Brandon Beane’s Tenure by Letter Grade—Poll is Up!

[Beck Water]

53 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Hmm interesting thought exercise. Here is my take:

 

Position	Draft	FA + Trades	Notes
Quarterback	A	C+	Josh obvious stud. Think he has done a reasonably well with the vet backups he has landed in recent FA rounds
Running Back	B	D	Singletary and Cook have been good starters from day 2 of the draft. However, a third day two pick at the position (Moss) washed out. And if you are investing day 1 or 2 capital at a low value position like RB they have to hit. FA role players have generally been no more than JAGS.
O Line	C	B-	Miss on his highest drafted OL (Ford) who he traded up for hurts. Brown seems to have turned it around and Cybo was a decent rookie. Mixed bag in FA but more good (Williams, Morse, McGovern, Spain - for a bit) than bad though Saffold was an obvious mistake that could have been avoided IMO.
Tight End	B+	E	Dawson Knox is a good all around tight end who was one of the most productive redzone tight ends in football in 2021 and 2022, Kincaid had a top 10 all time rookie tight end season. His biggest FA shot was Tyler Kroft back in 2019 and he majorly underperfomed his contract.
Wide Receiver	C	A-	Hard to score the draft. He has underprioritised the position there, but two of his day 3 shots - Gabe and Khalil developed into NFL starting receivers so you have to factor that in. Diggs alone makes the pro personnel grade an A (Brown, Beasley and Sanders factor in too) but I've nicked a half point back for the Kelvin Benjamin trade and some of the second tier FAs.
D Line	C+	D+	Mixed bag in the draft. Oliver a stud. Groot a good starter. AJE developed into a good rotational rusher years 3 and 4 but probably still underperformed his round 2 status. Boogie miss hurts and no elite talent despite the investment. From FA its mainly misses (and some big $$ ones) Floyd and Jones apart.
Linebacker	B	N/A	Bernard hitting last year helps this grade. Edmunds while he never quite justified his pick, was a 5 year starter. They have barely used FA at the spot beyond STers. Even their backups - Dodson, Spector etc have been draftees or UDFAs.
Corner	C-	C+	Had some success finding starting calibre players with late round picks / UDFAs - Wallace, Jackson and Benford etc - but looks like a big miss on his one premium pick at the spot (and a confusing process given the obvious scheme question). Douglas a good trade, Vontae less said the better.
Safety	N/A	D	Bishop is the first pick before round 6 spent at the position. So that's a TBC. Hyde and Poyer were not Beane pickups. I'm not as in love with Rapp as some and they gave up a pick two years ago to bring Marlow (a total JAG) back and then barely used him.

 

 

Nice breakdown.  Ooh, I forgot about Tyler Kroft.  We paid him $10M which is certainly an over-pay for what we got, but he did play.
 

WR I think you got to factor in gimondulous whiffs like Corey Coleman and "gee, I just paid 3.5x more for less" whiffs like swapping out McKenzie for Deonte Harty.

 

RB similar swapping Nyheim Hines for Zack Moss - the Colts got the better production end of that one, and 

 

DL I have to note that Beane has been hampered by McDermott's insistence on "selfless" guys who "buy in".  It led to our keeping duds like Star Lotulelei, Vernon Butler, and Mario Addison for far too long.

 

[Augie]

15 minutes ago, TBBills Fan said:

I feel he's a B+

 

In your poll you put a B as not top ten, I think he is without a doubt a top 10 GM. Arguments can be made he is top 5

 

An argument could also be made that if you are top 5, then you get an A. I’m with the B+/A- crowd, and I’m confident he’s top 10. I also agree that we need to get some special, game changing difference makers to go with the solid players. Kincaid may become that type of guy. 

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Nice breakdown.  Ooh, I forgot about Tyler Kroft.  We paid him $10M which is certainly an over-pay for what we got, but he did play.
 

WR I think you got to factor in gimondulous whiffs like Corey Coleman and "gee, I just paid 3.5x more for less" whiffs like swapping out McKenzie for Deonte Harty.

 

RB similar swapping Nyheim Hines for Zack Moss - the Colts got the better production end of that one, and 

 

DL I have to note that Beane has been hampered by McDermott's insistence on "selfless" guys who "buy in".  It led to our keeping duds like Star Lotulelei, Vernon Butler, and Mario Addison for far too long.

