2017 Buffalo Bills report card

[BillsFan130]

Qbs- C minus.... TT didn’t make enough plays throughout the year. Didn’t kill the team with his play but didn’t help the team. 

 

Rbs- B plus.... I would have graded higher if they didn’t have Tolbert as the backup 

 

WRs/TEs- D minus.... There really isn’t much to say here. Need way more productivity 

 

O line- C... Left side of the line was solid, right side not as much

 

D line- D plus... Very little pass rush, missed tackles in backfield .

 

Linebackers- D... Milano and Lorax were descent at times. Preston Brown and Humber seemed lost for the most part 

 

Secondary- A plus... By far the strength on the team 

 

Mcdemott- B plus... Seems like a very good coach Monday thru Saturday. Not a fan of his game time decisions/ clock management  for the most part . Hoping to see improvement with that next year 

 

Rico- D minus... I don’t care that he has minimal talent to work with. He is awful in every aspect 

 

Frazier- A minus... Did a very nice job for the most part. Obviously had a very tough 3 game stretch in the middle of the year. Can’t wait to see how their defence will look with pass rush.

 

Special teams- B... House money and Schmidt had very good years. The other stuff on special teams were pretty sketchy. (Like onside kicks for one)

 

Overall... Pretty damn good season by the Bills. Sure they got lots of breaks, but way over achieved and broke the playoff drought.

 

What do you guys think for their report card?

Edited January 8, 2018 by billsfan11

[Real McClappy]

Agree except at QB. How does the worst passing offense in the NFL equate C- at QB? Flip OC n QB grades and it's spot on.

[CommonCents]

It's easy to point at Rico with the way things went on offense but I'm going to reserve judgement until they get a qualified guy under center. 

 

The rest looks pretty good. If you put the TEs in a group of their own they would grade higher than the wideouts.

 

Zay is a zero, Thompson is TC fodder, Benjamin looks terrible. I know 13 is hurt but I'd be very nervous offering him anything long term. He hasn't moved well since being here.

[BillsFan130]

1 minute ago, Real McCoy said:

Agree except at QB. How does the worst passing offense in the NFL equate C- at QB? Flip OC n QB grades and it's spot on.

Fair enough. The reason I gave him a C minus is because of two things.

 

1. Took care of the ball

2. His scrambling ability on 3rd down.

 

I know where you’re coming from though. In terms of pure passing, then yes I would give him a lower grade 

1 minute ago, Commonsense said:

It's easy to point at Rico with the way things went on offense but I'm going to reserve judgement until they get a qualified guy under center. 

 

The rest looks pretty good. If you put the TEs in a group of their own they would grade higher than the wideouts.

 

Zay is a zero, Thompson is TC fodder, Benjamin looks terrible. I know 13 is hurt but I'd be very nervous offering him anything long term. He hasn't moved well since being here.

I was going to put TEs in their own group but got lazy haha.

 

They would definitely have a higher grade 

[Maine-iac]

I think Preston has been been on the better side of serviceable.  I have no problem with Brown.  If you have better play them but if you don't you can still play defense with him.

[BillsFan130]

1 minute ago, Maine-iac said:

I think Preston has been been on the better side of serviceable.  I have no problem with Brown.  If you have better play them but if you don't you can still play defense with him.

He has the occasional good game. But still takes the wrong gap, and bites for play action way to much for my liking 

[LABILLBACKER]

4 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

I think Preston has been been on the better side of serviceable.  I have no problem with Brown.  If you have better play them but if you don't you can still play defense with him.

Milano is the only one who survives. I can easily see Brown, Lorax and Humber all gone. They're just too slow. The whole front 7 will need an overhaul.

Edited January 8, 2018 by LABILLBACKER

[Happy]

Seems pretty fair.  Frazier might be a B+ since we got really sloppy against the run earlier this season.  Today, I think he could have adjusted more when Bortles was running all over the place by placing a spy on him.   He seemed a bit complacent at times.

 

What is a fair grade for special teams?  Didn't see this.  My opinion is a solid B.  Too many dumb block in the back and holding penalties.

 

[GunnerBill]

Preston was way better than Lorax. Lorax has been our worst starter all year until today... when he had by far his best game. He is a liability in coverage.

