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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The Buffalo Bills' 2025 season ended in dramatic fashion over the weekend, falling 33-30 in overtime to the Denver Broncos, who subsequently lost starting quarterback Bo Nix for the remainder of the postseason.
Shortly after the loss, the franchise’s seventh straight playoff exit, the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons, a move driven by continued postseason shortcomings and internal friction over roster construction. The decision sent Buffalo into an offseason defined by a head-coaching search and growing questions at several positions, most notably wide receiver.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. released his first 2026 mock draft, slotting Tennessee’s 6-foot-5 wide receiver Chris Brazzell II to Buffalo at No. 26 overall, a projection viewed as a direct response to everything that went sideways for the Bills.
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"As Buffalo looks for a new coach, it also might start evaluating its wide receiver room. The Bills haven't had a true WR1 nor any pass catcher clear 850 yards since Stefon Diggs was traded in 2024. And when the injuries started to pile up at the position in the playoffs, things only got worse."
"Picking in this range makes it difficult to find impact wideouts, and Brazzell would be the sixth off the board (marking the 10th time this century that six or more wide receivers have gone in Round 1). But he also has the skill set to be a standout in the pros. His 6-foot-5 frame, long arms, sure hands, and great concentration make him a big-time target in the end zone and on contested balls. I also see the explosiveness to get out of his breaks and separate," Kiper wrote.
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Since trading Stefon Diggs in 2024, Buffalo has lacked a clear WR1, cycling through younger draft picks like Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman while attempting to plug gaps with short-term veteran options such as Mack Hollins, Amari Cooper, Curtis Samuel, Joshua Palmer, and Brandin Cooks.
Shakir has emerged as the most reliable of the group, but even his best season came in 2024, when he posted 821 yards and four touchdowns on 76 catches, production that falls well short of true WR1 territory and would have marked the lowest single-season output of Diggs’ career since his 2015 rookie campaign.
Buffalo still boasts one of the game’s elite quarterbacks in Josh Allen, but Allen’s ceiling benefits when he has a true boundary threat to punish single coverage and stretch defenses vertically.
Brazzell is a 6-foot-5, 200-lb outside wide receiver who transferred to Tennessee in 2024 after two seasons at Tulane and broke out in a big way during the 2025 season, finishing with 62 catches for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the SEC in touchdowns and ranking second in receiving yards.
He quickly emerged as one of college football’s premier vertical weapons and a reliable contested-catch target, traits that should translate immediately to NFL red-zone work.
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