finn

We can improve on Rapp, who is just ok as a starter in addition to be injury-prone.

Bobby Beathard did that every year as a matter of policy when he was the San Deigo GM. Didn't get him very far.

And the play was called back for roughing the passer because of the look he gave Mahomes as he ran by, right?

Beane doesn't take chances on injured players in the draft, or at least I can't recall him ever doing so. For example, he passed on the highly rated Trey Smith, who fell to the sixth round because of health concerns. Smith of course was chosen by KC and went to the Pro Bowl last year. I would be both thrilled and surprised if he picked Revel.

Bottom line: We need a CB far more desperately than a DT, DE., or WR You could even make an argument for two of the first three picks going to the secondary, it's that thin. Rapp is a placeholder, Bishop is a hope (a good one, I think), and the rest are JAGs. Only Benford is a proven player. Last year's pass rush would have gotten home if we had a stellar secondary. With Hamlin and Douglas? And Elam as CB depth? Even the bawds of euphony would cry out sharply.

That third-round pick would have been more than enough to move up for Cooper DeJean in the second round. Just sayin'.

To be fair, who was available and not too expensive? I guess Beane could have signed Gilmore or Douglas, but I wouldn't have been too happy with either, unless it's too give time for an early-round CB to develop or recover from injury. No, I'm guessing Beane is planning to draft two CBs, one early and one mid-round; plus, he might sign another Dane Jackson type for depth. The big CB question is Benford. Do you really want to make him the highest-paid player on the team outside of Allen? Maybe that's just the market, but Cook isn't going to be happy if that happens, especially if he doesn't get close to the $15 million he has his heart set on. (And that number might have gone up with the new Barkley contract.) Best-case scenario: Beane does it all, with a stud CB and a (rich) Benford joining Bishop, Taron and Rapp, and several quality depth players to complement a pass rush revitalized by Bosa and a stud DE. And on offense, a big fast WR project making just enough of a contribution that, combined with improved play by Coleman, makes the offense still better.

Needless to say, he would not have fit into the Bills culture. I wonder if that was the deal breaker for Beane, especially after just getting rid of Diva Diggs.

You talking about Diggs? 😇

Shades of Thurman Thomas revenge-signing with Miami. Sad.

Still, he's only 25. I guess the hope is that a change of scenery will coincide with or bring out his potential. I wish I could cite precedents, but none come to mind.

People his age, especially men, are often surprisingly immature. They look like adults but have the mind of a 14-year old. Best advice for him would be to keep his mouth shut and let his agent do the talking. Beane said it all when he remarked, "I love James. I know he means well." Translation: "The guy is an idiot, but I'll try not to hold it against him."

The Diggs and Miller moves were both bold, but they didn't take much imagination or shrewdness, which I think Beane lacks, much like McDermott. It would have been bold AND imaginative to move up for Verse, Bowers, or Brian Thomas (finding trade partners aside). I would happily trade Coleman, Bishop, and Carter for any one of these players, just like I would happily trade Kincaid (who also cost a fourth-rounder) and Torrence, two solid players, for Christian Gonzalez, a star. The Bills have one--one!--star. Even if that one star is a supernova, he can't do it all. Beane has ten picks and four pressing needs. If he holds to his past patterns, he'll come away with three or four good players, a few more pretty good ones, and zero blue-chip players. Better to draft one absolute blue-chipper, one very good player, and a few prospects that McDermott can coach up.

If he's as good as people are saying--young, good potential, separation, etc.--why did the Chargers let him go, especially with their thin WR room and this affordable price?

I prefer drafting a WR1. This lineup is heavy on hopes, light on production.

His scouting report suggests he's more of a strong safety, much like Bishops. Rapp, too, is better close to the line of scrimmage. No true free safety on the roster yet. (I'm not going to mention Hamlin, who played so far back he should have been paid as a parking-lot attendant.) Nice depth, if nothing else. I've gotten my hopes up too many times to be more excited than this, most recently with the Mike Edwards and Lewis Cine.

I like the idea of drafting Shavon Revel. He's coming off a September ACL, but he would have been a top-15 pick if healthy. Sign a veteran like Gilmore in case he needs a bit more time to fully recover, and you have a shutdown corner for five years plus. Small risk for a high reward.

