Revisiting 2024 draft

[djp14150]

7 hours ago, Pete said:

Washington had an excellent draft that provided immediate results.  If Beane lays another egg this draft, I doubt he’s here in 3 years

Rank

30

Buffalo Bills

Class grade: D+

Round 2

(No. 33) Keon Coleman, WR | 13 games/12 starts

(60) Cole Bishop, S | 16 games/4 starts 

Round 3

(95) DeWayne Carter, DT | 11 games/3 starts 

Round 4

(128) Ray Davis, RB | 17 games/0 starts

Round 5

(141) Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, IOL | 16 games/1 start 

(160) Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB | 4 games/1 start 

(168) Javon Solomon, DE | 14 games/0 starts 

Round 6

(204) Tylan Grable, OT | 4 games/1 start 

(219) Daequan Hardy, CB | 0 games/starts 

Round 7

(221) Travis Clayton, OT | 0 games/starts

Notable free agent signees

Joe Andreessen, LB | 13 games/1 start 

Notable trade additions

Brandon Codrington, CB/RET | 17 games/0 starts (acquired from NYJ)

 

The biggest pre-draft question about Keon Coleman was whether he could separate at the NFL level, with his 4.61 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine only furthering concerns. His supporters countered that separation knock by touting his contested-catch ability, but he struggled in both areas as a rookie. His inability to separate was clear to the naked eye but also underscored by a number of Next Gen Stats metrics. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus charted that Coleman received 19 contested targets and caught just seven, giving him a subpar conversion rate of 36.8 percent. Frankly, following a November wrist injury that sidelined him for a month, Coleman struggled to find a connection with Josh Allen on anysort of pass, catching just 10 of his 29 targets over the final seven games (playoffs included).

 

The rest of the class was pretty unremarkable, though Ray Davis provided some juice in the backfield and Cole Bishop played decent in spot duty at safety, racking up a team-high 10 tackles in the AFC Championship Game.

Washington had no depth. Needed players to play.

 

buffalo is a much deeper team. Draft picks don’t necessarily taking starting jobs

[Kirby Jackson]

24 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Eagles:

 

Pick 22 - Quinyon Mitchell.  Maybe the Bills take him if they were picking at 22.  Eagles weren't trading back, so it's a moot point to try to say the Bills could have had a player like Mitchell at 28.  It wasn't happening.

 

Pick 40 - Cooper Dejean.  Good player, Eagles traded up for him.  I think he is a good safety/corner hybrid who will play for a long time.  Bills could have taken him at 33, but that would have left NOTHING at receiver at pick 60.  Good player though

 

After this, they have Hunt (who is unproven), Shipley is a nothing player, Smith is a nothing player, Trotter Jr. has some upside, and depth o-line potentially.

 

Eagles top 2 picks played well.  Their combined draft position is 62 to the Bill's 92.  They have essentially a half of a round of improvement on their picks compared to Buffalo.  That is very important when we consider evaluating these guys.

 

Seriously? Is this what we are doing? 🤣🤣 The Eagles had 2 of the 5 defensive rookie of the year finalists and their 3rd pick played 41% of the defensive snaps in the Super Bowl. We are comparing that to the Coleman, Bishop, Carter start? Just stop

[Cray51]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Seriously? Is this what we are doing? 🤣🤣 The Eagles had 2 of the 5 defensive rookie of the year finalists and their 3rd pick played 41% of the defensive snaps in the Super Bowl. We are comparing that to the Coleman, Bishop, Carter start? Just stop

No, I'm saying while the Eagles absolutely hit on their top two picks, you can't DIRECTLY compare to the Bills situation.  If the Bills have pick 22, they are probably taking BTJ, who had 1204 yards as a rookie.  Instead they had pick 28, and moved back because they didnt love any of the WR available.  When the Eagles are picking earlier in the round, they have a higher chance at taking a better player.  I dont know why that's such a crazy concept so many seem to misunderstand.  They picked Dejean at 40, we take Bishop at 60.  Do you think an early 2nd and a late 2nd are the same player?

