Which Brandon Beane Draft Class Had the Biggest Impact?

With the NFL Draft just a week and a half away, every team is looking to improve and contend for a championship. For some teams, like the Chiefs and Eagles, they’ve been building through the draft to win many championships by developing their young stars. For other teams, like the Titans and Giants, they’ve been trying to get themselves out of the bottom of the standings by acquiring premier talent in the draft. Meanwhile, a team like the Buffalo Bills has been so close, but yet so far, to reach a Super Bowl by drafting talented players to only get their hearts broken in the playoffs year after year. Bills’ general manager Brandon Beane will draft his eighth group of players next week. Here’s a ranking of all the classes he’s drafted since becoming the general manager in Buffalo.

7. 2020 (Notable Selections: AJ Epenesa, Tyler Bass, Gabe Davis)

Unfortunately for Beane, this draft was just ‘meh.’ If you’re including the first-round pick that the Bills traded to acquire Stefon Diggs, obviously this class would go higher considering he earned two All-Pro selections in Buffalo. However, we’re only counting the actual draftees which were pretty underwhelming in hindsight. AJ Epenesa was the team’s first selection and is a very solid pass rusher, but he’s never been elite. Though Bills fans also fell in love with Gabe Davis after his four-touchdown game, they grew to hate him just as fast. As Diggs’ number-two, he’d go off for games like that 2021 AFC Divisional Round and counteract it with many abysmal games where he wouldn’t even see a target. On the bright side, every player from Beane’s “worst draft class” still plays in the NFL, so the talented players were there, they just didn’t translate their skills in Buffalo.

6. 2024 (Notable Selections: Keon Coleman, Ray Davis, Cole Bishop)

This is more of a “too early to tell” entry. On the surface, Davis is better than Keon Coleman, Zack Moss has put together better seasons than Ray Davis and Tyler Bass has had a bigger impact on this team than all of the ‘24 draftees combined. However, there’s a lot of promise with these young players. Before his wrist injury, Coleman showed flashes of being a true number one receiver. In only three games with at least 19 snaps, the rookie tailback ran 46 times for 224 yards, establishing himself as a suitable replacement for the now-disgruntled James Cook. Cole Bishop looked rough more than once while filling in at safety; however, he at least improved his game a little bit down the stretch when he had to start three of the final four games. Also, the jury’s still out on DeWayne Carter, Javon Solomon, and Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, so the possibility of even more impactful players from that class could definitely impact their rank in the future.

5. 2023 (Notable Selections: Dalton Kincaid, O’Cyrus Torrence, Dorian Williams)

This class only saw six total draftees—with half of them being picked in the fifth round or later—meaning that Beane really had to find a gem to make this a superior draft. Overall, this was a good class for what it was. Dalton Kincaid, O’Cyrus Torrence, and Dorian Williams have all developed into starters for the Bills. The main thing that keeps this class lower in the ranking than the others is that no one stands out. Kincaid regressed last season, Williams improved but still lacks in some areas of his game and the same can be said about Torrence. If Kincaid built on his impressive rookie season—like I predicted he would—maybe this class would be higher, but it will sit at number five for now.

4. 2021 (Notable Selections: Greg Rousseau, Spencer Brown, Damar Hamlin)

If it weren’t for a head-scratching pick by Beane in the second round, this class could’ve moved into the top three. The pick of Greg Rousseau was great; the six-foot-six, 266-pound man from Miami has blossomed into a great defensive end for this team. After picking the man known as ‘Groot,’ the Bills decided to double down by picking Boogie Basham 61st-overall, an edge rusher who never quite found his footing in the NFL. What made that pick so egregious was the fact that the Chiefs selected Creed Humphrey two picks later. Okay, enough of ‘would if’ scenarios, what made this draft better than the others? Simply put, Rousseau, Spencer Brown, and Damar Hamlin add much more value to this class than any of the ones below it. Hamlin and Brown both played well enough to get listed as alternates for the 2025 Pro Bowl—Hamlin earning third-team alternate and Brown earning fifth-team alternate—with Rousseau establishing himself as a franchise edge rusher.

3. 2019 (Notable Selections: Ed Oliver, Dawson Knox, Devin Singletary)

The 2019 NFL Draft laid the groundwork for the Bills to become the great team they’re known as today. Despite never making a Pro Bowl, Ed Oliver has been a force to be reckoned with on this Bills defense. After moving on from LeSean McCoy in 2018, the selection of Devin Singletary was a great stepping stone to move in a new direction. Singletary could run and block even if he wasn’t as fast as many others in the league. An added bonus was the pick of Dawson Knox, who might become the franchise’s greatest tight end of all time before he retires. While the trade-up for Cody Ford in the second round could’ve gone better, he has at least proven himself to be good enough to remain in the league, starting nine games for Cincinnati last season.

2. 2022 (Notable Selections: James Cook, Terrel Bernard, Khalil Shakir)

2022 was an absolute masterclass for Beane. Strangely enough, if this article was made in 2023, it would be slotted in just around the spot of the 2024 class due to the draftees having essentially no playing time in their rookie season. Cook quickly established himself as the elite running back that this team had been craving for so long. After years of getting accustomed to Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, fans were skeptical of Terrel Bernard stepping in and filling the void at inside linebacker, but he absolutely shattered expectations. The elephant in the room is the first-round pick: Kaiir Elam. Elam clearly hasn’t worked out and has struggled in every opportunity he’s been given, sticking out like a sore thumb whenever he’s in coverage. Luckily for the Bills, they found a diamond in the rough with Christian Benford in the sixth round. Benford beat out Elam in training camp to earn the starting spot and has only ever given up that spot due to injury.

1. 2018 (Notable Players: Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds, Taron Johnson)

First time’s the charm, eh? In his first draft, Beane absolutely knocked it out of the park, drafting Josh Allen and Edmunds in the first round. Taron Johnson soon became a beloved player as the slot cornerback in Sean McDermott’s patented nickel defense. The crazy part about this class is those players are barely scratching the surface. The Bills drafted Harrison Phillips in the third round, who was nothing special in Buffalo, but has since become a dominant force for the Vikings. Oh, and the team also selected three-time Pro Bowler and two-time Second-Team All-Pro Wyatt Teller in the fifth round. This class was a no-brainer for the top spot.