NFL

2017 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting What Could Happen in the First Round

Joe Redemann  —  @TheIDPGuy Mar 3rd, 2017
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10. Bills: Malik Hooker, Free Safety

Top Needs: WR, OT, OLB, S

New Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott loves having safeties that can defend the deep pass, so he’ll want to improve the unit he’s inheriting; the Bills ranked 20th in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play. Ohio State free safety Malik Hooker has been compared to Baltimore Ravens great Ed Reed -- and that’s not hyperbole.

Hooker has the range and ball-hawking skills to be the next great defensive centerfielder in the NFL. Average speed is masked by an incredible ability to read a quarterback and react to the ball in flight. He moves fluidly, and has enough force to deliver a hit on a receiver deep.

With incredible instincts, Hooker was able to reach 74 total tackles and 7 interceptions in 13 games in his single season as a starter. McDermott ran a Cover-2 scheme in Carolina and will likely transplant that coverage ideology to upstate New York. Hooker’s a perfect fit for that.

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