 

 

I didn't forget that one. I did refer to the second tier FAs (though think Coleman was a trade wasn't he?). I still think overall Diggs, Brown, Beasley all weight strongly in his favour there than the lower level whiffs. 

 

On the DL - possibly, but I don't know who was responsible for all the ex Panthers on the line. 

[Beck Water]

44 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I didn't forget that one. I did refer to the second tier FAs (though think Coleman was a trade wasn't he?). I still think overall Diggs, Brown, Beasley all weight strongly in his favour there than the lower level whiffs. 

 

Yeah, Coleman was a trade - 7th round pick.  He just particularly pissed me off because the Bills, in a cap crunch, assumed a $3.5M guaranteed salary for a guy they kept through training camp cut before the regular season.  They got a bit of relief when he signed with the Giants, but still - they took on $3M dead cap for a guy who never played a snap.

And this was in a year where our WR corps was Zay Jones, Robert Foster, and Kelvin Benjamin; our OL was atrocious; and Beane was pleading "no money" as a reason for not doing better (he acknowledged after the season that he could have done more, at least on OL).

 

44 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

On the DL - possibly, but I don't know who was responsible for all the ex Panthers on the line. 

 

There've been articles about McDermott seeking learnings after he was fired as the Eagles DC, and taking to heart the message "you got to make sure players are bought in", especially on DL.  McDermott is always talking about how "DT is the most selfless position".  It seems like a reasonable connect-the-dots that McDermott became gun-shy about bringing in DLmen who might not "buy in" to his particular "selfless" philosophy of DL usage in a league where pay is performance-driven and statistics are one of the key performance metrics (sacks, TFL, QB knockdowns and hurries).  I think Beane has control over the 53 and it's not just on paper, but I think McDermott pushed for preference given to "known quantities" on DL and it took the total disintegration of Lotulelei's effort to persuade McD that he had to let go of that a bit.

Edited June 13 by Beck Water

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Unlike many here, I give him a pass on Von Miller. He was still at the top of his game and coming off a SB victory as a very likely HOFer. A severe injury to his aging knee derailed that, but Beane can hardly be blamed for that. Had -godforbid- Allen suffered such a devastating injury, would that be Beane’s fault?

 

I don't _fault_ Beane in the sense of thinking it was a stupid deal to sign Von Miller.  After all, if Miller stayed healthy and we won a championship, we'd all be lauding Beane for it.  It was a risky deal because of Miller's age, but statistically apparently muscle injuries are more common in older players while ligament injuries are evenly distributed.  So Miller's ACL was rotten luck.

 

On the other hand, you have to judge whether a deal is a good one or a bad one based upon how it works out, right?  And the fact is, signing Miller has been a very poor ROI for the Bills and is one of the reasons we're in Cap Purgatory.

If Fat Kelvin had returned to his 2016 form and had 63 receptions for 941 yds, we'd judge that 3rd round pick we gave up for him much more kindly.  Instead he checked out once he got his 5th year guaranteed pay, so it was a poor ROI.

 

Edited June 13 by Beck Water

[Chaos]

The poll choices are overly limited.  

A - (He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters while skillfully finessing the cap).   

I would propose a fix

A - He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters and coaching staffs
B+  He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters, but there is not evidence the coaching staffs are capable of a deep playoff run

I can't give an A in the current poll, because it ignores one of the critical elements of team building, coaching. 

Edited June 13 by Chaos

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Just now, Chaos said:

The poll choices are overly limited.  

A - (He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters while skillfully finessing the cap).   

I would propose a fix

A - He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters and coaching staffs
B+  He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters, but there is not evidence the coaching staffs are capable of a deep playoff run

I can't give an A in the current poll, because it ignores one of the critical elements of team building, coaching. 

The issue I respectfully have with your proposed fix, is that it places fault for any coaching failures on the GM’s doorstep as well, and that’s a bridge too far imho. Note: it says “put us in a position to…”; he has no part of actual game day coaching decisions over his roster. I think we can agree that the quality he’s put out there under the right circumstances is more than capable of deep playoff runs, yes? 

[The Tomcat]

I feel he's an A- (slightly higher then a B Plus)  

He's a top 5 gm for sure in my mind.  

He's got balls of steel and I like that!!

[Slippery Rubber Mats]

A-

 

Put together some great teams, but hasn't got a super bowl yet. Found the franchise QB. Top-5 offense and solid-to-top D every year since 2020. Bunch of 10+ win seasons. Good late round drafting.

