ORCHARD PARK - The Buffalo Bills entered the NFL Draft with a clear need at inside linebacker, and they still do.

After passing on two highly-projected players who were available in the second round - Drew Sanders and Trenton Simpson - the Bills decided to pick offensive guard O’Cyrus Torrence which was a smart play.

But when their turn came up in the third round, they once again ignored the inside linebacker opening and picked Tulane’s Dorian Williams who general manager Brandon Beane said was more of an outside linebacker, at least at this stage of his development.

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“Well, he’ll just add to the mix,” Beane said. “We’ll start him outside and we’ll see.”

So, with only two picks left in this draft, it now seems pretty certain that the battle to replace Tremaine Edmunds at middle linebacker will be between veteran Tyrel Dodson and last year’s third-round pick, Terrel Bernard.

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That’s why picking Williams is a little puzzling, especially in the third round where you’d like to get a player who can be an immediate contributor somewhere beyond special teams, rather than a player who will compete to be Matt Milano’s at backup outside linebacker.

“We try to make these guys somewhat interchangeable” Beane said of the Bills’ philosophy with linebackers. “This is going to be a much more complex system. Mentally it will take him, from a football foundation, a little bit more in our defense. (Tulane’s) not as complex as what he’s gonna have here. I wouldn’t think year one we wouldn’t do much of a dual with him, but we’ll get him in here. He’s a tackling machine. He’s very athletic.”

The special teams component, of course, is a big selling point for the Bills because we all know how much they covet special teams.

“At a minimum, I see this guy earning a jersey, and (special teams coordinator) Matt Smiley’s gonna be excited to add him to the group to get a jersey and then we’ll see what kind of play time he earns this year,” Beane said. “That could be a guy that’s a backup for us this year if he doesn’t earn a starting role and potentially down the road add a starting role.”

Williams had an extraordinary performance in Tulane’s 46-45 victory over USC in the Cotton Bowl. He made 17 tackles and was named the most outstanding defensive player in the game. For the 2022 season he finished with 131 tackles, five sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

The draft analysts don’t see a whole lot of upside to Williams as a potential starter on defense, but of course, that remains to be seen.

“You wish Williams played with better anticipation, but once he sees it, he gets there ina hurry and has the tools desired for a modern-day developmental linebacker,” said Dane Brugler of The Athletic. “He has the profile of a key special teamer with the talent to eventually compete for NFL starting reps.”

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com described Williams this way.

“Team captain with athletic, tapered build and eye-catching production,” Zierlein said. “Williams looks and moves more like a big box safety with his bursts to the football and open-field fluidity. Lacking the size and strength to match up with NFL take-on duties near the line, Williams needs to become more adept at slipping blocks and staying a step ahead of the blocking scheme. His coverage potential and special teams background will give his roster quest a boost as a likely Day 3 selection looking to fit into a backup role as a Will linebacker.”

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

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills take tackling machine Dorian Williams in 3rd round of NFL Draft