“Speed is my greatest asset… I can show it to the world,” Darien Porter once grinned, his 4.3 40-yard dash time flashing like a Vegas marquee. Fast-forward to 2025, and Sean McDermott’s Bills are eyeing this Tariq Woolen clone like a kid spotting free wings at a tailgate.

With 18 tackles, 3 INTs, and a Reese’s Senior Bowl invite under his belt, Porter’s college tape screams steal for a team craving CB depth. But wait—the Bills are also flirting with James Bradberry, Jalen Hurts’ ex-Eagles teammate. Cue the Succession-level drama: “You’re not serious people.” Oh, but the Bills are.

Porter’s Playground: A Tariq Woolen Redux by McDermott?

Let’s get nerdy. At 6’3”, Porter’s got Woolen’s blueprint: freakish length, track-star speed, and a WR-to-CB glow-up story. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein even called him “Woolen 2.0,” which, given Woolen’s 11 picks in three seasons? High praise. Porter’s college highlights read like a Friday Night Lights script—game-sealing picks, blocked punts, and mic-drop quotes like “Grateful for my teammates… never giving up on me.”

But there’s a deeper subplot here. Playing both ways in college, even sporadically, isn’t the same as surviving the NFL’s war room of playbooks. As Chris Simms put it, “The physical toll doubles, the mental strain triples—you’re not just playing both sides, you’re studying both playbooks, both film rooms.” In Buffalo, where expectations weigh heavier than Lake Erie snow, the question is whether Porter’s elite traits can hold up under that scrutiny.

Still, after trading Kaiir Elam and letting Rasul Douglas walk, Brandon Beane’s got a “Help Wanted” sign on One Bills Drive. Enter Porter—a projected Day 2 pick who could mirror Woolen’s rookie magic (6 INTs in ‘22). “He’s continuing to get better… help our team on defense and special teams,” Porter said last fall, channeling The Office’s Michael Scott-level optimism. But NFL speed? Different beast. “This isn’t the Big 12,” as Simms quipped, “You’re not the best athlete on the field anymore. That’s every week now.”

Its all Risky? Maybe. But for a team with $6.3M cap space? Calculated chaos.

Bradberry’s Redemption Arc: McDermott’s Reunion Tour

Meanwhile, Sean McDermott is digging into his Carolina Rolodex, hosting 31-year-old Bradberry—a Pro Bowl CB he drafted in 2016. Bradberry’s résumé? Glittery (19 career INTs, 2020 Pro Bowl) but lately rusty (torn Achilles in ‘24). Still, McDermott’s a sucker for reunion tours. “I admire his game… play alongside him,” Bradberry once gushed about Darius Slay. Now? He’s eyeing Buffalo’s CB2 spot opposite Christian Benford like it’s a Waffle House at 2 a.m.

Bradberry’s no spring chicken, but his IQ’s sharper than Josh Allen’s no-look passes. “When you’ve seen enough formations, you start to predict what’s coming,” he once told the Philadelphia Inquirer, sounding like Lester Freamon dissecting a case.

So, what’s the play? Porter’s ceiling says draft him now, sort it out later. But as Mike Florio warned during a similar debate over Travis Hunter’s two-way dreams: “Every team might let him try both… but eventually, they’ll make the call. Because the NFL isn’t about wishes—it’s about fit.”

The Bills aren’t rebuilding; they’re reloading. Porter’s the high-ceiling project, Bradberry the savvy vet. Together? They could turn Buffalo’s secondary from “question mark” to “exclamation point.” As McDermott might say, channeling Logan Roy: “I love you all, but you’re not serious people.” And in Buffalo, seriousness means chasing rings—one 4.3-speed CB at a time.