It's always a bummer that ending the season with a loss causes us to focus on the negative, because otherwise there were some terrific plays in that game we'd still be talking about, like Cook's TD and Allen's dime to Hollins and the crazy pass to Kincaid with four rushers immediately in his face. Anyway, by now my narrative has hardened into two conclusions: 1. Elam coming in for Benford was a disaster, akin to replacing Bernard with A.J. Klein in the playoff game last year; and 2. the Bills got outcoached, again, by KC on both sides of the ball. Brady deserves a lot of heat for stubbornly sticking the tush push after it was obvious KC had prepared for it all week. Even one play action pass on fourth down may have saved the game. And McDermott was exposed, again, as inadequate. He is just not good enough to compete with his top peers, not when it matters most. What's awful is that replacing McDermott would be extremely risky. It's safer to keep him and what he does well (culture, player development) and build a team strong enough to compensate for his deer-in-the-headlights act in the playoffs. Win despite the head coach, in other words, because you're certainly not going to win because of him. Either that or tell him to step aside in the playoffs and give full control--ALL of it--to his coordinators and game managers.

I'm in the minority here, but I favor picking CB in round one, maybe even moving up to snag the best prospect we can. The Bills may not be able to afford Benford at $30 million/year after this year; plus, one more concussion and his value drops a lot. Consider your starting CBs play every down, while the DTs and DEs rotate, playing 70% of the snaps at the most. Still need quality on the line, but in a deep draft, Beane should pick up good players in the second round. If all goes well, the team will have two shut-down corners this year (and next, if they extend Benford) to go with a rising Bishop, an adequate Rapp, and an Pro-Bowl Taron.

Beane's motivation level doesn't change year to year; only his results change. He took a big gamble with Allen. That easily could have blown up. His critics were right: no QB had ever improved his accuracy dramatically after he was drafted. Ever. Did Beane know that Allen would be the one exception? I'm sure he hoped so, but Allen could easily have been one of the many, many quarterbacks with huge potential who end up busts. Give Beane credit, though: He went all-in on a inside-straight draw and nailed it on the River. Took guts. I also disagree that he hasn't been aggressive since drafting Allen. Just in the first two rounds moved up for Edmunds, Ford, Elam, and Kincaid. He also traded a first-rounder and a fourth for Diggs. He's no wall flower. But neither has he been particularly effective. As a drafter, he's ok, not bad, above average. But I agree with the OP that he needs to go get a blue-chip prospect, someone who will PROBABLY be great, not someone who might be, maybe. Trouble is, we're going to be the first people who squawk if he doesn't address team needs across the board. For example, say he trades both seconds and the first to move up to 12 or 13 to draft one of the best CBs. Now he has just the two fourths, a bushel of fifths, and change for WR, DE, and DT, along with a punter and LB depth. He'd need to get very lucky to land very good players at that point. So we can't have it both ways. Be nice to have a Bruce Smith to go with Allen, but are we ok with drafting him and starting Rasul Douglas, DeQuan Jones, and Josh Palmer?

I have high hopes for Babich this year. He didn't have much to work with last year, with an anemic rush and a bench warmer starting at safety all year, yet his defense contributed in many games by actively creating turnovers. If Beane gives him some playmakers, and if McDermott keeps his mitts off--both big "ifs"--he has the potential to make this defense potent in its own right. He did a great job as linebackers coach.

Exactly. And that's pretty disappointing for a first-round draft pick (with a fourth-round pick thrown in). Based on their production to date, he and Coleman would have been reasonable fourth-round picks. They could both turn it around, though. Kincaid needs more muscle, Coleman needs to want it more.

Agree. If the Bills don't win a Super Bowl in the Allen era, we'll be rueing all the chances Beane had and didn't take, or the chances he took but that blew up, like going all-in on the 33-year old Von Miller. The good news is that there is still time. Allen is doing more with less than his peers. If you give him what Mahomes had and Jackson and Burrows have, he'll do the rest.

Any award or praise of Burrow's play has to carry an asterisk. He's playing with not one but two elite receivers, much like Mahomes did all those years.

I'm saying he has to draft better. If an elite player appears to be falling to him, then by all means stay put. He shouldn't trade up mindlessly, but neither should he continue to settle for second-tier players year after year in the hopes that they may become elite someday.