1. Where the Bills schedule ranks based on projected win totals
Buffalo will have the sixth-easiest schedule in the NFL next season according to calculations from Warren Sharp and projected win totals. Buffalo finished last season with the 24th-ranked schedule and jumped 18 spots this year. Only Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have a larger disparity.
The Bills are projected to finish with 6.1 wins, the eighth-lowest mark in the NFL. Buffalo will play two top-five opponents based on win projection this season (the Patriots twice) and five games against bottom five opponents the Dolphins (twice), Bengals, Redskins and Giants.
The Patriots have the easiest schedule in the league followed by the Jets, Eagles, Giants and Browns. The Bills play every one of those teams this season.
Buffalo's home schedule is also predicted to be slightly easier than the road based on forecasted 2019 wins. Buffalo plays Miami, New England, New York Jets, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Washington and Denver at home. The average amount of forecasted wins for those teams is 7.5 and the road opponents (New England, Miami, New York Jets, New York Giants, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Tennessee) average out to 8 forecasted wins.
2. Bills grab Alabama's Williams in latest CBS Sports mock draft
Did you think the Bills were getting Alabama offensive tackle Jonah Williams at the ninth pick? Nope. The Bills grabbed Crimson Tide defensive tackle Quinnen Williams with the ninth pick in Ryan Wilson’s latest mock draft for CBSSports.com.
In order, Wilson has Kyler Murray, Nick Bosa, Josh Allen, Devin White, Devin Bush, Dwayne Haskins, Jawaan Taylor and TJ Hockenson being drafted before the Bills, leaving them with Williams at No. 9. Not even Wilson could believe it.
There's no way Williams falls to the Bills, right? Either way, he's is a monster, dominating just about every snap during the 2018 season. And he came to the combine and dominated there too, blazing a 4.83 40-yard dash, which only confirms what we already knew: Williams' physical abilities are off the charts.
Williams has been consistently mocked in the top-five of this years draft and him falling to the Bills at nine is hard to picture. Williams was a freak of nature for Alabama this year with 71 tackles, 19.5 for a loss and eight sacks in 15 games played.
At 6-4 and 300 pounds, Williams ran a 4.83 40 with a 30.5 inch vertical and 112 inch broad jump at the combine. NFL.com’s prospect grade has him at a 6.70 putting him at a chance to become a Pro Bowl caliber player.
3. Bills draft hat unveiled
New Era unveiled the official on-stage 2019 NFL draft hats on Tuesday for 31 of 32 teams. This year New Era has integrated the flags of each city or state into the individual team hats. The Bills hat this year is based on Buffalo's flag with lightning bolts and stars on the brim. The hat does not have all 13 stars or bolts but the inside of the cap features a small flag of Buffalo.
"For us, it really started around the brainstorming for the 100th season of the NFL and telling a cohesive story from the beginning of the season, which for us starts at the draft, all the way through Super Bowl LIV,"said New Era’s director of football Ryan DiNunzio.
New Era wanted to celebrate the past of the NFL and the innovation of where the NFL is going.
"It's a unique way to say this is where we started, this is who we are, this is what we're about, this is the community we represent," DiNunzio said. "At the same time it tells a separate story of welcoming a new member into that community. Really trying to tell this message of this is where we're going, this is who we represent and welcome into the community."
The hats are on sale now at the Bills online store and will be worn by every player drafted by Buffalo.
