Logic

Brandon Beane, speaking at his post draft presser just now, said "The cap is the cap. There is not a receiver trade coming". He said it point blank. So...I think at this point a free agency addition is far more likely.

Coleman, Shakir, Samuel is about as deep as this WR corps goes. And that's assuming Coleman winds up being a good pro. Hollins a replacement level guy. Shorter has shown nothing on offense in this league. Yes, we can HOPE that Shorter or Hamler or Shavers develop into viable players, but hope is not a strategy. So that's three guys. That's a three-deep WR corps. That is....not very encouraging.

Great response. Thank you for this. Yeah, I'll admit: I'd feel a lot better about things if the Bills added just one more legitimate dude to the receiving corps, even via free agency. They're one Samuel injury or one slow Coleman developmental Summer away from Mack Hollins or Justin Shorter being counted on for serious offensive snaps, and that is not acceptable to me. I'm not even sure who at this point in the offseason would be a viable addition to that room -- OBJ? Chark? MVS? -- but I have my fingers crossed for SOMEBODY.

Trading up for one of the big three WRs -- which Beane said he didn't try to do -- would've done it. Failing that, as I said, collecting quantity instead of quality might've accomplished that. Giving greater priority to surrounding Allen with multiple skillsets at wide receiver. When I look at the Bills' WR corps as it stands right now, it's hard not to feel like it's one of the least inspiring groups in the league.

Kelvin Benjamin and Andre Holmes gave way to Robert Foster, Isaiah McKenzie, John Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, et al. Even Gabe Davis's effectiveness gradually waned the longer he was here. His limited route tree, stiffness, and inability to get consistent separation led to Josh rarely throwing it to him over the back half of last season.

If post-draft discussion and speculation aren't encouraged, then we might as well close up this message board.

Right now, I agree with you. I think the Bills are further from Super Bowl contention right now than they were at season's end. Some of that was bound to happen due to salary cap implications and aging players that left, but...I can't help but agree. You either step forward, backward, or stand pat in a given offseason. At BEST, I feel the Bills stood pat, but I think it's more likely that they took a step back.

