With two years in the books, it’s time to continue looking back at the Buffalo Bills draft success under general manager Brandon Beane and specifically the 2019 NFL Draft. All things considered, roster construction has been pretty great under Beane. The Bills went from one of the worst offenses in the league at the time of his arrival to one of the best in the league this past season.
However, not a lot of that return on investment has come through the draft, most of the success Beane has had has been through free-agent acquisitions. The Bills have certainly hit on their fair share of draft picks, but a lot more production has come from free agent signings.
Think about the offense this past season, contributors like Mitch Morse, Daryl Williams, Jon Feliciano, John Brown, and Cole Beasley were all free agent signings. With that being said, the offense wouldn’t be the same without some key draft picks, including breakout quarterback Josh Allen.
Hindsight is 20-20 as they say, so it will be a lot easier to retrospectively look at some of these draft picks and wonder why the Bills didn’t select someone different. Although some picks will be changed in this hypothetical re-draft, give some credit to Beane and the player personnel department for constructing such a successful roster for 2020 and beyond.