 

Hunt is a decent pick, but he only played 41% of snaps because the starters came out in the 4th.

 

You asked to compare the Eagles draft class to the Bills - I did.  The Eagles first 3 picks were taken on average 11 selections before the Bills were.  I'm not saying the Bills drafted better than the Eagles, I'm saying the Eagles drafted well, while also getting to select players earlier.

 

You are the one who asked for a review of the Eagles draft class.  Dont laugh at what you asked for...

[Billl]

2 hours ago, Cray51 said:

It was a top heavy draft that provided some great players (Daniels, Bowers, Nabers, BJT, Alt), but really cools off after pick 25.

In what way did it cool off after pick 25?  Xavier Worthy went at 28.  McConkey was 34.  Braden Fiske was 39.  Dejean went 40th, and Kamari Lassiter was 42nd.  Those are all foundational pieces for the teams that drafted them.

[Kirby Jackson]

58 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

No, I'm saying while the Eagles absolutely hit on their top two picks, you can't DIRECTLY compare to the Bills situation.  If the Bills have pick 22, they are probably taking BTJ, who had 1204 yards as a rookie.  Instead they had pick 28, and moved back because they didnt love any of the WR available.  When the Eagles are picking earlier in the round, they have a higher chance at taking a better player.  I dont know why that's such a crazy concept so many seem to misunderstand.  They picked Dejean at 40, we take Bishop at 60.  Do you think an early 2nd and a late 2nd are the same player?

 

Hunt is a decent pick, but he only played 41% of snaps because the starters came out in the 4th.

 

You asked to compare the Eagles draft class to the Bills - I did.  The Eagles first 3 picks were taken on average 11 selections before the Bills were.  I'm not saying the Bills drafted better than the Eagles, I'm saying the Eagles drafted well, while also getting to select players earlier.

 

You are the one who asked for a review of the Eagles draft class.  Dont laugh at what you asked for...

So if the Bills drafted better, they would have hit on their first 2 picks as well? Is that the point? We could have taken Ladd or Worthy instead of Coleman. We could have taken Bullock instead of Bishop. If we started Ladd and Bullock, the Bills would have hit on their first two picks as well. Both were available at the Bills picks even after the trade downs. 

[Cray51]

32 minutes ago, Billl said:

In what way did it cool off after pick 25?  Xavier Worthy went at 28.  McConkey was 34.  Braden Fiske was 39.  Dejean went 40th, and Kamari Lassiter was 42nd.  Those are all foundational pieces for the teams that drafted them.

Worthy is not foundational

McConkey is a pure slot option and the Bills clearly wanted a vertical threat (I'm not sure that Coleman is much better on the boundary, but that's another conversation).

Fiske is a good player for sure

Dejean also a good player

Lassiter is good, but not foundational IMO.

 

So from my view, the drop off from truly foundational guys (BTJ, Mitchell, Alt, Nabers, Bowers, Alt) to the guys you mentioned is totally a decent gap.  You mentioned some good players and guys who may become pro bowlers to legit pro bowlers as rookies who have All Pro potential.

[Kirby Jackson]

3 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Worthy is not foundational

McConkey is a pure slot option and the Bills clearly wanted a vertical threat (I'm not sure that Coleman is much better on the boundary, but that's another conversation).

Fiske is a good player for sure

Dejean also a good player

Lassiter is good, but not foundational IMO.

 

So from my view, the drop off from truly foundational guys (BTJ, Mitchell, Alt, Nabers, Bowers, Alt) to the guys you mentioned is totally a decent gap.  You mentioned some good players and guys who may become pro bowlers to legit pro bowlers as rookies who have All Pro potential.

McConkey ran 70.3% of his routes at UGA from the outside. To say that he’s a “pure slot option” is false. The Chargers used him a lot in the slot but not because they had to. They did it because it worked. He finished his rookie year with 82/1149/7. 

[Cray51]

33 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

So if the Bills drafted better, they would have hit on their first 2 picks as well? Is that the point? We could have taken Ladd or Worthy instead of Coleman. We could have taken Bullock instead of Bishop. If we started Ladd and Bullock, the Bills would have hit on their first two picks as well. Both were available at the Bills picks even after the trade downs. 

