How Have Bills' NFL Draft Visits Impacted their First-Round Selections?

Buffalo has selected several top-30 visit players dating back to 2015

Former Kentucky Wildcats' cornerback Maxwell Hairston. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Top-30 visits have become commonplace for NFL teams like the Buffalo Bills before the NFL Draft. But how have they impacted how the Bills have picked in the first round?

According to former KFAN1003 host Kent Weyrauch, Buffalo is middle of the pack across the NFL in terms of converting top-30 visits into first-round selections.

Tied with their AFC East rivals in the Patriots, the Bills reportedly selected 44 percent of its first-rounders after top-30 visits. Weyrauch had Buffalo listed at four of its nine first-round picks since 2015 being top-30 participants for the Bills, but the real number is actually five.

How NFL teams use their Top 30 visits in the 1st round of the NFL Draft pic.twitter.com/G76uAeSAhm

— Kent Weyrauch (@KentWeyrauch) April 9, 2026

Those names for Buffalo include Maxwell Hairston (2025), Kaiir Elam (2022), Ed Oliver (2019) and Josh Allen (2018). The name that was omitted from the list was Allen's draft classmate Tremaine Edmunds, who also visted with the Bills before the 2018 NFL Draft.

Top-30 visits do not have 100 percent success rate

What is clear is day is that top-30 visits do not always lead to success on the field. Of course Allen has been a hit; a record-setting QB who has claimed the NFL MVP award.

And even Ed Oliver and Tremaine Edmunds have been moderate successes for Buffalo. But Elam was a clear miss, and although Hairston looks promising, a lot of his rookie year was hampered due to injury.

Buffalo Bills' defensive lineman Ed Oliver. | George Walker IV / Tennessean.com

The Bills have also used top-30 visits for their Day two and three picks, too. Some of the hits? James Cook (2022), Dawson Knox (2017) and O'Cyrus Torrence (2023). The misses? Vosean Joseph (2017), Jack Anderson (2021) and Nathan Peterman (2017).

Keon Coleman also visited Buffalo before the 2024 draft. So, the jury is still out on if he is able to burst the bust narrative.

There's no denying that top-30 visits can have an impact for draft selection. But thankfully for the Bills, they have not put all of their eggs into that basket.

Buffalo Bills' 2018 first-round draft picks quarterback Josh Allen (left) and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (right) | Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images