The Bills made it three defensive players in a row by selecting Washington with their third-round draft pick, 80 overall.
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Briggs is the player that the Bills hope they are getting in Ragland, but even if he only turns out to be a player like Philip Wheeler, another linebacker with 4.7 speed at 240-250 pounds, it’s a pick they’ll be able to live with.
Reggie Ragland was their man all along. Ragland led the Tide with 97 tackles, 6.5 for loss, and broke up six passes last season to be named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and earn All-American honors.
THE NO-HUDDLE SHOW, Ep. 35: Exploring Eagles’ first-round draft scenariosSubscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Soundcloud. According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, teams flagged the former Alabama player with an enlarged aorta, and that resulted in some team’s dropping him on their draft boards.
“At 6’1” and nearly 250 pounds, he is the latest in a long line if dynamic inside linebackers for Nick Saban at Alabama. Maybe they’re around the magnitude of what they’re about to step into maybe more than a small-school guy but what intrigues us most is they’re from intriguing programs so they know how to win.
It’s a process that began with Buffalo selecting Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson in the first round on Thursday.
“He played a lot of places (at Alabama)”, Whaley said. Jarran Reed, who played so many snaps with Robinson, was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with pick No. 49.
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And Ryan can’t wait to get his defense back on track, with Ragland playing a part. Buffalo Bills General Manager Doug Whaley said it’s worth it. I can play either-or, so I’m just ready to get on that field and help this team out. But the two players could also be viewed as interchangeable between those two roles. “I learned from it and that is what you do, you learn from your mistakes”.
