5 draft-day mistakes by Buffalo during the playoff-drought era (1999-2016)

We’ve seen some amazing first round picks from the Buffalo Bills since 2017 when Brandon Beane took over as the team’s GM. Most notably, Beane and company have given the Bills a revamped pool of young talent such as: Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, Tremaine Edmunds, Dion Dawkins, Gabriel Davis, Ed Oliver and of course the cream of the crop, Josh Allen. All players named are still on the roster and making an extraordinary impact with the Bills.

It wasn’t always like this. Drafting poorly was a huge reason that the Bills had a 17-year playoff drought, and many of the guys we thought were going to be the answer, never had much of an impact at all. Let’s take a look at the top five worst Buffalo Bills draft picks during the drought

No. 5: 2006 Draft – John McCargo

John McCargo was drafted 26th overall by the Buffalo Bills. He was a defensive tackle selected out of North Carolina State and never truly made an impact the way the Bills thought he would. His defensive line counterpart Mario Williams was selected #1 overall in the same year by the Houston Texans and quickly made an impact with them, however the same could not be said about McCargo.

He spent five seasons with the Bills and only started one game. A first-round talent that was going to waste in Buffalo. He finished his career with 52 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and 3 releases by 3 different teams. When the Bills released him in 2010 he was acquired by the Buccaneers, only for them to release him a year later. The Chicago Bears added him to their practice squad in 2012 but was released after that. McCargo would go to spend 7 years in the NFL, never making an impact anywhere he landed.

No. 4: 2000 Draft – Erik Flowers

After the 1999 season’s “Music City Miracle” – which would have never would’ve happened in today’s NFL with the reviews – the Bills lost their franchise sack leader, arguably the best player to ever wear a Buffalo Bills uniform, Bruce Smith. When Smith left the Bills in free agency, Buffalo knew they had a huge hole to fill on the defensive side of the ball. They were hoping that Erik Flowers would be that guy. As it turns out… he wasn’t that guy.

Flowers was drafted 26th overall by the Bills. He spent two seasons in Buffalo, appearing in all 16 games with them his rookie season, recording 20 tackles and 2 sacks. The following year, he would start 6 games with the Bills, totaling 21 tackles and again only 2 sacks. After that year, his tenure with the Bills ended.

He was released during training camp, and was signed by the Houston Texans only to be released again and again – and again. He would soon sign with the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL, but suffered a back injury prior to the beginning of the season. It was a short and difficult career for Flowers.

No. 3: 2013 Draft – EJ Manuel

Buffalo was searching for their new franchise QB in 2013 – however, this unfortunately was not the draft to do it. It was a thin draft for QBs. Manuel was the first QB taken off the board with the 16th overall pick, certainly ready to turn the tide in Buffalo. Manuel had all the great characteristics of a successful QB. He had a fantastic work ethic, great leadership qualities and personality. Unfortunately, his quarterback play was not NFL caliber.

Manuel would start 10 games his rookie season, throwing for just under 2000 yards, 11 TDs and 9 INT. He never had that flash or potential that you can typically see in a rising star QB. He would go on to start 7 games over the course of the next 3 seasons. He was benched in favor of Kyle Orton in 2014, who actually had some good games as a Buffalo Bill in his tenure.

He then would be benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor the following season. Manuel then signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders, and then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. He retired after the 2019 season.

Manuel ended his career with 3767 passing yards, 24 total TDs, and 16 INT. And the search for a franchise QB continued in Orchard Park.

No. 2: 2009 Draft – Aaron Maybin

Aaron Maybin, defensive end, was selected with the 11th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Bills, and then agreed to a five-year contract.

He played in all 16 games his rookie season, although his stats didn’t reflect that: he finished his rookie campaign with 18 total tackles and 0 sacks.

In his second season, Maybin’s role was greatly reduced, as he only played a total of 66 snaps before turning into a healthy-scratch. In those 66 snaps he would finish with 5 tackles and 0 sacks. In 2011, Maybin was released from the Bills – 2 years into his 5-year deal with the team.

He bounced around from a couple different teams including the New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals and eventually found himself in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts. He finished his career with 36 tackles and 6 sacks.

However, Maybin now has turned professional artist – he is the founder of “Project Mayhem” and an author of a book called “Art Activism.” He currently teaches at his hometown elementary school in Baltimore, Maryland.

No. 1: 2004 Draft – JP Losman

JP Losman was the first QB drafted by the Bills in the first round since 1983, when they drafted Jim Kelly. Losman was drafted 22nd overall in a 2004 draft class that saw some incredible talent at the QB position, most notably Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Unfortunately for the Bills, Losman didn’t end up anywhere close to those other three. Granted his NFL career got off to a horrible start when his teammate accidentally ran into Losman and broke his leg, which delayed his development as a rookie.

In 2005, Losman was named the starting QB following the release of Drew Bledsoe. Shortly into the season, Losman was having trouble with his accuracy and was thus benched in favor of Kelly Holcomb 5 games into the season.

In 2006, Losman had a much improved season in which he threw for 19 TDs and 14 INT over 16 games and posted a 62.5 completion percentage. However in 2007, the Bills drafted Trent Edwards in the 3rd round of the draft and Losman began to feel his presence breathing down his neck. Towards the end of the 2007 season, Losman did eventually lose his starting job to Trent Edwards and Losman was vocal about his unhappiness with the team.

He stayed the 2008 season and played out his contract although he didn’t want to be with the team any longer. He once again did not find success in the 2008 season and Buffalo was happy to see him walk. He ended his career after being released from the Dolphins in 2011. He ended his NFL career with 6271 passing yards, 33 TDs and 34 INT.

In an interesting quote from former Bills VP of player personnel, John Guy, he stated “JP never had a fair chance. I’ll never forget his first day of practice and they were blitzing him every which way. This isn’t the way to break in a new QB.”

Losman would go down as one of the Bills biggest busts and draft mistakes, but with constant coaching changes, no offensive line or running game help and several injuries, it’s tough to say if Losman was actually given a fair chance to succeed in Buffalo.