After signing their top two draft choices Thursday, the Bills followed up with the signing of second-round pick Dion Dawkins on Friday.
Dawkins, a player the Bills traded up to get in the latter half of round two, just got through his first week of OTA practices with the veterans on the roster.
With Cordy Glenn still rehabbing and not able to participate, the offensive staff has lined Dawkins up at left tackle with the first unit. Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison said the approach with their highly drafted rookies is to see if they can handle top flight competition.
"If they're on this roster and they're in that meeting room, we think they can play," Dennison said. "Obviously we thought pretty highly of those guys to draft them, but we're going to have them go out there and compete and like I said, once they show that they can handle the material, they'll work for playing time and they'll work for more playing time the better they get."
Where Dawkins winds up when Glenn is cleared to practice remains to be seen, but it's clear that the club sees him as an offensive tackle, not a guard, which is where some NFL clubs projected him at the pro level.
"I'm happy to be employed and have a job," said Dawkins flatly. "I'm just going to work my tail off and whatever needs to be done, I'm willing to do it."
With Dawkins signing his rookie contract, only fifth-round pick Nate Peterman remains unsigned from Buffalo's 2017 draft class.
