So, soooo many improvements over last year!!

[ChanOverChin]

What are the differences this year from last year's team??

 

Here are the highlights:

 

1. Wannstedt is the new DC. This should be a big improvement unto itself. Our guys are better suited to be in the 4-3 because the D-line is now a huge strength....easily the deepest position group on the roster.

 

2. Gailey has more time to implement his offensive system and do what he does best.......be creative. Most of the offensive players have at least a year in the offensive system, which makes it a much more comfortable situation for them.

 

3. The D-line is stud-like. M. Williams and M. Anderson have been added. We had nobody last year who could rush the passer like they can. K. Williiams and S. Merriman are available for the entire season. Both are dominant players when healthy. Dareus is now a vet. What a great player he already is. I expect Dareus and M. Williams to put in Pro Bowl performances this year. D. Edwards, Sp. Johnson, and C. Kelsay are no longer required to be starters, but they make for very good role players.

 

4. F. Jackson and CJ Spiller are both ready to take off and really stand out in the NFL. Having Jackson for the entire year this year would make a huge difference. He may very well be our MVP and one of the top 5 RBs in the NFL. We really need a combo nickname for Jax and Spill.

 

5. S. Gilmore and A. Williams will be a huge improvement over what we had last year. Gilmore will start from Day 1 and could be a shutdown corner for us, which is something that every successful team needs. McKelvin is in his contract year and looks to be highly motivated to prove himself this year. McGee comes back and adds quality depth. Brooks and Rogers are young and hungry and should help to improve our ST.

 

6. Wilson and Byrd form one of the best safety duos in the entire league. Wilson's big play ability was sorely missed when he was injured last year. Byrd should greatly benefit from the much improved pass rush and start to rack up the INTs like he once did in his rookie year.

 

7. C. Glenn gives us the prototypical LT to protect Fitz's blindside. His size alone will make it tough for pass rushers to get around him. His bulk will be a huge boost for the running game.

 

8. Not a lot of big names at the WR position, but having guys like D. Jones, Easley, Hagan, B. Smith, and Graham for a full season gives us a receiving corps by committee that is pretty diverse. D. Jones appears to be coming into his own. Hagan showed last year that he can be productive. B. Smith provides good size and athleticism. Easley and Graham have the speed to stretch the defense. These guys are good compliments to the uncoverable St. Johnson and the solid pssession receiver that is S. Nelson.

 

9. V. Young and B. Smith could be a deadly combination when used on the field at the same time. Young is a big, strong, superb athlete who you know Gailey will find a way to use to his best advantage. Smith is pretty much the same thing. With much more time to be creative expect Gailey to find a way to get these two guys on the field so that they can make their just contributions. I'm very excited to see these guys in a Bills uniform for a full season. Before Gailey went away from the Wildcat about halfway through the season, Smith was having a lot of success in the Wildcat in converting third and short situations. Now Gailey has QB Coach, Mark Lee, the architect of the Wildcat to help him devise plays for guys like Smith, Young, Jackson, Spiller, and St. Johnson.

 

10. QB Coach, M. Lee, may turn out to be the best off season acquisition of all. That's because he is working to improve Fitz's mechanics and overall footwork, which could help Fitz to be a much more consistently good to great QB. Since the QB position is such an important position, helping Fitz go from good to great would be the best improvement of all.

 

11. LBs K. Sheppard and K. Morrison were both on the roster last year, but didn't play prominent roles. Since they are both better suited to be 4-3 LBs we should expect much more production from them. Wanny really seems to love Sheppard in the MLB role and Morrison, while not a big name, is certainly a proven veteran player who is a tackling machine and who is accustomed to be successful in the 4-3.

 

Overall, the Bills have lost very little (CB D. Florence/LT D. Bell - both replaced by better players), but have gained so much.

 

As a life long Bills fan, this has to be the best off season for the Bills in their history. It gives me the same feeling as when B. Polian traded two R1 picks for OLB C. Bennett.

[Dirtbag]

What are the differences this year from last year's team??

 

you failed to mention buffalobills.com's under-the-radar acquisition of hannah buehler. on paper, brown and buehler form one of the most formidable reporting tandems in the league. i can't wait to see them turn it on once the season starts!

