GASabresIUFan

To many circumstances to have any idea where Beane will go at this point. We need veteran help and youth all over the defense especially on the line and in the secondary. Same can be said for WR as well. If we don't trade away the pick, DT, Edge, WR and CB should all be on the table. WR - Egubka would be my top choice at 30 if he falls to us despite our other needs. I like Golden as well. Bonds and Royals in the second round. Kyle Williams later in the draft. CB - I think we can wait here. Hairston is the 2nd and Quincy Riley later. DT - Any of Nolen, T Williams, Grant or Collins look good on paper early. Pegues looks interesting later. Edge - Stewart in the 1st. I'm biased but sack master OLB Jalon Walker in the 1st would be a steal. I haven't research the depth at edge, but Princely Umanmielen is supposed to have a big motor and a talent for getting to the QB.

Steelers - Bradshaw, Harris, Swann/Stallworth Fish - Greise, Csonka/Morris, Warfield Dallas - Staubach, Dorsett, Drew Pearson

It won't be over until the Bills beat the Chiefs and win a Super Bowl.

The 5 teams with the lowest passing % were Philly (44%), Baltimore (46.5%), GB (49%), Buffalo (51%) and Pitt (51.5%). Det was 8th (53%) and Wash 7th (52.5%). All playoff teams. Even if 65% of the passing plays are to WRs, that equates to about 33% of our plays. Considering we tend to have 3-4 WRs in the pattern, is it really worth 20-25 million to just one of those top 3-4 receivers? I'd rather give Cook 15 mill for 3 years as he is critical to both the rushing and passing game.

I agree. There will be circumstances where a 2nd contract may be justified, but after the Diggs forced feeding I'm no longer willing to become so one dimensional when throwing the ball. In my the mock drafts I've done for this draft I'm keep drafting Bond early and then Kyle Williams later. Here is a link to info on Williams for those who aren't familiar. https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Kyle-Williams-WR-UNLV

Sounds to me that you draft a couple WRs every year and don’t give anyone a 2nd contract.

The answer is actually the same - DL, WR, S & CB CB - We need a starter to replace Douglas. Our only real depth (especially when they move on from Elam) is Ingram and Lewis. I expect Beane to draft 1-2 CBs in the draft and sign at least one value vet with some starting experience. A couple of draft names UK's Hairston early and Louisville's ball hawk Riley in the middle. DL - We need to be better at stopping the run and a getting to the QB. We need a vet edge rusher to rush from the right side (Crosby, Garrett or ???) and we need stud young DT to replace Jones in a year or sooner. I don't think AJE returns and Miller will either be restructured or waived (50/50). How much of an emphasis Beane places on this position in the draft may depend on how much he likes Solomon and Carter from last year's draft. In the Draft Shemar Stewart (Edge) looks interesting, as do DTs Ken Grant (U of M), Alfred Collins (Texas) early and Miss' JJ Pegues in the mid draft. WR - We need a WR on the boundary who can get separation. I think Beane uses the draft to get such a player and re-signs Hollins in free agency. I'd also like to see Beane draft Kyle Williams from Wash St with a mid-level pick. I like Texas' Bond in the 2nd round. S - Bishop and the injury prone Rapp are the defacto starters, but veteran depth and a draft pick or 2 would help depth considerably. Bama's Malachi Moore looks like a interesting late rd flyer. Iowa's Castro in the middle rounds. Outside of Lewis we have no depth behind the starters. Other draft needs might be RB (if Johnson leaves), TE (if Morris leaves), and a backup QB. I'd take a flyer on UGA's Etienne if we need a RB.

Missed Branch. I was looking at the 1974 draft and Pittsburgh drafted Swann, Stallworth, Lambert and Webster.

Piss poor draft overall. Only Franco Harris made the Hall from that entire draft. Don't forget about greats Phil Dokes and Tom Ruud.

I rarely (if eve agree with you, but Elam has to be in the top 10 worst Bills ever especially given his draft status.

I’m all in on getting Crosby or Garrett or ( fill in vet DE in his prime) to play opposite of Groot. My one caveat is that we need to keep both 2nds to be used on a corner and WR. This strategy may depend on what management thinks about 2nd year players Carter and Solomon and whether they want Miller back as a situational pass rusher. I think there is a 50/50 chance Miller returns at a significant decrease in salary and cap cost. Remember if they cut him they save 8 mill, but then have to find a replacement. I’d rather cut AJE whose pressure % was terrible. If they bring back Miller and acquire Crosby, the line looks something like this. Starters - Groot, Oliver, Jones & Crosby Backups - Miller, Solomon, Carter plus a rookie middle rd pick like Pegues who has good upside. This frees up the 2 2nd rd picks to add a WR like Bond and a CB like Hairston.

Corrected! I'm sure Ray Lewis has already called him to offer him a contract in Baltimore.

The Bills can reasonably create about 40 mill in cap space, mostly by restructuring their biggest contracts. To do that may add some void years to spread out the up front bonuses for the restructuring. There is a good article in the Athletic detailing some potential changes to create cap space. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6112793/2025/02/05/bills-2025-offseason-roster-salary-cap/

He is not a lock to make this roster. The Bills will save about 3.3 million if he is cut. His pressure rate was terrible last year and if we bring in a better player (like Garrett or Crosby or ????) AJE will be gone.

