Beane Discusses Draft Strategy w/ Pat McAfee

[Donuts and Doritos]

 

Sounds like Beane's going with a position of need that has less depth than receiver UNLESS he has the receiver graded higher. That doesn't sound good for pick 28. It sounds rational. But does have me wondering what round he'll take a WR? Unless it's smoke. 

[SoonerBillsFan]

We all knew the team of McBeane was going defense.  

[Warcodered]

Sounded like we're drafting 11 WRs to me.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Rule of thumb, don’t trust a single word from any GM this time of year…

[Alphadawg7]

18 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

 

Sounds like Beane's going with a position of need that has less depth than receiver UNLESS he has the receiver graded higher. That doesn't sound good for pick 28. It sounds rational. But does have me wondering what round he'll take a WR? Unless it's smoke. 

 

Beane has always said this.  I have been trying to remind a lot of people of this around here who have this expectation its a WR or nothing else at 28 no matter who is on the board, and that is just something they are going to be potentially disappointed in.  The only way he takes a WR at 28 is if that player is absolutely BPA on his board.  If not, then he is trading up to get one if one he covets gets within range, taking another position and then looking at WR in round 2 (maybe even trading up for one in round 2), or even trading back at 28 and picking up more draft ammo and taking a WR then.  

 

He absolutely will not REACH for a WR at 28...anyone thinking otherwise is going to be disappointed.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

20 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

 

Sounds like Beane's going with a position of need that has less depth than receiver UNLESS he has the receiver graded higher. That doesn't sound good for pick 28. It sounds rational. But does have me wondering what round he'll take a WR? Unless it's smoke. 

It really shouldn't be much of a shock. That's been the way Brandon has run the draft almost every year since he's been here. 

[wjag]

Hopefully Center is on their need list...  Repurposing guys who played guard to be center is liking putting putty in dam holes.

[Logic]

I expect one of three outcomes. Which one happens will depend on who is on the board when the Bills pick.

1. A receiver they really like begins to fall, and they make a small move up to get him. Think Brian Thomas Jr.
2. They draft a non-WR player at 28 (edge or safety likely), then use day 3 pick(s) to move up higher in the 2nd round and draft a WR.
3. They trade down from 28 into the 2nd round and add a 3rd round pick (Beane was expecting one, and I bet he wants to have one). They then use their two 2nd round picks on a WR and a defensive player.

One thing is for sure: Even WITH the player exodus and lean free agency period, they won't be using all 11 picks. There's just no way. Expect movement up and down the board.

 

Edited March 26 by Logic

[TheWeatherMan]

What we think McBeane will do:

 

1st: WR

2nd: S

4th: C

4th: WR

 

What McBeane will do:

 

1st: DT

2nd: DE

4th: S

4th: CB

 

 

 

 

[frostbitmic]

If he says anything other than BPA don't believe him.

[Blackbeard]

Beane is one of THE BEST GMs in the league.  

 

I have full faith in him.  

[SoonerBillsFan]

7 minutes ago, Blackbeard said:

Beane is one of THE BEST GMs in the league.  

 

I have full faith in him.  

Because he has hit on so many defensive picks esp. The DL and ignored giving our Franchise QB a 1st round talent at WR right?

 

But hey he is here to stay, so it is what it is.

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

We all knew the team of McBeane was going defense.  

Every year....you can set your watch to it....

[Logic]

Just now, SoonerBillsFan said:

Because he has hit on so many defensive picks esp. The DL and ignored giving our Franchise QB a 1st round talent at WR right?

 

But hey he is here to stay, so it is what it is.

Bills Scoring Offense rankings the past four seasons:

2nd 

3rd

2nd

6th


Bills Scoring Defense rankings the past four seasons:

16th

1st

2nd

4th

The Bills have won the second most games in the league since 2020.

The Bills have been top 6 in preseason Super Bowl odds the past four seasons.

Winning more games than everyone but the Chiefs, being consistently above average on both offense and defense, and being considered one of the five or six best teams in the league year in and year out seems like an indication that the team's GM is fairly good at his job.

Looking at each move in a vacuum -- "Beane failed to draft impact player X", "Beane failed to burnish positional group X with the draft capital I would've liked" -- ignores the reality of looking at the team as a whole: The Buffalo Bills have been very good for several years now. It also fails to mention the moves he's made that have been SUCCESSES.

Ultimately, to suggest that the man in charge of building the roster for a team this consistently good is, himself, bad at his job, well...I strongly disagree.



 

[Shaw66]

There are no mysteries.  Beane has always been very clear about how he will handle the draft.  The problem is that the fans have their own views about needs and who's available in the draft, so they concoct all sorts of theories about what Beane is going to do. 

 

Here's what Beane is going to do:   

 

1.  Evaluate the players available and rank them.  

2.  Look for players the Bills covet at any position who may be falling to where the Bills pick.

3.  Maybe trade up to get one they like.  

4.  Do all of this with an understanding, THEIR understanding, of what the Bills need.  Their understanding and ours may be very different.  This season, in particular, their understanding of whether the Bills need a receiver and what kind of receiver may be very different from ours.  Their understanding of where to get what they need may also be very different from ours.  

[Turbo44]

I think Beane is taking a WR with his first pick.  I don't think that will be at #28.  

(1) A move up to the late teens for Thomas

(2) A drop back to the low 40s for Franklin, McConkey, Legette, Worthy, etc - whomever drops to there and a couple will.  It depends on who they are targeting, if they are targeting Thomas and if Thomas drops to the high teens.  My gut is it's either Thomas at 17-19 or Franklin at 35-42

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Beane has always said this.  I have been trying to remind a lot of people of this around here who have this expectation its a WR or nothing else at 28 no matter who is on the board, and that is just something they are going to be potentially disappointed in.  The only way he takes a WR at 28 is if that player is absolutely BPA on his board.  If not, then he is trading up to get one if one he covets gets within range, taking another position and then looking at WR in round 2 (maybe even trading up for one in round 2), or even trading back at 28 and picking up more draft ammo and taking a WR then.  

 

He absolutely will not REACH for a WR at 28...anyone thinking otherwise is going to be disappointed.  

 

Part of being a good GM is understanding your own weaknesses. I hope Beane understands that his board is not infallible. Which is no slight against him - nobody's draft board ends up being even close to right when all is said and done. If you're right even 50% of the time you're one of the best to have ever done it.

 

All the talk about BPA assumes there is some kind of objective BPA. But of course there isn't one. So Beane should make the pick that is most likely to have a high impact ceiling on the team. Any WR he takes that turns out even just a decent 1st round pick will end up being a 1,000+ yard WR. Just like Kincaid ended up breaking franchise records. So drafting what he thinks is the best WR available is hitting the easy button on maximizing the 1st round pick. Drafting, say, Chop Robinson is hitting the hard button. That pick isn't likely to have the impact of a 1,000 yard WR.

 

Do the easy thing. Get the franchise a likely win out of our 1st round pick.

[H2o]

32 minutes ago, TheWeatherMan said:

What McBeane will do:

 

1st: DT

2nd: DE

4th: S

4th: CB

[Mr. WEO]

“Ya see, gotta get me one-uh-them CORNERBACKS!…maybe an undersized D lineman. Ahm still rattlin it round in ma BRAIN”

[Gambit]

23 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Because he has hit on so many defensive picks esp. The DL and ignored giving our Franchise QB a 1st round talent at WR right?

 

But hey he is here to stay, so it is what it is.

While I'm on team WR for RD 1, did people forget we drafted Kincaid in RD1 last year? Sure, he's not a WR but it's not like he isn't a awesome weapon for Allen.