Bills take Florida guard O'Cyrus Torrence 59th in NFL draft
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills addressed its offense again Friday night in the second round of the NFL draft by selecting Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence with the 59th pick.
Torrence is listed at 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds and noted for never giving up a sack during his four-year college career. He spent his first three seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette before transferring to Florida for his senior year, when Torrence earned first-team All-America and All-SEC honors in 11 starts at right guard.
Torrence has the potential to fill an immediate need after the Bills did not re-sign Rodger Saffold this offseason. Saffold started 16 games at left guard under a one-year contract last year. Starting right guard Ryan Bates returns, and Buffalo did sign guard Connor McGovern in free agency last month.
The Bills opened the draft on Thursday night by providing Josh Allen another target by trading up two spots and making Utah’s Dalton Kincaid the first tight end taken off the board with the 25th selection.
The Bills were scheduled close Friday with a third-round pick, 91st overall.
After trading their fourth-round pick to land Kincaid, the Bills are down to currently having two picks on Saturday, a fifth-round selection (137th overall) and a sixth-rounder (205th). General manager Brandon Beane hasn’t ruled out the possibility of trading back to acquire more selections.
Kincaid, who led FBS tight ends with eight touchdowns last year, can play in various formations, including lining up as a wideout. He fills a pass-catching need on a team that struggled at the slot receiver spot, while also having the potential to draw attention away from Stefon Diggs.
“I still don’t know if it has set in for me yet. I was just more excited to get out here,” Kincaid said after he and his parents traveled from Henderson, Nevada, to tour the Bills’ facility and meet with team officials earlier Friday.
Kincaid did not play competitive football until his freshman high school season. He quit playing most sports -- including football -- for two years before returning to playing football in his senior season.
Lightly recruited out of high school, Kincaid spent his first two seasons as a walk on at the University of San Diego, where he led FCS tight ends in averaging 19 yards per catch in 2019, before spending his final three college seasons at Utah.
He credited a coach at San Diego for pulling him aside in Kincaid’s freshman season to inform him of his NFL potential.
“I might not have believed it right then and there, but that always stuck in the back of my head,” said Kincaid, who scored 11 touchdowns on 24 catches in his first season. “And it definitely motivates me.
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John Wawrow, The Associated Press