Morning mock draft: Bills take edge Joseph Ossai via NFL.com
The Buffalo Bills didn’t have anything more than an average pass rush last season. With 38 sacks, they land essentially right in the middle of the NFL.
Could Texas prospect Joseph Ossai be the answer?
NFL.com’s recent mock draft from Charley Casserly insists just that. The Bills select him with the No. 30 selection in that mock.
Here’s the breakdown:
Jerry Hughes can’t play forever — although, it feels like he can at times — so Buffalo brings in another young, hungry pass rusher after 2020 second-round pick A.J. Epenesa recorded only one sack as a rookie.
Who says Jerry can’t play forever?
Well, that’s true, but perhaps Ossai can be both a short and long term answer for Buffalo? We already know the Bills want to address their defensive end position in one way or another because they’ve recently been connected with former Texans defensive end JJ Watt.
But even with Watt, Ossai might be on Buffalo’s radar. Epenesa is their lone youthful prospect at the position. Trent Murphy is a pending free agent and Mario Addison is also a cap casualty candidate.
In nine games with Texas last season, Ossai certainly got into the backfield. He only had 5.5 sacks, but added 15.5 tackles for loss. The one knock on the 6-foot-4 edge defender potentially to the Bills is his position. He played both with his hand in the dirt and as an off-ball linebacker in college, and he actually lists as a linebacker, not a defensive end.
