The 2016 NFL Draft was the tenth such event that we have covered here at Buffalo Rumblings, and for eight of those - starting in 2009 - we have published an approval poll with each pick that the Buffalo Bills have made.
After a year in which the team's top draft pick, Florida State cornerback Ronald Darby, garnered just a 50 percent approval rating from our community (and then subsequently nearly won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors), the 2016 draft class placed three picks inside the Top 15 most popular in our site's history. Shaq Lawson is now the second most-approved first-round pick for us, passing Eric Wood, while Reggie Ragland and sixth-round pick Kolby Listenbee earned high ratings, as well.
In fact, five of the seven draft picks this year garnered at least two-thirds approval from voting members of the community, including divisive developmental quarterback prospect Cardale Jones. (It helps when the project quarterback is taken in the fourth round instead of the first.) The only two players to dip below the two-thirds threshold were third-round pick Adolphus Washington and fifth-round pick Jonathan Williams - the former for, well, I'm not really sure why, and the latter probably simply because he plays running back.
Alas, none of the Bills' picks this year approached the wild popularity of 2009 fourth-round pick Shawn Nelson, or the crazy panning of 2009 second-round pick Jairus Byrd. We wait at least another year to see if the marks set by either of those picks can be approached again.
| Year | Rd | # | Player | Pos | College | Approval |
| 2009 | 4 | 121 | Shawn Nelson | TE | Southern Mississippi | 99 percent |
| 2011 | 1 | 3 | Marcell Dareus | DT | Alabama | 96 percent |
| 2013 | 2 | 41 | Robert Woods | WR | USC | 95 percent |
| 2012 | 5 | 144 | Zebrie Sanders | OT | Florida State | 94 percent |
| 2012 | 2 | 41 | Cordy Glenn | OT | Georgia | 92 percent |
| 2015 | 6 | 194 | Nick O'Leary | TE | Florida State | 92 percent |
| 2012 | 5 | 147 | Tank Carder | LB | TCU | 91 percent |
| 2012 | 4 | 105 | Nigel Bradham | LB | Florida State | 89 percent |
| 2010 | 7 | 216 | Kyle Calloway | OG | Iowa | 89 percent |
| 2016 | 1 | 19 | Shaq Lawson | DE | Clemson | 88 percent |
| 2014 | 5 | 153 | Cyril Richardson | OG | Baylor | 87 percent |
| 2013 | 7 | 222 | Chris Gragg | TE | Arkansas | 87 percent |
| 2014 | 4 | 109 | Ross Cockrell | CB | Duke | 86 percent |
| 2016 | 2 | 41 | Reggie Ragland | LB | Alabama | 85 percent |
| 2016 | 6 | 192 | Kolby Listenbee | WR | TCU | 85 percent |
| 2009 | 1 | 28 | Eric Wood | C | Louisville | 84 percent |
| 2010 | 5 | 140 | Ed Wang | OT | Virginia Tech | 83 percent |
| 2009 | 5 | 147 | Nic Harris | LB | Oklahoma | 82 percent |
| 2013 | 4 | 105 | Duke Williams | S | Nevada | 81 percent |
| 2011 | 4 | 122 | Chris Hairston | OT | Clemson | 81 percent |
| 2014 | 2 | 44 | Cyrus Kouandjio | OT | Alabama | 80 percent |
| 2014 | 7 | 237 | Seantrel Henderson | OT | Miami (FL) | 80 percent |
| 2013 | 2 | 46 | Kiko Alonso | LB | Oregon | 78 percent |
| 2015 | 7 | 234 | Dezmin Lewis | WR | Central Arkansas | 78 percent |
| 2014 | 1 | 4 | Sammy Watkins | WR | Clemson | 77 percent |
| 2012 | 1 | 10 | Stephon Gilmore | CB | South Carolina | 77 percent |
| 2010 | 6 | 178 | Arthur Moats | LB | James Madison | 77 percent |
| 2011 | 6 | 179 | Chris White | LB | Mississippi State | 77 percent |
| 2016 | 6 | 218 | Kevon Seymour | CB | USC | 77 percent |
| 2009 | 2 | 51 | Andy Levitre | OG | Oregon State | 76 percent |
| 2010 | 6 | 192 | Danny Batten | DE | South Dakota State | 76 percent |
| 2011 | 7 | 245 | Michael Jasper | DT | Bethel (TN) | 75 percent |
| 2012 | 4 | 124 | Ron Brooks | CB | LSU | 71 percent |
| 2010 | 7 | 209 | Levi Brown | QB | Troy | 71 percent |
| 2011 | 5 | 133 | Johnny White | RB | North Carolina | 68 percent |
| 2016 | 4 | 139 | Cardale Jones | QB | Ohio State | 68 percent |
| 2011 | 3 | 68 | Kelvin Sheppard | LB | LSU | 66 percent |
| 2015 | 6 | 188 | Tony Steward | LB | Clemson | 66 percent |
| 2010 | 3 | 72 | Alex Carrington | DT | Arkansas State | 65 percent |
| 2011 | 1 | 11 | Aaron Maybin | DE | Penn State | 64 percent |
| 2015 | 3 | 81 | John Miller | OG | Louisville | 64 percent |
| 2011 | 2 | 34 | Aaron Williams | CB | Texas | 63 percent |
| 2013 | 3 | 78 | Marquise Goodwin | WR | Texas | 63 percent |
| 2013 | 6 | 177 | Dustin Hopkins | K | Florida State | 62 percent |
| 2012 | 6 | 178 | Mark Asper | OG | Oregon | 62 percent |
| 2011 | 4 | 100 | Da'Norris Searcy | S | North Carolina | 59 percent |
| 2011 | 7 | 206 | Justin Rogers | CB | Richmond | 59 percent |
| 2010 | 1 | 9 | C.J. Spiller | RB | Clemson | 56 percent |
| 2016 | 3 | 80 | Adolphus Washington | DT | Ohio State | 56 percent |
| 2014 | 3 | 73 | Preston Brown | LB | Louisville | 54 percent |
| 2016 | 5 | 156 | Jonathan Williams | RB | Arkansas | 54 percent |
| 2013 | 1 | 16 | EJ Manuel | QB | Florida State | 51 percent |
| 2015 | 5 | 155 | Karlos Williams | RB | Florida State | 51 percent |
| 2015 | 2 | 50 | Ronald Darby | CB | Florida State | 50 percent |
| 2012 | 3 | 69 | T.J. Graham | WR | North Carolina State | 49 percent |
| 2009 | 6 | 183 | Cary Harris | CB | USC | 48 percent |
| 2010 | 2 | 41 | Torell Troup | DT | Central Florida | 46 percent |
| 2013 | 5 | 143 | Jonathan Meeks | S | Clemson | 45 percent |
| 2010 | 4 | 107 | Marcus Easley | WR | Connecticut | 44 percent |
| 2014 | 7 | 221 | Randell Johnson | LB | Florida Atlantic | 44 percent |
| 2009 | 7 | 220 | Ellis Lankster | CB | West Virginia | 42 percent |
| 2012 | 7 | 251 | John Potter | K | Western Michigan | 42 percent |
| 2009 | 2 | 42 | Jairus Byrd | S | Oregon | 23 percent |