Buffalo Bills second-round draft pick Keon Coleman addressed the media Saturday at a press conference at Orchard Park. AP photo
ORCHARD PARK — Every year ahead of the NFL Draft, Bills general manager Brandon Beane reminds everyone that there is no guarantee he will fill the team's biggest needs in the early rounds, as he is adamant about following Buffalo's draft committee. is reminding me.
And each year, when Beane's final selections are submitted, the holes on Buffalo's roster appear to be filled, at least on paper.
“Are you saying I'm a liar?” Beane said with a smile after the third round Friday night.
No, but sitting across from Buffalo's eight-year GM at a poker game is not a good idea.
Beane hit the reset button this offseason with a slew of cuts, rejuvenating the team and trading receiver Stefon Diggs. Nevertheless, there are fewer question marks for the four-time defending AFC East champions than there were Thursday, when a nervous fan base panicked every time Buffalo traded back from its original No. 28 pick.
Beane showed uncharacteristic patience, refusing to mortgage Buffalo's limited draft capital in exchange for the chance to select a top receiver prospect. He trusted his boards and traded back twice to improve the roster at numerous spots in Buffalo.
And Beane remains Buffalo's top priority with the 33rd pick, Florida State receiver Keon Coleman.
Coleman, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs 213 pounds, may not be able to replace Diggs and Gabe Davis, who Buffalo left in free agency. Josh Allen in an offense that showed promising signs of balance last season with second-year receiver Khalil Shakir, rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid and second-year running back James Cook. There is still a possibility that he can provide a solid physical target.
Coach Beane then filled Buffalo's next two immediate needs by selecting Utah safety Cole Bishop with the 60th pick and Duke defensive tackle Dwayne Carter with the 95th pick. Without the trade with Kansas City, the Bills would not have been in a position to draft Carter. The Chiefs went from 32 to 28, and Buffalo went from 133 to 95, from 248 to 221.
Bishop steps into a secondary that could lose its long-term safety tandem in Jordan Poyer (free agent) and Micah Hyde (considering retirement). Carter, a fourth-year starter, makes up for the lack of depth on the defensive end, which lost Tim Settle, Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph.
Beane acknowledged that the draft will focus on team-specific needs, as long as players provide value where they are selected.
For example, before choosing Coleman, he had several receivers to choose from in the 28-33 range.
Things get even tougher when it comes to selecting Bishop, whose last pick Beane said the Bills gave him a second-round pick.
“I think the countdown made it more dramatic,” Bean said.
The Bills' offer to trade up was rejected, and Beane waited out Bishop's continued decline.
“I couldn't stand it. It's just that no one answered my calls, or I answered the calls and they were politely declined,” he said. “That's what I said upstairs. No one was going to play against me, so I struck out and won.”
Reunion, Utah
Beane recalled a conversation with Bishop at the Senior Bowl in which the safety told him he beat tight end Dalton Kincaid in practice during his two years at Utah in 2021 and '22. Beane immediately reached out to Kincaid, Buffalo's first-round pick last year.
“He said, 'This kid, he's not lying. He's given me more than I've gotten from him,'” Beane said, referring to Kincaid's reaction.
“He's probably one of the most consensus figures on our board,” Bean said of Bishop. “It was easy to add him to the board because everyone was looking at the exact same thing.”
pipe down
With his family celebrating loudly in the background, Carter excused himself from a Zoom call with Buffalo reporters and asked everyone to pipe in. It was a glimpse into the leadership abilities of the 23-year-old three-time captain at Duke University.
“At the end of the day, my dad always said to me, 'You can't eat if you keep your mouth shut,'” Carter said. “You don't have to be afraid to open your mouth and say what needs to be said. That's really where it comes from. My upbringing.”
pathway pick
Buffalo closed out the draft by selecting offensive tackle Travis Clayton, a former rugby player who participated in the NFL's International Pathway Program. The 23-year-old is from Basingstoke, England, and left the UK in 2019 to join an NFL academy.
In addition to rugby, the 6-foot-7, 303-pound Clayton has also tried boxing, soccer, rowing, skeleton and tennis. He was at the draft in Detroit to hear his name announced. Clayton, a graduate of the Pathways program, will not be counted on Buffalo's roster if he does not pass.
Buffalo traded one of their four fifth-round picks (144) to Chicago in exchange for next year's fourth-round pick.
