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

[Einstein's Dog]

6 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

As I've said before I'm not looking to perfectly model other Super Bowl winners. I'm looking to build the best team for the Buffalo Bills. For a myriad of reasons that I don't feel like getting into we are not going to copy the Chiefs formula. We've already tried the formula of over investing in the defense and it just isn't working. It's time to try a different direction and do everything possible to set up Josh Allen to steamroll opponents all the way to the Super Bowl.

Also there have been Superbowl winners that invested in WRs.  Tampa had M Evans/C Godwin (along with Gronk and Gage), and LA had C Kupp + OBJ.

[May Day 10]

I'd say B.  Has been really good in most categories.  I would also rate him in the top 10 GMs currently.  

 

He has a few bad extensions, and has floundered at edge rusher.  The fork in the road between investing in von Miller and a 1a or 1b receiver has maybe cost the bills a title or 2.

Edited June 14 by May Day 10

[Alphadawg7]

55 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

As I've said before I'm not looking to perfectly model other Super Bowl winners. I'm looking to build the best team for the Buffalo Bills. For a myriad of reasons that I don't feel like getting into we are not going to copy the Chiefs formula. We've already tried the formula of over investing in the defense and it just isn't working. It's time to try a different direction and do everything possible to set up Josh Allen to steamroll opponents all the way to the Super Bowl.

 

Im not suggesting to copy the Chiefs, I am saying over investing at WR has not been a wise investment for anyone in terms SB Success.  And we have invested more premium assets in the last 3 years in the offense than the defense.

[Doc Brown]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Fair, no I didn't. I should have phrased more carefully because he did "spend" those picks. Not team has drafted at a lower cost in terms of draft value chart except the Buccaneers. 

How would it look compared to the rest of the league if the Bills took a WR in the 1st and 4th round of the 2020 draft?

[FireChans]

If the justification for A is that he drafted the second best QB in football and that matters more than literally anything else, I’m fine with the A votes.

 

Any other justification for the A grade is pure bunk, imo.

[GunnerBill]

58 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

How would it look compared to the rest of the league if the Bills took a WR in the 1st and 4th round of the 2020 draft?

 

Before this last draft they'd still be bottom 6. I'd have to crunch the numbers again now when you include the Coleman pick.

[paulmm3]

In 20 years of following the Bills and Sabres, only one GM has built a team that's competitive. And for that reason Beane gets an A from me. Josh is a big part of it, but we've had excellent defenses as well. And a decent OL, which the Bills haven't had in ages.

[Fr. Jerk]

He's seems to be privy to things, unlike past GM's, ya dig? 

 

[Robert Paulson]

If our coach  had some stones we would have 1-2 super bowls.

 

The talent has been there. The lightning in a bottle has been there. 

 

The head coach choked it away.

 

I give Beane an A-. Fantastic job but some head scratching overpays.

Edited June 14 by Robert Paulson

[LeGOATski]

A. The talent that's been put on the field has been great. Without fact-checking, I think the Bills are the winningest team in football since Beane got here. Fans may not agree with the plan or every single decision, but they really couldn't ask for more from a GM.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, LeGOATski said:

A. The talent that's been put on the field has been great. Without fact-checking, I think the Bills are the winningest team in football since Beane got here. Fans may not agree with the plan or every single decision, but they really couldn't ask for more from a GM.

 

2nd winningest. Behind KC. Obviously. And 3 of our last 4 seasons have ended at the hands of the Chiefs. Obviously. 

Edited June 15 by GunnerBill

[section122]

My biggest complaint is beane has missed on true difference makers.  Studs that can be game wreckers.  Take a look at all pros and pro bowls for super bowl teams compared to the bills the last few years.  

 

Chiefs had 3 first team all pros and 49ers had 7 total 5 1st and 2 2nd teamers.  The Bills had 1 on the 2nd team.  

 

Year before chiefs had 6 eagles had 6 and Bills had 2.

 

Year before rams 3 bengals 1 and bills 2.

