With the No. 9 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Bills selected Ed Oliver, defensive lineman out of Houston. Played over the center in college and regularly dominated, but will move to 3-technique in the NFL where he have more opportunities to shoot gaps. Low center of gravity, nonstop motor, unparalleled get-off and the leverage to regularly win at the line of scrimmage. Draft tracker: Get grades for every pick Bills: A Pete Prisco: I thought he was misused at Houston. I think this kid is going to be special at the next level. He is not Aaron Donald, I don't like that comparison. He plays a lot like John Randle and Randle was a Hall of Famer. This kid is going to be a good player for Buffalo. Looking for your daily fix of NFL news and analysis? Look no further than the Pick Six Podcast. CBS Sports senior writer Will Brinson (and guests) gets you up to speed each day in about 30 minutes with what's trending in the NFL world so that you're always in the know. Go subscribe right now! Fantasy impact Dave Richard: Ed Oliver is a dream come true for the Bills. He's a terrific three-tech D-lineman who makes an already good and underrated defense better. Buffalo needed some pass rush help and Oliver was their best remaining choice for sure. Is he good enough to push the Bills DST into Fantasy consideration? They play the Jets in Week 1, a matchup they can win with a couple of turnovers. I am not sold on the Jets offensive line being stout. Thus, the Bills DST is worth a final-round pick as an early-season DST choice. Oliver makes the cut as a late-round IDP pick. NFL comparison: John Randle Chris Trapasso: Going with a throwback for Oliver despite his presence as a "new-age" one-gapper at the three technique position, charging through the outside shoulder of either guard. That's, at least, where I'd play him essentially all the time, despite varying suggestions as to all the types of roles he could assume -- and thrive in -- at the next level. The same was true for Randle. Kind of. With him though, as an undrafted free agent from Texas A&M-Kingsville, coaches initially didn't know where to play him. The two are almost identically sized, and once Randle was given free rein to attack inside at defensive tackle, he dominated for nearly a decade. Like Randle did, Oliver plays with otherworldly explosiveness and aggression. His quickness and loose hips translate to ridiculously low-center-of-gravity power. College career Ryan Wilson: A five-star recruit coming out of high school, Oliver, who grew up in Houston, stayed in his hometown to play collegiately. He played in 12 games as a true freshman and had five sacks and 22 tackles for loss. As a sophomore, he had 5.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. In 2018, Oliver was limited to eight games because of a knee injury. He still logged three sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. Among all FBS defensive linemen, Oliver ranked 18th in Pro Football Focus' pass rush productivity metric and he was 19th in run stop percentage. Strengths Ryan Wilson: Oliver played over the center in college and regularly dominated, but will move to a 3-technique role in the NFL where he have more opportunities to shoot gaps. He has a low center of gravity, nonstop motor, unparalleled get-off and the leverage to regularly win at the line of scrimmage, Oliver is a top-5 talent. Good luck stopping this: Or this: Note that Oliver (No. 10) starts over the center and ends up at the sidelines ready to light up the running back had he caught the pass: Weaknesses Ryan Wilson: Size is a concern but only if you expect to play Oliver over the center for 50-60 plays a game.<doc-sep>Will Newton/Getty Images The Buffalo Bills selected Houston Cougars defensive tackle Ed Oliver with the No. 9 overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft Thursday. Many commented on how the Bills got great value in the first round. Oliver has had his sights set on the NFL for some time. Houston announced in March 2018 that he planned to make the jump to the next level following the conclusion of his junior season. Entering the 2018 campaign, Oliver was widely regarded as one of the best players in the 2019 draft class. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller projected him as the second overall pick last August. Oliver's performances fell somewhat short of expectations throughout the year, though. He suffered a bruised right knee in Houston's 49-36 win over Navy on Oct. 20 and missed four games. He finished with 54 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in eight appearances. 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Shaquem Griffin Starting for Seahawks in Week 1 Right Arrow Icon Oliver's most memorable moment from 2018 had nothing to do with his production on the field. During the Cougars' 48-17 victory over Tulane on Nov. 15, he got into an argument with then-head coach Major Applewhite. Oliver was wearing a jacket reserved for active players on the sideline and took exception when Applewhite made him remove it. Oliver apologized, while Applewhite moved on quickly from the incident. Oliver returned for Houston's regular-season finale, a 52-31 loss to Memphis. He then sat out the Armed Forces Bowl, with Army bludgeoning Houston 70-14. Of course, Oliver is so talented that his disappointing 2018 didn't significantly hurt his draft stock. In his final big board, Miller listed Oliver as the sixth-best player overall and the second-best defensive lineman. Houston's official site lists Oliver at 6'3", 292 pounds, which isn't an ideal frame for an interior defender. For some perspective, though, Aaron Donald is the NFL's most dominant defender and stands 6'1" and tips the scales at 280 pounds. Oliver's size does give him an advantage in the right situation. He's so quick and agile that he can beat his blocker before the lineman has a chance to really get a hold of him. Some critics will question whether Oliver will be his own worst enemy in the NFL. After the argument with Applewhite, The MMQB's Albert Breer wrote the Cougars star was "widely seen as high-maintenance, and as a guy who's gotten things his way a lot (his high school defensive coordinator, A.J. Blum, was hired as his position coach two years ago) since arriving on campus as the first 5-star recruit in program history." Even taking that critique into consideration, Oliver was a great addition for the Bills in the first round. Kyle Williams left big shoes to fill when he retired in December. Fans in Buffalo shouldn't expect Oliver to immediately replicate Williams' production, but he has the potential to make a similar impact for the Bills defense.