NFL mock draft 2026: Buffalo Bills select C.J. Allen, LB, Georgia

Welcome back to another year of the SB Nation Community Mock Draft!

As we do every draft season, all 32 NFL sites at SB Nation come together to fill out an entire first-round mock draft leading up to the actual event that takes place from April 23-25. One by one, our site managers will make their picks and provide their reasoning behind the selection. From there, I will provide further analysis on top of giving a final opinion on the pick!

Without further ado, let’s keep things rolling!

With the 28th overall pick in the 2026 SB Nation Community Mock Draft, Buffalo Rumblings’ Matt Byham and the Buffalo Bills select C.J. Allen, linebacker, Georgia!

Byham’s analysis:

My analysis: This is going to be a very un-sexy pick for the Bills, but when you look at the state of their linebacker room, you’ll understand. The middle of their defense lacks a “green dot” player to lead the unit from the core of the unit and Allen is the consensus top player at off-ball linebacker. It just makes too much sense to grab a plug-and-play starter at this point in the first round. You can’t say that about many positions at pick 28 and the Bills do right by their team