A year after drafting Cole Bishop in Round 2, should the Bills draft a safety early again in 2025?
Last week we continued our multi-part series on top prospects at positions of need for the Buffalo Bills — those players who may be on their radar during the early rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft. That discussion about wide receivers proved interesting, but the one about safeties may be even more nuanced.
As we close out this series for this draft class, it’s time to dive into those safeties that the Bills could draft in the early parts of the NFL’s annual draft. While we’ve covered cornerbacks, edge rushers, defensive tackles, wide receivers, and now safeties as part of this article series, this should in no way be interpreted as a ranked or exhaustive list of Buffalo’s needs as we stand a few weeks out from the draft.
The Bills could easily spend one or more of their 10 currently scheduled drafted picks on an interior offensive lineman (both Connor McGovern and David Edwards have their contracts looming, and O’Cyrus Torrence is eligible for an extension next offseason). The team could invest in an off-ball linebacker to reinforce the unit behind Matt Milano, newly extended Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams (with Milano now scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after 2026).
While a premium asset of either of these positions would seem odd, it should be noted that while we haven’t gone into depth there as part of this series (because it’s focused on early round players), it’s not insane to believe something like that could happen. With general manager Brandon Beane having selected 10 players last draft, it feels probable a linebacker or interior offensive lineman (or even a third tight end, a punter, or a nickel defender who plays teams) could be selected at some point.
With all that said, let’s take a look at some potential early round targets for the team at safety...
***note: neither needs nor player lists are ranked, nor are they exhaustive***
2025 NFL Draft Safeties for Bills to consider
- Malaki Starks, S (Georgia)
- Nick Emmanwori, S (South Carolina)
- Xavier Watts, S (Notre Dame)
- Andrew Mukaba, S (Texas)
- Lathan Ransom, S (Ohio State)
There is a sub-classification of safety prospects every year: those who are box defenders and those who are deep defenders (ability to play in the nickel is a tertiary bonus). A large part of the evaluation process for many is figuring out what a safety prospect did and if they did it well, attempting to evaluate whether they can do the other thing well. Versatility in safeties can have a massive impact on a defensive coordinator’s flexibility in scheming and game-day calls.
Malaki Starks is a first-round prospect specifically because he has that versatility. That ability is achieved through football IQ and physical behaviors, and Starks showed both in a Georgia defense that has produced multiple high-level NFL defenders in recent years.
Starks’ body control shines both in coverage and when tackling downhill, revealing a smooth athlete who can just as easily avoid blocks on the perimeter as he can make contorting plays on the ball down the field. Starks can be trusted in deep half or single high to be where he’s supposed to be, with excellent deep ball tracking and depth perception.
He doesn’t shed blocks optimally from the box once attached and can cede separation in man at the route break, but shows high level acceleration (1.56 10 yard split) to close the windows that may open post-break and make plays on the ball.
Nick Emmanwori was one of the stars of the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, with a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 10 out of 10. It’s not hyperbole to say that Emmanwori could be the most athletic safety prospect in NFL history. Those athletic testing figures are no mirage either; Emmanwori flashes on tape when he commits to a decision and pulls the trigger, showing a wide array of gifts from length and ball skills to physical tackling and range.
A team drafting Emmanwori is likely hoping that his seemingly limitless skillset can jump off the tape more often in the NFL with seasoning and coaching, as his instincts and trigger do not consistently fire with the urgency or timing you’d prefer. There’s nothing he can’t do (except perhaps flip his hips in man coverage smoothly due to his height), but teams will want to see that more often. I compared Emmanwori as a safety prospect to Tremaine Edmunds as a linebacker coming out, with similar strengths and the same concern (albeit at different positions).
Xavier Watts is one of the top coverage safeties in the NFL Draft, showing excellent route recognition, understanding of space, and the ability to engage coverage from a variety of levels. Split-safety looks and single high are no discouragement to his range and his rapid run trigger gives a team the ability to play him in the slot or in the box without worrying about extra bodies and a shortened time horizon messing up his processing.
He’s hyper-aggressively focused on outside runs and doesn’t show optimal balance at the tackle point, leading to overruns and missed tackles that could create big plays in the run game for an opposing NFL offense, but teams may view this as a coachable flaw given his energy towards it.
Andrew Mukaba has an Andre Cisco-style eval for me, with high-level ball production and plus abilities when moving forward from a deep initial platform. Cisco had better length than Mukaba does, and it shows up for the Texas product’s tackling reps and ability to challenge deep throws, limiting his range.
Muakaba is a tale of two halves; with excellent lower body agility and click and close paired with the above lack of length. His experience as a four-year starter shows up with high-level processing and teams will be able to look past some physical limitations to project him as a starting player.
Ohio State possesses one of the best safety prospects in recent memory with Alabama transfer Caleb Downs, but Down’s running mate Lathan Ransom is no slouch. Ransom’s plus instincts and experience leave him rarely out of position, and he possesses the physicality and conviction in run support that teams want from a split safety running the alley.
His lack of long speed (reinforced by his 4.59 40-yard dash) and playing the defender more often than the ball deep will give teams pause in utilizing him as a single high center fielder. Ransom will be coveted by teams as a high floor prospect who gives you at worst a good third safety and special teams player, and at best a good starting safety in a cover 2/3/4-heavy system.
Who are your early round targets for consideration for the Bills and what do you think of them?
...and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive and look for new episodes of “The Bruce Exclusive” every Thursday on the Rumblings Cast Network — see more in my LinkTree!