ORCHARD PARK - With Mitch Morse gone and Connor McGovern moving to center, the Buffalo Bills needed to add depth to that critical position so they used their first of what became three fifth-round picks to take Sedrick Van Pran-Granger of Georgia.

Van Pran-Granger was the 141st pick overall, and the Bills were supposed to make another at 144, but they traded that to the Bears in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick.

The 6-foot-4, 298-pounder was a three-year starter for one of college football’s dynastic programs and he helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022, the first of those with Bills’ running back James Cook as his teammate.

“We have a great relationship, we talk whenever we can,” Van Pran-Granger said of Cook. “Both have very busy schedules, but I'm sure I will talk to him very soon. It was amazing (blocking for Cook at Georgia). I think if you got up on the second level, he had the ability to break one loose, so it was amazing being able to block for James Cook.”

NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zeirlein projected Van Pran-Granger as a Day 2 pick who “should become a starter” but obviously he missed the mark as he lasted until pick No. 141.

“Since 2021, Van Pran-Granger has played in the middle of feisty offensive lines,” Zeirlein wrote. “He has short arms, strong hands and good size by NFL standards. He has the hand quickness, placement and play strength to scrap against the nose, while his innate sense of positioning allows him to beat defenders to the spot moving laterally.

“He’ll have some ugly losses as both a run blocker and in pass protection when he starts to play too far forward or his footwork gets sloppy in space. It doesn’t always look controlled or clean, but he’s a fighter who usually finds ways to get his guy blocked.”

Dane Brugler of The Athletic graded him as a late third, early-fourth round pick, so also an over-value.

His evaluation was that, “Van Pran-Granger has NFL play strength, especially in the run game, and his coaches rave about his leadership and smarts, but he might struggle when caught in any situation that calls for him to play in space. He is equipped to compete for immediate starting reps in the right situation.”

What could be a viable scenario for Van Pran-Granger is that he also gets some work at guard because Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer believes he can make that transition if necessary.

“I was able to talk to coach Kromer,” Van Pran-Granger said. “I remember we saw each other maybe a few weeks back and he was really impressed, he said that I fit in well with what he wanted to do and he felt like he could help me a lot, so I look forward to learning from him.

“I know coach Kromer likes me to be able to have some versatility at guard, he thinks that I'm very capable of that. As far as guard in college, it was only in practice, no in-game tape, but coach Kromer has a lot of belief that I can play guard at the next level.”

The Bills covet versatility for the interior offensive linemen, so if Van Pran-Granger can play guard, he will compete with players like Alec Anderson and Kevin Jarvis for backup guard snaps, as well as battling veteran Will Clapp at backup center.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out every other Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Sedrick Van Pran-Granger picked by Buffalo Bills NFL Draft 2024