Buffalo Bills full 2018 NFL mock draft

The Buffalo Bills will have eight picks to get better in the upcoming NFL Draft, including two in the first round. Here is their latest NFL mock draft.

After missing the AFC playoffs for every year this century, the Buffalo Bills finally did the thing and got back into them in 2017. Sure, the Bills managed just three points in their wild card game loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the team is certainly trending in the right direction under head coach Sean McDermott. For the first time in years, the Bills seem to be in lock step both on the sidelines and in the front office.

Buffalo still plays in the same AFC East that features Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. However, there is reason to believe that the Bills could be here to stay in the AFC playoff picture going forward. Remember that last year was supposed to be a year of rebuilding for Buffalo and the Bills made the playoffs.

While making the playoffs did knock them back in terms of draft positioning, keep in mind that the Bills have two first round picks thanks to last year’s trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City moved up to No. 10 to draft quarterback Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech last spring. Buffalo was still able to draft cornerback Tre’Davious White with the swapped pick of the Chiefs. They also have Kansas City’s first-round pick this year as well.

Overall, the Bills have eight picks to get better in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft. Buffalo has its own first, second, fourth and fifth round picks. They have the Chiefs’ first from the Mahomes trade, the Los Angeles Rams’ second from the Sammy Watkins trade, the Philadelphia Eagles’ third from the Ronald Darby trade and the Jaguars’ fifth from the Marcell Dareus trade.

The Bills don’t have their own third-round pick because of the Kelvin Benjamin Trade. They also don’t have any sixth and seventh round picks because of packages of previously mentioned trades. Buffalo has primary needs of quarterback, wide receiver and defensive line in the draft. They have secondary needs of guard, safety and offensive tackle as well. Here is the latest mock draft for the Bills.

First Round

Odds are, Buffalo stands to be one of the teams most likely to move up from the latter part of the first round to go up and draft a franchise quarterback. Since we’re going to go with Buffalo’s current allotment of picks, let’s have them take a dominating defensive linemen in Vita Vea out of Washington at No. 21 overall.

Vea is 6-foot-4, 347 pounds and was an absolute disruptor in his three years for the Washington Huskies in college. He leaves Seattle with 99 total tackles (65 solo, 34 assists), 15.0 for a loss of yardage, 9.5 quarterback sacks, five passes defended and two forced fumbles. Essentially, the Bills would be getting Dareus’ replacement in Vea. Doing so at No. 21 would be an absolute steal.

Since the Bills have back-to-back picks in the first round, they can wait to draft Wyoming Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen at No. 22 to save them a bit of money. Truth be told, he and the three other franchise quarterbacks in this draft are probably off the board by No. 15. However, Allen’s inconsistent nature as a passer could have him as the likely candidate to fall in the upcoming draft. If Aaron Rodgers can fall, anything can happen.

Allen is 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, the ideal frame to be an NFL franchise quarterback, especially in a harsh northern climate in Orchard Park. While he only completed 56.2 percent of his passes in college, it wasn’t like he was playing with a bunch of NFL talent to begin with. Keep in mind that Laramie is over 7,000 feet above sea level. Allen has a total gun for a right arm. He may have to wait a year to start, but would be a great value pick at No. 22 for the Bills should he fall to them there.