I'll start by saying that this was far from my favorite Bills draft. I'm usually Mr Optimistic when it comes to draft classes, but I thought this year's class was just...fine. It was like if you fed Brandon Beane's draft tendencies and the Bills' needs into ChatGPT and asked it to spit out the 2024 Bills draft class. It was completely on brand, it filled the needs we all knew the team had, and it'll probably end up producing a few average players and a couple good ones. Ho-hum. Nobody in this class makes me stand up and say "that guy's really gonna help the Bills get over the hump and win a title". Onto the picks: 1. Keon Coleman - I was not a fan of this pick. For a team whose WR corps needed more speed and separation, this guy made the LEAST sense to me of all the 1st/2nd round WR prospects. Josh Allen has historically thrived with fast, shifty WRs who separate well, and has not clicked with big-bodied guys who struggle with separation. So adding Keon Coleman? It feels like "Square peg, meet round hole". He does have great athleticism and RAC ability for a man his size. He's also young to the position, having played football full time for only two seasons and being only 20 years old. I have concerns about his ability to play X in the NFL, and I'll believe that he's a better fit as a big slot until proven otherwise. Here's hoping I'm wrong about Coleman. The absolute ceiling I see for him is "Solid WR2". Not what I was hoping for in a star studded WR class and with a crying need at the position. 2. Cole Bishop - Looks like he should be just what the doctor ordered at safety for the Bills. He seems to be more Poyer than Hyde, in that he's at his best in the box and playing the run, and he packs a wallop when he tackles. He appears to have untapped man coverage potential, with Dalton Kincaid saying Bishop usually got the better of him 1-on-1 at Utah. He also has freaky speed for the position and a great mental disposition. Should be an easy fit in the Bills' scheme. At the VERY least, I expect him to contribute from day 1 as a dime 'backer, but I'll ultimately be surprised if he doesn't wind up starting at one of the two safety spots by midseason. 3. Dewayne Carter - Good bull rusher, great motor, tons of experience, impeccable character. Seems like a 1T/3T 'tweener. Quickly apparent from his interviews that he's one of the smartest, most likable, easy to root for guys you'll ever see in the NFL. Should be a quality rotational tackle for the Bills and seems like, in time, he will provide quality leadership and a steadying presence on the D-line. May never be a big play guy, but may at least be a "dirty work" guy who allows others around him to thrive. 4. Ray Davis - Hard running inside guy with great vision, ability to get skinny, contact balance, and underrated breakaway ability. Had the most receiving TDs in 2023 of any SEC running back in 25 years. Should provide a nice change of pace to James Cook without the Bills necessarily losing anything in the pass game when he comes on the field. An older prospect, but I don't care, because he's a running back, and he won't be here past his first contract anyway. Another "likability" and leadership All-Star. Davis should provide steadiness and depth, but doesn't do anything that wows you, and I'm not sure he moves the needle much on offense. 5. Sedrick Van Pran - Tons of starting experience at Georgia. Has some traits reminiscent of Mitch Morse in terms of quickness, twitch, and ability on the move. Stop me if you've heard this one before -- lauded for his leadership. Should provide a good backup plan to Connor McGovern at center and/or provide competition at that position. It will not shock me if this guy is starting by year two. Seems like a great value at this point in the draft. One of my favorite picks. 5. Edufuan Ulofoshio - What do you want me to say? You didn't think the Bills would let a draft pass them by without selecting a late round special teams linebacker, did you? The room is starting to get a bit crowded with Milano, Bernard, Williams, Morrow, Spector, and Ulofoshio. However...the Bills lost ST stalwarts Dodsen, Matakevitch, and Neal, and needed some reinforcements there. That's what Ulo seems to be. I'll be surprised if he ever amounts to more than that, but at this point in the draft, that's what you're getting. 5. Javon Soloman - Undersized speed rusher (though he does have a great wingspan for the position) who had absolutely eye-popping production at Troy, where he out-produced Demarcus Ware and Osi Umenyoira. He can be a designated pass rusher and special teams guy and can learn from his idol Von Miller, after whom he says he models his game. Very much a boom/bust prospect, with seemingly equal potential to be the steal of the draft or an outright bust. I liked this pick a lot, and I'm betting on the former over the latter. 6. Tylan Grable - What do you want me to say? Did you think the Bills were gonna let a draft go by without taking a project offensive tackle late? I don't have much to say about this guy. He's just like Tommy Doyle or Luke Tenuta before him: a developmental tackle prospect who's a long shot to make the 53-man roster. With VanDemark and Collins already in place as backup OTs, it's hard to see this guy making the roster. 6. Daequan Hardy - Special teams guy. Standout punt returner and gunner. I usually look to Bills' late round corners with excitement, because they're usually big-bodied guys with zone eyes who only dropped due to underwhelming athleticism. Hardy does not appear to fit that mold. He appears instead to be a punt return candidate and, beyond that, I'm not sure where he'd fit in. His only hope is as a nickel, but the Bills are obviously set there with Taron Johnson. 7. Travis Clayton - At least this one's fun. A guy from the International Pathways program who has never played a down of football in his life. But he's 6'7", 301 lbs and runs a 4.79. The hope is that he turns into the next Jordan Mailata. A fun story and will be fun to track, but obviously a longshot and likely a practice squad guy at best. Overall, it was clear that leadership, maturity, and experience were high priorities for the Bills this year. Again and again, they picked guys who were team captains and lauded for their leadership abilities. Given all the leadership that walked out the door this offseason, that certainly makes sense. Again and again, they picked guys with lots of starting experience, guys who shined at the Senior Bowl, and guys who have their heads screwed on straight. Given that they will be counting on some of these guys to contribute from day one, and given that they seem to be doing a bit of a locker room reset, this also makes sense. The reason that I am ultimately unexcited by this year's draft class is this: I wanted the Bills to prioritize building around Josh Allen. I wanted them to either take a swing for the fences by trading up for a star receiver, or -- failing that -- to go the Packers route and draft a handful of skill position players to surround him with. If they were unable to acquire great quality, then I hoped they would at least acquire quantity. I fear that in choosing Keon Coleman, they may have failed to achieve the "quality" goal, and in refusing to draft any other receivers, they also failed to achieve the "quantity" goal. And Ray Davis is the definition of "uninspiring" at running back. He'll be a fine depth player and grind out tough yards, I'm sure, but he doesn't move the needle much on offense. Neither Coleman nor Davis seem like they upgrade the offense. Just...status quo at best. In a year where I felt the very TOP priority was to improve on offense, I feel the Bills failed to meaningfully do so. In an offseason where I hoped they'd make a bold move or two to try to find an elite player for this offense, they failed to try. After hearing "Josh needs more weapons" for a couple years running, he now seems to have less. The WR corps seems to have regressed, and seems to lack any true downfield explosiveness or viable deep threat. This draft class was not a disaster, by any means. it seems FINE. Just fine. Keon Coleman doesn't scream "Alpha WR1" to me. Ray Davis seems like an average NFL backup. Cole Bishop and Javon Soloman seem to perhaps have playmaking potential on defense. Beyond that -- meh. When the Bills decided to go young and start a roster reset, I had hope that Beane was gonna try to do things differently, since the old way he was doing things didn't get the Bills over the hump. They've been hitting too man singles and doubles over the years and not enough home runs. Instead, he appears to be doing things exactly the same way this time around. He seems to be content to collect character/culture guys, whose ceiling is "good, solid NFL player", rather than taking any risks or big swings for potential stars. He hasn't really taken those swings, to my estimation, since the Allen/Edmunds class. THAT'S why I'm disappointed in this draft class. It seems fine, solid, steady, and logical, but it doesn't seem like it'll move the needle much. I will move on to hoping that the post June 1st money infusion brings us a quality veteran receiver and maybe a pass rusher either via free agency or trade. Failing that, it would be hard for me to conclude anything other than that it looks like the Bills are poised to take a step back this year. 2025 looks promising in terms of cap space and draft capital, but if it's gonna continue to be "business as usual" for Brandon Beane, then I'm not sure how excited I should allow myself to get for that. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Agreed. This is why I wanted the Bills to get Javon Baker, so that if Coleman DOES wind up flaming out there and becoming more of a big slot, they have a backup plan. Oh well.