 

The depth on the Bills has been really good.  The lack of top end talent imo is why they haven't been able to take the next step.  

 

[JerseyBills]

voting over but absolutely an A.

Beane is sharp, clever, genuine dude

[Sierra Foothills]

On 6/13/2024 at 7:22 AM, Chaos said:

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

 

On 6/13/2024 at 7:25 AM, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

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? 

 

On 6/13/2024 at 2:00 PM, Chaos said:

If the Bills organization does not trust him with the head coaching decison, he can’t be considered a top GM, only a top player personnel manager.  The top GMs are given control over the organization.  

 

Understood that some NFL clubs have adopted a structure whereby the GM/Head Coach jobs are not hierarchical but instead, equal.

 

We don't really know who has final say over players or coaching hires do we? It has never been definitively stated, correct?

 

We do know that McDermott was hired 4 months earlier than Beane and based on that it's my opinion that McDermott has more authority within the Bills than does Beane. As I stated, JMO.

 

I'd love to know which decisions they differed on over the years and who prevailed in these cases. It's also interesting for me to contemplate who would win if it ever came down to a power struggle between the two... though I think they'll rise or sink together.

 

1 hour ago, section122 said:

My biggest complaint is beane has missed on true difference makers.  Studs that can be game wreckers.  Take a look at all pros and pro bowls for super bowl teams compared to the bills the last few years.  

 

Chiefs had 3 first team all pros and 49ers had 7 total 5 1st and 2 2nd teamers.  The Bills had 1 on the 2nd team.  

 

Year before chiefs had 6 eagles had 6 and Bills had 2.

 

Year before rams 3 bengals 1 and bills 2.

 

The depth on the Bills has been really good.  The lack of top end talent imo is why they haven't been able to take the next step.  

 

 

To the bolded I agree 100%.

 

But again this is muddled because as far as I know, no one outside of OneBills Drive knows for sure who has final authority on the major player moves.

 

It's easy for me to think that McDermott relinquishes control over mid to late round picks and mundane free agent acquisitions.

 

Conversely it's impossible for me to believe that McDermott didn't mandate the drafting of Tre White, Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau and even players like AJ Epenesa, Boogie Basham, Cole Bishop and Terrell Bernard. I feel very comfortable believing that those picks have McDermott's fingerprints all over them.

 

So this dynamic between HC and GM makes an evaluation of Beane's work more difficult.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 16 by Sierra Foothills

[ganesh]

On 6/13/2024 at 6:49 PM, Augie said:

 

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. 

Who are the top five GM in your opinion. That will also help make the case for Beane 

[Augie]

7 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Who are the top five GM in your opinion. That will also help make the case for Beane 

 

I don’t often make lists, or fire people if it is arguable that they might be top 5 out of 32. 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

 

 

Understood that some NFL clubs have adopted a structure whereby the GM/Head Coach jobs are not hierarchical but instead, equal.

 

We don't really know who has final say over players or coaching hires do we? It has never been definitively stated, correct?

 

We do know that McDermott was hired 4 months earlier than Beane and based on that it's my opinion that McDermott has more authority within the Bills than does Beane. As I stated, JMO.

 

I'd love to know which decisions they differed on over the years and who prevailed in these cases. It's also interesting for me to contemplate who would win if it ever came down to a power struggle between the two... though I think they'll rise or sink together.

 

 

To the bolded I agree 100%.

 

But again this is muddled because as far as I know, no one outside of OneBills Drive knows for sure who has final authority on the major player moves.

 

It's easy for me to think that McDermott relinquishes control over mid to late round picks and mundane free agent acquisitions.

 

Conversely it's impossible for me to believe that McDermott didn't mandate the drafting of Tre White, Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau and even players like AJ Epenesa, Boogie Basham, Cole Bishop and Terrell Bernard. I feel very comfortable believing that those picks have McDermott's fingerprints all over them.

 

So this dynamic between HC and GM makes an evaluation of Beane's work more difficult.

