Buffalo Bills in draft mode: Here are the key positions, players to watch at Senior Bowl

The harsh reality of the NFL is that there is almost never any down time.

Teams can’t wallow in the disappointment of seeing their season end, not even after the type of heartbreaking defeat the Buffalo Bills suffered at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Had they played actual defense for 13 seconds in the divisional round loss, and then gotten past the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday in the AFC Championship Game which would have been played at Highmark Stadium, the Bills would right now be preparing to meet the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 56.

Instead, the lockers are cleaned out, most of the players have returned to their offseason homes — not Josh Allen, though, because he’s playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — and the front office and coaching staff is already on to 2022 trying to figure out how to remake the roster.

The first step in that process began this week down in Mobile, Alabama where the annual Senior Bowl is taking place. The top college football seniors from 2021 wrapped up three days of practice in front of GMs, coaches, personnel directors and scouts on Thursday and the game between the North and South will take place Saturday afternoon.

Since general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott came to Buffalo in 2017, the Senior Bowl has been an important part of their NFL Draft process. You need to look no further than Allen who played in the 2018 Senior Bowl, enjoyed a nice week of practice and then completed 9 of 13 passes for 158 yards and two TDs and ran for 19 yards on five attempts in the game.

There are several other layers that go into drafting players — in-season scouting, the Scouting Combine, pro days, one-on-one interviews — but through the years, Senior Bowl week has been notable for the Bills as 19 of their 37 overall picks between 2017 and 2021 were in Mobile.

► 2017: Cornerback Tre’Davious White, offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, wide receiver Zay Jones, and quarterback Nathan Peterman.

► 2018: Allen, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, cornerback Taron Johnson, defensive back Siran Neal, and offensive guard Wyatt Teller in 2018 (plus cornerback Levi Wallace was signed as an undrafted free agent);

► 2019: Tight end Tommy Sweeney and safety Jaquan Johnson;

► 2020: Cornerback Dane Jackson and kicker Tyler Bass;

► 2021: Defensive lineman Boogie Basham, offensive tackle Spencer Brown, defensive back Damar Hamlin, offensive lineman Jack Anderson, and wide receiver Marquez Stevenson.

Only four of those 19 were not with the Bills last season — Peterman, Jones, Teller, and Anderson, a testament to Buffalo’s solid drafting and how much this regime values players who gained multiple years of collegiate experience as opposed to one-year wonders.

As the offseason kicks into high gear and the Bills’ decision-makers start deep diving into which players on the current roster they will try to retain, and which potential free agents and draft picks they want to bring in, there isn’t a glaring weakness that needs to be addressed.

But outside of quarterback and maybe safety and linebacker, there isn’t a position group that doesn’t need to be augmented or perhaps even retooled.

“I want to get better everywhere, I really do,” Beane said.

Here are three areas Beane admitted he’ll be looking hard at in the draft:

Possible draft targets on the defensive line

Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, Efe Obada, Harrison Phillips and Vernon Butler are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, and Justin Zimmer is a restricted free agent. That leaves Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham, A.J. Epenesa, Mike Love and Bryan Cox Jr. under contract.

“I’m gonna look back at the pass rush and what pieces will be leaving, and what do we have to fill in there,” Beane said. “I’m gonna start there on the defense.”

Despite Hughes being 33 years old and Addison 34, they were still the best two edge rushers on the team, but it seems unlikely — given their age coupled with a tight salary cap situation — that Beane would bring either back. Thus, that’s a big gap to fill because Epenesa, Rousseau and Basham have not shown early in their careers that opposing offenses need to be game-planning for them. The Bills need a true difference-maker on the edge, something they haven’t had since 2014 when both Hughes and Mario Williams had double-digit sacks.

A couple of players who bear watching during draft season who would slot into the Bills’ No. 25 first-round position are Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson, Purdue’s George Karlaftis, Michigan’s David Ojabo, Penn State’s Arnold Ebiketie, Houston’s Logan Hall, San Diego State’s Cameron Thomas, and Cincinnati’s Myjai Sanders.

Possible draft targets at cornerback

The Bills have been pushing their luck at this important position the last couple years and have been fortunate — at least until White got hurt this season — that they didn’t have to dig into their suspect depth which was basically Dane Jackson and Cam Lewis behind White and Wallace.

Beane drew some criticism in last year’s draft when it seemed like picking a cornerback early was the right move, yet he didn’t take one until Rachad Wildgoose in the sixth round. He can’t do that again in 2022 and it seems like he knows it.

“Tre’Davious’ injury, Levi as a free agent, we’re gonna have to look there,” Beane said.

White has been grinding his rehab and chances are he’ll be ready to go in Week 1, and I would think the Bills would like to re-sign Wallace if the price isn’t out of whack. Jackson held up pretty well as White’s replacement, but I’m not sure he’s anything more than a depth player.

Cornerback is considered a deep position in this draft, so if the Bills don’t take one in the first round, there should be options in the second and third. As for potential targets at No. 25, I would look at Washington’s Trent McDuffie, Clemson’s Andrew Booth, Auburn’s Roger McCreary, Florida’s Kaiir Elam, and Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner.

Possible draft targets on the offensive line

It seems as if the Bills are fine at tackle with Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown starting, and 2021 fifth-round pick Tommy Doyle — who Beane said really came on in practice at the end of the season - as the swing tackle. But the interior raises several questions.

Center Mitch Morse carries the sixth-highest salary cap number on the team, so one of two things could happen. Morse has been a solid performer for three years, so preferably, Beane extends his contract to help downsize his 2022 cap hit. Or, Beane could move on and save about $7.5 million and turn to Jon Feliciano or Ryan Bates at the position.

Right guard Daryl Williams is in a similar situation. He’s been pretty good since his permanent move inside, but cutting him would save more than $6 million.

If either or both of those players are released, and injured guard Ike Boettger isn’t re-signed after he tests free agency, the Bills have huge gaps with only Bates, Feliciano, and Cody Ford as guard options.

Given the importance of protecting Allen, the Bills may address guard in free agency in order to get a plug-and-play replacement as opposed to drafting someone and expecting him to win a starting job.

There’s no way the Bills are picking a guard in the first round, but second-round possibilities could be Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann, Kentucky’s Darian Kinnard, Boston College’s Zion Johnson, and UCLA’s Sean Ryhan.

“We gotta be strong and it starts with protecting Josh,” Beane said. “Part of protecting Josh is a run game. I’m not saying we have to run it 30 times, but enough to keep them honest so these D-ends aren’t just pinning their ears back and chasing him 7-8 yards down the field.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills draft: Players, positions to evaluate at Senior Bowl