That's good news. It's good to know that the Oline will be back in it's entirety as everyone who played last year is under contract for next season. All 5 starters, Brown, Dawkins, McGovern, Torrence and Edwards, are signed. Depth snap leaders, Anderson (27%), Van Denmark (18%), SVPG (11%) & Grable (7%) are now all signed as well.

I’m sorry Gunner but this is the same BS people keeps slinging at Beane; “No difference makers.” What are Cook, Brown, Shakir, Benford, T Johnson etc….? Benford was a 6th rd pick you just graded out as the 5th best CB in the NFL. That’s a HR pick by any objective measure. Shakir, a 5th rd pick, was 2nd in the league in YAC and has become one of the most reliable slot receivers in the NFL. Another HR pick by any objective measure. I think people here consistently under rate the quality of players on this roster. For example how many teams in the NFL would be lining up to acquire Dawkins or Brown if they were available in trade or as FAs? 28? More? Myles Garrett is a future HOFer and where is Cleveland? Crosby is a huge star, where are the Raiders? Star power guarantees nothing in the NFL, just look at the Cowboys. Beane has built the most consistent winning Bills team ever with his singles, doubles, triples and yes HRs. Remember this is a team game with a salary cap, you can’t and won’t have a superstar at every position. No question the defense needs to be fixed to take the next step but enough already about the lack of difference makers as it simply isn’t true.

Bishop will be fine. The secondary will look much better with a good consistent pass rush. If I were Beane, get Crosby or Garrett but make sure you keep the 2 2nds this year. Use those picks to add a CB and DT

Correct. Even Philly - such as WR Jalen Reagor (21st overall in 2020) and T Andre Dillard (22nd overall in 2019).

Yep. Kiper did the work, as did Beane and his staff, and got it right.

Actually the study I looked at evaluated both draft order and player outcomes and Kiper was the best overall and specifically on player outcomes. https://www.hogshaven.com/2022/4/1/23004431/which-analysts-are-best-at-predicting-nfl-draft-ouctomes Also the point of my original post was that everyone saying that Beane doesn't know how to draft and other BS, I was illustrating that nothing Beane has done has been from left field including his misses on Ford and Basham. Elam is the only early pick anyone has a colorable argument shouldn't have been made and even that one, many evaluators had a 1st rd grade. While many people seem to harp on the misses, they seem to ignore that picks like Cook, Rousseau, Torrence, Shakir, Brown etc.. where Beane hit it out of the park.

and that is all he will get and probably for 5 mill or less.

Exactly. What is so great about a 5-9 Wideout who only catches about 60% of his targets and only averages about 11 yards a catch. Players like this are a dime a dozen.

Yes and no. Kiper himself says he watches a ton of film and does grades and evaluations based on what he sees. He does have great sources and those sources lists are also based on evaluations. His big board is based on who he thinks are the best players not necessarily based on who will be drafted 1st. Remember he had Jalen Carter ranked no. 1 on his board and not QBs Young or Stroud. This is from his 2023 Big Board article: https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2023/insider/story/_/id/34633986/2023-nfl-draft-rankings-mel-kiper-big-board-top-prospects-every-position

You are absolutely wrong. Jalen Carter 9th over all in 2023 Jordan Davis 13th overall in 2022 Devonte Smith 10th overall in 2021 The Bills top picks in 2021-2023; 2021 - 30th, 2022 - 25th, 2023 - 33rd Apples and oranges. In fact the worst 1st pick for Philly in the last 5 years was 22nd. The best Bills 1st pick in the last 5 years 23rd.

After reading all the negative comments on Beane's drafting, I decided to compare Beane's draft slot to Mel Kiper's lists for that season. I recently saw a study that named Kiper the best and most consistent draft evaluator. So here are our top 2 round draft picks and Kiper's rankings. Walter Football was 2nd. 2018 1-7 Allen - Kiper 5 2018 1-16 Edmunds - Kiper 11 2019 1-9 Oliver - Kiper 9 2019 2-38 Ford - Kiper 22 2020 2-54 Epenesa - Kiper 45 2021 1-30 Rousseau - Kiper 39 FYI Groot is 3rd in his draft class in sacks behind Parsons (12th overall) & Paye (21st overall) Paye only has 1.5 more sacks than Groot. 2021 2-61 Bashman - Kiper 59 2022 1-23 Elam - Kiper 41 - First real reach by Beane and he got burned 2022 2-63 Cook - Kiper 99 - 2nd reach and Beane knocks it out of the park 2023 1-25 Kincaid - Kiper 19 2023 2-59 Torrence - Kiper 61 2024 2-33 Coleman - Kiper 33 2024 2-60 Bishop - Kiper 61 Beane Draft steals using Kiper's rankings (I didn't through every pick) 2022 5-148 Shakir - Kiper 81 2021 3-93 Brown - Kiper 72 From looking at the picks in the top 2 rounds, it's pretty clear that Beane rarely reaches and that most of his evaluations have been solid. Sometimes the physical tools don't match the on field performance in the NFL like Ford and Basham. You can B word and moan about certain picks, but for most part Beane hasn't picked anyone from left field. Even Elam had a 1st rd grade from some evaluators (for example PFF had him 29th). The truth Beane has done a good job early and an excellent job from the 3rd rd on. It's hard to hit HRs when you are drafting in the last 3rd of the 1st rd.