The point is you are putting a $10 Burger against a $5 Burger but not factoring in price.  If the Bills had pick 22, they take BTJ and our offense is completely different.  We didnt have the opportunity to because we were 28th.  There isn't a boundary receiver as good as BJT after he was selected.  Zero.  If we have BJT taken at 22 and are sitting there with picks 50 and 53, maybe they move up to draft Dejean.  But to simply go "The Eagles drafted well and the Bills didn't" without acknowledging the context of their draft is silly.

 

You take Worthy you can't get Carter (regardless of how you feel you dont get that 3rd round pick).  And I'm not convinced Worthy is better than Coleman.

You take Ladd and you give ABSOLUTELY zero boundary threat (I really like Ladd, but he is a pure slot guy)

Bullock is a good pick, we missed on him.  I'm hopeful about Bishop however.

 

1 minute ago, Kirby Jackson said:

McConkey ran 70.3% of his routes at UGA from the outside. To say that he’s a “pure slot option” is false. The Chargers used him a lot in the slot but not because they had to. They did it because it worked. He finished his rookie year with 82/1149/7. 

The Chargers had the worst boundary receivers in the league and still played Ladd at slot.  We are going to disagree here.  If Ladd was a capable boundary guy they would have used him there more.  He is a GREAT slot guy, but he hasn't shown in the NFL an ability at the boundary.

[Pete]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Ok you take DeJean, who plays boundary WR, who is your depth at S?  Remember you had no cap space to go buy big $ FAs.  
 

 

2025- Who plays boundary WR?  We still don’t have decent boundary WR.  There were plenty of chances to add X WR in 2024, but X WR was ignored.  At least we would be set at S if we selected Cooper, while we try and find a quality X WR

 

 

[GASabresIUFan]

29 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

So if the Bills drafted better, they would have hit on their first 2 picks as well? Is that the point? We could have taken Ladd or Worthy instead of Coleman. We could have taken Bullock instead of Bishop. If we started Ladd and Bullock, the Bills would have hit on their first two picks as well. Both were available at the Bills picks even after the trade downs. 

Your argument is only that we'd have better results this past season.  That is why this whole exercise is silly.  I love Ladd and wanted him drafted by the Bills, but that doesn't mean 3 years from now Ladd would ultimately be the better draft choice.  I also had Bullock higher on my board over Bishop, but that again doesn't mean Bullock will be viewed as the better choice 3 years from now.  

 

You cannot evaluate a draft after year 1.  

 

Lets look at 2022 after the first season.

 

Elam - (23rd overall) - 13 GP, 6 GS, 41 tackles - Not a bad start for the rookie, but he's had 40 tackles and 4 starts since.  

Cook - (63rd overall) - 16 GP, 0 GS, 687 YFS, 3 TDs - solid 1st year, but didn't look like a starter - Since 33 GP, 19GS, 2834 YFS, 24 TDs - 2 Pro Bowls

Bernard - (89th overall) - 16 GP, 1 GS, 22 tackles - Looks like a depth LB - Since 30 GP, 30 GS, 247 tackles, 5 Ints, 4 FR, 7.5 sacks

Shakir - (148th overall) - 14 GP, 2 GS, 161 yards on 10 catches (50% of targets) 1 TD - talk about forgettable - Since 32 GP, 19 GS, 1431 yards on 115 catches (79% of targets), 6TDS, - Was 2nd in the NFL in YAC in 2024

Benford - (185th overall) - 9 GP, 5 GS, 24 tackles, 1 INT - just another depth CB after year 1 - Since 30GP, 29GS, 118 tackles, 4 Ints, 4 forced fumbles, 2 FR and graded as the 5th best CB in the NFL by PFF.  

 

2022 looked like a very mediocre draft with Elam arguably the best of the lot with 6 starts and 41 tackles as a rookie.  Instead he's the bust and the core of the team (outside of the Josh) is the other 4 guys listed.  

