The Buffalo Bills are staring at two potential holes among the starting offensive line from the past two seasons, with both left guard David Edwards and center Connor McGovern set to hit free agency in March. Though recent reports suggest that the market may be flooded with centers, thus potentially favoring One Bills Drive in its quest to retain McGovern, losing a pair of key blockers in front of quarterback Josh Allen is anything other than ideal.
Enter Charlie Campbell, whose latest go at a mock
draft for the 2026 cycle appears centered on this potential issue for president of football operations/general manager Brandon Beane. Or does it? Campbell’s pick for the Bills at 26 in interesting at the very least, but it doesn’t necessarily help Buffalo in the near future.
“26. Buffalo Bills: Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah
Buffalo could stand to add more offensive line talent. Lomu could start out at left guard and eventually take over at right tackle.
Lomu formed a formidable tackle tandem for the Utes with Spencer Fano. Lomu is an athletic blocker who could be a good pro left tackle. The 6-foot-6, 304-pound Lomu is agile, nimble, quick, and has natural size. Lomu needs to improve on his technique and get stronger as a run blocker, but he has upside to work with. Lomu is very adept at handling speed rushers and protecting the blindside of his quarterback.” — Charlie Campbell
I’ll sidebar for a moment to point out that it’s very unlikely that an prospect at center is worthy of a first-round draft pick, should the Bills lose McGovern in free agency. Campbell understands this, it would seem, and has instead chosen for Buffalo focus on the team’s future at offensive tackle. While Campbell envisions Caleb Lomu beginning his NFL career at left guard (presumably as a replacement option for David Edwards), he believes his long-term projection is at right tackle.
Recall that the Bills just restructured Spencer Brown’s contract, and, as such, moving on from him would be financially irresponsible. That could make a move to right tackle difficult for Lomu anytime in the near future. The question becomes whether or not Lomu comes in as the team’s starting left guard on day one, similar to the trajectory of right guard O’Cyrus Torrence.
It’s true that Buffalo would benefit from adding more offensive line talent through the draft, if for no reason other than the cost control involved in hopefully finding starting-caliber players. Beane has paid a king’s ransom to several starting offensive linemen — roughly $38 million in 2026 alone for Brown, Torrence, and left tackle Dion Dawkins. To keep McGovern and/or Edwards in town, it’s likely going to cost another $10+ million each.
Still, so much is potentially set to change on defense as new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard looks to shift from a base 4-3 system to a 3-4 unit, and there are the very obvious and continued issues at wide receiver. as such, is the move to draft an offensive lineman early the best plan in 2026? Conversely, can the Bills afford to pass on adding young offensive line talent early in the NFL Draft?
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