Buffalo got the quarterback they wanted, and were still able to make two picks on day one of the draft. Here’s what we learned.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
1 – Bills were aggressive in moving up
Though they were rewarded for waiting until pick seven by not having to part with as much draft capital, GM Brandon Beane revealed they were working hard to find a trade partner even earlier with multiple lieutenants in the Bills draft room contacting multiple teams to find a spot to move up the board.
“We called around, but we were trying to be diligent and find what we thought was the best landing spot for us and patience paid off to save the 22nd pick,” said Beane. “That was part of it. We were willing to part with it, but we were also excited to keep it and it worked out in our favor to land in the seven spot.”
Buffalo only parted with their pick at 12 and their two second-round picks to move up five spot to seven. The Bills also got a seventh-round pick in return.
In keeping pick 22, Beane was able to use that asset to move back up the board six spots to pick 16 in a trade with the Ravens. Buffalo also gave up their pick at the top of the third round at pick 65 and got a fifth-round pick in return at 154 overall.
“You know, I don’t like giving up assets, but obviously he fell there, and with Tremaine we did not expect that,” said Beane. “And he was there and we felt like we couldn’t let it fall anymore, we needed that, and thought it was a good fit for us.”
Buffalo has just their own third-round pick at 96 overall left on day two of the draft, but they successfully addressed two of their most pressing positional needs at quarterback and linebacker.
2 – Performing in bad weather a factor in picking Allen
Both GM Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott in talking about what made Josh Allen the most attractive quarterback for them was partly his ability to perform in foul weather.
“We know how important playing in our conditions, in terms of being able to throw the football and grip the football,” said Sean McDermott. “He can make all the type of throws were some of the strengths that we saw.”
“He played in weather. He played in a rain game. He played in a snow game where they couldn’t hardly throw the ball,” said Beane. “It wasn’t as bad as the one we had against Indy last year, but he’s played in a lot of weather.
“He’s got a big hand. He’s a big kid. He’s an athlete. When we went to Laramie, Wyoming, there was snow on the ground. It was like we had landed in Buffalo again. He’s used to those conditions. It’s windy out there. We get a lot of wind here. We felt there were a lot of similarities to what he has played in as to what we do. That wasn’t the only factor. There was a lot of other things involved.”
3 – Bills did due diligence on Allen tweets
The racially incendiary tweets that were tied to Josh Allen’s Twitter account from five or six years ago, was an issue that only came to light Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The Bills went right to work Thursday morning to double and triple check on who their research told them Josh Allen was as a person and a player.
“We did our due diligence on him. We talked to him today,” said Beane. “We spoke to him. We spoke to his head coach again. We spoke to at least one of his teammates. We spoke to a lot of other people again to make sure everything we had done through our whole process through the fall (was legit).
“This was a 14 or 15-year old kid, and I’m not making excuses, but I know there were things where I’d be disappointed in myself that I did at 14 or 15. He’s going to come in here and own it. That’s all he can do. He’s owned it and he’ll have to earn the trust of his teammates, the fan base, the organization and he’s done all he can do. He’ll have to do more when he gets here.”
4 – Edmunds has high ceiling
Buffalo’s second pick on Thursday, LB Tremaine Edmunds, turns just 20-years old next week, but he’s already got an NFL body. His play took a noticeable step forward in 2017 at Virginia Tech, but there’s a lot of room for Edmunds game to grow even more.
“He’s a versatile athlete. He’s got size, length. He’s played inside. He’s played outside as well. He’s played on the line of scrimmage, off the line of scrimmage, so his flexibility and versatility is what attracted us to him as well,” said McDermott. “So we’re real happy with what we did. Credit goes to Brandon and his staff.”
5 – Bills to reassess day two approach
With the Bills parting with three of their four day two selections to move up the board not once, but twice, Buffalo will have to reassess players to potentially target with just one pick to make use of late Friday.
“We’ll take a look and come back (Friday) and try to start targeting players who would fit what we’re doing and we think might still be around at pick 96,” Beane said. “We’ll talk about that. We’re excited about the start, but we have a lot of work to do and hopefully it falls our way.”