[Shouldaplayedflutie99]

Agree with most except we can't say bell was replaced with a better player yet...I still wish we kept him..also, we lost Parrish (not that we really had him very often)

[ChanOverChin]

Parrish wasn't much of a loss because his scrawny 168 lbs could never stay healthy enough to really do any damage as an offensive weapon. We have plenty of players who can replace him as a punter returner, which is where Parrish made his mark.

 

Florence was a good CB at one time, but he seemed to decline as the season wore on, which Nix seemed to recognized. Gilmore is the guy that the Bills wanted all along at #10 overall. I'm confident from what the Bills have said about him that he's already a better CB than Florence.

 

The three guys the Bills were looking to take at #10 overall were Keuchly, Gilmore, and Glenn. Keuchly was taken at #9 overall so they chose between Gilmore and Glenn. They chose Gilmore because there was no way that he would make it into R2. As it turned out, Glenn did make it to R2 because many/most teams believed him to be an OG and not a LT. The Bills feel strongly that Glenn is an NFL caliber starting LT and were ecstatic to get him in R2. They purported to the league that he was nothing more than an OG, but obviously believed otherwise.

 

I don't think that it's much of a stretch to project Glenn to be a better player than Bell. Bell was certainly adequate, but not a dominant player. With Glenn's enormous size and rare athletic ability for such a big man, he certainly could be. It may take some time for him to get there though.

[jimmy10]

you failed to mention buffalobills.com's under-the-radar acquisition of hannah buehler. on paper, brown and buehler form one of the most formidable reporting tandems in the league. i can't wait to see them turn it on once the season starts!

 

We need a combo nickname for them.

 

May I suggest: "The Bald and The Beautiful."

[Happy Days Lois & Clark]

I think Wannstedt as defensive coordinator will be huge.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Wanny isn't that huge. Only like 6'2" maybe 190lbs?

[jumbalaya]

What are the differences this year from last year's team??

 

Here are the highlights:

 

1. Wannstedt is the new DC. This should be a big improvement unto itself. Our guys are better suited to be in the 4-3 because the D-line is now a huge strength....easily the deepest position group on the roster.

 

2. Gailey has more time to implement his offensive system and do what he does best.......be creative. Most of the offensive players have at least a year in the offensive system, which makes it a much more comfortable situation for them.

 

3. The D-line is stud-like. M. Williams and M. Anderson have been added. We had nobody last year who could rush the passer like they can. K. Williiams and S. Merriman are available for the entire season. Both are dominant players when healthy. Dareus is now a vet. What a great player he already is. I expect Dareus and M. Williams to put in Pro Bowl performances this year. D. Edwards, Sp. Johnson, and C. Kelsay are no longer required to be starters, but they make for very good role players.

 

4. F. Jackson and CJ Spiller are both ready to take off and really stand out in the NFL. Having Jackson for the entire year this year would make a huge difference. He may very well be our MVP and one of the top 5 RBs in the NFL. We really need a combo nickname for Jax and Spill.

 

5. S. Gilmore and A. Williams will be a huge improvement over what we had last year. Gilmore will start from Day 1 and could be a shutdown corner for us, which is something that every successful team needs. McKelvin is in his contract year and looks to be highly motivated to prove himself this year. McGee comes back and adds quality depth. Brooks and Rogers are young and hungry and should help to improve our ST.

 

6. Wilson and Byrd form one of the best safety duos in the entire league. Wilson's big play ability was sorely missed when he was injured last year. Byrd should greatly benefit from the much improved pass rush and start to rack up the INTs like he once did in his rookie year.

 

7. C. Glenn gives us the prototypical LT to protect Fitz's blindside. His size alone will make it tough for pass rushers to get around him. His bulk will be a huge boost for the running game.

 

8. Not a lot of big names at the WR position, but having guys like D. Jones, Easley, Hagan, B. Smith, and Graham for a full season gives us a receiving corps by committee that is pretty diverse. D. Jones appears to be coming into his own. Hagan showed last year that he can be productive. B. Smith provides good size and athleticism. Easley and Graham have the speed to stretch the defense. These guys are good compliments to the uncoverable St. Johnson and the solid pssession receiver that is S. Nelson.

 

9. V. Young and B. Smith could be a deadly combination when used on the field at the same time. Young is a big, strong, superb athlete who you know Gailey will find a way to use to his best advantage. Smith is pretty much the same thing. With much more time to be creative expect Gailey to find a way to get these two guys on the field so that they can make their just contributions. I'm very excited to see these guys in a Bills uniform for a full season. Before Gailey went away from the Wildcat about halfway through the season, Smith was having a lot of success in the Wildcat in converting third and short situations. Now Gailey has QB Coach, Mark Lee, the architect of the Wildcat to help him devise plays for guys like Smith, Young, Jackson, Spiller, and St. Johnson.

