Gordon native Tylan Grable gets to work for the Buffalo Bills

Forget buying snow boots and thermal underwear. That can wait.

For the time being, Tylan Grable is focused on the summer. Grable, the Gordon native and Buffalo Bills rookie offensive lineman, has been healthy and a full participant in the Bills’ first four organized team activities (OTAs) and mini-camps. Buffalo’s first day of training camp is July 24, while the first preseason game is slated for Aug. 10.

Like all late-round draft picks, Grable must fight for his spot on the team, and there are very few guarantees. The Bills selected Grable in the sixth round of the seven-round NFL Draft in April. He then signed a four-year contract worth $4.19 million with a signing bonus of $170,000. Out of the entire contact, however, the signing bonus is the only money that’s guaranteed.

“I’m going to the Bills!” Grable exclaimed during a draft watch party at his family home in Gordon several months ago. The room erupted, the realization of a childhood dream. Grable is expected to compete for playing time at offensive tackle in Buffalo.

The Bills’ starting left tackle – Dion Dawkins – has made two Pro Bowls and is still in the prime of his career. Meanwhile, right tackle Spencer Brown is a fourth-year player out of Northern Iowa. The consensus on Brown is that he struggled in his first two seasons, despite being a third-round draft pick, before having a breakthrough season last season. Playing time is always one injury away, however. The Bills’ starting offensive line played 96 percent of all offensive snaps last season, an incredibly high percentage. Many teams are far less lucky, however, and that’s why general managers like having plenty of depth at the position.

Grable put his name on the draft map after running the 40-yard dash in 4.95 seconds at last month’s NFL Combine, which was the fourth-fastest time out of the roughly four dozen offensive linemen at the event. On top of that, Grable recorded the longest broad jump and the second-highest vertical leap in the offensive lineman group. Grable checked in at 306 pounds at the combine, a far cry from his high school days, when he was a scrambling quarterback for the Warriors.

Grable also was an all-region basketball player for the state-champion Blue Storm, posting a double-double in back-to-back state championship games. Grable initially signed a football scholarship at Jacksonville State in Alabama. He redshirted his freshman year, while beginning to pack on the pounds. Grable never stopped grinding, rising up the depth chart and eventually becoming an FCS All-American during the COVID season. Grable then transferred to UCF in Orlando, where he started his final two years at left tackle. Last season, Grable was named honorable mention All-Big 12.