Ar’maj Reed gives Bills immense upside at guard in long-term future

I owe it to myself to write about Bills rookie guard Ar’maj Reed-Adams, but not as a victory lap.

Quite simply, Reed-Adams was one of my 2026 draft crushes, so I would’ve been “rooting” for him regardless of NFL locale. He wasn’t selected until the seventh round by the Bills, and then actually made Buffalo’s 53-man roster after the preseason.

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Based on his draft position alone — heck, he was one of the last 20 picks in the draft — Reed-Adams was a relative long-shot for such an achievement. In fact, 18 of the 41 seventh-round picks from the 2026 NFL Draft were waived by cutdown day, and as you can probably imagine, the seventh round historically has the highest rate of players who are waived after their first training camp and preseason with the team that drafted them.

I had a third-round grade on Reed-Adams before the draft. He was my IOL5. Here’s my pre-draft scouting report on him:

“Ar’maj Reed-Adams is a tall, long, well-built guard with a rare, almost unmatched wingspan and a frame that can still comfortably add more mass. He carries his weight well for his height and plays with good hip roll out of his stance. His length is a true weapon — he consistently deploys it to keep defenders off his frame and stay attached through reps. While not an immediate, effortless anchor, he shows the ability to sink his pads and grow roots as the play develops, and his balance recovery is strong even when initially stressed.

In the run game, Reed-Adams brings above-average movement skills for his size and enough range to execute down blocks, combo climbs, and reach assignments. He’s not a super explosive or ultra-fluid space mover, but he’s far from limited and can get his hands on defenders consistently. He flashes a developing mean streak and uses his length to control reps, though he does have a tendency to lean into blocks at times, which can open him up to counters. At the second level, he can be a half-step late or slightly off-balance initially, but typically recalibrates and finishes the rep.

In pass protection, his length, awareness, and ability to absorb counters stand out. He does an excellent job staying attached to interior defenders and using his reach to mirror and control rushers even when initially challenged. His hands are active and reasonably heavy, with solid grip strength that plays up because of his length. He’s a plus stunt and blitz recognizer and rarely looks out of position. Overall, this is a highly experienced, pro-ready guard with rare length and strong technical foundations who needs to add 5–10% more functional strength to unlock a high-end ceiling.”

I viewed him as a ready-to-go blocker. Really did. And I was enamored with his physical measurements, especially in a league that is prioritizing size and length at every position along the offensive line.

Per MockDraftable, Adams’ 34 3/8″ arm length places in the 88th percentile at the guard position. He’s 6’6″, which places in the 91st percentile. And his weight of 314 pounds was only in the 54th percentile, meaning he has plenty of room to grow into his towering frame. Offensive linemen getting bigger and stronger might be the easiest part of being in the NFL. With Bills new offensive line coach Pat Meyer being a disciple of Aaron Kromer, you can bet your bottom dollar Buffalo will continue to prioritize size and power up front.

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By next season, Reed-Adams can very easily take the field as a 325-330 pound guard, standing 6’6″ with elite length.

And his showing in his first preseason was dazzling. I zeroed in on him often. On 103 pass-blocking snaps… zero pressures allowed. Only one holding penalty. No false starts.

While he’s only a rookie, Reed-Adams played over 2,300 snaps across six seasons at Kansas and A&M and will turn 25 in November. I typically gravitate toward younger players in the draft, but along the offensive line, I’m OK with older prospects if they enter the league with ample experience (and, of course, were dominant players at the collegiate level).

Reed-Adams surrendered just two sacks on his 739 pass-blocking snaps with the Aggies in 2024 and 2025 combined. He was a team captain in 2025.

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Of course, the Bills extended right guard O’Cyrus Torrence in August, and that’s the position Reed-Adams played at Texas A&M. Yet he took 78 preseason snaps at left guard and didn’t look out of place whatsoever. While I’m here on Torrence, quite frankly, I think there are a lot of similarities between the two — size, length, strengths, and weaknesses.

Alec Anderson won the starting left guard over veteran Austin Corbett for this season. Both Anderson and Corbett are playing on one-year deals with the Bills in 2026.

Reed-Adams is waiting in the wings as a serious starting left guard candidate for 2027. And his quietly impressive summer will probably factor into any future contract talks with Anderson and/or Corbett if either play particularly well this season.

And, at the risk of going overboard here, I believe the Bills could do much worse than Reed-Adams if he was forced onto the field in a regular-season game as a rookie.

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If Reed-Adams becomes a quality guard in Orchard Park, he’d join the increasingly long list of Day 3 gems uncovered by Brandon Beane and his scouting staff. And, heck, because I thought Reed-Adams should’ve been a Day 2 pick, I probably feel more confident than any analyst he will indeed mature into a sturdy blocker for the Bills.