 

10. QB Coach, M. Lee, may turn out to be the best off season acquisition of all. That's because he is working to improve Fitz's mechanics and overall footwork, which could help Fitz to be a much more consistently good to great QB. Since the QB position is such an important position, helping Fitz go from good to great would be the best improvement of all.

 

11. LBs K. Sheppard and K. Morrison were both on the roster last year, but didn't play prominent roles. Since they are both better suited to be 4-3 LBs we should expect much more production from them. Wanny really seems to love Sheppard in the MLB role and Morrison, while not a big name, is certainly a proven veteran player who is a tackling machine and who is accustomed to be successful in the 4-3.

 

Overall, the Bills have lost very little (CB D. Florence/LT D. Bell - both replaced by better players), but have gained so much.

 

As a life long Bills fan, this has to be the best off season for the Bills in their history. It gives me the same feeling as when B. Polian traded two R1 picks for OLB C. Bennett.

 

The Kool-Aid tastes great.

 

You are overboard with most of this.

 

Specifically, I like Byrd and Wilson but I would hardly classify them either individually or collectively as elite. They are good, not great players.

Edited June 17, 2012 by jumbalaya

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

What are the differences this year from last year's team??

 

Here are the highlights:

 

1. Wannstedt is the new DC. This should be a big improvement unto itself. Our guys are better suited to be in the 4-3 because the D-line is now a huge strength....easily the deepest position group on the roster.

 

2. Gailey has more time to implement his offensive system and do what he does best.......be creative. Most of the offensive players have at least a year in the offensive system, which makes it a much more comfortable situation for them.

 

3. The D-line is stud-like. M. Williams and M. Anderson have been added. We had nobody last year who could rush the passer like they can. K. Williiams and S. Merriman are available for the entire season. Both are dominant players when healthy. Dareus is now a vet. What a great player he already is. I expect Dareus and M. Williams to put in Pro Bowl performances this year. D. Edwards, Sp. Johnson, and C. Kelsay are no longer required to be starters, but they make for very good role players.

 

4. F. Jackson and CJ Spiller are both ready to take off and really stand out in the NFL. Having Jackson for the entire year this year would make a huge difference. He may very well be our MVP and one of the top 5 RBs in the NFL. We really need a combo nickname for Jax and Spill.

 

5. S. Gilmore and A. Williams will be a huge improvement over what we had last year. Gilmore will start from Day 1 and could be a shutdown corner for us, which is something that every successful team needs. McKelvin is in his contract year and looks to be highly motivated to prove himself this year. McGee comes back and adds quality depth. Brooks and Rogers are young and hungry and should help to improve our ST.

 

6. Wilson and Byrd form one of the best safety duos in the entire league. Wilson's big play ability was sorely missed when he was injured last year. Byrd should greatly benefit from the much improved pass rush and start to rack up the INTs like he once did in his rookie year.

 

7. C. Glenn gives us the prototypical LT to protect Fitz's blindside. His size alone will make it tough for pass rushers to get around him. His bulk will be a huge boost for the running game.

 

8. Not a lot of big names at the WR position, but having guys like D. Jones, Easley, Hagan, B. Smith, and Graham for a full season gives us a receiving corps by committee that is pretty diverse. D. Jones appears to be coming into his own. Hagan showed last year that he can be productive. B. Smith provides good size and athleticism. Easley and Graham have the speed to stretch the defense. These guys are good compliments to the uncoverable St. Johnson and the solid pssession receiver that is S. Nelson.

 

9. V. Young and B. Smith could be a deadly combination when used on the field at the same time. Young is a big, strong, superb athlete who you know Gailey will find a way to use to his best advantage. Smith is pretty much the same thing. With much more time to be creative expect Gailey to find a way to get these two guys on the field so that they can make their just contributions. I'm very excited to see these guys in a Bills uniform for a full season. Before Gailey went away from the Wildcat about halfway through the season, Smith was having a lot of success in the Wildcat in converting third and short situations. Now Gailey has QB Coach, Mark Lee, the architect of the Wildcat to help him devise plays for guys like Smith, Young, Jackson, Spiller, and St. Johnson.

