The Buffalo Bills had a great 2024 NFL Draft, coming away with 10 players and a B+ grade here at ClutchPoints. However, no draft is perfect, and there were a few Bills 2024 NFL Draft mistakes along the way from general manager Brandon Beane and company. Here are the three biggest misteps Buffalo made over those three days in late April.
Trading with the Kansas City Chiefs… again
In April 2017, head coach Sean McDermott had just started his new position with the Bills and ran the 2017 NFL Draft with soon-to-be-fired GM Doug Whaley. In that draft, the Bills were picking 10th, and they traded back with the Kansas City Chiefs, moving back to No. 27.
Buffalo actually crushed this draft, taking All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White at 27, Pro Bowl tackle Dion Dawkins at 63, and All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano at 163.
The only problem was the Chiefs got Patrick Mahomes at 10.
Fast forward seven years later, and the Bills and Chiefs have dominated the AFC over the last ¾ of a decade, but KC has come out on top every time, winning three out of their four Super Bowl appearances and making the AFC Championship every year since 2018.
The Bills have one AFC Championship appearance in that time and two soul-crushing playoff losses to the Chiefs (13 seconds and Wide Right II).
In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Bills traded back with the Chiefs once again, from 28 to 32, so KC could select a player at their biggest position of need, wide receiver. The player they picked was speedy Texas wideout Xavier Worthy, who set an NFL combine 40-yard dash record, running a 4.21-second 40.
Since trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins two seasons ago, the Chiefs have missed that blazing speed element on their offense. Now, with Worthy, the Cheifs may have that back. And if Mahomes to Worthy become Mahomes to Hill 2.0, the Bills may have just gifted the Chiefs more Super Bowl rings.
Not getting more picks for trading back
Brandon Beane and the Bills traded back twice in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The team moved from 28 to 32 (see above) and then out of the first round entirely, going from 32 to the first pick of Round 2 (33).
The process here is sound.
Moving back from 28 with two big WRs that the Bills seemed to covet — South Carolina’s Xavier Legette and Florida State’s Keon Coleman — made sense. And with the two on the board again at 32, trading back one spot with the Carolina Panthers and still getting Coleman was smart.
However, the big Bills 2024 NFL Draft mistake here was what they got in return.
From the Chiefs, the Bills moved back four spots and, in turn, moved up 38 spots from the fourth to the third round and 27 spots in the seventh. To go back one spot with the Panthers, the Bills moved up 59 spots from the sixth to the fifth round.
That’s all well and good, but to trade back twice and not get a single additional pick for this year or next is a mistake. One of the biggest reasons to trade back is to get more bites at the apple in the draft, where no one can be sure which prospects will hit and which will miss. Maybe moving up like this will result in getting better prospects, but getting more opportunities to draft is more valuable, even though Beane doesn’t seem to agree.
Taking Washington LB Edefuan Ulofoshio
Buffalo did well overall with all their picks, earning no less than a B- on any single selection. One of the players to earn a B-, though, was Washington linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio. The former Huskies defender is a solid player who went from walk-on to national championship game starter and should be a good special teams player for the Bills.
All that said, there is not a lot of upside with Ulofoshio. And at this point in the fifth round, taking a player who can be a good special teamer, but also possibly develop into a real defensive contributor someday makes more sense.
If LB was always going to be the pick, Texas’ Jaylan Ford or UCLA’s Darius Mausau would have offered equal ST play and more upside.
Is this a bit nitpicky? Sure. But that’s what you have to do when looking for the Bills’ 2024 NFL Draft mistakes. Despite the issues above, the Bills did a great job overall in this draft, and this class could lay down the foundation for Josh Allen’s second act in the NFL.
