The Buffalo Bills have been making the rounds of this year's quarterback class, but it seems that they have settled into a small group of preferred prospects. They attended the Ohio State pro day and brought Cardale Jones in for a pre-draft visit. They scheduled a pre-draft visit with Dak Prescott. The team attended the Penn State pro day, and met privately with Christian Hackenberg afterward (not a visit). They also met with Kevin Hogan at the Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine, and at the Stanford Pro Day.
One more name has been on everyone's lips, and with his pro day taking place today, we finally have additional information connecting him with Buffalo: Paxton Lynch.
Who took QB Paxton Lynch to dinner last night? That would be the Buffalo Bills, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reports. OC Greg Roman in Memphis.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) April 6, 2016
The Bills interviewed Lynch at the Combine, but otherwise the lines were silent until Paolantonio reported this connection. While this private meeting doesn't count as a pre-draft visit (since it took place in Memphis), it does signal elevated interest between the team and player. At this stage, Lynch is commonly considered the third-best quarterback in the NFL draft.
A 6'7", 240-pound signal caller with outstanding arm talent but very little pro-style experience, Lynch is expected to go anywhere from the seventh overall pick (where the San Francisco 49ers reside) to the No. 31 pick (with the Denver Broncos, currently slated to start Mark Sanchez, could desperately use another option). In other words, if he's Buffalo's preferred choice, they would need to use their first round pick, and possibly trade up, to secure his services.
If you're Buffalo, who do you prefer today? Spending a first round pick on Lynch? Drafting a similarly raw and talented prospect with a less decorated career like Jones with a second or third round pick? Picking up Hackenberg as a high ceiling reclamation project in rounds two or three? Or grabbing Prescott or Hogan to develop in the mid rounds?