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The State of the Bills - 2017 Version

ChanOverChin
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ChanOverChin RFA

ChanOverChin

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With the 2017 Draft coming soon here's the current status of the Bills:

 

Offense:

QB: Taylor

RB: McCoy

FB: DiMarco

TE: Clay

WR: Watkins/Holmes

O-Line: Kouandjio/Incognito/Wood/Miller/Parker

 

Defense:

DE: Sh. Lawson/Hughes

DT: Dareus/K. Williams

LB: Ragland/Alexander/P. Brown

CB: Darby/Seymour

S: Hyde/Poyer

 

Special Teams:

K: Hauschka

P: Schmidt

LS: Ferguson

KR: Tate/C. Brown

PR: Tate/Hyde/C. Brown

 

Offense: Under a new regime, McD and Dennison may be willing to give Kouandjio a shot at LT or they may decide to play Mills/Ducasse at RT. I happen to think that the O-Line is best with Kouandjio at LT. There is plenty of talent already on offense. Adding a dynamic WR and/or TE would make this offense special. Taylor running the Denver offense should be exciting because the blocking scheme is the best in the league. The designed QB bootlegs and rollouts will put Taylor in advantageous situations. Now if only McCoy, Watkins, and Clay can stay healthy for the majority of this year.

 

Defense: A new, simplified scheme should allow the players to play fast and be much more effective.

Sh. Lawson and R. Ragland are basically new additions this year since neither was able to contribute much last year. Alexander will be moved around and should be a big asset. Hyde was a very nice addition, given his leadership qualities and ability to play CB, S, and cover the slot receiver. Beyond that, there are definite holes that need to be filled, specifically at CB, S, and LB. Adding another pass rusher would be nice as well.

 

Special Teams: Hauschka had a rough year last year, but he is still a standout kicker with a superb long distance leg capable of kicking 60 yd FGs. He's a definite upgrade over Carpenter and could win some close games for the Bills this year. Schmidt is a top notch punter and Ferguson is a capable LS. Tate is a solid KR/PR who doesn't make many mistakes. Hyde and Ph. Brown add some homerun capabilities to the return game.

 

Given the above here are the Bills' needs by priority:

1A. CB - They need at least two to add to Darby, Seymour, and Coleman.

1B. LB - They need at least two to add to Ragland, Alexander, P. Brown, and Humber.

2. S - They need two to add to Hyde, Poyer, and Anderson. Re-sign C. Graham on the cheap. he can play S, CB, and ST.

3. WR - Ideally someone with better than average height and speed to add to Watkins, Holmes, C. Brown, Listenbee, and Tate. J. Butler and W. Powell may or may not offer some depth.

4. TE - Having two high quality TEs who can both block and receive is rare these days. How about just getting someone better than O'Leary??

5. DT - Quality depth is needed to add to Dareus, K. Wiliams, Washington, and Worthy.

6. QB - This isn't such a high priority anymore, but we may see the Bills take a late round flyer on a Josh Dobbs or Chad Kelly.

 

 

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section122 Veteran

section122

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With the 2017 Draft coming soon here's the current status of the Bills:

 

Offense:

QB: Taylor

RB: McCoy

FB: DiMarco

TE: Clay

WR: Watkins/Holmes

O-Line: Glenn/Incognito/Wood/Miller/Mills

 

Defense:

DE: Sh. Lawson/Hughes

DT: Dareus/K. Williams

LB: Ragland/Alexander/P. Brown

CB: Darby/Seymour

S: Hyde/Poyer

 

Special Teams:

K: Hauschka

P: Schmidt

LS: Ferguson

KR: Tate/C. Brown

PR: Tate/Hyde/C. Brown

 

 

Given the above here are the Bills' needs by priority:

1A. CB - They need at least two to add to Darby, Seymour, and Coleman.

1B. LB - They need at least two to add to Ragland, Alexander, P. Brown, and Humber.

2. S - They need two to add to Hyde, Poyer, and Anderson. Re-sign C. Graham on the cheap. he can play S, CB, and ST.

3. WR - Ideally someone with better than average height and speed to add to Watkins, Holmes, C. Brown, Listenbee, and Tate. J. Butler and W. Powell may or may not offer some depth.

4. TE - Having two high quality TEs who can both block and receive is rare these days. How about just getting someone better than O'Leary??

5. DT - Quality depth is needed to add to Dareus, K. Wiliams, Washington, and Worthy.

6. QB - This isn't such a high priority anymore, but we may see the Bills take a late round flyer on a Josh Dobbs or Chad Kelly.

 

 

Nice write up! I changed your o-line as you were missing Glenn. I also left ST alone as they generally don't play into draft strategy.