 

 

[Don Otreply]

10 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

Much too early.

Totally agree, it’s as if the thinking is that we needed every one of our draft picks to start, all we needed was basic contributions from them, 

[Pete]

58 minutes ago, Billl said:

In what way did it cool off after pick 25?  Xavier Worthy went at 28.  McConkey was 34.  Braden Fiske was 39.  Dejean went 40th, and Kamari Lassiter was 42nd.  Those are all foundational pieces for the teams that drafted them.

Adonai Mitchell is a player I liked for the Bills.  He is a true X WR.  He would make much more sense imo 

[GASabresIUFan]

7 minutes ago, Pete said:

2025- Who plays boundary WR?  We still don’t have decent boundary WR.  There were plenty of chances to add X WR in 2024, but X WR was ignored.  At least we would be set at S if we selected Cooper, while we try and find a quality X WR

 

 

Coleman is the X receiver.  Amari Cooper played the Y last year.  If we had draft DeJean, we'd be missing both the X & Y receivers for 2025.  Instead we are only missing the Y receiver.  

[Cray51]

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Your argument is only that we'd have better results this past season.  That is why this whole exercise is silly.  I love Ladd and wanted him drafted by the Bills, but that doesn't mean 3 years from now Ladd would ultimately be the better draft choice.  I also had Bullock higher on my board over Bishop, but that again doesn't mean Bullock will be viewed as the better choice 3 years from now.  

 

You cannot evaluate a draft after year 1.  

 

Lets look at 2022 after the first season.

 

Elam - (23rd overall) - 13 GP, 6 GS, 41 tackles - Not a bad start for the rookie, but he's had 40 tackles and 4 starts since.  

Cook - (63rd overall) - 16 GP, 0 GS, 687 YFS, 3 TDs - solid 1st year, but didn't look like a starter - Since 33 GP, 19GS, 2834 YFS, 24 TDs - 2 Pro Bowls

Bernard - (89th overall) - 16 GP, 1 GS, 22 tackles - Looks like a depth LB - Since 30 GP, 30 GS, 247 tackles, 5 Ints, 4 FR, 7.5 sacks

Shakir - (148th overall) - 14 GP, 2 GS, 161 yards on 10 catches (50% of targets) 1 TD - talk about forgettable - Since 32 GP, 19 GS, 1431 yards on 115 catches (79% of targets), 6TDS, - Was 2nd in the NFL in YAC in 2024

Benford - (185th overall) - 9 GP, 5 GS, 24 tackles, 1 INT - just another depth CB after year 1 - Since 30GP, 29GS, 118 tackles, 4 Ints, 4 forced fumbles, 2 FR and graded as the 5th best CB in the NFL by PFF.  

 

2022 looked like a very mediocre draft with Elam arguably the best of the lot with 6 starts and 41 tackles as a rookie.  Instead he's the bust and the core of the team (outside of the Josh) is the other 4 guys listed.  

 

 

Dont bring reason into this, people are just mad the Bills didn't select the best players drafted after them.

[ghostwriter]

It’s too early to tell. I’m not saying Beane had a good draft, but I’m not saying he had a bad one either.

[Kirby Jackson]

7 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

The point is you are putting a $10 Burger against a $5 Burger but not factoring in price.  If the Bills had pick 22, they take BTJ and our offense is completely different.  We didnt have the opportunity to because we were 28th.  There isn't a boundary receiver as good as BJT after he was selected.  Zero.  If we have BJT taken at 22 and are sitting there with picks 50 and 53, maybe they move up to draft Dejean.  But to simply go "The Eagles drafted well and the Bills didn't" without acknowledging the context of their draft is silly.

 

You take Worthy you can't get Carter (regardless of how you feel you dont get that 3rd round pick).  And I'm not convinced Worthy is better than Coleman.

You take Ladd and you give ABSOLUTELY zero boundary threat (I really like Ladd, but he is a pure slot guy)

Bullock is a good pick, we missed on him.  I'm hopeful about Bishop however.