<doc-sep>Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane will always remind you, they do their “due diligence.” Under the guidance of that duo, the Bills selected Ed Oliver with the ninth-overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft on Thursday. “You don’t truly know how it’s going to fall, there’s a lot of smoke about how many quarterbacks are going to go or not going to go. We felt if a couple of quarterbacks went, we were hoping for three, just to make it safe, that we’d get a player that we felt was definitely worthy of nine and that’s what we think we did,” Beane said. But, Oliver wasn’t a shiny, perfect prospect. There were two red flags attached to his scouting report, one of which required a little bit of that diligence, certainly. First, Oliver is undersized at only 6-foot-1, 282 pounds at the defensive tackle position. Sit back, relax, grab a bowl of popcorn and wash it down with some Process juice. Just watching Oliver play at Houston showed that size didn’t matter for him. But the second part isn’t as easy to overcome, a spat he had with a coach on the sideline at Houston. The altercation took place during a game against Tulsa. He was asked to remove his coat because inactive players don’t wear them. A heated exchange with Houston coach Major Applewhite ensued: Houston defensive star Ed Oliver appears to angrily confront coach Major Applewhite after being told to remove his jacket pic.twitter.com/axbg7YR6ND — CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) November 16, 2018 Aside from the incident, Oliver didn’t really have any off-field issues at Houston. After looking into it, Beane said on Thursday it didn’t bother the team one bit. “Listen, for all college kids there are probably one or two things all of us would like to do different and you learn along the way. But deep down he was raised well, he’s a good kid and we spent a lot of time (with Oliver),” Beane said. Exactly how much time and diligence did Bills give? The full-court press, or just about. “Sean and I were actually at his pro day. Leslie Frazier (defensive coordinator), Bill Teerlinck (D-line coach), Terrance Gray (Dir. of college scouting) went down there and spent some more time with him, as we do with a lot of these guys. We do our due diligence. Obviously the film is what it is but, you know how much we care a lot about who the people are and we checked that box before we gave him that status on our board.” In total, the Bills met with Oliver at least three times prior to the draft just to be sure. At his pro day, during a pre-draft visit, and at the combine. All in all, it sounds like Beane brushed aside the incident and got to know Oliver with a personal touch while letting the film speak for itself. “(Oliver’s) a competitor. He’s tough. He plays from the snap to the echo of the whistle,” Beane said. “He fits Buffalo, how we do things.”<doc-sep>
There was a passing of the torch Thursday night when the Buffalo Bills drafted defensive tackle Ed Oliver with the No. 9 overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft as the heir apparent to longtime great Kyle Williams, who retired at the end of the 2018 season. Much is expected of Oliver, the explosive pass rusher out of the University of Houston who from day one should slide into a starting role in Leslie Frazier’s 4-3 defense. Oliver should step into the three-technique position that Williams occupied for the Bills. Replacing the on-field productivity and leadership in the locker room Williams displayed is a tough task, but after he was drafted by the Bills, Oliver received some words of encouragement from none other than Williams himself. Williams—the former fifth-round draft pick out of LSU who developed into a beloved team captain—was a six-time Pro Bowler and the most popular and well-respected player in the locker room during the drought era. In a story reported by Tim Graham of The Athletic, Williams revealed that he contacted Oliver through a series of text messages to share his advice to the talented pass rusher. “Kyle Williams here. I’m sure you are sleeping after enjoying your night last night. Wanted to reach out and tell you congratulations and that you’re about to play for a city, organization and coaches who are the best in the business. Give all you got, and that city will open up for you! I’m pulling for you and can’t wait to watch you play. I’ll be around some. Let me know if you need anything!” Oliver addresses a major concern for the Bills, giving Frazier a disruptive and athletic defensive tackle who can get after the quarterback and cause havoc in opposing backfields. During his three years with the Cougars, Oliver totaled 53 tackles for loss to go with 13.5 sacks. Oliver is that rare talent who is extremely athletic with the requisite size, strength, and quickness needed to strike fear into opposing offensive linemen for years to come. Oliver won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top defensive interior lineman during his sophomore season, and earned All-American honors after each of his three seasons in Houston. How well does Williams think Oliver will adjust to life in the NFL? “He’s one of the rare ones that’s really talented, but he’s got a hot motor, can run plays down from behind and can play sideline to sideline,” Williams said. “That gives me the thought that it’s important to him. He wants to play hard. When he comes into a culture built around team, I think he’s going to flourish.” Why did Oliver slip out of the top five and into Buffalo’s lap with the ninth overall pick? Some teams had concerns about Oliver’s size (6’2”, 290 lbs) and maturity, according to Gil Brandt, the former vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys and a Hall of Fame scout. Under general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills have created a team-first culture, where the individual success comes second to the team’s success. How well does Williams think his heir apparent will fit into the process-centered locker room in Buffalo? “They’re going to push the guy,” Williams told Graham in his article, “and if you don’t meet the expectations of the room and that building as far as matching the intensity of the way those guys work, they’re going to let you know about it.” “There’s going to be a lot demanded of him. There’s going to be a lot of pressure to perform because that’s what the NFL is. The expectations that are set, you’re either going to rise to those, or they’re going to push you to them.”