The Buffalo Bills added an enforcer to the middle of its defense on Friday by taking Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland with the No. 41 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
It's not inconceivable to think that Ragland would have been a top-five pick in the NFL drafts of decades ago. The 6'1, 247-pound middle linebacker is the type of destructive hitter who would have been a coveted prospect to add to a defense with a top pick in the 1980s. But in an era when athleticism and pass coverage are attractive qualities for a linebacker, there are questions about Ragland's ability to make plays on his heels instead of just playing downhill.
So the task for Buffalo will be to use Ragland in a way that lets the 2015 SEC Defensive Player of the Year showcase the skills that make him a first-round prospect in the first place. And that's by making him a player who can move forward and be disruptive.
Ragland is one of those players who creates explosions when he collides with others. He's a player who sheds and avoids blockers well, and is at his best when he can try to make plays at the line of scrimmage or behind it.
The concern is whether or not he has the range and athleticism to not be a liability in pass coverage or plays that force him to beat players to the sideline. He can be inconsistent with his angles and that's not ideal for a player with a 4.72-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and a 31.5-inch vertical leap.
While he carries 247 pounds, he just isn't as explosive as a player like Darron Lee, who ran his 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds and posted a 35.5-inch vertical. But Lance Briggs was a player who was an All-Pro for the Chicago Bears, despite 4.75 speed to go with a 6'1, 242-pound frame at the 2003 NFL Combine.
Briggs is the player that the Bills hope they are getting in Ragland, but even if he only turns out to be a player like Philip Wheeler, another linebacker with 4.7 speed at 240-250 pounds, it's a pick they'll be able to live with.