 

Get me that Super Bowl

[BananaB]

He’s lucky he hit on Josh Allen. He hides his mistakes. Beane and McD 

[BADOLBILZ]

8 hours ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

Since Beane’s takeover from the bloated and non-performing Whaley tenure, we’ve seen plenty of hits from FA and the draft, but also some misses of course…putting it all together however, what kind of cumulative letter grade would you assign to Beane at this point, and why?

 

Also, outside of Josh Allen (who is the best single pick of Beane’s era), who’s been the best pickup in the draft so far? Biggest miss? Same for free agency?

 

 

The Whaley/Nix era wasn't "bloated".   They were operating cash-to-the-cap for most of it and never even got close to being upside down on the cap.  

 

They also drafted a lot of star players.....an NFL DPOY in Gilmore, a first team All Pro in Dareus a near all-pro in Bob Woods,  the explosive Watkins.....more explosive talents than Beane has found outside of Allen.

 

 Whaley also found great values like Tyrod, Lorax and Zach Brown in free agency and was the man in place when Hyde and Poyer were signed.   Beane is nearly 0 for forever on flyers and cheap free agent deals (RT Daryl Williams the main exception).

 

The Nix/Whaley teams were just VERY poorly coached, didn't have a top QB and subsequently changing systems over and over and were never able to build a foundation and change the culture because of those things.

 

And not having a good coach was as much because their ownership was viewed as a clown show as anything.   After years of tormenting the likes of Chuck Knox and Wade Phillips there wasn't any way guys like Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher were going to take Ralph C's money when he came begging.   And the Pegula's were clueless when they took over.

 

 

Edited June 13 by BADOLBILZ

[GunnerBill]

28 minutes ago, Chaos said:

The poll choices are overly limited.  

A - (He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters while skillfully finessing the cap).   

I would propose a fix

A - He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters and coaching staffs
B+  He’s consistently put us in a position to win with Super Bowl-capable rosters, but there is not evidence the coaching staffs are capable of a deep playoff run

I can't give an A in the current poll, because it ignores one of the critical elements of team building, coaching. 

 

Even if I agree with you re. coaching - I don't - Beane is not responsible for the coaching. He didn't hire the Head Coach, he doesn't hire the coordinators. 

[ColoradoBills]

There are not options for other grades.  I give Beane a B+ (haven't won the Superbowl).

Same with McDermott.

[BADOLBILZ]

 

Basically this poll is:

 

Is Brandon Beane great..........or the greatest ever.

 

Anything less than an A and you are calling Beane trash using the OP's qualifications.

 

I've seen this before he is a long time regime apologist.

[SoonerBillsFan]

B+ for me.

[BullBuchanan]

The dropoff between A and B is too extreme by these definitions, imo.

He drafts quality NFL-caliber players with regularity - much like his predecessor did. The difference is he  got Josh Allen. Outside of Allen though, his ability to identify and acquire elite performers has been limited. He also seems to have significant alignment problems with the coaching staff when acquiring talent that goes underutilized.

I would give him a B while still saying he's a top 10 GM.

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, H2o said:

The trade for Diggs was a good move. Who could have known what Jefferson would turn into in this league? Beane went with a proven player who became JA's go-to target and had four really good seasons for us. This overhaul they have done at WR will determine a lot, just in my own opinion, of how I view Beane. If Coleman turns into what Gabe should have been, if Samuel pops in this offense, if Shakir continues his growth, if MVS &/or Claypool provide those big-bodied deep/red zone threats, and if Hollins turns back into the LV Raiders version? Beane will look like a mastermind. If our WR's struggle to get on the same page with JA, and it looks like we've taken a step back? That will knock Beane down the ladder for me because it will be another wasted year of the greatest QB we've seen don a Bills uni. 

 

Completely fair take.

 

I think people overlook part of the strategy of trading for Diggs, a quality proven vet WR.  Put yourself in the GM's shoes:  Josh Allen is going into his 3rd year.  In May of his 4th year, the GM has to decide whether or not to pick up his 5th year option, now fully guaranteed at that point.  And usually, if a team wants to keep a guy, the off-season of the 4th year is when they start contract negotiations.

