Bills' brutal draft grade compared to Patriots, Chiefs using new analytical model

An interesting look at draft grades through a more objective lens has the Buffalo Bills in the back of the class compared to AFC rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots.

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Just like it's difficult to quantify a football players potential or 'intangibles' before the NFL Daft, it's also difficult — and largely subjective — to quantify and grade the overall performance of a general manager or organization afterwards.

An interesting new analytical model takes a shot at grading draft classes more objectively. Austin Mock of The Athletic recently released these new grades on the 2025 draft and it isn't pretty for the Buffalo Bills, particularly in comparison to the AFC teams they need to beat to get the Super Bowl.

Jan 21, 2024; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) greets Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17). / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Mock's methodology is to attach real value to each draft slot (No. 1 - 262) and then evaluate selections and an entire draft class based on three different categories -- player value, positional value, and trade value.

"First, we assigned a dollar value to each draft slot, " Mock writes, "Think about the rookie wage scale for each draft pick. For the 2025 class, the first pick has a total contract value of almost $49 million, while the 32nd pick has a value of just under $15 million. The 100th pick? About $6 million. And so on."

Mock points to 'Trade Value' as perhaps the simplest way to understand it: "The first pick has a value close to $49 million, while the last pick has a value of under $2 million. If a team traded the first pick for the last pick, it’d lose about $47 million in value."

RELATED: Bills GM Brandon Beane reveals why he didn't trade out of Round 1

Similarly, 'Player Value' is calculated based off how closely the player selected in a specific spot matches up with Mock's pre-draft Big Board -- a concept many are familiar with as GM's and other draft analysts use phrases such as a "team reached for" a player or "got great value" from a particular pick. Based on the dollar value assigned to each draft slot "...if a team drafted the 262nd player on the consensus board with the first pick, it would lose about $47 million in value. And if it drafted the first player on the consensus board with the 262nd pick, it would gain $47 million in value."

Finally, 'Positional Value'. Essentially, based off of free agency paydays, certain positions are more valuable than other. For example, EDGE rushers average $27 million per year while RB's are at $12 million. Since the No. 1 draft slot has the same value ($49 million) no matter what position is drafted with that slot "an edge rusher drafted at No. [1] has considerably more value than a running back would have if picked in the same spot."

Apr 24, 2025; Maxwell Hairston speaks in a press conference after being selected by the Buffalo Bills as the number 30 pick. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Bills, who made a couple trades involving several picks, took three cornerbacks, likely reached for a blocking TE in the 5th round — using Mock's three different values (Player, Trade, Positional) -- Buffalo earned a lowly 'D'. By comparison, the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots both earned a 'B'.

—  Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI  —

More Buffalo Bills News:

• Bills' third-round pick Landon Jackson destroys best tackle in next year's draft

• Buffalo Bills surprising miss on local All-American as Shaun Dolac signs with Rams

• Buffalo Bills' draft pick Deone Walker's highlights show he's a huge steal

• Bills first rounder Maxwell Hairston addresses concerns about his tackling in NFL

• Bills GM Brandon Beane reveals why he didn't trade out of Round 1