 

 

It has been definitively stated both by Terry Pegula and by Brandon Beane himself. Brandon has control of the 53 and personnel. Sean has control of the gameday actives / inactives and the coaches. The Bills are extremely collaborative. They let McDermott handpick his GM because they wanted the two to co-exist harmoniously after years of Whaley - Marrone and Whaley - Ryan strife. So Sean isn't mandating players. That isn't how it works, but would Brandon Beane ever do a Whaley and make a big move in the draft that his coach is so unhappy with he storms outta the room? No. 

 

The people who think it isn't clear are the people who want to believe that everything they don't like is Sean McDermott's fault. It is very clear, the Bills have stated it publicly and those of us who know people who are or have been in the building confirm they operate it true to their word. Brandon Beane runs personnel. He identifies the free agents and he makes the draft picks. But the coaches input into that process and he listens to input. The final decision is always his.

 

[Sierra Foothills]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It has been definitively stated both by Terry Pegula and by Brandon Beane himself. Brandon has control of the 53 and personnel. Sean has control of the gameday actives / inactives and the coaches. The Bills are extremely collaborative. They let McDermott handpick his GM because they wanted the two to co-exist harmoniously after years of Whaley - Marrone and Whaley - Ryan strife. So Sean isn't mandating players. That isn't how it works, but would Brandon Beane ever do a Whaley and make a big move in the draft that his coach is so unhappy with he storms outta the room? No. 

 

The people who think it isn't clear are the people who want to believe that everything they don't like is Sean McDermott's fault. It is very clear, the Bills have stated it publicly and those of us who know people who are or have been in the building confirm they operate it true to their word. Brandon Beane runs personnel. He identifies the free agents and he makes the draft picks. But the coaches input into that process and he listens to input. The final decision is always his.

 

 

Fair enough. I haven't seen those proclamations but I trust your knowledge of the situation.

 

But if McDermott said "Ed Oliver" and Beane said "Christian Wilkins", who's gonna get their way?

 

You may treat it as a rhetorical question if you wish.

 

 

 

Edited June 16 by Sierra Foothills

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, ganesh said:

Who are the top five GM in your opinion. That will also help make the case for Beane 

 

My tier 1 is:

Howie Roseman

Eric DeCosta

Brett Veach

John Lynch

Brad Holmes 

Will McClay (not technically the GM in title but he runs personnel in Dallas and has turned down actual GM jobs because they pay him like a GM and he is never getting fired). 

 

Tier 2 is: 

John Schneider (reason tier 2 - too many round 1 whiffs but excellent in the rest of the draft)

Les Snead (reason tier 2 - he is a big sugar high for my liking in his pro personnel moves but excellent drafter)

Jason Licht (reason tier 2 - beyond Tom Brady he has struggled to get QB right but has had a solid overall roster)

Brandon Beane (reason tier 2 - doesn't whiff a lot in the draft but lacks difference makers)

Nick Caserio (reason tier 2 - still in the honeymoon phase but smashed the rebuild, found his QB and his coach)

 

 

 

 

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Fair enough. I haven't seen those proclamations but I trust your knowledge of the situation.

 

But if McDermott said "Ed Oliver" and Beane said "Christian Wilkins", who's gonna get their way?

 

You may treat it as a rhetorical question if you wish.

 

 

They were very clear about when Beane was hired. Both Terry and Brandon were explicit. The only year Terry was intentionally vague about who was in charge wae 2017. When the name above the door was Doug Whaley but nobody actually believes he was in control. Sean McDermott was.

 

As for your question: The draftboard is the right answer. And that is set by Brandon after assimilating all the information from the personnel staff and coaching staff. But if Ed is higher than Christian on the board it doesn't matter if on draft night McDermott says "yea but I like Christian better" Ed Oliver would be the pick. I know you only used that as a rhetorical example but FWIW Brandon Beane LOVED Ed Oliver. He was willing to go into the top 5 for him if they needed to. They made calls. But if you remember 2019 was a good draft at the top and nobody was willing to move out. But say the Bills had the 4th overall pick that year? They'd have still picked Ed Oliver.