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As we have been keeping diligent track of all of the pre-draft visitors spending time with the Buffalo Bills this spring, we've had a few inquiries about those visits from previous seasons.
The Bills did not publish the list of 30 visitors until last year, but we do know that each of the three first-round picks that GM Buddy Nix has made in Buffalo (C.J. Spiller, Marcell Dareus and Stephon Gilmore) all made pre-draft visits to Buffalo. At least one other player (Kelvin Sheppard) made the trip, and there may be more - but memory fails us.
Last year's list is below. Of the 30 prospects that visited One Bills Drive, more than half (16) were eventually drafted in the first round, and three of them were picked by the Bills, including both of their top two picks (Gilmore and Cordy Glenn).
Player | Pos. | College | Rd | Pick | Team |
Trent Richardson | RB | Alabama | 1 | 3 | Browns |
Matt Kalil | OT | USC | 1 | 4 | Vikings |
Justin Blackmon | WR | Oklahoma State | 1 | 5 | Jaguars |
Morris Claiborne | CB | LSU | 1 | 6 | Cowboys |
Mark Barron | S | Alabama | 1 | 7 | Buccaneers |
Ryan Tannehill | QB | Texas A&M | 1 | 8 | Dolphins |
Luke Kuechly | LB | Boston College | 1 | 9 | Panthers |
Stephon Gilmore | CB | South Carolina | 1 | 10 | Bills |
Fletcher Cox | DT | Mississippi State | 1 | 12 | Eagles |
Bruce Irvin | DE | West Virginia | 1 | 15 | Seahawks |
Dre Kirkpatrick | CB | Alabama | 1 | 17 | Bengals |
Melvin Ingram | DE | South Carolina | 1 | 18 | Chargers |
Shea McClellin | DE | Boise State | 1 | 19 | Bears |
Chandler Jones | DE | Syracuse | 1 | 21 | Patriots |
Dont'a Hightower | LB | Alabama | 1 | 25 | Patriots |
Whitney Mercilus | DE | Illinois | 1 | 26 | Texans |
Brian Quick | WR | Appalachian State | 2 | 33 | Rams |
Cordy Glenn | OT | Georgia | 2 | 41 | Bills |
Jonathan Martin | OT | Stanford | 2 | 42 | Dolphins |
Mike Adams | OT | Ohio State | 2 | 56 | Steelers |
Brock Osweiler | QB | Arizona State | 2 | 57 | Broncos |
Vinny Curry | DE | Marshall | 2 | 59 | Eagles |
Josh Robinson | CB | Central Florida | 3 | 66 | Vikings |
Olivier Vernon | DE | Miami (FL) | 3 | 72 | Dolphins |
Russell Wilson | QB | Wisconsin | 3 | 75 | Seahawks |
Jamell Fleming | CB | Oklahoma | 3 | 80 | Cardinals |
Kirk Cousins | QB | Michigan State | 4 | 102 | Redskins |
De'Quan Menzie | CB | Alabama | 5 | 146 | Chiefs |
Tank Carder | LB | TCU | 5 | 147 | Bills |
James Brown | OG | Troy | UDFA | Bears |
So far this year, 11 pre-draft visitors have been confirmed by the team. 19 more are on the way; we'll continue to update this list (and the above StoryStream) as the team announces more names. Obviously we're not selling this as some sort of key to reading the tea leaves, but it's an interesting trend to monitor as draft day approaches.
Player | Pos. | College | Ht | Wt | 40 |
Geno Smith | QB | West Virginia | 6'2" | 218 | 4.59 |
Matt Barkley | QB | USC | 6'3" | 227 | 4.90 |
E.J. Manuel | QB | Florida State | 6'5" | 237 | 4.65 |
Mike Glennon | QB | North Carolina State | 6'7" | 225 | 4.94 |
Landry Jones | QB | Oklahoma | 6'4" | 225 | 5.11 |
Matt Scott | QB | Arizona | 6'2" | 213 | 4.69 |
Jeff Tuel | QB | Washington State | 6'3" | 218 | 4.60 |
Justin Hunter | WR | Tennessee | 6'4" | 196 | 4.44 |
Da'Rick Rogers | WR | Tennessee Tech | 6'2" | 217 | 4.52 |
Ryan Swope | WR | Texas A&M | 6'0" | 205 | 4.34 |
Zach Rogers | WR | Tennessee | 6'0" | 182 | 4.46 |
Russell Shepard | WR | LSU | 6'1" | 196 | 4.46 |
Ryan Griffin | TE | Connecticut | 6'6" | 261 | 4.87 |
Dion Jordan | OLB | Oregon | 6'6" | 248 | 4.60 |
Barkevious Mingo | OLB | LSU | 6'4" | 241 | 4.58 |
Jarvis Jones | OLB | Georgia | 6'2" | 245 | 4.92 |
Alec Ogletree | ILB | Georgia | 6'2" | 242 | 4.70 |
Kevin Minter | ILB | LSU | 6'0" | 246 | 4.67 |
Jamie Collins | ILB | Southern Mississippi | 6'3" | 250 | 4.64 |
Kenny Vaccaro | S | Texas | 6'0" | 214 | 4.59 |
Cooper Taylor | S | Richmond | 6'5" | 228 | 4.49 |
Jonathan Meeks | S | Clemson | 6'0" | 209 | 4.55 |
Malcolm Bronson | S | McNeese State | 5'11" | 187 | INJ |