As long as quarterback Josh Allen plays at an MVP level, the first night of the NFL draft will never have much juice for Buffalo Bills fans. Throw in the lack of overall quarterback buzz about this class and it was a ho-hum leadup to Thursday night鈥檚 first round.
Not next year, though. Order will be restored.
It might not reach the level of last year鈥檚 first round, when quarterbacks were chosen with six of the first 12 picks, but pretty close.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning has been a backup for most of his first two college seasons, but is already projected as the top pick in next year鈥檚 NFL draft should he decide to leave college.
Texas鈥 Arch Manning is already projected to be the first overall pick. Manning, the grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli, could be the fourth member of the family to be drafted first overall.
The other passers could be LSU鈥檚 Garrett Nussmeier (who would have been a first-round pick this year), Penn State鈥檚 Drew Allar (same), Clemson鈥檚 Cade Klubnik, Miami鈥檚 Carson Beck and Arizona State鈥檚 Sam Leavitt. Allar, Klubnik and Leavitt played in last year鈥檚 College Football Playoff.
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Quarterback drama spices up the predraft coverage. Combine 鈥 who throws? Pro Day 鈥 who shines? Top-30 visits 鈥 who is going where? And private workouts 鈥 which teams are digging in on these prospects? Next year will be fun.
Quick kicks
1. Bills in Green Bay. The Bills, who are interested in hosting the NFL draft in most likely 2028, sent a contingent to Wisconsin to observe the event. Chief strategy officer Kate Hussmann, chief commercial officer Jason Hartlund and director of event services Katie Jordan were joined by Patrick Kaler, president/CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara.
Hussmann is the Bills鈥 lead executive in preparing the draft bid.
The Bills鈥 visit was coordinated by the NFL, and the group participated in behind-the-scenes tours of the event locations to provide context of what is required by a host city. The tours were followed by a full day of planning meetings, including roundtables about security, marketing/community engagement strategies, transportation requirements and VIP hospitality recommendations.
According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the draft is expected to have an economic impact of $94 million for the state of Wisconsin. To cover expenses, the Packers contributed $1 million, the state $2 million and regional corporations made donations.
Green Bay and nearby Appleton have 5,000 hotel rooms apiece. In Green Bay, NFL personnel was expected to use 2,500 rooms. According to Visit Buffalo Niagara, the Erie County total is 10,146 rooms.
The 2026 draft will be in Pittsburgh and the 2027 draft has not been awarded.
2. Dolac鈥檚 prospects. Linebacker Shaun Dolac, the alum of West Seneca East High School and the University at Buffalo, has drawn interest from NFL teams in recent weeks, according to UB defensive coordinator Joe Bowen.
鈥淔or sure, all the time,鈥 Bowen said last week. 鈥淎t this point, they have a pretty good idea about him, especially after his pro day (last month).鈥
Dolac was listed at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds last year at UB, where he was a consensus first-team All-America. By comparison, starting Bills linebackers Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano are listed at 6-1, 222 and 6-foot, 223, respectively.
鈥(Dolac) is not going to wow people by being 6-4, but he has high processing ability, and when he gets on people, they鈥檙e going down,鈥 Bowen said. 鈥淗e checks a lot of boxes.鈥
I asked Bowen how much weight Dolac could add and still remain an effective player.
鈥淚 think he can easily hold 227 to 233 pounds,鈥 Bowen said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 fluid, he can cover tight ends and running backs and he鈥檚 been very durable.鈥
3. Allen鈥檚 draft memory. Allen was drafted seventh overall by the Bills in 2018. His memory?
鈥淛ust the unknown,鈥 he said. 鈥淚s it going to be 1? It is going to be 10? Is it going to be 32? Is it going to be past that? You have an idea, but you honestly don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen.鈥
Several quarterbacks at the scouting combine in February said Allen was somebody they watched often, and they were inspired by his journey.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty cool,鈥 Allen said. 鈥淚 remember being in that spot and to know where we鈥檙e at now is still too surreal to me (and) to still play a game I love and do it for a living and it鈥檚 the only thing I鈥檝e ever wanted to do.鈥
4. Personal history. This is my 21st draft 鈥 2004-11 and 2013-25 鈥 and the best first-round picks by teams I covered were linebacker Brian Orakpo (2009) and left tackle Trent Williams (2010) in Washington, cornerback Jalen Ramsey (2016) in Jacksonville and cornerback Pat Surtain II (2021) in Denver.
Orakpo played 132 regular-season games for Washington/Tennessee; Ramsey has won a Super Bowl; and Williams and Surtain are on track to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
