One of the most talked about prospects coming out of college in this year’s NFL Draft is a player that the Buffalo Bills have no business drafting at any point. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is coming off just one true year of experience playing at the collegiate level.
Simpson threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. He completed 64.5% of his passes as well, which makes him an average quarterback, but he showed some signs of promise. However, having just one year of starting experience and then going to the NFL is a massive jump.
Yet, he remains as a big risk/big reward type of player for a franchise. While the Bills don’t need to worry about drafting Simpson, there are plenty of quarterback-needy teams and outside of Simpson and Fernando Mendoza, there are not a lot of great QB options for teams.
Bills could heavily benefit from Ty Simpson hype going into 2026 NFL Draft
Brent Sobleski from Bleacher Report recently published a 2026 NFL mock draft that was centered around trade-up scenarios for Simpson and in Sobleski’s mock draft, the Bills trade out of the first round and give the Arizona Cardinals the 26th pick where they select Simpson.
There were three trade-up scenarios listed, and the Cardinals trading up with Buffalo was one of the options which could very well benefit Buffalo as far as draft capital.
"The Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks are three obvious trade-up spots to get back into the first round. Those three organizations currently hold the 26th, 28th and 32nd overall picks, respectively. In the Cardinals' case, a deal with the Seahawks seems unlikely between division rivals. However, the other two scenarios should be in play." said Sobleski.
In order for the Cardinals to potentially jump back up into the first round after picking in the top three, it could be a hefty price. Last year, we saw the Falcons give up a 2026 first rounder to the Rams in order to trade up and draft EDGE James Pearce Jr, along with other picks.
Would the Bills possibly ever get a future first rounder to trade out of No. 26? It’s highly unlikely, but not impossible either. What is more likely is the Bills getting a great amount of draft picks this year, and possibly another one in next year’s draft.
With Buffalo not having a second round pick this year, they would more than likely get to pick early on Day 2 of the draft and gain more draft capital for this year. That would give them more opportunities to draft impactful players and build up the roster, especially on the defense.