4 observations: Bills address needs, find value in 2024 draft

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The 2024 NFL Draft started Thursday with a bold trade by Bills general manager Brandon Beane. Saturday, the dust on the draft settled, and it seems the fans' nerves have as well -- for the most part.

Here are my four observations from what was a few busy days at One Bills Drive:

Addressing receiver need

The Bills had a clear need at wide receiver entering the draft, and they helped address it with their first pick -- albeit on Friday instead of Thursday.

I wasn't surprised by the trade down or the selection of Keon Coleman. I think he's going to be a good fit and expected to make an immediate impact. However, I thought they would take more than one receiver in the draft.

The Bills made ​10 selections and came away with just one wideout. They took as many players from England as wide receivers. The Bills were presented with several chances to grab another pass catcher and declined.

After the draft, Beane said he likes the receiver group they have and doesn't expect them to make a big trade or anything like that.

Safety plan

The Bills addressed another big need in the second round when they took safety Cole Bishop out of Utah.

With Jordan Poyer in Miami and Micah Hyde's football future uncertain, this needed to happen. I would argue this came one year too late.

Sean McDermott's defense is built for versatile safeties and Bishop fits the description.

NFL.com's Lance Zierlein had the following to say in his pre-draft analysis on the Bills' new defensive back:

"Bishop is an enforcer with NFL size and toughness for consideration in both down safety and split safety alignments."

Great value

Last year the Bills hit a home run in the second round when they took guard O'Cyrus Torrence. In the fifth round of this year's draft, they went back to the SEC and added another monster to the interior of the offensive line.

Georgia center/guard Sedrick Van Pran-Granger was such a great pick this late in the draft and I think he will eventually be a long-time starter at center next to Torrence.

Van Pran-Granger started 44 games as a center for the Bulldogs. He won the SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy, given to the best offensive lineman in the conference.

Inside the division

The Patriots used their first five picks on offensive players, including the third overall pick, quarterback Drake Maye.

They also gave him two rookie receivers to grow with in Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. New England doubled down on quarterback in the sixth round with Joe Milton from Tennessee. T

The Jets also took five offensive players to start their draft. In the fifth round, they took Keon Coleman's college quarterback Jordan Travis.

The Dolphins used two of their seven picks on edge rushers, including first-round selection Chop Robinson out of Penn State.