Edited January 8, 2018 by GunnerBill

[BillsFan130]

1 minute ago, Happy Gilmore said:

Seems pretty fair.  Frazier might be a B+ since we got really sloppy against the run earlier this season.  Today, I think he could have adjusted more when Bortles was running all over the place by placing a spy on him.   He seemed a bit complacent at times.

 

What is a fair grade for special teams?  Didn't see this.  My opinion is a solid B.  Too many dumb block in the back and holding penalties.

 

Sorry forgot special teams. 

 

B sounds about right. Hauschka and Schmidt were very good. Kick/punt returns were big issues though 

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Preston was way better than Lorax. Lorax has been our worst starter all year until today... when he had by far his best game. He is a liability in coverage.

He is bad in coverage for sure.

 

I just think Brown is way to streaky though . He also seems to bite for play action every single time

[Maine-iac]

14 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Milano is the only one who survives. I can easily see Brown, Lorax and Humber all gone. They're just too slow. The whole front 7 will need an overhaul.

I'm not opposed to change I just try to see big picture.  It's hard to upgrade everything but the secondary in one offseason.  I see it a lot like Milano and Humber.  Humber hasn't been awful but Milano brings a nice spark.  Milano plays better and he ends up starting.  When we have someone who's better than Brown get him in there.  At one point it looked like that would be Raggland but look where we are now.

[RiotAct]

Offense: C-

 

Defense: A

 

Special Teams: B

 

Coaching: B+

 

Overall: A- / B+

 

Drought busted.  ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!???

[Young34]

2 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

Agree except at QB. How does the worst passing offense in the NFL equate C- at QB? Flip OC n QB grades and it's spot on.

Not sure where you're getting your statistics for the passing offense.

 

31st in YPG and 31st in Attempts (Those correlate directly)

22nd in Comp %

26th in YDS/A

27th in Passing TD's

8th best in the league on INT's

 

Literally not one of these is "worst passing offense in the NFL". I get it, it's definitely not good by any means, and in the bottom 1/3'd easy - I'm just tired of people throwing around unsupported absolutes like they are fact.

 

Source: http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/passing

[Real McClappy]

1 minute ago, Young34 said:

Not sure where you're getting your statistics for the passing offense.

 

31st in YPG and 31st in Attempts (Those correlate directly)

22nd in Comp %

26th in YDS/A

27th in Passing TD's

8th best in the league on INT's

 

Literally not one of these is "worst passing offense in the NFL". I get it, it's definitely not good by any means, and in the bottom 1/3'd easy - I'm just tired of people throwing around unsupported absolutes like they are fact.

 

Source: http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/passing

Hot damn you got me.  Correction 31st - 2nd worst in the NFL. I did not realize we edged out the Bears by 14 yards not to be dead F'ing last. 

[Freddie's Dead]

QB - D.  TT didn't get any help, and wasn't able to elevate his game to overcome the handicaps given to him by the Bills.

RB - A-.  LeShady McCoy was the only playmaker on offense and nutted up, took the needle, and played injured in the playoff game against JAX.  Tolbert had some flashes, but we need a way better #2 (kept the grade from being A).  Travaris "Tavares" Cadet and Marcus "Charlie" Murphy show promise.

WR - F.  Granted, TT is your QB, but your drops, lack of separation, and inability to make plays sunk this offense.  Keep KB and Zay, but everyone else is fair game.  Expect lots of draft picks and FA activity here.  Zay is on thin ice, but I'll give the rook some slack.

TE - B-.  Chuck Clay was relatively solid, too many drops, inability to make a play when needed.  O'Nicklaus is better than advertised and will really blossom with a real QB.  Logan Thomas showed why he's third on the depth chart when a pass that hit him in the chest bounced off for an INT against JAX.

OL - C.  Manhandled far too often this year, the Bills running game sagged tremendously in games they needed it most.  The right side of Ducasse and Mills were pretty bad at run blocking, bringing down the grade, since Richard and Glenn/Dawkins were pretty good on the left.  Pass blocking was generally good, as TT usually had time to throw.  But again, he's TT.  Expect draft picks and FA here.

 

DL - B-.  Not enough pressure on QB's, too many big running games against us.  Kyle Williams is a warrior, but we're just not stout up the middle.  Losing Dareus did not affect us as much as many would indicate, as he just wasnt' putting in the effort here.  Losing Shaq Lawson did not help, but Eddie "Cale" Yarbrough and Capi"gool" could develop more next year.  Expect draft picks and FA here.