 

10. QB Coach, M. Lee, may turn out to be the best off season acquisition of all. That's because he is working to improve Fitz's mechanics and overall footwork, which could help Fitz to be a much more consistently good to great QB. Since the QB position is such an important position, helping Fitz go from good to great would be the best improvement of all.

 

11. LBs K. Sheppard and K. Morrison were both on the roster last year, but didn't play prominent roles. Since they are both better suited to be 4-3 LBs we should expect much more production from them. Wanny really seems to love Sheppard in the MLB role and Morrison, while not a big name, is certainly a proven veteran player who is a tackling machine and who is accustomed to be successful in the 4-3.

 

Overall, the Bills have lost very little (CB D. Florence/LT D. Bell - both replaced by better players), but have gained so much.

 

As a life long Bills fan, this has to be the best off season for the Bills in their history. It gives me the same feeling as when B. Polian traded two R1 picks for OLB C. Bennett.

 

The front office, as they have been saying clearly have and are executing their plan. They pretty much nailed the checklist of areas that needed improvement. Of course they may not all pan out, but there is a concrete action on every issue.

 

 

No d line pressure-- acquired two ends, while two other probowlers were shut down and ir'd to get chronic injuries repaired. They may be as healthy as any time in their career. In essence that is 3 probowler veterans and a productive third down pass rusher with 34 sacks in four seasons all under 30, added to the 1-7 defense of last year.

 

 

Inconsistent CB play - picked a Top db prospect to add to a promising second year college star. Added another potential future starter in brooks.

 

Fitz inconstancy- added lee qb coach with expertise in mechanics. He will either fix him or we can conclude its time to move on.

 

Back up qb stinks.... Enter VY

 

D scheme failed to keep opponents guessing, could not pressure or hold the edge- Edwards fired, wanny in...

 

Ralph is cheap- managed to pry him off of his check book

 

Lb depth- bradham, tank

 

Talented free agents at risk of losing- Signed Stevie, resigned chandler and extended Jackson

 

High upside LT needed- Second rd pick a big guy with lots of upside....

 

 

 

The only Box I dont See checked is big, tall, fast wr and that's not bad for one of season.

Edited June 17, 2012 by over 20 years of fanhood

[cjatcreek07]

I drink the kool-aid every year but this year is different and is gonna be something special, something us fans have deserved for 10+ years. As long as we stay healthy that is. A big if but we are due for a year when all of our studs stayhealthy

[sllib olaffub]

Yeah, this offseason has really been a "all the chips are in" kind of offseason. One exciting thing about this is when teams usually "go all in" it is when they've been together and getting close for years and, with time running out, do something drastic to try to take the championship with a one or two year window (like Vikings bringing in Favre). However, the Bills are getting loaded up and it looks like they can manage a 4-5 year window with most of this team. As good as we're hoping they are going to be, we've still got a few years of adjustments and improvements that can be made if for some reason it doesn't happen for us this year. As Nix implied when he got here - he has built this team right. And that feels good!

 

He has even gone so far as to line up his replacement! So, when Nix leaves in maybe 2 or 3 years, we don't have to worry that things will collapse.

 

And, as others have here suggested, for one offseason we've pretty much gotten better everywhere we thought we needed to at last season's end, and with the players we've added, this roster offers both O.C. and D.C. a great deal of flexibility in attacking and defending our opposition.

[BillyBaroo]

Last I checked the Patriots are still in our division

[Whites Bay]

Last I checked the Patriots are still in our division

 

Absolutely correct. Here's the thing, however. There was a time back in 1993? 1996? 1997? If you were a Pats* fan. all you saw on the schedule when "Buffalo" was involved was a big, fat "L". That was a long time ago. You don't remember it, I barely do, and the majority of the Pats* Nation certainly doesn't. But times changed, didn't they?

 

I don't care about the Pats* being in the AFC East. Here's the gig - this may be the year that the Bills start their own winning streak. I'm thinking about sweeping the Pats* in the regular season, and then spanking their loose-lipped fairy bottoms in a Wild Card game. That would be three in a row, and four of the last five. Would you start to believe then? Because the odds of that happening are greater than getting swept by the Pats * this year.

 

Deal with it.

 

"Tomorrow's Girls" - Donald Fagan

[ganesh]

The biggest improvement is going to come because of the DL. When that DL can stop the run and apply pressure, the DBs will suddenly become outstanding.

