Here's the Bills news of note for June 2nd.
**1 - Beane leaves good first impression on MMQB
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Brandon Beane recently received some high praise from NFL Reporter, Albert Breer, who currently writes for MMQB.com. Here is a brief rundown of Breer’s thoughts on Beane’s early actions as Bills general manager.
*The Bills' decision to basically start a new personnel department didn't have much precedent for a reason—it's incredibly difficult to build one from scratch, and it requires working around guys' contractual situations and the reality that qualified candidates routinely get block. To most, it looked like new GM Brandon Beane had been thrust into an impossible situation.
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*And so now, a less than a month later, it's time to give Beane his share of credit. Not only does the organization have the alignment it's lacked—assistant GM Joe Schoen worked with Beane in Carolina, and with VP of player personnel Brian Gaine in Houston—the Bills didn't have to push candidates into jobs where they weren't qualified. *
*Beane was able to get Schoen out of Miami, because Dolphins czar Mike Tannenbaum believes in allowing for guys to advance themselves. (Schoen was director of player personnel there.) And Beane was able to extract Gaine from Houston, in part because of some sideways dynamics that exist within the Texans building. And Gaine and Schoen should complement one another, since Gaine came up on the pro side and Schoen came up on the college side. *
From there, Beane backstopped the operation with two guys—in Dennis Hickey and Lake Dawson—who've been executives before. And Beane gave a couple young guys shots to be directors—Malik Boyd on the pro side and Terrance Gray on the college side.
RELATED:CB GREG MABIN SIGNS WITH BILLS
**2 - Undrafted WR Shorts remains confident
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Undrafted rookie free agent, Daikiel Shorts, was a four-year wide receiver at West Virginia University. Shorts recently appeared on the John Murphy Show to talk about his journey going undrafted and making it to Buffalo.
"I was hearing mid to late round pick or free agent. I didn't get drafted, but I still have a great opportunity here in Buffalo and I'm blessed for it," said Shorts. "What brought me to Buffalo is that I talked to (Bills receivers) coach Phil (McGeoghan) before the draft process and during. I felt comfortable with him and I felt comfortable with my opportunity here, so I decided to come here.
"There are a lot of people in this league that go undrafted or didn't get combine invites but they played for a long time. I'm here now so it's what I do here now. Hopefully, I can be here for a while."
Daikiel was a productive player at WVU where he played in 35 games totaling 177 catches for 2,263 yards and 14 touchdowns. While his position was wide receiver he was able to gain experience on the special teams unit where he contributed all four years. It is usually tougher for an undrafted player to make the final roster, but Shorts remained confident.
"I definitely have to show that I know the playbook and I would say consistency," said Shorts. "Even if I don't have the ball, what am I doing without it? Backside blocking or if the player springs, am I helping the running back get a long run?"
Shorts is part of a crowded field. He'll need a strong camp to stick on the 53-man roster.* *
3 - ESPN: Tyrod Taylor to make leap forward
NFL Insider, Dan Graziano, of ESPN recently predicted big things from the Bills starting quarterback. A group of NFL Insiders recently got together to predict which quarterbacks would take the biggest leap in the upcoming season. Here is what Graziano had to say about the guy under center in Buffalo.
*Dan Graziano, NFL Insider:OK, laugh, but I'll say Tyrod Taylor. He has the eighth-best Total QBR in the league since the start of the 2015 season -- better than guys such as Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers and Andrew Luck. And that has been with Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy missing 16 combined games over the past two seasons. Taylor knows new Bills offensive coordinator Rick Dennison from their time together in Baltimore, which bodes well for his ability to take another step forward in 2017.
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