Beane's construction of this roster

[blacklabel]

Oh, we're at this part of the season now? How neat. Once again, no GM is perfect, and not every transaction always works out. They've drafted well so far. In 2017 McDerms found Tre, Dawkins, and Milano, three starters, two of which have already earned second contracts and the other is well on his way. Missed on Zay Jones, it happens. Missed on Nate Peterman but he was a fifth round guy. McDermott was also working with an entirely different scouting department.

 

2018 brings in Allen, Edmunds, Phillips, T. Johnson, Neal, Wyatt Teller, and Ray-Ray McCloud. They flipped Teller for picks and turns out, he's been a pretty solid player for Cleveland. McCloud has bounced around the league but has stuck on Pittsburgh as a returner. Not bad for a couple late rounders. Neal is a core special teamer, taken in the 5th, right where you find special teams guys. Taron Johnson has had good stretches aside from his injuries. Horrible Harry is struggling along with the DL as a whole. He's a talented player, they just need to figure it out. Edmunds is playing with a bum shoulder and without Milano most of the time. Does he need to get it together? Sure. Does Brandon Beane deserve to get fired if he doesn't? No. And then of course there's Josh, and as well as he's played this season I still think he can get better. 

 

2019, Oliver, Ford, Singletary, Knox, Vosean Joseph, Jaquan Johnson, Darryl Johnson, Tommy Sweeney. It's too early to make a definitive call on these guys since their careers are all of 20-some games old. Oliver had a great second half to his rookie season. Again, the DL as a whole is still trying to figure it out, they need to find a way to maximize the skill sets these guys have, the only problem is they're missing a guy like Star who is a true 1-tech whereas Ed is not yet he has to line up there at times. He's also playing through an injury. Cody Ford had his moments at tackle last season, some good, some bad. Seems they like him at guard where he's done well in pass pro but not so hot at run blocking. Slowed by injury right now. I think he has the talent to be a solid longtime starter. Singletary has shown to be a solid player. Knox has shown flashes and so much potential but injuries have derailed this season for him. I think he'll be alright. Vosean Joseph didn't work out, 5th round guys get cut all the time. If you find a player in the later rounds, that's a bonus. Jaquan Johnson is a core special teamer and in line to compete for a starting gig in the future. Darryl Johnson has shown some moments and maybe he's a long-term project and he works out, who knows? Tommy Sweeney probably takes over for Lee Smith next season. 

 

2020 - Epenesa, Moss, Davis, Fromm, Bass, Hodgins, Jackson. Incomplete grades for Fromm and Hodgins. And no pre-season for these guys to get acclimated to the game. Seems like they're bringing Epenesa along slowly but he was seen as a bit of a project and if they keep working with him he could be a steady, solid player for them. Moss had the slow start with injuries but showed today what he's capable of. Davis has also had some excellent moments and seems like he could be a steal. Bass has had some ugly misses but he did go 6 for 8 in a game so that's pretty good. Dane Jackson has one of what, like three INTs by a DB this season? And they're 8 games into their rookie year so it's difficult to grade these picks just yet. 

 

Aside from the draft, Beane also cleaned up a ton of bad contracts and brought the team out of cap hell to a team with a ton of cap space. He flipped players for picks that he eventually used to draft Josh Allen. He got a third round pick for Tyrod Taylor. Unlike some prior Bills GMs, he's not afraid to be aggressive and trade around in draft day. Before Beane and McDermott took over, Bills consistently had rosters with the fewest homegrown talents in the league. They've reversed that and found a really good balance between their own picks and free agents. He's also awarded second contracts to several of their picks, something that rarely happened beforehand where players would play their rookie deal and say adios. He reinforced the OL in 2019 by adding Morse, Feliciano, and Nsekhe. Reinforced the WR group by adding John Brown and Cole Beasley. Makes the flashy trade for Stefon Diggs, who's been near the top of the league stats-wise all year. Has everything been a winner? No, but again, no GM has a perfect record. 

 

So they've hit a rough patch yet they're still 6-2. They know they need to do better. They also know that they've got a roster full of banged up players at the moment. Things happen. Maybe they're still a piece or two away from serious contention. Maybe they turn it around and get hot like they were in September. Who knows. Let's let the season play out before we start trying to dismantle the team again. 

[BillsCuse]

57 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

I just glad we passed on DK Metcalf. The guy has bust written all over him....

Almost the whole league passed on him twice including The Seahawks

[NoSaint]

2 hours ago, Groin said:

Well... they can't all be gems, but given 18 years of suck in terms of talent/competitiveness, I'll conclude that Beane has done a lot more good than bad.

 

I can easily name a dozen players that were drafted as first rounders and did not work here.  At all.

better than bad is a low bar and he clears it easily

 

but we are in the window where we need to be thinking about a ring this year. His comparables are rosters like the rams or eagles before paying their qbs. 
 

he’s put together a decent team. I don’t think outsiders skim the roster and think “damn how’d he do that” either though 

[scuba guy]

1 hour ago, Devilmann said:

Who would’ve ever thought there would be so much crying going on and have a 6-2 record? Just enjoy the ride until the wheels fall off. 

You would have thought we were a 2-6 team but no we are just 6-2 

You can't,win,them all but even reggie McNeal or even ozze had poor drafts put all people see is the all pros they drafted

He did in tuen wiff on several picks for wide receiver and online

[Codyny13]

I gotta retire from this board. That media report was right, bills mafia is full of complainers. 

[SCBills]

QB - Check

OL - Check 

WR’s - Check

RB’s - TBD, today was a step in the right direction

 

TE - TBD, Knox needs to be way more consistent 

 

Beane has done a great job building this offense.  
 

The defense is a mess.. likely a combination of injuries, opt-outs, prioritizing contract flexibility and some drafting that hasn’t panned out.  Is it salvage this year without a move, I don’t know.  If not, we could see a lot of turnover this offseason given the aforementioned contract flexibility. 
 

I’m not giving up on Oliver or Ford though.   Oliver is good, despite this random misinformation push by some, and Ford was projected to be a stud Guard... he’s now a Guard... let’s see how he does with a full year.