2021 NFL Mock Draft: Buffalo Bills Select DE Jayson Oweh at No. 30

With the 30th pick of the 2021 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft, the Buffalo Bills select...

Jayson Oweh, DE, Penn State

The selection and write-up were made by BelieveInCleve:

The only real 1^st-round grade for the Bills’ #1 positional need of TE was never going to sniff the outside of the top 10 picks. The best pass rushing prospects – another position of need – are gone. Etienne was available but you have to account for positional value and the Bills have, if not a truly amazing running back, a good situation there, so this would not make great sense.

That brings us to workout warrior Jayson Oweh from Penn State. Oweh’s Pro Day numbers, taken with a grain of salt, exploded: a 6.83 3-cone and 134 broad/39.5 vertical jump, good measures of change-of-direction ability and explosiveness. Even dialing these back a bit as Pro Days produce inflated numbers, his figures would look VERY good in key metrics for edge rush. He pops off the page physically in nearly every way.

Oweh projects to a pass rushing specialized OLB or 4-3 DE, and while he’s got issues with being very raw and unrefined, that is bluntly always going to be the case with Edge prospects available at #30 overall with his kind of athleticism, and while he had a sackless shortened 2020 he definitely showed the ability to disrupt at a high level playing in the Big 10. The Bills’ pass rush was rather lackluster and they really want to hit a home run here; using the #30 pick to maximize upside and accounting for the value of edge rushers, Oweh is the choice.

Pokorny: “The Bills should load up on more defensive talent, because Josh Allen alone can elevate the offense. Oweh could be a second rounder, but the Bills are far enough into the first round to where they won’t worry about that.”

The Baltimore Ravens are up next, led by Robo Dawg.