The Buffalo Bills made some sweeping changes this offseason, with Joe Brady taking over as head coach. Despite moving on from Sean McDermott, the team decided to keep general manager Brandon Beane.
Not only did they keep him around, but he got promoted to President of Football Operations, along with his GM title. But one major critique of Beane's tenure is his inability to find talent in the draft. That flaw was on display in a ranking. ESPN's Aaron Schatz released an article ranking NFL teams by under- 25 talent, and Buffalo came in at No. 29.
Defensive tackle Deone Walker was listed as the only blue-chip player, and that goes to show the quantity of proven young talent on this team. With several question marks on the roster, this indicates there is more pressure added to Josh Allen's plate. Throughout his Bills tenure, it looks like they wait for Allen to put on his Superman cape to save the day.
Beane's lack of adding young, cheap, but impactful players to the roster through the draft is a problem and makes things even more difficult for Allen.
Josh Allen's burden just got even heavier after latest rankings
Cole Bishop, Maxwell Hairston, and Keon Coleman are some of the young, highly drafted players of Buffalo, but there are still questions about each one of them. They added TJ Parker and Skylar Bell this draft, but we still have to see how they fit in.
Outside of those players, the Bills don't have any exciting young players under 25. That makes things harder on the entire team. Not only do young players give teams cheap, cost-controlled players, but they also give the team some building blocks for the future.
That isn't the case much in Buffalo, and it means that Allen will have to continue carrying this team. While he's more than capable of that, it makes his job that much more difficult. Throughout Allen's time with the Bills, there has been a theme taking place.
Allen is forced to play flawless football due to the lack of players standing out elsewhere. While there have been times when Allen hasn't played well in the biggest moments, it goes to show that if he doesn't play well, they will most likely lose the game.
If there were some young building blocks on the team, that may not be the case. Yet those flaws fall on Beane. He hasn't found a way to consistently scout and draft players in recent years. That came into light in the piece from Schatz. Going into 2026, the Bills have confidence in their roster, but it's no secret that Allen has a ton of pressure on his shoulders, and these rankings show how much harder it actually is.
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