The Bills announced that they have signed second-round pick Cyrus Kouandjio, tweets Mike Rodak of ESPNBoston.com. Buffalo has now successfully signed all of their draft picks, as shown in PFR’s running list.
Kouandjio, a former DeMatha Catholic star who continued his dominance at the University of Alabama, was a candidate to go in the first round. While he didn’t hear his name called on Day 1, the Bills scooped him up early on in the Day 2 proceedings, tabbing him with the No. 44 pick. Earlier this week, coach Doug Marrone made it clear that he thinks Kouandjio is ready to make the transition to the NFL.
“When you feel someone’s ready to go from the standpoint of knowledge where they’re not going to get anyone hurt, throw them in there,” said Marrone, according to Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com. “I’ve had a lot of success by taking young guys and once they know what they’re doing, throw them in there with the first group and see what they can do. I think you’ll see a lot of that as we look forward in camp.”
The Bills weren’t the only club with an eye on the 311 pound bruiser. The Redskins reportedly would have taken him in the first round if they had a pick there and considered him at No. 34 before trading that selection to Dallas.