 

The Chargers had the worst boundary receivers in the league and still played Ladd at slot.  We are going to disagree here.  If Ladd was a capable boundary guy they would have used him there more.  He is a GREAT slot guy, but he hasn't shown in the NFL an ability at the boundary.

Ladd can play outside as he did at UGA. He played 70.3% of his snaps there and parlayed that into getting picked early. He played nearly 30% of the snaps on the outside as a rookie. He’s not ONLY a slot guy like Beasley for example. He’s closer to Amon-Ra St. Brown. He will probably be somewhere closer to like 60/40 slot to boundary. 

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Ladd can play outside as he did at UGA. He played 70.3% of his snaps there and parlayed that into getting picked early. He played nearly 30% of the snaps on the outside as a rookie. He’s not ONLY a slot guy like Beasley for example. He’s closer to Amon-Ra St. Brown. He will probably be somewhere closer to like 60/40 slot to boundary. 

How many snaps did Shakir play in the slot vs outside in Buffalo.

 

70% slot makes you pretty much a slot guy. The Chargers didn’t keep McConkey in the slot all year because they are in love with Quentin Johnston on the boundary imo.

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Coleman is the X receiver.  Amari Cooper played the Y last year.  If we had draft DeJean, we'd be missing both the X & Y receivers for 2025.  Instead we are only missing the Y receiver.  

Just because Coleman is playing the X doesn’t mean we aren’t missing one.

[Thrivefourfive]

To the OP title- I’d rather not 

[GASabresIUFan]

5 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Dont bring reason into this, people are just mad the Bills didn't select the best players drafted after them.

I'm sorry what was I thinking.  I sincerely apologize.  

[Kirby Jackson]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Your argument is only that we'd have better results this past season.  That is why this whole exercise is silly.  I love Ladd and wanted him drafted by the Bills, but that doesn't mean 3 years from now Ladd would ultimately be the better draft choice.  I also had Bullock higher on my board over Bishop, but that again doesn't mean Bullock will be viewed as the better choice 3 years from now.  

 

You cannot evaluate a draft after year 1.  

 

Lets look at 2022 after the first season.

 

Elam - (23rd overall) - 13 GP, 6 GS, 41 tackles - Not a bad start for the rookie, but he's had 40 tackles and 4 starts since.  

Cook - (63rd overall) - 16 GP, 0 GS, 687 YFS, 3 TDs - solid 1st year, but didn't look like a starter - Since 33 GP, 19GS, 2834 YFS, 24 TDs - 2 Pro Bowls

Bernard - (89th overall) - 16 GP, 1 GS, 22 tackles - Looks like a depth LB - Since 30 GP, 30 GS, 247 tackles, 5 Ints, 4 FR, 7.5 sacks

Shakir - (148th overall) - 14 GP, 2 GS, 161 yards on 10 catches (50% of targets) 1 TD - talk about forgettable - Since 32 GP, 19 GS, 1431 yards on 115 catches (79% of targets), 6TDS, - Was 2nd in the NFL in YAC in 2024

Benford - (185th overall) - 9 GP, 5 GS, 24 tackles, 1 INT - just another depth CB after year 1 - Since 30GP, 29GS, 118 tackles, 4 Ints, 4 forced fumbles, 2 FR and graded as the 5th best CB in the NFL by PFF.  

 

2022 looked like a very mediocre draft with Elam arguably the best of the lot with 6 starts and 41 tackles as a rookie.  Instead he's the bust and the core of the team (outside of the Josh) is the other 4 guys listed.  

 

 

You might have jumped in late. The response was to the poster that suggested that the Eagles 1st 3 picks look better than the Bills 1st 3 picks because they picked earlier. The response was, “if the Bills picked McConkey and Bullock instead of Coleman and Bishop” we wouldn’t be using when in the round they picked as an excuse. 
 

To be clear for the late comers, NO ONE IS SAYING THAT THE DRAFT IS DEFINITELY A FAILURE AT THIS POINT. At the same time, there were guys picked at the same positions, that were available to the Bills, that are off to better (in some cases much better) starts.