Buffalo Bills find undrafted gem in LB Eric Striker

The Buffalo Bills made some huge upgrades to their defense in the draft, but found a gem as an undrafted free agent in linebacker Eric Striker…

You know the NFL is a tough business for a player to break into when someone like Eric Striker out of Oklahoma doesn’t get picked among 250 plus players in the draft.

Striker, a linebacker for the Sooners, was one of the most productive players in the country this past season and at just over 220 pounds, he managed to rack up 19 tackles for loss. In addition to the 19 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, Striker finished with 7.5 sacks, 11 QB hurries, three pass breakups, a forced fumble, an interception, and 67 total tackles.

He was all over the field making plays for Oklahoma over the last three seasons, racking up 191 tackles, 46.5 tackles for loss, and 23 sacks over that timeframe as a full-time starter. He was named a first-team All-American this past year by Sports Illustrated, and was on everyone else’s All-American teams across the board.

This is a really good football player, and you can see in a nine minute highlight reel what he brings to the table on a consistent basis.

There’s not much on the field that Striker is incapable of doing. When you’re under 6-0 tall and can rush the passer like he does, it’s got to raise some eyebrows. Not only is he able to get into the backfield and make plays, in order to make that happen, you have to be able to read where the play is going.

Striker does that as well as anyone in his class as a combination linebacker, or someone who plays both on and off the ball.

Now in Rex Ryan’s defense, he’s going to have a chance to play with a lot of help in front of him. The Bills have a very good defensive line, and they added to that this offseason by drafting Shaq Lawson and Adolphus Washington. They also added Reggie Ragland at the inside linebacker position, where they struggled to find consistency after Kiko Alonso was injured and subsequently traded last offseason.

With Ragland and Preston Brown presumably taking starting linebacker duties, there is a role for Striker as a versatile weapon defensively. He can hit, he can rush the passer, he can play in the box, he can drop into coverage — he can really do it all. And because of his ability to do all of that well, he could be a good special teams contributor as well.

More from NFL Mocks

There are plenty of ways the Bills should look to get him involved, but he’ll be a really fun player to watch in the preseason as the Bills get creative in giving him different looks. Some have even opined that he could play an in-the-box safety role at some point or another, but I love what he’s capable of doing at and around the line of scrimmage.

I can’t understand why he wasn’t drafted with the way that undersized linebackers are utilized in the NFL today. Perhaps eventually these guys will get a higher priority in the draft similar to how the NFL is finally starting to use higher picks on nickel cornerbacks.

Striker has a role in the NFL despite being undersized and not ‘elite’ athletically. He can flat out play football, and I think the Bills found themselves an undrafted gem.