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Beane on the 2020 NFL Draft: "I thought it fell pretty good for us."

Brandon Beane
Posted at 8:54 PM, Apr 25, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-25 20:54:36-04

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Drafting remotely was the biggest difference for Bills general manager Brandon Beane for the 2020 NFL Draft, but it wasn't the only one. This was his first draft in Western New York without a first round pick and his first without a draft day trade.

As the dust settled and Beane had a chance to look at the seven new Bills that have been chosen over the past 48 hours, he was satisfied.

"I thought it fell pretty good for us," Beane said. "In the end, I thought our board set up pretty well. I thought some guys fell to us that had some good value, even today."

The biggest gift that fell right into the Bills' lap was A.J. Epenesa. Per Beane, the Iowa product will play left defensive end with some flexibility to move inside.

The biggest surprise of the weekend, however, was quarterback Jake Fromm. Despite appearing to have an established starter and backup in Josh Allen and Matt Barkley, Beane saw Fromm as too good to pass up in the fifth round.

"I wouldn't have told you going into the day that. he was on our radar. But we had him in a spot that you just can't ignore," Beane said. "He's got all the intangibles. He's smart."

Fromm's 2019 season at Georgia led to his draft stock faltering. It continued to drop off after a subpar combine performance. But now, Fromm faces an uphill battle in Western New York.

"He'll have to earn a spot here," Beane said. "Obviously Josh [Allen] is our starter. Matt [Barkley] has been a great backup for us. I don't know if he'd be able to knock Matt off. We'll see about that. We could go with two quarterbacks or we could go with three quarterbacks."

Another competition materializing on the offensive side of the ball is at wide receiver. On top of the addition of Stefon Diggs via trade last month, the Bills selected two wide receivers on Saturday: UCF's Gabriel Davis and Oregon State's Isaiah Hodgins.

"They'll be competing as well against each other along with Duke Williams and some of the other bigger guys we have on the roster," Beane said. "Just trying to give Brian Daboll as many variations, not to have all of the same small guys, fast guys, or big guys."

Sitting pat with all seven picks that the Bills had at the start of the week was no easy task for Beane. He went as far as to call the third round "excruciating." But the Bills' haul includes a defensive end of the future, a complement to Devin Singletary, and some big new targets for Josh Allen.

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