The Buffalo Bills and the rest of the NFL have completed the 2020 NFL Draft and as we look back on the players took, there’s an inevitable pivot to the guys who were already on the roster. Who lost a job this weekend? Who was fortified with extra help this weekend? Who is going to be able to elevate with the new talent around him?
Winners
Dan Evans and the IT department
It’s always nice when your boss lauds you and your team but when he does it without being asked and gives you all the praise, it’s pretty special. General manager Brandon Beane also mentioned how he’d be using the new technology moving forward, so it’s a long-term bump for the IT department.
RB Devin Singletary
Sometimes when a team uses a high pick on a player at your position, you might be uncomfortable. The addition of Zack Moss should make Devin Singletary ecstatic. Moss has the ability to handle a heavy workload to keep Singletary fresh and explosive plus Moss can close out games by bashing opponents into submission. It’s a win-win for Buffalo’s new RB duo.
QB Josh Allen
With two new wide receivers with a large catch radius and big bodies, Buffalo now has a full complement of different wide receivers for every situation. Not only that, the Bills may have taken Allen’s new best buddy in backup quarterback Jake Fromm. The pair can be together for years into the future.
The offensive line
Considering it’s roughly 20% of the final roster allocation, the fact the Buffalo didn’t spend one pick on the offensive line is pretty remarkable. They invested heavily during free agency over the last couple offseasons and drafted Cody Ford a year ago, but no new additions to the competition came during the seven rounds of the NFL Draft.
Brandon Beane and his family
The Bills’ GM managed to press into service his entire family, with his sons and wife manning the draft board in his rec room and managing the computer at different points in time over the weekend. Normally, Beane and his staff would have been spending weeks hunkered down at the facility and away from his family, but they were able to sit in on the process this year.
Losers
DE Trent Murphy
The Bills signed two defensive ends and drafted one with their top pick this offseason. Murphy has one year left on his deal, but could very much be in a roster crunch at the end of August. He’s in a real fight for his 2020 roster spot.
RB T.J. Yeldon
Beane had been talking up Yeldon all offseason but it always felt a bit hollow. That turns out to be the case as the Bills spent a third-round pick on their presumptive RB2. Yeldon is likely relegated to the inactive list barring injury.
K Stephen Hasuchka
Normally, taking a kicker would be a death knell for the team’s existing kicker but I don’t think it is that severe right now. The Bills didn’t have a ton of roster spots available, so even if they end up cutting Tyler Bass, they didn’t take him over a whole bunch of players they expected could make the squad. Still, Beane discussed Hauschka’s lack of range and kickoff ability in his post-pick presser.
WR Duke Williams & Robert Foster
The tall, big-bodied receivers on Buffalo’s roster are officially on notice. Buffalo didn’t draft speedy, shifty receivers. The Bills took two big-bodied receivers; one 6’2” and one 6’4”. Williams, in particular, fit the role of physical receiver and was targeted frequently in the team’s final playoff game to mediocre results. Foster might still make the team on speed and special teams, but Williams will have to beat out two draft picks for his role. Gabe Davis threatens Foster as a big play, fly/deep crosser specialist, and Isaiah Hodgins threatens Duke as the 50/50 ball specialist.