Didn't affect Marvin Harrison Jr.

I'm not a fan of the Keon Coleman pick, but to say that he's Kelvin Benjamin is a lazy, reductionist take. Coleman is a different type of player and is more athletic and less stiff and offers better RAC than Benjamin. I'm guessing you just looked at their heights and their a alma mater before making your statement. And Davis isn't Zack Moss. He's the love child of Zack Moss and Devin Singletary. So...you're probably actually on to something with that one.

Anonymous coach quote from The Athletic: DL Coach 1: “I think he’s gonna surprise everybody. He is the sleeper guy. He’s had 32 career sacks. Nobody in the draft has production like this kid. The problem is he’s 6-foot, 246. My comp is the (Bryce) Huff guy who just got paid by the Eagles. Started off on special. Got him as a DPR (designated pass rusher). This guy might be a demon coming off that edge. He can bend and turn that toe. Somebody is gonna take a flier on that kid and he’s gonna be a DPR and will kill on special teams.”

Super undersized for an edge rusher.

17 sacks in 2021 and 18 sacks in 2023 LOLLL More productive at Troy -- a known producer of quality Edge rushers in the past -- than Osi Umenyiora and Demarcus Ware. Undersized speed rusher with insane college production. Developmental pass rush guy with outrageous "Steal" potential. We already have guys in Rousseau and Epenesa who are more on the powerful, edge setting side of things. Now we have a guy who can be tutored by Von Miller and has the potential to be a long term pass rush specialist. I like it.

I was hoping Beane would take some calculated risks. With a few notable exceptions -- Stefon Diggs, Von Miller -- he has always been steady Eddie. Mr "I don't want to sacrifice our ability to compete long term by going all-in for the present year". That's fine. My concern is that he'd rather be very good for the next 10 years than try to be elite for a two or three year stretch. I fear that "very good" will get us to the divisional round every year, but will rarely beat the Chiefs, because the Chiefs are elite. Sometimes I wish he'd sacrifice just a little bit out that steadfast long term thinking for a bigger splash now, yes. For instance, I thought Christian McCaffrey was worth trading our first rounder for. Many disagreed. Beane clearly disagreed. Instead, we kept it and used it on Kaiir Elam. That was the more prudent, "smart", long term thinking move to make. The only problem is that Kaiir Elam looks likely to be a bust, and Christian McCaffrey continues to be an elite offensive weapon and just helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl and nearly win it. The counter-point, clearly, is that the big swings he HAS taken -- Diggs and Miller -- didn't result in any titles for the Bills, and it was time to get younger and cheaper and re-tool the roster and go back to practical long term planning. Again, that's fine, but you'll have to forgive me if a two-year re-tooling in the name of practicality isn't my favorite thing to be looking at in the middle of Josh Allen's prime.