 

Blue = above average

Grey = Average

Red = below average

 

CB/S/WR are the biggest holes on the roster right now imo. LB is certainly a need but that group is passable. I feel a lot more comfortable with Whaley scraping the bottom of the barrel at that position. 3 big needs then a RT project, LB, extra DB would be our 6 if we were looking for a pure needs based draft for me.

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section122 Veteran

section122

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Section 122, sorry I listed Glenn as "Parker" as in "Glenn Parker". Giving away my age I guess in referencing the former Bills OG/OT.

 

I thought who the hell is Parker? :lol:

 

No worries. I appreciate the write up. I almost forgot about Ragland. Now that the year of waiting is over it is indeed like an extra pick. I hope he is as good as the camp reports last year.

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ALF All Pro

ALF

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"The Bills fit right in with these AFC South teams. Too many things have to go right for them to make the playoffs, and 6-10 is more likely. At least the combination of Tyrod Taylor, LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins should be fun to watch (health permitting)."



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GunnerBill Hall of Famer

GunnerBill

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The number 1 priority until they have an established franchise Quarterback is finding a franchise Quarterback.

 

But leaving that aside I would rank the priorities as:

 

1. Cornerback

2. Safety

3. Receiver

4. Linebacker

5. Right tackle

6. Edge rusher depth

7. Tight end depth.

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Buddo RFA

Buddo

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CB might be a major priority, but the schematic change lessens the need to take one with the #10 pick, possibly to the extent that we might not be considering it, unless someone actually drops into our laps. Even then, it's just as likely we would try and trade back and get more picks, should that happen.

 

It may be that they want to take a top CB @ #10, but it then becomes the situation that you will be doing that every 4 or 5 years, as you aren't going to be paying the sort of money that guy can get elsewhere, assuming he pans out. Unless you get really lucky in the 'hometown discount stakes', if you are using zone coverage schemes in your secondary, it is one way of getting better CB play 'on the cheap'.

 

Atm, we have 4/5ths of a good O-Line. Rather than another project, I'd prefer to look for a guy who can come straight in and compete for the job at RT. While there is a lot of criticism of Taylors passing game, (justifiably so), it certainly isn't helped by getting next to no pass protection from the right.

 

At WR I like the Holmes pickup, but feel we need to do more there. Listenbee is a very interesting prospect, but after being on IR all of last year, you have to wonder how much he actually was able to pick up, from the route running side of things - which was a weakness of his coming out. Is using the #10 pick on one a waste, if Taylor isn't going to progress?

 

Tbh, I don't care what our new HC says, we need to get better at the Safety position. Hyde is a great pickup, but I'm not convinced about Poyer at all. Irrespective of that, for all we had a whole bunch of safeties around the last couple of years, any of them not called Aaron Williams or Corey Graham, were rubbish. We, at the very least, need some decent depth there.

 

Speaking of depth, we don't have so much. Hopefully our first few picks come in and bump down some starters to depth, which is where they are best suited.

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Webster Guy Veteran

Webster Guy

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I still don't understand how they could let Zach Brown , a fast OLB go. Just leaves another hole to fill.

Maybe he was hurt, but Zach just didn't have a great second half of the season last year. Seemed to slow down from what I saw rewatching the games. It was enough for McDermott to be OK with us letting him walk.

 

That's the reason I think we will be going LB and corner in round 1 and 2.

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SoFFacet Rookie

SoFFacet

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Nice write up! I changed your o-line as you were missing Glenn. I also left ST alone as they generally don't play into draft strategy.

 

Blue = above average

Grey = Average

Red = below average

 

CB/S/WR are the biggest holes on the roster right now imo. LB is certainly a need but that group is passable. I feel a lot more comfortable with Whaley scraping the bottom of the barrel at that position. 3 big needs then a RT project, LB, extra DB would be our 6 if we were looking for a pure needs based draft for me.

 

It's extremely thin and they don't have the right positions. Right now we have two mikes, a 33yo sam, and a special teams cog.

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That's No Moon Veteran

That's No Moon

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It's kind of scary seeing it this way. I know I'll get beat up for this comment, but this team has a ton of holes. We need to have an amazing draft this year. We need a lot of players who can step in and play immediately.

You could say the same thing for the last 15+ years and you'll be able to say it next year as well.

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xRUSHx Veteran

xRUSHx

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The number 1 priority until they have an established franchise Quarterback is finding a franchise Quarterback.

 

But leaving that aside I would rank the priorities as:

 

1. Cornerback

2. Safety

3. Receiver

4. Linebacker

5. Right tackle

6. Edge rusher depth

7. Tight end depth.

Same old Bills always need a franchise worthy QB but opt to pay extra for other teams backups.

You could say the same thing for the last 15+ years and you'll be able to say it next year as well.

Next year once again QB will be talked about and once again same old Bills. Nothing matters till a franchise worthy QB is found to build around.

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