2024 NFL Mock Draft: Bills add speed, upside at pick 28

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Allstate Sugar Bowl - Texas v Washington
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Texas receivers smoked the NFL Scouting Combine and are rising

One of the most-discussed position groups listed as a key need for the Buffalo Bills heading into the 2024 offseason is the wide receiver group. Buffalo is faced with losing Gabe Davis to free agency with a high likelihood another team pays him a good chunk of money (Spotrac projects a $13.6 million annual salary). With that, the Bills are left with an aging Stefon Diggs and an exciting young prospect in Khalil Shakir as the showcase options in the wide receiver corps.

The team selected tight end Dalton Kincaid in the first round of the 2023 Draft to add to the pass-catching cupboard for Josh Allen, but it’s key to ensure that it stays full as players continue to walk in and out the door like Davis.

The 2024 NFL Draft projects as an extremely strong wide receiver class with players of all shapes, sizes, and traits manning the position amongst this year’s group. A recent strong showing by the position at the NFL Scouting Combine is only going to keep the class’ hype train going.

With Davis out the door, the Bills should be looking at receiver as a potential area of investment and a position to look to get younger at with Diggs 30 years old and questions always lingering about his happiness levels with the organization. In this mock draft, we’ll dip into the loaded class and explore the waters.

We used the 2024 NFL mock draft simulator from Pro Football Focus to complete a realistic first-round mock draft. The Buffalo Bills are selecting No. 28 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft as things currently stand.

With the 28th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select...

Adonai (AD) Mitchell, WR (Texas)

One of the 2024 Scouting Combine darlings was Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell, lighting up the testing portion of the event.

The former Georgia-Bulldog-turned-Texas-Longhorn via the transfer portal had a strong step to the grand stage in 2023 with a large jump in production to land at 845 yards and 11 touchdowns this past year.

Mitchell has special traits at 6’2” and 205 pounds. He ran a 4.34 40-yard dash along with a 39.5” vertical jump and an 11’4” broad jump.

Mitchell shows up as a silky smooth athlete on tape as well with all of the ability in the world to become a complete receiver with a full route tree. Where Mitchell may find difficulty at the next level is playing through contact — it’s something he notably struggles with. To this point, he’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. But his athleticism suggests he could master and polish his skills at an NFL level with even more seasoning under his belt. A team is really drawn in by the flashes of brilliance from catching off his frame, excellent hip sink and feet for a receiver with length, as well as instances of working well as a player after the catch. You can move him across your formation in different alignments.

Mitchell’s inconsistencies are something the Bills will have to find themselves being comfortable in developing at the next level. There have been some effort questions with his game (fair or not) that he’ll need to answer. While he’s not necessarily an energizer bunny on a play-to-play basis (at least per his college film), it’s something teams will look to unlock as they seek the potential that lies in Mitchell as a football player.

Interviews seem to be an important factor with Mitchell’s evaluation, with a transfer away from Georgia and just one year of heavy production in college — in addition to the effort questions. If Mitchell checks out well, there aren’t many receivers in this class with a higher upside than what he possesses. Most of all, the Bills need a field stretcher and a player who scares teams with speed. Mitchell can do that in a big way while offering so much more if the ceiling hits.

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