Buffalo Bills Top Draft Pick Handed Harsh Outlook After Week 2

The Buffalo Bills ' 2026 rookie class hasn't had much of a role this season.

Buffalo traded out of the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft and ended up selecting pass rusher T.J. Parker in the second round out of Clemson.

Although the Bills are 2-0, Buffalo's rookie class has struggled, and their top pick was handed a harsh outlook.

Buffalo Bills Rookie Handed Harsh Outlook

Buffalo's rookies haven't had much of a role through two weeks, which has been common over the last couple of years.

With the Bills having a Super Bowl-contending team, it's hard for a rookie to make an impact right away. Yet, the hope was that Parker would be part of the pass rush, but that hasn't been the case, and Bills analyst Ralph Ventre of SI gave him a harsh outlook.

"Parker has been on the field for 22 percent of the defense's snaps as part of the edge rusher rotation, and he hasn't made a case for that number to increase. The second-round pick has one assisted tackle and no quarterback hits through two games," Ventre wrote .

Parker is behind Greg Rousseau , Bradley Chubb , and Michael Hoecht , which is why he hasn't gotten many snaps.

However, the Bills will need more pass rushers to rotate to keep everyone fresh, so Buffalo will need Parker to make an impact. Yet, through two weeks, the Bills coaching staff doesn't seem to have much confidence in their top pick.

Parker did have plenty of success at Clemson, but struggled in his final college season. Last year, he recorded just 5 sacks, but the year prior, he had 11 sacks and 19.5 tackles for a loss .

Whether or not Parker will get more snaps as he gets more comfortable as a pro and in the Bills system is to be seen. But for now, the rookie pass rusher isn't much of a factor in Buffalo's defense.

Jim Leonhard Reveals Concern for Buffalo's D

Although the Bills are 2-0, Buffalo's defense has struggled.

The Bills have a new defense with Jim Leonhard as defensive coordinator. Through two games, he believes the way they are playing defense isn't sustainable.

"We're kind of a boom-or-bust defense, and that's not okay long-term," Leonhard said after the win over Lions. "That's not sustainable. … When things have gone well in a drive, I mean, I think we're pretty much either three and out or touchdown right now over two games. I don't know exactly what the numbers are, but that's not far off from the truth."

Leonhard, meanwhile, expects the Bills defense to be much better.

"We're not playing our best ball," Leonhard said. "The numbers say that. We're all pissed off, but at the same time we're 2-0 and we're identifying our issues and we're going to go jump on them."

Buffalo will host the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3.