can the Bills win more with less talent ?

[r00tabaga]

The correct word is "probably".

 

You might want to stay away from the English language.

You are gonna really struggle here.

 

Good luck

Go Bills!

[NoSaint]

Still cant get anyone to give me an answer......

 

I will stop asking

Brown is a nice piece but to expect him to be one of the best coverage guys in the league is hoping for the best based on a good season 2 years ago in a different scheme. Could he? Sure. Will he? Maybe.

 

A third round rotational big body is not the edge rusher they were talking about. Could he have meaningful impact? Sure. Will he? Maybe.

 

Kyle and Aaron were lost last year. Yes. Could we get both for full healthy seasons? Sure. But odds are we experience injuries to them and/or other players. Heck is Williams even cleared yet?

 

That we get MD for 12 healthy and impactful games is again best case

 

But Mario is the only loss... If we only lost one guy that was sleeping on the field and gained a bunch of talent you must have us penciled in for about 13 wins, eh? Or are we a little closer to flat? No Lawson, karlos, Leo, Nigel, have Henderson still getting to healthy, salas hopefully fills for hogan, no Easley on special teams, a big question mark in dareus, no TE depth with the gragg injury and who knows who else will go down! (If you wanted to start spinning the other way without even touching the additions we weren't able to count due to injuries to our picks)

 

Truth is somewhere in between. Some spots should progress, some will step back. Ultimately it's mostly on tyrod though if the team will make it over the hump

[reddogblitz]

We're significantly better at RB with McCoy, Bush, Jonathon Williams, and Gillislee.

[John from Riverside]

Brown is a nice piece but to expect him to be one of the best coverage guys in the league is hoping for the best based on a good season 2 years ago in a different scheme. Could he? Sure. Will he? Maybe.

 

A third round rotational big body is not the edge rusher they were talking about. Could he have meaningful impact? Sure. Will he? Maybe.

 

Kyle and Aaron were lost last year. Yes. Could we get both for full healthy seasons? Sure. But odds are we experience injuries to them and/or other players. Heck is Williams even cleared yet?

 

That we get MD for 12 healthy and impactful games is again best case

 

But Mario is the only loss... If we only lost one guy that was sleeping on the field and gained a bunch of talent you must have us penciled in for about 13 wins, eh? Or are we a little closer to flat? No Lawson, karlos, Leo, Nigel, have Henderson still getting to healthy, salas hopefully fills for hogan, no Easley on special teams, a big question mark in dareus, no TE depth with the gragg injury and who knows who else will go down! (If you wanted to start spinning the other way without even touching the additions we weren't able to count due to injuries to our picks)

 

Truth is somewhere in between. Some spots should progress, some will step back. Ultimately it's mostly on tyrod though if the team will make it over the hump

So......wait and see

 

I can live with that

 

What I cannot live with are these statements the other direction

[chris heff]

You are gonna really struggle here.

Good luck

Go Bills!

No, I'm not going to struggle here, I'm just going to do my best to not appear ignorant. I'm not trying to be a pretentious jerk. I was trying to help out a fellow Bills fan. Edited September 6, 2016 by chris heff

[r00tabaga]

No, I'm not going to struggle here, I'm just going to do my best to not appear ignorant.

Cool!

 

 

Side note: Missing WRs Harvin & Easley from '15 and replacing them with Salas & Powell.....meh

[hondo in seattle]

Looking at the Bills roster this year I'd say they have less talent than the team that started 2015

 

Gone Mario Williams, Manny Lawson, Nigel Bradham, Karlos Williams, Chris Hogan,

 

Injured Shaq Lawson, Reggie Ragland , Chris Gragg

 

Suspended 4 games Marcell Dareus

 

What the Bills did not get done in the off-season - Big red zone WR, better TE depth, another pass rusher,

 

The good news is it seems Watkins, Clay, McCoy, and Taylor may all play together in relatively good health for the first game, IMO for the Bills to make the play offs none of these guys can miss more than 1 game

 

On defense I'll guess we will see if buy in to Rex's scheme can overcome loss of talent

 

All the guys you mentioned are backups, weak starters (Mario sucked last year), or untested rookies. I'm not sure the roster got weaker, especially when you consider how banged up we were last year. If we can remain reasonably healthy, this is a better squad.

 

Then you have to consider we're in the 2nd year of the reign of our HC, DC, and OC. The team should execute the offensive and defensive schemes better in Year 2.

 

Last year was probably the worst coaching job of Rex's career. I expect him to 'return to mean' this season. I think he's an above average - not great - defensive coach and will get the D to maybe #10 or so this year.

[fridge]

In my view, Mario was nothing more than the Bills fans scapegoat in defending a bad HC hire that took a team with playoff-caliber talent on both sides of the ball and only managed 8-8. Some Bills fans are still defending a coach who ruined a great defensive line with the wrong scheme and now expect things to change just because it's a different year. I'll believe it when I see it on the field.

 

100% this.

[4merper4mer]

Cool!

