Straight Hucklebuck

Well the obvious here is Higgins is not going to see Free Agency. Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac has said in interviews that the Bills are not realistically going to be involved in either Garrett or Maxx Crosby. They don't have the cap space and they will be outbid by other teams with more attractive offers. If they did land Garrett, they'd be looking at $35M per year contract, and then how does Beane fit in all the people he wants to extend - Shakir, Benford, Bernard, Cook, Rousseau? This is where our fans have been reluctant to do real roster surgery. Heck, Beane has said they're close with no need to blow it up. So Garrett would be their home run swing, but it would come at the expense of some of their homegrown players. I'm comfortable waiting on Bernard, Benford, that's $25M of combined salary/year that you don't need to pay. I do not trust this FO to properly replace Shakir if he gets to FA. Cook - Realistically the Bills have two years worth of control if they wanted it. I think they'll extend because they have had marginal success in the 2nd-Round and he's easily the best RB in the McDermott era.

As long as he brings more juice than Courtney Upshaw did for the Ravens as a late first rounder.

Grades are starting to come out on NFL.com https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/participants/ Nick Emmanwori, Isaiah Bond, Xavier Watts, Jack Sawyer, Kenneth Grant, Tyleik Williams, JT Tuimoloau territory.

There are fans that are just happy to be in the conversation. This tactic is the same as it was mid-drought. He’s not going to be a superstar playing 20-yards off the ball in coverage. Should have drafted Calen Bullock if you wanted ball skills.

Carter is not a plan. He graded terribly in 2024 and not just PFF. AJE is an okay rotational edge rusher. It’s Rousseau and Oliver, and it’s fair to say both of them come and go, these are not elite players. No hard feelings on Beane from me for Rousseau, that’s a 30th overall pick - you’re not typically getting Myles Garrett there. But Oliver at 9? They passed on much better DTs. Do you just pin that on McDermott’s scheme? Telling Beane what to do? Rage balloon - yes that’s it rage. The media actually asked so more pointed questions than the usual how does it feel to have Josh Allen on the team, or what does Taron Johnson mean to you. Beane actually had to field a couple of questions about why Von hasn’t worked, why is Kincaid struggling, do you regret the Worthy trade because Coleman disappeared. So it’s not all “rage balloon”. By the way - these are not lifetime appointments. This is professional sports. Yes given Beane and McDermott’s track record and current cap situation I am stoked about who they are going to add to this defensive line.

You’re right we’re all good. Of course Beane is not batting 0.000 but every thread you respond with we have a good team, and yes that’s true. Sorry, but the heat is being turned up on Beane (and to a less extent McDermott) for a roster that has weak positional groups across the board - as you point out weak on the defensive line, weak at safety, I would argue weak at WR. Let me guess - this is where you tell me you can’t have All Pros everywhere. Yes we know that - but we also know that you can’t bungle R1, R2 picks. And it’s been hit and miss to be nice. Even homers like Joe Marino are finally starting to point this out. Now it will be a cold day in hell if Sal Capaccio ever manages a criticism but that’s par for the course.

Sorry Mike the stakes are high now. Beane stopped himself short of saying they were happy to be in the AFCCG game in 2020 and just said he felt the game “slip away”. But there is going to be a high level of scrutiny now. A 4th-loss in a row to the Chiefs? I think it’s reasonable for fans to get past being happy about culture, trust the process, a Playoff birth, a Playoff win, a Divisional win, and two AFCCG appearances. The team traded out of the first round with their arch enemy, justified it, selected Coleman and told the fans that he could play X. Despite whatever good progress statistically he was making early on, he never graded well against man coverage, and worse against press. Beane can’t afford slip ups at 33rd overall. He’s been given time for Cody Ford (2019), Boogie Basham (2021) and AJ Epenesa being an alright player. Allen is in his prime now.

Makes you wonder where all these picks Beane has every year are being spent. It's not at WR or DT that's for sure. The Bills ended 2023 with one DT signed for 2024 - so all you can do is band-aid in Free Agency unless you want multiple rookies starting.

He made a play in the Ravens game, one memorable one in the Texans game, one in the Titans game. But snap to snap he was not graded highly in pass rush (2% success rate) or in the run game.

2018 - QB A.J. McCarron, RB Chris Ivory, WR Jeremy Kerley, OT Marshall Newhouse, C Russell Bodine, DE Trent Murphy, DT Star Lotulelei, CB Vontae Davis, CB Phillip Gaines, S Rafael Bush. 2019 - RB Frank Gore, WR John Brown, WR Cole Beasley, TE Tyler Kroft, TE Lee Smith, OT Ty Nsekhe, OT LaAdrian Waddle, G John Feliciano, G Quinton Spain, C Mitch Morse, C Spencer Long, OLB Eli Harold, CB Kevin Johnson, CB E.J. Gaines, S Maurice Alexander, KR Andre Roberts. 2020 - RB Taiwan Jones, WR Stefon Diggs, OT Daryl Williams, DE Mario Addison, DT Quinton Jefferson, DT Vernon Butler, LB A.J. Klein, LB Tyler Matakevich, CB Josh Norman. 2021 - QB Mitchell Trubisky, RB Matt Breida, WR Emmanuel Sanders, WR Brandon Powell, TE Jacob Hollister, OT Bobby Hart, G Forrest Lamp, P Matt Haack. 2022 - QB Case Keenum, RB Duke Johnson, WR Jamison Crowder, WR Tavon Austin, TE O.J. Howard, OT David Quessenberry, G Rodger Saffold, G Greg Van Roten, DE Von Miller, DE Shaq Lawson, DT DaQuan Jones, DT Jordan Phillips, DT Tim Settle. 2023 - QB Kyle Allen, RB Damien Harris, WR Trent Sherfield, WR Deonte Harty, OT Brandon Shell, G David Edwards, G Connor McGovern, DT Poona Ford, DE/OLB Leonard Floyd, CB Cameron Dantzler, S Taylor Rapp. 2024 - QB Mitchell Trubisky, WR Curtis Samuel, WR Mack Hollins, OT La’el Collins, C Will Clapp, DE Casey Toohill, DT Austin Johnson, LB Nicholas Morrow, S Mike Edwards. Most are cheap free agents in the primary wave of free agency. Star L and DaQuan Jones were the big swings, along with Ed Oliver 9th overall. Past that, it's been mostly minimum investment, and really since the cap tightened up so much in 2023 and 2024.

I have no idea what people see in Bishop so far other than good combine numbers.

2018 - Harrison Phillips - 3rd Round - He played here for 4-years and I couldn't tell you any plays he really made. Good background with the wrestling, but he's been a rotational player in the NFL. 2019 - Ed Oliver - 9th Overall - The Bills best DT, but compared to the rest of the league, not overly impressive as a starter. 2020 - None 2021 - None 2022 - None 2023 - None 2024 - DeWayne Carter - 3rd Round - No impact. Beane has been here for 7 years and drafted 3 DTs, so his strategy the past three seasons is to fill DT with cheap Free Agents. And so it's no wonder the team has been mediocre for years at this position.

When he runs a 4.25 I really doubt he’s going to last until the 50’s - 60’s.

So the answer is no he hasn't drafted anyone with real speed.

Has he ever done that? Or does Marquez Stevenson count?