Grable a game away from suiting up in Super Bowl

On a frigid and snowy Sunday in Western New York, the Buffalo Bills bested the Baltimore Ravens 27-25, in the process advancing to the AFC Championship Game.

Nine hundred miles due south, in Wilkinson County, the local branch of the Bills Mafia celebrated. The Bill first gained a local following last April after drafting offensive lineman Tylan Grable, Wilkinson County High School Class of 2018. Grable played five snaps at left tackle in Buffalo’s first playoff game against Denver, although he didn’t log any snaps last Sunday vs. Baltimore.

During the regular season, Grable rotated in and out on special teams, while also appearing in three different games at left tackle, including his first career start, which came in Week 18 against New England. All totaled, Grable recorded 74 snaps at left tackle during the regular season, allowing zero sacks.

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With a Bills victory this Sunday in the AFC Championship Game against the dynastic Kansas City Chiefs, Grable would become the first man from Wilkinson County ever to appear in a Super Bowl. Wilco’s other NFL guy – Bud Dupree – came close back in 2016, which was his second season in the league, but Dupree’s Pittsburgh Steelers ultimately lost in the AFC Championship Game. Dupree recently wrapped up his 10th season in the NFL after his San Diego Chargers lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The Steelers originally drafted Dupree with their first-round pick in 2015. Dupree then grinded on his rookie contract for the next four seasons before cashing in in 2020, signing a 1-year, $15.828 “franchise” contract with Pittsburgh. The following off-season, Dupree signed a five-year deal with Tennessee, complete with a $16 million signing bonus and $35 million in guaranteed money. After an injury-plagued two seasons in Nashville, however, the Titans organization released Dupree, and he subsequently signed with the Falcons in April 2023. Dupree then signed a two-year contract with the Chargers last spring. 

Getting back to Grable, the UCF product put his name on the draft map after running the 40-yard dash in 4.95 seconds at the NFL Combine in March, 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 before being drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by Buffalo.