Side note: Missing WRs Harvin & Easley from '15 and replacing them with Salas & Powell.....meh

None of those 4 played/will play much. The big swing is if a healthy Woods/Clay will help. I think it can.

[DirtDart]

 

 

can people manage to post more with less ability to spell the starting QB's name correctly?

He meant Tie Rod. Silly poster, can't even spell our QB's name correctly.

Edited September 6, 2016 by DirtDart

[r00tabaga]

A healthy Clay = happy Tyrod

 

Maybe Colt Anderson will make us forget how good a gunner Easley was. Our WRs are not big which hurts in the run game & redzone. Woods can block but he needs to stay healthy.

[ganesh]

Putting Mario Williams #1 on your lost talent list negated whatever cred you had.

And Karlos WIlliams was an unknown 5th Round Backup Running Back at the start of the season.

[Peter]

I was once among Mario's biggest defenders. No longer. The guy embarrassed himself.

 

I do not know whether he will actually try this year, but some of the rumblings down here in Miami do not reflect well on Mario.

 

In the end, I think the Bills could get someone off the street to replace Mario's 16 tackles (or whatever it was last year).

[downunderbill]

I think so, but there are a lot of if's.

 

- If Tyrod continues to improve.

- If the Ryan brothers simplified defence doesn't continue to confuse the heck out the players.

- If they can get their plays in on time.

- If they could somehow not lose half their offensive yardage to drive killing penalties.

- If the defence would stop letting the opposing offense of the hook with stupid penalties when they were essentially stopped.

- If they get a break or two.

Ect...

 

So many if's, but if the execution improves, that would far outweigh any personnel losses. jmo

[downunderbill]

On aggregate, overall team talent is less than last year, at least on paper.

 

How can the Bills overcome that and actually be better?

 

If Tyrod improves substantially, everything else doesn't matter.

 

Another way: greatly reduce penalties with disciplined play on a consistent basis.

 

Another way: execution on a play-by-play basis. Quality execution and disciplined low penalty play alone are probably good for 1 to 2 wins over the course of an entire season.

Damn it, wrote my take above before I read this. Sorry for regurgitating your original thought.

[FLFan]

Cool!

Side note: Missing WRs Harvin & Easley from '15 and replacing them with Salas & Powell.....meh

Harvin played what, 3 games? Goodwin is his replacement. Hopefully he can play more than 3 games. Salas takes Hogan's spot as the 4th WR. A wash. Easley was strictly special teams. His loss could be felt there, but Powell looks like a better WR. We will see.

[JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS]

Poor baby. Rex didn't motivate him enough. I guess counting his millions wasn't enough motivation. Maybe Rex could have put gold stars on his locker mini-fridge.

Yes, motivating players is a fundamental aspect of the HC position.

 

BTW more $$ is a demotivator not a motivator - especially when $$ is "guaranteed". That's because they player is now more concerned with staying healthy so he can cash in, than winning at all costs.

 

Mario put forth plenty of effort when he thought we could win the game AND he thought we had a good shot at the playoffs. When either of these factors were absent he called it in to save his body for the next bank run.

 

IMO Mario was overpaid from the beginning. A good HC would have overcome the tendency to play it safe with some other form of motivation. Rex did not, in fact he practically chased Mario off the team.

Some Bills fans are still defending a coach who ruined a great defensive line with the wrong scheme and now expect things to change just because it's a different year. I'll believe it when I see it on the field.

Agreed.

[NoSaint]

Harvin played what, 3 games? Goodwin is his replacement. Hopefully he can play more than 3 games. Salas takes Hogan's spot as the 4th WR. A wash. Easley was strictly special teams. His loss could be felt there, but Powell looks like a better WR. We will see.

if goodwin is harvins replacement, who replaced goodwin?!?!

 

jokes aside, part of the problem in a discussion like this is how you try to square it up for apples to apples. do you talk about a guy like harvin as talent on your 53 but that he was lost to injury (and then address whether we are more or less likely to see injury)? or just wash him out completely?

[hondo in seattle]

I think so, but there are a lot of if's.

 

- If Tyrod continues to improve.

- If the Ryan brothers simplified defence doesn't continue to confuse the heck out the players.

- If they can get their plays in on time.

- If they could somehow not lose half their offensive yardage to drive killing penalties.

- If the defence would stop letting the opposing offense of the hook with stupid penalties when they were essentially stopped.

- If they get a break or two.

Ect...

 

So many if's, but if the execution improves, that would far outweigh any personnel losses. jmo

 

I agree. Too many if's. That's why I vacillate between 8-8 and 9-7.

 

And I get the pessimism regarding Rex. He did a horrible job on the defensive side last year. I just think his record says he's not typically a horrible defensive coach. So I do expect a bounce-back of sorts.

 

And if the if's fall into place, we're going to the playoffs!

[The Wiz]

You are gonna really struggle here.

 

Good luck

Go Bills!

Your!!!

 

We all make mistakes. Prolly hurt you're self of steam, huh?