billsfan89

Rebuild? No. Retool? Yes.

Fire myself and get someone in who knows what they are doing.

The secondary hinges largely on Benford. Cole is coming around, Po's not what he once was but he's decent and a stabilizing force (and Handcock taking some snaps is keeping him fresh), Tre as the pure dimeback is proving to be serviceable now that Mad Max is anchoring most of the snaps on the boundary and looking solid. Even Cam Lewis splitting with Taron is getting decent production out of the nickel. If Benford can be the anchor there that he has been at the outside the secondary should be a very good unit. The D-line I think really need another DE at the trade deadline. I thought at DT with Sanders coming back and Ed at hopefully some point later in December or early January possibly coming back they could get by. Wallker has been a stud, Larry O's getting better the more he plays, Daquon is obviously not what he once was but I think he can turn it on later in the season and right now he's serviceable, and Sanders I think he can be a back end rotation guy to eat snaps until Ed comes back. But at DE with Hoecht and Jackson down for the year the Bills really could have used a competent versatile body at DE. I think it is just insanely unfortunate that Jackson was hurt the game after the trade deadline. I think they are blending Dorian Williams and Solomon into that versatility role and we will see how well they can do. I think LB hinges on can they get Shaq and Benford healthy for the playoffs while also getting Dorian Williams comfortable in his role. Milano I would like to see absorb some snaps to try to keep the guys healthy and while he's clearly physically lost a step or so I think in a more limited role he can make a play or two. Overall there's a lot that's going to need to break right for the unit to turn into a better than average defense.

The Bills defense is pretty much picking up from where it left off last season. Susceptible to be lit up by good offenses, capable of shutting down bad offenses and somewhere in the middle against mid-level offenses. Pretty much another averageish defense. The Bills rank 12th in defense by yards per game. They rank 18th in scoring defense. They have the second worst rushing defense in the league but the second best passing defense in the league. The Bills rank 10th in total sacks (with 2 teams ahead of them having played although only 1 of those teams is even close to the Bills sacks wise with the Chargers at 29 sacks 3 ahead of the Bills with an extra game played). With the resources poured into the defense (granted not massive resources but significant resources) you would think that the defense could be somewhat better than last season but that's not looking to be the case. I hope I am wrong as the later stages of the season go. I honestly would have no problem with this caliber of defense if the Bills didn't have a massive hole on the offensive side of the ball. If the Bills let's say didn't sign Bosa and one of the PED Twins and traded a 2nd for DK and had a "go to" WR plus added Palmer for depth and the Bills were just loaded on offense with no major issues I would be OK with saying hey you have a big QB contract and a lot of talent around him, you kind of in the NFL cap era have to live with just an OK defense. But that's just not the case.

I think his "ceiling" is that of a Pro-Bowl caliber safety, he's got the athleticism and he's showing a better feel for the game and for the system the more he plays esp the more he plays with Po. Overall I think he's going to be a very good borderline elite player if he stays healthy. And thankfully the team needs that production from him and they need to get more production from that 2024 draft class in general.

I feel like there is a legit case for KC to spin that if they can just make the playoffs they will be a relevant team even as a wildcard. The positive spin would be that they are 5-5 and while their record is what it is, their 5 losses have all been one score losses to teams that are above .500. If they get 1 of those 5 one score games they are 6-4 and not sitting too bad. Their schedule while not easy does get better. They have softer games against the Cowboys, Titans, and Raiders plus a banged up Chargers team at home. If they win those 4 games plus a home game against the Texans they should get to 10 wins and be in the mix for a wildcard. Overall I am just not really seeing the KC is dead thing yet. Even if they lose this week while their margin of error is very narrow (gotta effectively go 5-1) they could still make it. In the end I am not as a Bills fan concerned with KC. Bills beat KC and they have their own problems to deal with.

If Cole is a hit as a starter that's gonna help this draft class a lot. I think you need to get 2 starters and 2 role players out of each draft as a minimum. Cole would be the first starter found but Keon if he's a bust (and he's trending that way) the team is going to have to find a starter out of SVPG or Grable which if let's say either guy comes in and starts along G/C and is a positive that's also a way to salvage the draft class. On the role player side of things Ray Davis has come in and been a positive role player. Solomon has come in and played but he's been fairly marginal. TLDR: The draft class is going to be rough unless they can salvage Keon as a starter or one of the later picks.