 

If this D can cause havoc and shorten the field for the offense, this team has a chance. Then it is up to Fitz and Chan to execute and put the games away.

 

The team for a change has talent on its side. It is up to the coaching staff to turn that into wins.

[muffmonster]

Wanny isn't that huge. Only like 6'2" maybe 190lbs?

 

His stache is atleast 40 pounds of fury. Just saying.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

I don't disagree much with any of your comments, last year at this time many of those same things were true Merriman and Fred Jackson for a full season, how'd that work out. If the Bills can stay fairly injury free for most of the year, I agree it could be an exciting year, but need for that to happen first. Safety's are good, don't consdier them one of the best in the league and Glenn could be the answer at LT, but we don't know yet. He also could end up being the RT in the end too. Lets see how it works out.

[machine gun kelly]

Some nice comments, and why not drink that kool-aid now? I'm sick of looking at an off season, our FO, Coaching, and acquisitions (or lack there of) and feel like how long will it take for us to impplode?

 

We are getting closer. The nice thing as a previous writer posted, Buddy is building a healthy, young viable team with decent cap space so we can retain our decent players. We can if done right maintain these guys for some time. This is an easy schedule on paper like the Mularky year. We could benefit from a good run, maybe 10-6, and a wildcard game. The test is next year do we keep Levitre and others on the block with their contract, stick to this plan, and then get a top WR, athletic TE, and more LB depth.

 

We do this and we could be here for awhile. As a side note, don't you hate listening on programs like NFL Radio, complaining or whining Steelers, or Ravens, or Giants fans. I want to call in afterwards, and just say "come over to our world for a decade, and just shut up."

 

Go Bills!!

[ChanOverChin]

Regarding our safeties, Wilson and Byrd, SI (an unbiased, knowledgeable, respected publication) published a ranking of all of the SSs and FSs in the NFL earlier this year and believe it or not they had G. Wilson listed as the #3 overall SS and Byrd as the #2 overall FS.

 

I'm not saying that I necessarily agree or disagree with that, but I think once you have seen that you start to realize that both of these guys are pretty darn good and very respected around the league.

 

Wilson was having a great year last year until he got injured. Byrd has always been solid. He had an unbelievable rookie year.

 

I think people are going to see how much of a difference that having a dominant pass rush can make for the guys in the secondary. We have virtually no pass rush last year. This year, I expect that we'll have one of the best..............and that should translate into a lot of sacks and turnovers. it should also make things a lot easier for guys like Wilson and Byrd, who could very well prove to be deserving of the rankings that SI gave them.

[Mr. WEO]

Absolutely correct. Here's the thing, however. There was a time back in 1993? 1996? 1997? If you were a Pats* fan. all you saw on the schedule when "Buffalo" was involved was a big, fat "L". That was a long time ago. You don't remember it, I barely do, and the majority of the Pats* Nation certainly doesn't. But times changed, didn't they?

 

I don't care about the Pats* being in the AFC East. Here's the gig - this may be the year that the Bills start their own winning streak. I'm thinking about sweeping the Pats* in the regular season, and then spanking their loose-lipped fairy bottoms in a Wild Card game. That would be three in a row, and four of the last five. Would you start to believe then? Because the odds of that happening are greater than getting swept by the Pats * this year.

 

Deal with it.

 

"Tomorrow's Girls" - Donald Fagan

 

Here's the thing/gig--the Bills lost to the pats 3 out of 4 games in 96-97. Your memory is worse than you thought.

 

But if the Bills sweep and beat NE in the playoffs this year, everyone will Billieve...

[hondo in seattle]

The Kool-Aid tastes great.

 

You are overboard with most of this.

 

Specifically, I like Byrd and Wilson but I would hardly classify them either individually or collectively as elite. They are good, not great players.

 

Yeah.... gotta to love the optimism but a lot of this goes too far for me. I also wouldn't classify Byrd-Wilson elite though it will be interesting to see what they do with a better pass rush. Glenn may be a superstar someday but right now he's unproven as a NFL LT, and as a rookie will make rookie mistakes. The remarks about our WR corps says we only have one legitimate starter but lots of good backups. That isn't ideal. Brad Smith and VY being in the same backfield a deadly combination? I doubt we'll see that very much.

 

 

But overall I have to agree, the Bills improved on many fronts.

Edited June 18, 2012 by hondo in seattle