Ranking the last 10 first round picks in NFL Draft for the Buffalo Bills
The NFL Draft is right around the corner, and there is a lot of mystery on who the Buffalo Bills will pick at number 28 (that is if they pick at 28, depending on if they want to trade up or down). So with all this mystery around this year's pick, let's take a look at the previous players the Bills have drafted in the first round and rank them.
Obviously, some draft picks left Buffalo during their tenure here before they retired, so I am ranking them based on just their time with the Bills. It is also important to take into account the fact the recent draft picks of Dalton Kincaid and Kaiir Elam haven't fully developed yet, so I am looking at their current development mostly rather than the upside.
Ranking the last ten first round picks for the Buffalo Bills
#10-EJ Manuel, 2013, Pick #16
The Bills at this time during the drought era were trying to land their superstar QB of the future, potentially. Their QB at the time of this draft was the classic fan favorite Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he was not the future for this team.
The Bills in this draft traded back from pick 8 to 16 with the St. Louis Rams, who the Rams picked up Tavon Austin with this pick. The trade included giving up their 8th pick and their 3rd round pick (#71) to get #16, #46(2nd), #78(3rd) and #222(7th). EJ was the first QB taken off the board, and for good reason. This draft class of QBs was not very strong. The 2nd QB taken after him was Geno Smith to the Jets, who has surprisingly blossomed into a sound starter for the Seahawks late in his career.
In EJ's rookie season, he started 10 games. In those 10 games, he amassed a total of 1,972 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and a completion percentage of 58.8. Along with this, he had 53 rush attempts, 186 yards, and 2 touchdowns.
From there, he never started at least 10 times in another season from 2013-2017, going into more of a backup role, whether it be due to injury or poor QB play. Needless to say, EJ never panned out to be a QB well worth his draft stock. I would grade him as an F.