There have only been a few notable misses in the Beane era
The NFL Draft is far from an exact sciences, with every club across the league having their fair share of hits and misses. Brandon Beane and the Buffalo Bills are no exception to this rule, with some notable whiffs since Beane took over the draft in 2018.
Now before anyone accuses me of focusing on the negatives, next week’s article will focus on the biggest draft hits from Beane. That list is much longer than what you’ll see below, so trust me when I say that the positive news is on its way. For the time being we have to “eat our vegetables,” and digest some of the negatives from recent drafts.
Cody Ford — 2019 NFL Draft, Round 2 (Pick 38 overall)
The Bills made a modest trade up in the 2019 NFL Draft to acquire Cody Ford, packaging picks 40 and 158 to move up to the 38th spot. Ford was expected to be the right tackle of the future with Buffalo, and he platooned a bit with veteran Ty Nsekhe during his rookie year. Things never clicked at tackle, with Ford making the move to guard in his two remaining seasons with the Bills.
It should be noted that Ford started 29 games across three seasons, before ending up benched in 2021 when Spencer Brown was inserted into the starting lineup (shifting Daryl Williams to guard). Beane did trade Ford during the 2022 offseason, recouping a fifth-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals.
Carlos “Boogie” Basham — 2021 NFL Draft, Round 2 (Pick 61 overall)
Carlos “Boogie” Basham got off to an inauspicious start with the Bills, being listed as “inactive” during nine of 17 regular-season games during his rookie season. While Basham got much more playing time during his sophomore season — playing about 39% of snaps — he failed to make an impact for the Bills.
Knowing that Basham would likely be cut prior to the start of the 2023 season, Beane traded him to the New York Giants in a swap of 2025 NFL draft picks. The Bills received pick 177 that was used to select cornerback Dorian Strong, while the Giants took cornerback Korie Black with pick 246.
Kaiir Elam — 2022 NFL Draft, Round 1 (Pick 23 overall)
Kaiir Elam’s time in Buffalo came to an end this offseason, as the Bills traded him to the Dallas Cowboys along with pick 204 (offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius) in exchange for pick 170 (defensive back Jordan Hancock) in the 2025 draft and a 2026 seventh-round pick. To date, Elam is the only first-round miss in Beane’s tenure with Buffalo. Like Ford, the Bills moved up to select Elam — packaging picks 25 and 130 to move up to pick 23.
It was truly a sophomore slump for Elam during the 2023 season, at which point he found himself listed as “inactive” or a DNP in 14 of 17 regular-season games. One of those three games he did play included a unforgettably poor performance in London, UK versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. Elam did prove to be more useful in 2024, appearing in 13 of 17 regular season games, but he too often unreliable at cornerback for the Bills’ defense.
Yes, it’s a relatively short list of draft misses for Brandon Beane. Sure, there are other picks that I could second guess (Justin Shorter, Jake Fromm, Vosean Joseph). but I don’t believe it would be fair to consider selections on Day 3 as a miss.
Let me know if there are any other draft misses that I may have neglected to include, and be on the lookout for a rundown of Beane’s greatest draft hits.