There was certainly no shortage of action for the Buffalo Bills during the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. The Bills traded with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens to move up twice on separate occasions, going from 12 to 7 and 22 to 16 and selected two elite prospects in quarterback Josh Allen and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. So far there’s been a diverse array of feelings on these moves, however, ESPN’s Todd McShay was on the approving side of the spectrum, claiming the Bills had the ‘second best’ first round. Here is what McShay had to say about Buffalo’s first round performance:
“The Bills just snapped the longest playoff drought in the NFL, and I love how they kept their foot on the pedal throughout round 1. I loved their aggressiveness in the 1st round. Moving up from 12 to 7 to grab quarterback Josh Allen and then again from 22 to 16 to get linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, whom I had ranked 12th. Those picks hit 2 of their top 3 needs (offensive guard being the other).”
The moves were aggressive alright, but general manager Brandon Beane has proven so far he’s not one to be risk averse. Other analysts point to the various draft value charts and claim Buffalo paid too much to move up and select Allen, especially since he was the most polarizing player given his collegiate statistics and, most recently, a series of controversial Tweets. This may be true, but Beane was able to execute the maneuver without sacrificing any first round picks and maintaining six selections in the remainder of the draft. Additionally, all of Buffalo’s 2019 draft picks remain intact which should allow them to address and bolster other areas of need.