Buffalo Bills: Bills should use draft to draft players that fit ‘the system’

Since taking over control of the Buffalo Bills, both General Manager Brandon Beane and Head Coach Sean McDermott have astonishingly cleaned house. It is pretty much all their guys and that can’t change now.

The Buffalo Bills followed up a playoff season by having a poor one and landing a top 10 draft pick in April’s Draft. Now, the season was a failure by most standards, but more of a transition one rather than a bad one.

The Bills still have the same mindset now as they did in 2017, that playoff season. It’s just that the roster is a lot different.

But, it is different in a great way. Now, they made more coaching changes this offseason too. Obviously, a 6-10 season means even the little things have to change.

The Bills fired their special team coach and their offensive line coach. Both good moves.

However, as the playoffs progress, the playoffs that the Bills constantly seem to miss, I am learning something.

I am learning that we should allow the great coaches to implement their systems, find that great balance.

The NFL is a talent-driven league. The teams with the best QBs, best RBs, are typically the teams that play in January and beyond.

Why is that? Well, look at the coaching. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are going back to the Super Bowl once again.

I am running out of fingers to count on my hand how many times that has happened. Their first one together was in the 2001 season and this one is from the 2018 season.

That is almost 20 years of winning. The NFL has salary caps and a short average careers. To be able to sustain that kind of winning with a revolving door of talent speaks volumes.

Yes, Brady is a great QB who is still at the top of his game, but he would not be at the top if he didn’t have a great system.

Look at the Rams, and I promise I am going to get back to the Bills in a minute, they have a great young coach in Sean McVay who takes chances and is aggressive.

His offense is great and Jarred Goff has been elite in the two years under McVay. It is a balanced system that McVay has.

His general manager got his talent through spending and making solid draft selections and McVay uses his system to make it work.

That is the exact thing that McDermott and Beane seem to understand. They are not trying to build a one-team wonder. They made the playoffs together and were not content with that.

They want to be “playoff caliber” build a system, a culture, long sustainable winning.

That is why not every player works out in Buffalo. Just talent alone does not work.

Sammy Watkins is talented. The Bills didn’t see him fit. Ronald Darby is a Super Bowl Champion, he was not fit in the system.

Then you have Tyrod Taylor. He had two seasons of .500 or better and led the Bills to the playoffs as a starter, yet he was given the boot.

There are countless others who the Bills didn’t keep around despite being talented. Sure some of them left in free agency, others gone in trades.

All of this was to get draft capital or short-term fixes. I would agree that Brandon Bene did a lot to fix the mistakes that Doug Whaley made.

Getting rid of the Marcell Dareus contract was imperative, but again wasn’t thriving under McDermott.

The point is, is that this regime wants their guys. Bills traded back in the draft with Kansas City. KC used that pick for Patrick Mahomes.

That does not mean the Bills could have had Mahomes. It means whoever called that shot did not think Mahomes would work in their system.

Even if you are a Bills fan and are bitter about this, they ended up landing Tre’Davious White in that draft.

Zay Jones shortly after in the draft.

Either way, the Bills got Josh Allen who is also showing signs of being very talented but more importantly, right for the system.

Much like Mahomes is both talented and great for the Andy Reid system.

The NFL is a copy cat league. Look at how many teams just drafted young QBs. Look at all the teams that hire offensive coordinators as coaches after McVay made it look cool.

But, the reality is, the system that is foolproof, are the systems that thrive. The system that doesn’t need talent, but makes talent.

Like the Belichick system. Like the McVay system. Like the countless others in the NFL.

The Bills have talent. A lot of it actually. They have anchors on both sides of the ball and incredible leadership.

But, all the players need to be able to play under Sean McDermott. Get along with the players Brandon Beane acquires.

Building through the NFL draft is still the way to do it.

You can see who is available and pick the player who is the best for your team.

That is how it works beyond the first few selections where you should go for special talent.

The Bills traded up twice last season to get talent. Both Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds. Both of those looked like great selections.

They had the draft capital to do because of trading Darby. Watkins. Dareus.

And both of them are better and more useful to the Bills than those players.

Why? because they are McDermott players. Brought into and bought into their system.

For more, look at Lorenzo Alexander. He was brought in by the old regime as a veteran. He was great a few years ago and this season. He is one of the few who bought into the system.

That is why during this NFL Draft the Bills need talent, yes, but they need to find the player who truly believes in their system, their style, whatever that might be.

“The System” is obviously a loose term. It could mean anything, but what it truly means is answering the true question.

Is this player talented? If that answer is yes, which at the ninth overall pick they will be, then we must ask, can they use that talent as an asset to the Buffalo Bills?

That is the system. If that answer is yes, then that is the guy they need to draft. Because that answer is more difficult to come by than the first one.

So, there are going to countless mock drafts this offseason. There is going to be a divisive fan base on if the Bills should draft offense or defense.

Then there is always the age-old question on whether the Bills should fill needs or draft best available.

None of that matters as much as the part that only has one side. The Bills should just draft the best player for their system. All of those things will take care of themselves.

There could be about 5484393403 players in the draft who are talented. There will be.

Just like there are a lot of players who could fit the Bills’ system. They just need to make sure it one of those players.

It’s like how every player wants to play for the Patriots. They are almost a lock to win the AFC at this point.

But, not everyone can. Not everyone can play for Belichick like Josh Gordon. Not everyone can play for McVay.

The best coaches can win with anyone sure, but that takes a lot longer and is rarer. McDermott and Beane should have earned the Bills fans’ trust by now.

At least their respect.

Their entire tenure so far has been roster turnover. Getting the right players for their system. That is why they have what feels like 30 ex-Panthers players on the team.

Not every ex-Panthers players, just the ones who could handle it.

That is what this 2019 NFL Draft needs to be about. The Bills have their seeming franchise QB. They have money to spend and talent at every level of their defense.

They need to add to the pile of players who could come in and help the Buffalo Bills win and play well with the players here now and coaches here now.

They don’t just need a good football player. Now, it’s about finding that line.

Trust the process might be different in every sport for every team. But as far as the Bills are concerned, I do.

In the last two season, under the guidance of McDermott and Beane, the Bills have made the playoffs in the first then showed off a potential star QB in the second.

That is more progress than I have seen from the Bills in a long time.

So, on draft day, I am not asking for a specific player, position, side of the ball. I am asking for another player who is trusted by Beane and McDermott.

There will be no complaining on my end with whoever they get. They have gotten most of their draft picks right.

Because at the end of it all, and I’ll end talking about the long process by writing a long article with this.

All I care about is the Buffalo Bills football brand being relevant again.

Being a constant fixture in the league playoffs. A new standard for winning and drafting well.

That takes a system. A system similar to what the best NFL teams have now. Draft within the system.

The Bills system is their own, it does not be like or different from every other team in the NFL.

They are doing things their way and only certain players can make it work. It just needs to be impactful and consistent.