​The Buffalo Bills, under general manager and team president Brandon Beane, have consistently unearthed a string of late-round gems in the NFL Draft. It’s a running joke, with touches of truth, that Beane’s late-round finds have sometimes outshined his higher-drafted selections. A prime example lies at cornerback: the Bills chose Christian Benford in the sixth round after taking Kaiir Elam in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. It’s fortunate they struck gold twice, because Elam has yet to deliver at the professional level while Benford has ascended toward near-stardom.
Thus, when the Bills selected another corner in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft and then added a sixth-round corner in the same draft, the fanbase couldn’t help but feel déjà vu. The sixth-round pick even earned a starting role in Week One, though under very different circumstances, prompting many fans to believe Beane had once again identified a hidden gem late in the process.
In today’s installment of “91 players in 91 days,” we examine that sixth-round steal—an embodiment of how rapidly fortunes can shift in the NFL. The player in focus is Dorian Strong, a cornerback who wears number 43.
Name: Dorian Strong
Number: 43
Position: CB
Height/Weight: 6’1”, 185 lbs
Age: 23 (will be 24 on 3/14/2027)
Experience/Draft: 2; selected by Buffalo in the sixth round (No. 177 overall) of the 2025 NFL Draft
College: Virginia Tech
Acquired: Sixth-round draft choice
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Strong is entering the second year of his four-year rookie contract, totaling $4,485,356 overall. His 2026 cap hit is $611,339.
2025 Recap: Strong began his NFL career in a way that mirrored his name, earning a starting spot for Buffalo’s season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. This followed a solid preseason in which he logged 11 tackles across three exhibition games. He recorded two tackles while playing all 51 defensive snaps and ten special-teams snaps in the opener. Over the next three weeks, Strong predominantly contributed on special teams as veteran Tre’Davious White reclaimed the starting opposite Christian Benford. He tallied two tackles per game in victories over the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, though in the latter contest he saw action exclusively on special teams. In Week Four against the New Orleans Saints, he totaled four tackles, but that game proved to be his last of the season. A neck injury sustained in Week Four sent him to injured reserve before Buffalo’s Week Five defeat to the New England Patriots, and he remained on IR for the remainder of the season.
Positional outlook: Strong is one of nine cornerbacks on the Bills’ current roster, illustrating the depth and ongoing competition at the position as the team looks to build a flexible, durable secondary.