LB - C.  Too soft against the run.  Preston Brown was a tackling machine, but a coverage liability.  He may be too expensive to keep.  Ramon "Lolita" Humber and Matt "Cookie" Milano will likely stay on the outside, where they both showed flashes, although Cookie was outplaying Lolita at the end of the year.  Vallejo and Davis may also stick, but due to Preston Brown's FA, I expect draft picks and FA activity here as well.

CB - A-.  The biggest question mark coming into the season with the loss of Stphon Gilmore and the Darby trade.  CJ Gaines and TreDavious White did a tremendous job this year.  Very few 100 yard or 10+ catch receivers this year.  Lots of turnovers, great tackling, they gave us everything they had and more.  Backups Shareece Wright and Leonard Johnson were also solid.

S - A+  What else can you say about Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde?  Tons of turnovers, Hyde with a well-deserved 2nd team All-Pro.  they were the best unit on the team, by far.

 

K - A+.  HauschMoney, 'nuff said.

P - B+.  Schmidt has a bad habit of shanking a kick at the most inopportune times, like at the end of the first half against the Jagoffs today.

KR/PR - C-.  Tate showed some flashes, but the penalties killed most of his good returns this year.

 

Coaching - B-.  While McD has a good grasp of the macro picture, instilling toughness, culture, putting together team, he has almost no grasp of the micro picture, game/clock management, playcalling, 2nd half adjustments.  Dennison is terrible, but Frazier is pretty good, with a great D game plan against JAX.  But they failed to adjust when Bortles started scrambling, and that cost them the game.

 

The future is bright, but Dennison has to go, and we need a QB, DL, OL, WR, and LB to compete.  Lots of draft picks to fill those holes.  Gonna be one hell of an offseason.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Milano is the only one who survives. I can easily see Brown, Lorax and Humber all gone. They're just too slow. The whole front 7 will need an overhaul.

 

If Lorax could play more often like he played today, keep him.  He played like his balls were on fire and hitting would put it out.

[ganesh]

10 hours ago, Commonsense said:

It's easy to point at Rico with the way things went on offense but I'm going to reserve judgement until they get a qualified guy under center. 

 

The rest looks pretty good. If you put the TEs in a group of their own they would grade higher than the wideouts.

 

Zay is a zero, Thompson is TC fodder, Benjamin looks terrible. I know 13 is hurt but I'd be very nervous offering him anything long term. He hasn't moved well since being here.

THat is a chicken and egg thing.  Is TT bad because of Rico or is Rico's schemes are showing up as bad because TT cannot execute.  I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

[GunnerBill]

10 hours ago, Maine-iac said:

I'm not opposed to change I just try to see big picture.  It's hard to upgrade everything but the secondary in one offseason.  I see it a lot like Milano and Humber.  Humber hasn't been awful but Milano brings a nice spark.  Milano plays better and he ends up starting.  When we have someone who's better than Brown get him in there.  At one point it looked like that would be Raggland but look where we are now.

 

Milano survives and I would not hate Preston staying.  Humber and Alexander are not good enough.  Lorenzo is a $3.4m cap saving with no dead money for cutting so he has to go.  Humber staying at a low cost backup deal I could live with.  

[Rochesterfan]

4 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

If Lorax could play more often like he played today, keep him.  He played like his balls were on fire and hitting would put it out.

 

He can’t normally play that way because typically the other team has a QB that can force him into coverage.

 

His game today was part of the sell out to stop the run and we are not afraid of Bortles beating us through the air.

 

The Bills and the Jags are about the only team you can run that scheme against and get away with it.

[BobbyC81]

Special Teams-  Does Danny Crossman have something on someone at OBD?  Under his 3rd head coach and still has a job.  Considering who’s left across these 3 coaching regimes, maybe it’s Brandon.

 

 I haven’t seen any official stats, but here’s what I grabbed off Yahoo Sports:

 

Punt return avg- 10th

Kickoff return average- 24th

Punting average- 16th

Punts inside 20- tied for 15th

Punt coverage- Yds per return- 5th

Kickoff coverage, YPR- 21st

 

So, for the categories I listed, that’s 2 in top 10, 2 at average, and 2 below average.  Actually better than I thought but when you have a weak offense is average good enough?