We know that Brandon Beane has been instrumental to the Bills turnaround on the field and his “Trust the Process” approach has been ingrained into the hearts and souls of Bills Mafia faithful.
Beane has brought in key free agents, but it has been his drafting ability that has cemented the Bills into the elite of the NFL.
We know the Bills General Manager has done well in the draft, but how have the Bills drafts compared to the other team’s since Beane’s first NFL draft in 2018?
Through hours of research and my own formula, I have come up with a way to determine which team’s drafts have been the most fruitful since Beane became the Bills General Manager.
This Draft Proficiency formula takes each draft pick’s Approximate Value (a number Pro Football Reference assigns to each player that measures their impact) and divides it by the maximum number of seasons each draft pick would have played, assuming they played every season since they were drafted—which obviously isn’t the case, but player longevity is a factor that teams try to forecast when drafting.
The formula isn’t perfect, but it measures apples to apples and incorporates each draft pick’s career successes in association to their possible time in the league.
Anyways, the results confirm what we already know—Brandon Beane is good at evaluating draft picks.
But how good is he? And could he be the best general manager at evaluating and drafting players into the NFL?
Here are his a round by round look at which teams had the most success in the NFL draft since 2018.
Round 1
Brandon Beane has done remarkably well in the first round and it all starts with drafting his first pick with the Bills, Josh Allen. By getting JA17 right and not picking Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield, Beane proved his eye for talent.
He’s also hit with Tremaine Edmunds (2018), Ed Oliver (2019), Greg Rousseau (2021) and Dalton Kincaid (2023). His one miss, if you want to call it that, was Kaiir Elam in 2022—and the book is still out on him.
Beane’s first round draft proficiency score of 9.00 ranks third in the NFL since 2018.
Round 2
It’s been well documented that Brandon Beane has had difficulties drafting in the second round.
His first second round pick was Cody Ford in 2019 and although he’s still in the league, he’s been a backup-level offensive lineman at best.
Boogie Basham (2021) was another disappointment for the Bills (now Giants) and in three seasons has started zero games and has a total of 4.5 sacks.
2020 saw Beane pick AJ Epenesa, who was a project and really didn’t come into his own until this past season.
More recently, the Bills have drafted James Cook (2022) and O’Cyrus Torrence (2023) who have been great for the Bills and hopefully if they continue their successful play can help to change the tide regarding Beane’s second round troubles.
Beane’s second round draft proficiency score is 3.80, which ranks 19th in the NFL since 2018.
Round 3
Brandon Beane’s draft success in the third round is amongst the best in the NFL and he’s found more value in this round than he has in the second round.
Although they’re not all still with the Bills, every third round pick the Bills have made since 2018 has either proven to be an effective starter in the league or a key impact-player off the bench:
Harrison Phillips (2018)
Devin Singletary (2019)
Dawson Knox (2019)
Zach Moss (2020)
Spencer Brown (2021)
Terrel Bernard (2022)
The book is still out on 2023 pick, Dorian Williams, but if past results are any indicator, Williams will also be an impact player very soon.
Beane’s third round draft proficiency score is 5.00 which is tied for first in the NFL since 2018.
Round 4
Brandon Beane has picked two players in the fourth round in his six seasons with the Bills—Taron Johnson and Gabe Davis.
A part of Beane’s masterclass of 2018, Taron Johnson was an All-Pro in 2023 and has proven to be one of the best slot cornerbacks in the league.
And say what you will about Gabe Davis, the man put up solid numbers at WR2 and came up big when the Bills needed him time after time.
In fact, Beane has produced more talent in the 4thround than in the 2nd round at this point.
Beane’s fourth round draft proficiency score is 5.50, which is head and shoulders above the next highest team (Cowboys—3.27).
Round 5
The fifth round hasn’t been as kind to Brandon Beane.
Although he did draft Wyatt Teller (2018), who has yielded multiple Pro Bowls with the Browns and Khalil Shakir (2022), who held the best catch percentage for a wide receiver EVER in 2023; Beane has had a number of 5th round misses compared to his counterparts including:
Vosean Joseph (2019)
Jake Fromm (2020)
Tommy Doyle (2021)
It’s too early to tell yet with 2023 fifth round pick, Justin Shorter, but don’t expect him to dazzle anytime soon.
Beane’s fifth round draft proficiency score is 1.85, which is 11th in the NFL since 2018.
Round 6
Brandon Beane has been average in the 6th round compared to the rest of the NFL teams.
Although he did find starting cornerback, Christian Benford (2022) and the Bills kicker, Tyler Bass (2020); the rest of the picks have been mediocre at best and a couple are even out of the league.
Special Teams role players such as Ray-Ray McCloud (2018), Isaiah Hodgins (2020) and Damar Hamlin (2021) have lived up to their sixth-round status.
Other who are out of the league or will be soon include:
Jaquan Johnson (2019)
Marquez Stevenson (2021)
Rachad Wildgoose (2021)
Luke Tenuta (2022)
Beane’s sixth round draft proficiency score is 1.29, which is 14th in the NFL since 2018.
Round 7
The sixth and seventh rounds really are crapshoots. However, there is still value in these rounds and Brandon Beane has found some players that make meaningful contributions to the Bills.
Dane Jackson (2020) helped fill in and was the Bills primary starter in 2022 when Tre White was still on the mend. He provided solid depth for the Bills last season and will likely contribute with his new team, the Panthers, in 2023.
Baylon Spector (2022) is another seventh rounder who has had meaningful defensive snaps for the Bills and will continue to provide linebacker depth for them in 2023.
Beane’s seventh round draft proficiency score is 0.82, which is 10th in the NFL since 2018.
Brandon Beane’s Buffalo Bills are the most proficient at drafting players since 2018.
From the first round through the seventh round, no one is better at evaluating and drafting players than Brandon Beane. Not only does he lead the league in draft proficiency, the second place Ravens are a whole two tenths of a point away from the Bills.
Brandon Beane and company have a chance to cement their drafting reputation next week when they’ll be picking ten players—the most of any Brandon Beane draft.