Yeah, this is why I'm....underwhelmed, I guess. Kind of disappointed. Yes, we drafted players at areas of need. We needed a WR, S, C, DT, RB, and we got all of those. Great. But as I've said multiple times this offseason, I've thought for a while now that we lack difference makers. We lack elite talent around Josh. Guys that can step up in big moments. Blue chippers. This draft...sure doesn't seem like it provided any hope for that type of player. Coleman doesn't scream "Alpha WR1". Maybe Bishop turns into a playmaking safety, but a hard hitting SS is rarely the big difference maker for a football team. I'll bet the center and DT are pretty good players, but they won't move the needle. I feel like the Bills -- at best -- spun their wheels this season. At worst, I think their roster got worse. I think our WR corps is worse. I think our defense will be worse. Whereas, say, KC got a guy who -- by virtue of his field-tilting speed -- could change the entire way teams defend their offense and have a big trickle-down effect...the Bills got an X receiver who seems like he'll be...fine, maybe? I think I had hope that the Bills would be Super Bowl contenders again this year by virtue of some bold moves to surround Josh with a playmaker or two. Instead, I look at this draft and the 2025 cap space and capital they've collected, and it all screams "two year retooling project" and "2024 is a soft punt". So yeah...the Bills filled needs. They got players that look...fine. Some will probably be good. But I'm sick of taking safe picks that fill needs. I wanted a big swing or two, and the Bills didn't make one. I don't see any realistic way they overtake KC or can be viewed as legitimate Super Bowl contenders this year, and that's disappointing to me.

I agree. NFLN spoiled a bunch of picks this year by going to Ian Rapoport and letting him "speculate" what the next pick might be, which was their way of spoiling without technically spoiling. Completely spoiled the big Michael Penix surprise moment, and a bunch of others. It got to the point where whenever they said "let's bring in Ian Rapoport", I muted the TV and looked away til he was gone. I hate that they did this. I think I'll be switching back to ESPN going forward. NFLN's coverage stunk this year. I've actually been enjoying ESPN's day three coverage. Better than expected.

1.) He's gonna end up starting at center by year two if not year one. That's outstanding value in round five. Potentially allows the Bills to keep McGovern at LG. 2.) He has short arms, but so did Ryan Kalil, and he was an All-Pro 3.) Tons of starting experience for Georgia 4.) Yet another high character, high intelligence, great leadership, great intangibles guy. It's clearly a focus for the Bills in this draft to fill the leadership void that was created this year and fortify the locker room and the culture on this team.

The Bills don't re-sign running backs to second contracts anyway. Most teams don't these days unless they're game changers.

Yeah, but who cares? The Bills typically don't re-sign running backs to second contracts anyway (nor should they). It's not smart business. Running backs are "turn and burn". Even if he was 22, you still probably aren't re-signing him to a second contract. If he has a productive 4-year career for the Bills as a backup to Cook, it's a good use of a late 4th round pick.

His calling card is as a tough, inside-running guy, but he can be productive in the receiving game as well. ESPN just pointed out that he had the most receiving touchdowns for a running back in the SEC IN 25 YEARS (!), with 8. That's pretty impressive. To be able to go to your change of pace guy from James Cook and not necessarily lose anything in the passing game is a good thing. ESPN also said they see some Frank Gore in his game. I think he'll be a good complement to Cook. I get the hand wringing over using a draft pick on a running back, but the Bills DID need one, and at least it's an offensive player.

The NFL's obsession with the latter has, in my opinion, recently been leading to a reduction in the former, and I believe it will continue to do so. More games (and Thursday night games) lead to more injuries and an inferior product on the field. MORE is not always BETTER. Adding inventory does not always improve the product. Often, it waters it down. That's what I believe is slowly but surely happening. I agree that there hasn't been a turning point yet. The wave hasn't crested. But I believe that it will. We can agree to disagree. You can enjoy your 20 game seasons where 14 backup QBs are starting by week 17, and I'll continue to think that the NFL is great as is and they should really stop tinkering with it.

I really thought they'd package a 5th or two with their 4th to move up higher and take another decent WR prospect. They didn't, and the remaining options are less than inspiring. As of this moment, I'm feeling like the Bills have one of the worst WR corps in the league. I don't see anybody on the roster that defenses have to respect deep. I don't see anyone who's opening up the field for our underneath targets. In an offseason where I felt the Bills really needed to get better around Josh Allen, I can't help but feel they've gotten worse.