1, 287-pound Ed Oliver isn’t going to cut it against teams that pound the rock.

Now, if you pair the lightning-quick Oliver with a 331-pound space-eater up front, now you have a formidable DT combination. He also had 6.5 sacks in two seasons with the Wolverines, so he’s not just a one-dimensional run-stuffer.

There is a chance that Grant goes before 30, but this is an incredibly deep DT class, so it is realistic he could be there with three picks left in Round 1.

CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky

As mentioned above, this is an incredibly deep DT class in the 2025 NFL Draft, so even if Grant is still on the board, Beane and company may think they can still get a frontline ruin-stuffer later in the draft, specifically with one of their two late-second-round selections.

If that’s the case, the Bills will turn their attention to their second-biggest position of need on the defense, a cornerback.

The aforementioned Elam is one of the biggest Bills draft busts in recent history, and Beane shipped him off to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason for a fifth and a seventh-round selection. Additionally, veteran CB Rasul Douglas is still an unsigned free agent who seems is done in Western New York.

That leaves the Bills with Christian Benford—who suffered two concussions in seven days at the end of last season—slot corner Taron Johnson, Cam Lewis, and the recently returned Dane Jackson.

The moral of the story here is that the Bills must add one, if not two or three, CBs in the 2025 NFL Draft. So, why not start in Round 1?

Kentucky CB Maxwell Hairston is the most mock-ed cover man to the Bills this year, and for good reason. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound CB ran the fastest 40 (4.28 seconds) at the combine this year and has the ball skills to match.

In his last 20 games for the Wildcats, he made six interceptions, and the best part is, with that incredible speed, he took three of those back to the house.

Yes, Hairston is slight at sub-190 and he did miss time with a shoulder injury last season. But he is a willing tackler, and his elite athleticism and ball skills are worth taking a chance on at the back end of the first round.

And if corner is the pick but Hairston is either not available or not a player who Beane loves, look out for Ole Miss CB Trey Amos here.

S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina

While not the biggest need on the field, the Bills certainly could use a high-end prospect at safety for the future.

Right now, the Bills are basically running it back with last year’s safety room, which isn’t a terrible plan if 2024 second-round pick Cole Bishop takes another step in his development. If he can become more of a playmaker, the S rotation of Bishop, Taylor Rapp, and Damar Hamlin is solid, though not spectacular.

South Carolina defensive back Nick Emmanwori was another combine star who wowed NFL talent evaluators with his 4.38-second 40 and 43-inch vertical jump at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds.

Emmanwori led the Gamecocks in tackles as a freshman and a junior and put up 244 tackles in three seasons. He also added 11 pass breakups and six interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns in his final year for USC.

With his size, speed, and skills, Emmanwori can play centerfield, come up to stop the run or cover even elite tight ends in man-to-man coverage, making him a potential force for any defense. So, while the Bills don’t desperately need a safety in Round 1, every team needs a potential superstar, and that’s what Emmanwori can be if Sean McDermott can get the best out of him.