The Buffalo Bills picked Missouri cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. in the seventh round at No. 220 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. They acquired the selection in the Brandon Codrington trade before the 2024 NFL season.
This is the eighth piece in my rookie profile series, which is providing a detailed look into my pre-draft thoughts on all the Bills’ 2026 draft selections minus punter Tommy Doman Jr., whom I did not evaluate before the draft.
Be sure to check all the other rookie profiles in this series.
Previous Rookie Profiles
Toriano Pride Jr. rookie profile
NFL comparison: Donte Jackson
Big Board rank: No. 167 overall (selected: No. 220 overall)
Positional rank: CB21 (selected: CB25)
Round grade: 4
My pre-draft scouting report on Pride Jr.
Toriano Pride Jr. is a smaller-framed outside corner whose game is built on elite long speed and easy acceleration. He covers ground effortlessly once he opens up, with outstanding vertical range and recovery burst that make him tough to separate from downfield. His short-area quickness is solid but not a defining trait, as he relies more on stride length and speed than sudden plant-and-drive ability.
In coverage, Pride is most comfortable in off-man and zone, where he can play with vision and let his speed take over. He reads the field well and closes space quickly, though he isn’t a natural mirrorer and can lose a step early in routes. His recovery ability helps mask that, allowing him to reattach and stay competitive down the field. His ball skills are adequate but not overly instinctive, and his smaller frame shows up at the catch point. Press coverage remains a work in progress, particularly with hand usage and overall physicality at the line.
Against the run, Pride brings energy and willingness, attacking screens and perimeter plays with urgency. He moves well through traffic and gets to the football quickly, but his tackling consistency is uneven, which limits his overall impact. He projects as a speed-based boundary corner with developmental upside, best suited for schemes that emphasize off coverage and allow him to leverage his range and recovery ability early in his career.
Toriano Pride Jr. relevant stats at Missouri
Career snaps in college: 1,621
Career passer rating allowed: 82.6
Final season passer rating allowed: 53.7
Career missed tackle rate: 14.6%
Career PBUs in college: 12
Career INTs in college: 5
Nothing exceptionally stands out here — despite Pride Jr.’s missed tackle rate. Approaching 15% is squarely in the danger zone and represents a clear weakness to his game. He was reasonably pesky at the catch point — as evidenced by his ball production — yet those PBU + INT figures did come on a 143 targets across four seasons at Missouri.
Encouragingly, the passer rating Pride Jr. allowed in his coverage area decreased every year, from 107.3 to 105.6 to 82.5 to 53.4.
Toriano Pride Jr. combine numbers
Height: 5’10” (20th percentile among CBs)
Weight: 185 (19th)
Arm Length: 31” (34th)
Hand Size: 9 1/4” (60th)
10-Yard Split: 1.51 (74th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.32 (96th)
Vertical Jump: 37 1/2” (67th)
Broad Jump: 117” (17th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.15 (57th)
Final thoughts on Bills seventh-round pick of CB Toriano Pride Jr.
Strictly based on my pre-draft evaluations and grades, which of course are meant to be viewed from a league-wide perspective and not tailored to specific teams, I thought the Pride Jr. pick was a value selection, as he was the 167th overall prospect on my board with a fourth-round grade.
With an expected uptick in man-coverage usage ahead for the Bills, new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard will need high-caliber athletes in his secondary, those with serious explosiveness and pure speed to carry verticals downfield. That’s precisely the type of cornerback the Bills got in Pride Jr., as evidence by his 4.32 time in the 40-yard dash. He’s not a super-sticky mirrorer and will undoubtedly need coaching on how to stay more connected to his coverage assignment. His tackling must improve at the next level if he wants to see the field on even a semi-regular basis. No doubt about either of those elements of his game.
But with plenty of wide-cornerback experience — 80.8% of his snaps came in that alignment in 2025 — and slot-cornerback size + suddenness, Pride Jr. provides legit versatility and aligns with Buffalo’s recent emphasis to add twitchiness and speed to the defensive backfield. And in Round 6, athletic fliers are typically a good idea.
