Beane doesn’t care about the combine (kind of)
OK, the Bills probably do care about the scouting combine. But the numbers of both of their picks to this point show Buffalo takes it with a grain of salt. Through the combine’s history, the 40-yard dash has helped players get overdrafted left and right. For the Bills, the 40-yard dash is not the most important thing to the team. Rather, game speed is.
Beane said it himself, he thought Epenesa fell because of his 40 time of 5.04 seconds. That’s a defensive tackle time, not a pass rusher. Moss didn’t do well for himself, either. He ran it in 4.65 seconds. Not great, and he reportedly tweaked his hamstring during it. Moss did later run it at a 4.52 clip virtually when healthy.
But back to the Bills, these moves alone just show how much Beane really watches the tape on these guys, rather than depending on the combine or numbers. He did so with guys in the past like Devin Singletary (4.66 40-yard time) and did it again. A good quality there. Beane also had a nice quote about this when discussing Epenesa.
“I care about getting good football players, and he’s a damn good football player,” Beane said.