OBJ had he not torn his ACL in the Super Bowl he would have had a very strong chance to be the SB MVP in 2021, he went down from what I remember fairly early in Q2 and he had 2 catches for 52 yards and a TD and looked un-guardable. Of course he could have tapered off but early on he was dominating the game. So yeah, he was that dam good at his best.

Clowney's big hit was certainly an "aurora" making play for him. I think that while he wasn't a "bust" (he's had a 10+ year career and 60 career sacks thus far) he didn't live up to his number one pick status. I think what really hurt his career was the microfracture surgery he had at the end of his rookie year which was on top of a torn meniscus which took him out of the season earlier. He never was the same player, he was still a good player hard hitting edge setter with some power pass rush but never showed the blend of speed and power that he once had. Shows you how good of an athlete he was given how long he played and how fairly effective as a starter he was for many teams.

I wonder if they could split the time with Taron at Nickle with Cam. Cam's younger and knows the system he seems to be playing better but I would also think that keeping everyone fresh should play a factor. Tre comes in as the pure dime back where he's excelling and Cam splits the Nickel reps with Taron keeping both guys fresh.

I think this is Keon's last shot to really turn it around here. The team has tried to do less harsh actions but now they benched him and told him shape up or ship out. And sometimes guys need to be cut or traded to click or they never get it. I think if Keon shows up and works hard the rest of the season they will bring him back and try to get it to work if nothing changes expect him to be traded for a later round pick swap of some sort or in a package as a throw in for another WR.

I honestly I am not really scared of the AFC field even if the Bills have to be a wildcard and go on the road as the 5/6 seed. Yes the Bills have flaws but the Bills if they are lets say the 5 seed at 11-6 or 12-5 as long as they get a pseudo bye not playing starters in week 18 (gets them the chance to rest where many teams may not) then I don't really think there's any team they can't beat on the road. If this was the NFC then yeah I would be concerned as I think the Eagles/Rams/Seahawks would all present problems but these AFC teams don't scare me. The AFC North winner is likely to be the 4 seed and The Steelers or Ravens (with Lamar banged up and their high level of injuries) don't really scare me. Then I look at The Colts/Pats/Broncos and I don't really think there's any game there the Bills can't win on the road either. Daniel Jones, Maye, and Nix have a combined 1 playoff win between them. Their teams are good don't get me wrong but neither one of those teams I look at and go oh that team is a big problem. While I do have my concerns about this Bills defense and the WR's I also think if there's any team that can "turn it on" in the playoffs it is the Bills esp if the Bills get a weeks rest going into the final week. The Bills run defense is a concern and The Colts and others in the field can run the ball. But I also think the Bills are the veteran team that's saving their best for the playoffs and if the can get Ed back and rest everyone week 18 then I think this team has that extra gear they can turn into. Overall I think this team can't get too far ahead of its self just win on Thursday and get the mini-bye see where it shakes out from there.

McD is doing a good job at safety with the in season moves. I think Po while he's been not great as a pure safety he hasn't been bad and he has had a major impact on Cole and possibly others in the secondary with how much he knows the system. He's been a major help and also I think playing Handcock 15-20 snaps a game at safety has helped ease him into that role while keeping Po more fresh. I think Po and Tre are both showing in more limited roles that they can still be effective. And my hope is that Handcock can take more and more snaps as he gains more experience as each week goes by.

I would rather ride out Torrence for the last year of his rookie deal given that the Bills are likely to have some turnover along the interior O-line next season with McGovern and Edwards both being free agents and the high possibility that at least one if not both are gone. I would rather keep Torrence there so at least one of the three interior O-line players are still there. I think scouring the trade market for some high risk value like BTJ or MHJ is going to be what it takes since the Bills can't count on finding WR's where they will be drafting (hard for any team to do so) so trying to find a reclamation project who might pop with a better system/QB play is the best way to go.

If the Bills aren't going to win the division because New England just beats up on the bad teams then my hope is that the Bills are going into week 18 just completely locked into the 5 seed and they can get a pesudo bye to rest up before the playoffs. It's far too early to project that out. Just win on Thursday and get a win and a "mini-bye" and see where everything shakes out.