Pleased with rookie class
After the conclusion of the 2019 NFL Draft, the vast majority of analysts praised Beane’s haul.
Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver was viewed by many as the best defensive player in the draft, and Beane was able to select him with the ninth overall pick.
He followed that up by selecting Oklahoma offensive lineman Cody Ford, a prospect whom many outlets had a first-round grade on, in the second round. Beane rounded out his draft class with players like Devin Singletary, Dawson Knox, and Darryl Johnson, intriguing athletes with high upside.
Roughly one year later, it’s clear that the praise was warranted.
Buffalo’s rookie class was incredibly impactful throughout the 2019 campaign. Oliver was perhaps the team’s standout first-year players, tallying 43 tackles and 5.0 sacks.
Singletary also showed promise at running back, displaying tremendous athleticism and patience after taking over as the team’s starting running back midway through the year.
Beane praised both Oliver and Singletary at his year-end press conference, also expressing his delight with the rookie class as a whole.
“I thought Ed did a really good job [in his] first year,” Beane said. He came out, I thought he had a really good camp. I think when we got into games, maybe early on, he was swimming a little bit. In fairness to Ed, at Houston he played just over the nose. Playing the three-tech was different . . . I was very impressed, and he picked his game up, and I think he ended the season playing well. I’m hoping this will be a very good offseason for him entering next year.
“Devin was our next pick, and I thought Devin had a really good year. He had the hamstring setback, I think that hurt us a little bit and slowed his development. You saw it as the year went on, he began to get more and more touches in the games, whether it was the pass game or the run game.”
#Bills–#Cowboys — Rookie DT Ed Oliver (2 sacks, FF). BUF dialed up some zone blitzes in the Week 13 win. @NFLMatchup @Marcel_LJ pic.twitter.com/pPY7dstLXl
— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) November 30, 2019
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