COLUMBIA, S.C. (April 25, 2026) – University of South Carolina defensive back Jalon Kilgore was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 27th pick in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Saturday. He was the third Gamecock player taken in the 2026 Draft and the 167th player selected overall . Kilgore, a 6-1, 218-pounder from Eatonton, Ga., spent three years as a starter in the Gamecock secondary, appearing in 36 of 37 games over that span with 33 starts. He logged 178 tackles and eight interceptions with 21 pass breakups.  He earned Freshman All-SEC and Freshman All-America honors in 2023 and was a second-team All-SEC selection by the league’s coaches in 2025. In 2025, Kilgore was selected as a Rex Enright permanent team captain and shared the Joe Morrison MVP honors for the Carolina defense with Bryan Thomas Jr. He finished fourth on the squad with 54 tackles while leading the team with 10 pass breakups and with two interceptions. Kilgore is the first Gamecock selected by the Bills since T.J. Sanders went in the second round of last year’s draft. Kilgore joins second round pick Brandon Cisse as the latest in a long line of Gamecock defensive backs selected in the NFL Draft. The Gamecocks have had a defensive back selected in five of the last six NFL Drafts, including  Jaycee Horn (2021-1st round), Cam Smith (2023-2ndround), Darius Rush (2023-5th round), Marcellas Dial (2024-6th round), and Nick Emmanwori (2025-2nd round). Overall, South Carolina has had 25 defensive backs selected since joining the SEC. Categories: Sports, USC Gamecocks ...read more read less