{"id":869249,"date":"2026-04-18T15:48:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869249\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T15:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:48:31","slug":"bills-news-scouting-edge-rushers-and-defensive-linemen-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869249\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills news: Scouting edge rushers and defensive linemen in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

In their first year with Jim Leonhard<\/a> in place as the defensive coordinator, there are sure to be changes to the Buffalo Bills<\/a>\u2019 defense, beginning with the 2026 NFL Draft, where the Bills could use their first-round selection<\/a> to shore up their defense.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by offering thoughts and observations on the best edge rusher and defensive tackle prospects in the draft, including Texas A&M pass rusher Cashius Howell (pictured below), who would bring speed and explosiveness to Buffalo\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

\"\"Plenty of pass rushers, interior defensive linemen ready to make an impact<\/p>\n

The edge rusher position has plenty of game-changing talents who should step in and contribute right away, while the interior defensive line group is one that has lots of potential but also a few prospects battling injury histories.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Linked below: Breaking down the best edge rusher prospects in this year\u2019s draft who could still be on the board when Buffalo picks at No. 26, a group that includes Howell, Clemson\u2019s T.J. Parker, Miami<\/a>\u2019s Akheem Mesidor<\/a>, Oklahoma\u2019s R Mason Thomas<\/a>, Central Florida\u2019s Malachi Lawrence, Auburn\u2019s Keldric Faulk, Missouri\u2019s Zion Young, and Michigan\u2019s Derrick Moore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for the defensive tackles, that group of prospects who could still be available at the end of the first round includes Ohio State standout Kayden McDonald (pictured below), Texas Tech\u2019s Lee Hunter, Clemson\u2019s Peter Woods, and Georgia\u2019s Christen Miller.<\/p>\n

\"\"Even more Bills news<\/p>\n

Brandon Beane discusses the team\u2019s faith in wide receiver Keon Coleman<\/a> and Greg Rousseau<\/a>\u2019s position for 2026. Plus, explaining why this year is the most important draft of Beane\u2019s tenure in Buffalo; discussing whether Buffalo should draft Ryan Van Demark<\/a>\u2019s replacement; former Bills coach Sean McDermott opens up about life after being fired; and more!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills articles recently featured on Buffalo Rumblings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their first year with Jim Leonhard in place as the defensive coordinator, there are sure to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4955,52319,53,21912,2792,7834,38604,14661,1972,7,13685,90259,8100,7211,216,6,15,32197,4255,7212,3025,16085],"class_list":{"0":"post-869249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-akheem-mesidor","10":"tag-buffalo-bills","11":"tag-cashius-howell","12":"tag-defensive-coordinator","13":"tag-defensive-linemen","14":"tag-derrick-moore","15":"tag-edge-rusher","16":"tag-first-round-selection","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-greg-rousseau","19":"tag-jim-leonhard","20":"tag-keon-coleman","21":"tag-lsu-tigers","22":"tag-miami","23":"tag-nfl","24":"tag-nfl-draft","25":"tag-r-mason-thomas","26":"tag-ryan-van-demark","27":"tag-texas-am-aggies","28":"tag-the-bills","29":"tag-weston-davis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116426501143644862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}