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May 14, 2021
Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
BUFFALO, NY – Following the 2021 NFL Draft, a new influx of speculation regarding training plans, and the Buffalo Bills are no exception.
General manager Brandon Beane spent the weeks leading up to the draft answering questions about his strategy as honestly as he could – and backed up his statements with the players he had selected.
Before anyone gets too far ahead of themselves as the rookie minicamp opens on Friday, here’s what the Buffalo draft means for a few job groups:
Ball carriers
The idea of the Bills drafting a running back was a popular topic (to quote the “we’re all trying to find the guy who did that” meme), and Beane didn’t do much to extinguish that flame when his pre-draft press conference, saying that if a running back added something the Bills didn’t already have, he would consider that player with the team’s No.30 pick.
But Beane said that after the draft, the team had never targeted a running back, despite rumors the Bills were trying to trade for Clemson’s Travis Etienne.
Buffalo has signed Matt Breida this offseason and seems happy to move forward with the tandem of Zack Moss and Devin Singletary. Ultimately, his comments about the need to improve the 26th-ranked team’s ground attack without necessarily making a change to the running back were true.
Devin Singletary is set to play a starring role in the Buffalo backfield again this coming season. Photo AP / Adrian Kraus
“It’s so unfair to watch running backs blame the running game,” Beane said in January. “Managing football is very complex, and it’s obviously the O-line, it’s the tight ends, it’s the receivers and if a guy doesn’t do his block the game is probably dead. And so there was times this year when we’re a [block] a way.
“I’m not saying there is no blame [on the backs], sometimes the running back would miss the hole, but… I don’t watch Devin Singletary and Zack Moss and I think those guys weren’t good for us. “
Offensive line
From Beane’s actions with this group, it’s clear he believes injuries are the root of the Bills’ hasty woes.
Buffalo used three draft picks on offensive linemen after re-signing starters Jon Feliciano and Daryl Williams in March. Coupled with left guard Cody Ford’s return from a torn meniscus, the Bills are set to fire their top five offensive linemen from a 2020 season in which those five have never played a snap as a ‘unit.
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Check out the best highlights from Northern Iowa OT Spencer Brown’s college career.
That means third-round pick Spencer Brown and fifth-round pick Tommy Doyle, in particular, and seventh-round pick Jack Anderson to some extent, likely represent an investment in the future rather than players who are supposed to contribute immediately. .
” We have the impression [Brown and Doyle] have the ability to be both left and right tackles, ”Beane said. “We wanted to make sure, if anything happened to Dion [Dawkins] or Daryl, that we have a guy to step in and protect # 17 [QB Josh Allen] and block for the ball carriers. “
Don’t expect either recruit to start, except injury. Dawkins is arguably the most stuck-on Bills starter unnamed Josh Allen or Tre’Davious White, and Williams just signed a three-year, $ 24 million contract. However, the team now has inexpensive options if they have to drop contracts with Williams, Felicano and center Mitch Morse in the next offseason, if, for example, the league’s salary cap does not increase enough to keep all the veterans.
Cornerbacks
Beane told local radio station WGR 550 he felt the “evil eyes” during his post-draft press conferences when reporters asked why the team hadn’t drafted a cornerback during the draft. of the first three rounds. But he has previously said he’s happy with starting starter Levi Wallace and 2020 seventh-round pick Dane Jackson, and based on his actions, the Bills’ cornerback situation wasn’t bad enough for him to do so. search a.
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Buffalo drafted Rachad Wildgoose of Wisconsin in the sixth round, adding him to the mix along with White, Wallace, Jackson, Cam Lewis and Taron Johnson. While the Bills have plenty of faith in players who were previously on their roster, Wildgoose’s ability to play in the outside corner and the nickel made him an attractive value with the No. 213 overall pick.
“Levi has shown that since coming here as an undrafted free agent, and then obviously we took Dane last year and every chance Dane had in the game it wasn’t not too big for him, ”Beane said. “He’s made plays and he’s reliable.… So we’re very confident in these two guys and some of the other guys at the back. Cam Lewis is a young guy who got injured. I think he’s got it. started a match, but we still believe in Cam in the mix, and we have a late guy in Wildgoose who, he’s versatile.
“We like the versatility as much as we can get it. So… just because we didn’t get a high corner doesn’t mean there aren’t other options later on either. “
With White established as a perennial pro Bowler and locked in a five-year overtime he signed last summer, Buffalo still needs a long-term starter in front of him. One also needs to be on the corner of the nickel, as Johnson’s contract ends after the 2021 season and the Bills might not have the salary cap space to sign him long-term. Although he is still remembered in Western New York for his 101-yard interception return against the Baltimore Ravens in last season’s playoff win, Johnson has had a rocky season and has was replaced at one point by Lewis in the starting lineup, only to retake his place when Lewis was injured.
If Wildgoose can become the Bills’ answer to either position, Beane will look brilliant having waited until day three of the draft to take a cornerback.
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