 

So Josh Allen's 3rd season was ride-or-die? decision time for Beane.  Josh improved between 2018 and 2019, but it was clear the WR corps was not all it needed to be, Beasley and Brown could both be blanketed and taken away by good defenses.  What to do?  Beane could have brought in a 1st round WR and hoped he'd develop quickly enough to see what Allen could be with a solid room of 3 WR.  Or, he could trade for a proven guy and see what happened then.

 

Trading for a vet vs. drafting a top rookie WR was the worse move for the Bills cap situation, but the better move for allowing Beane and his staff to make that critical decision on their QB - and after all, paying top QB dollar to a QB who really isn't The Man, is just about the worst cap sin a GM can commit.

 

2 hours ago, H2o said:

The Secondary as a whole has been solid, but not spectacular. Hyde and Poyer have always seemed to be battling injuries since 2020, even though they played through some of them. Rapp is decent, we'll see how Edwards fits, and people on here seem to be high on Bishop. They will need to come together quick because we face a tough schedule this year. The trade for Douglas was a good get, Benford was a solid pick, but the biggest swing in the Secondary has been a disappointment to this point. The reports on Elam in camp are promising, but we need to see this in the regular season. I hope he's turned a corner, but right now our drafting in the Secondary hasn't been all that impressive. 

 

Rapp scares the crap out of me.  "Friendly fire" isn't.  Who was it he took out during the Steelers playoff game, Benford?  Bernard?  Maybe Benford would have made a couple more plays than Dane Jackson against KC.  If it was Bernard, starting Klein vs Bernard against KC was huge.

 

So far this preseason, he's already shaken up Shakir and the pads aren't even on.  Guy is a loose cannon.

[skibum]

You can't ask for much better than Beane. He has made every kind of maneuver possible to make the Bills a contender, which they have been consistently for a good stretch of years. There is nothing he won't do - Sign a big free agent, make a huge trade, pull the trigger on a salary dump, trade up or down in the draft, whatever it takes. I also think that on balance, hindsight is pretty kind to Beane, relative to other GMs. Of course, not every move plays out the way it was intended. Not every draft pick hits. But Beane has had relatively good outcomes all around. 

[amprov56]

59 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The Whaley/Nix era wasn't "bloated".   They were operating cash-to-the-cap for most of it and never even got close to being upside down on the cap.  

 

They also drafted a lot of star players.....an NFL DPOY in Gilmore, a first team All Pro in Dareus a near all-pro in Bob Woods,  the explosive Watkins.....more explosive talents than Beane has found outside of Allen.

 

 Whaley also found great values like Tyrod, Lorax and Zach Brown in free agency and was the man in place when Hyde and Poyer were signed.   Beane is nearly 0 for forever on flyers and cheap free agent deals (RT Daryl Williams the main exception).

 

The Nix/Whaley teams were just VERY poorly coached, didn't have a top QB and subsequently changing systems over and over and were never able to build a foundation and change the culture because of those things.

 

And not having a good coach was as much because their ownership was viewed as a clown show as anything.   After years of tormenting the likes of Chuck Knox and Wade Phillips there wasn't any way guys like Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher were going to take Ralph C's money when he came begging.   And the Pegula's were clueless when they took over.

 

 

Holy crap, I’m worried, I agree with Badobilz, completely!

54 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Basically this poll is:

 

Is Brandon Beane great..........or the greatest ever.

 

Anything less than an A and you are calling Beane trash using the OP's qualifications.

 

I've seen this before he is a long time regime apologist.

Now we are back to normal!

[Chandler#81]

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Nice breakdown.  Ooh, I forgot about Tyler Kroft.  We paid him $10M which is certainly an over-pay for what we got, but he did play.
 

WR I think you got to factor in gimondulous whiffs like Corey Coleman and "gee, I just paid 3.5x more for less" whiffs like swapping out McKenzie for Deonte Harty.

 

RB similar swapping Nyheim Hines for Zack Moss - the Colts got the better production end of that one, and 

 

DL I have to note that Beane has been hampered by McDermott's insistence on "selfless" guys who "buy in".  It led to our keeping duds like Star Lotulelei, Vernon Butler, and Mario Addison for far too long.

 

Really? You’re going with Hines freak offseason injury to make a claim Moss was better? Moss didn’t do squat with 3 seasons to try. If he wasn’t traded, he’d have been a street FA because he failed to materialize here. That’s a GM win there! Good for Moss to showing he still had game, but he didn’t force any opponent to make “business decisions” here.