Updated Feb. 5, 2026, 6:39 p.m. ET

Pro Football Focus ranked the top-10 2025 NFL draft classes based on a certain analytical metric from this past season. The Buffalo Bills fared well here.

That specific statistic is PFF’s WAA/WAR.

First, here’s how the stat is described:

Determine how good a given player was during a period of time (generally a season) using PFF grades;Map a player’s production to a “wins” value for his team using the relative importance of each facet of play;Simulate a team’s expected performance with a player of interest and with an average player participating identically in his place. Take the difference in expected wins (e.g., Wins Above Average);Determine the average player with a given participation profile’s wins above replacement player, assuming a team of replacement-level players is a 3-13 team;Add the terms in the last two calculations to get that player’s WAR.

Now to the Bills and their draft class that finished at the No. 8 position. The reasoning why Buffalo ranks there is certainly surprising.

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While most NFL teams lean on their top draft picks, that was not the case for the Bills in 2025. Buffalo saw either poor play or injuries keeping first-year players off the field. That latter was the case for the Bills’ first-round selection in cornerback Maxwell Hairston.

The player who carried the group on the field the most, though? Fifth-round tight end Jackson Hawes.

PFF’s breakdown on the Bills at eighth overall can be found below:

Not first-round cornerback Maxwell Hairston; not defensive tackle Deone Walker; not even the likes of edge rusher Landon Jackson or defensive tackle T.J. Sanders; none of these names were the top-ranked player on the Bills’ list. Though Hairston and Walker both earned positive WAA numbers this season, tight end Jackson Hawes inflated the Bills’ spot into the top 10. Hawes earned a 0.26 WAA score, thanks to an 82.7 receiving grade and 74.3 run-blocking grade. Having that high of a score on 354 run-blocking snaps shows not only volume but reliability, which will always score highly.