One of the predictable consequences of the Bills’ ascension to the NFL’s elite is that the spotlight on the players is now being shared by the front office and coaching staff.
Assistant general manager Joe Schoen was hired by the Giants to be their GM in the offseason and he immediately brought in former Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as head coach. Both have become the toast of New York City sports.
Meanwhile, the Bills’ own general manager, Brandon Beane, is being lauded as one of the best in the National Football League for the squad he’s built for coach Sean McDermott, who actually was a participant in his hiring.
WEDNESDAY, he held his State of the Bills press conference, a mere 20 hours after he had acquired Colts running back Nyheim Hines in exchange for Buffalo’s Zack Moss and a conditional fifth- or sixth-round draft pick and reacquired safety Dean Marlowe from Atlanta for a seventh-rounder.
Both deals were finalized just before the 4 p.m. deadline.
“Neither one of these moves at 1 o’clock were anywhere near happening,” Beane said. “If they didn’t happen, for whatever reason, I could have sat up here, said we believe in who we’ve got, and we do, but I’m always going to look. If it makes sense for the Buffalo Bills, today and long term, we’re going to try and make it happen.
“Of the two guys we got, there’s another 100-plus that we looked into. We looked at (and) dug deep on 10 safeties alone. We looked at other positions — is there a chance to acquire a depth (player), maybe not a starter, but a depth piece, just to shore us up, should injury happen? These were the two that we felt made the most sense.”
WHAT’S INTERESTING is that Bills fans see Beane as a great drafter, but other than the courageous selection of quarterback Josh Allen in 2018’s first round, his five drafts have been mostly slightly above average.
To be sure, Allen made his reputation. Picking seventh, with Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold having gone first and third, respectively, and with touted Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson still on the board, Beane ignored the skeptics who claimed Allen had accuracy issues and played at a lower level than the Power 5 schools, and took the Wyoming QB.
In the process, he added — after a two-year grooming period — not only the franchise quarterback the Bills had sought since Jim Kelly retired, but also quite possibly, if he avoids injury, one of the NFL’s best ever.
BEANE’S real strength is an instinct for making key trades — acquiring wide receiver Stefon Diggs (2020) brought in the missing piece for Buffalo’s potent offense — and signing — with the exception of high-profile edge rusher Von Miller — salary cap-friendly veteran free agents who contribute.
On the current roster, center Mitch Morse, guard Rodger Saffold, wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, defensive tackles DaQuan Jones and Jordan Phillips, all starters or in the rotation, were acquired that way while fullback Reggie Gilliam was an undrafted free agent.
But, previously, Beane had signed guard Jon Feliciano, wide receivers John Brown and Andre Roberts (also a kick returner), running back Frank Gore (a likely Hall-of-Famer), tight end Lee Smith (one of the position’s all-time blockers), undrafted free agent cornerback Levi Wallace and punter Corey Bojorquez, all of whom were at least sometime-starters before leaving via free agency or retirement.
But success in the draft, other than Allen, has been metered for Beane.
The yardstick for draftees is the first three rounds where picking starters is expected.
For Beane, those rounds have been:
2018: Allen (1st), linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (1st), defensive tackle Harrison Phillips (3rd).
2019: Defensive tackle Ed Oliver (1st), offensive lineman Cody Ford (2nd), running back Devin Singletary (3rd), tight end Dawson Knox (3rd).
2020: No first due to the Diggs trade, defensive end A.J. Epenesa (2nd), Moss (3rd).
2021: Defensive end Greg Rousseau (1st), defensive end Boogie Basham (2nd), tackle Spencer Brown (3rd).
2022: Cornerback Kaiir Elam (1st), running back James Cook (2nd), linebacker Terrel Bernard (3rd).
Of the 14 players picked in the first three rounds over that span, Allen, Edmunds, Oliver, Singletary, Knox, Rousseau, Brown and Elam are starters. Bernard is listed as one but the Bills rarely use three linebackers, preferring to start a third cornerback, Taron Johnson, whom Beane took in 2018’s fourth round. Phillips left as a free agent, Ford was waived and Moss was traded.
Eight starters from 14 picks in the first three rounds is about average, but Beane has had success later in the draft. Cornerback Dane Jackson, a seventh-rounder in ’20, became a starter when Tre’Davious White was injured while Tyler Bass, taken in the sixth round that year, has been a quality placekicker and, best of all, fourth-round pick Gabriel Davis has evolved into the Bills’ No. 2 wide receiver.
A pair of sixth-rounders in the past two drafts, safety Damar Hamlin in ’21 and cornerback Christian Benford this year, became starters due to injuries at their respective positions.
Of Buffalo’s 26 starters, including four cornerbacks, fullback, punter and placekicker, Beane is responsible for acquiring 23 of them.
STILL, HE has some frustrated memories that nag him.
There were two bad trades, sending third- and seventh-round draft picks to Carolina for wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who was a bust in Buffalo, was one and the other was getting two mid-round draft choices from Cleveland for Wyatt Teller, now a Pro Bowl guard.
His worst draft choice, by far, was Ford, whom he traded up to get only to realize he wasn’t an NFL-level guard or tackle.
On sheer volume of signees, a few free agent flops were to be expected: center Russell Bodine, guard Quinton Spain, guard/tackle Spencer Long, cornerback Vontae Davis, tight end Tyler Kroft and defensive end Trent Murphy were Beane’s few misses.
But he sees those mistakes as part of the education process: “I’ve learned a lot from my own failures.”
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
