SI's Andy Benoit: Buffalo Bills 2018 Season Preview

[Radar]

Don't agree with his could argue Bills roster top to bottom the worst in league. Still agree for most part with his analysis. I think our record last year a bit of luck and smoking mirrors. We look like a team ready to regress record wise while Bean and company rebuild franchise for future success. We appear to finally have management I have hoped for since the Polian days.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

38 minutes ago, Heitz said:

 

 

Really?  Reeeeally!?

 

Offensively the worst. Defensively the front 7 is bottom 5 and the secondary top 10. 

 

Probably a correct statement 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Edited August 22, 2018 by 26CornerBlitz

[Capco]

9 minutes ago, TheTruthHurts said:

Offensively the worst. Defensively the front 7 is bottom 5 and the secondary top 10. 

 

Probably a correct statement 

 

Yep.  It's certainly arguable that we have the least talented roster.  For example, I think the Browns have more talent on their roster, but the organization and coaching staff is a dumpster fire.  

 

The only positions of strength are secondary and RB.  WRs are probably the worst, TEs are among the worst if not the worst, OL might be the worst.  The front 7 doesn't scare anyone.  

[wppete]

National media has no idea about the Bills. Its a joke. 

[TigerJ]

The Bills are placing a fairly sizable bet on Trent Murphy, but he's another guy Benoit fails to mention.   I'm sure Josh Allen will have some growing pains, but honestly, I think his ceiling is higher than Cam Newton because I think he has more potential to learn to read defenses.  He's also done a lot to rework his footwork, which could be a key to greater consistency and accuracy in his passing.

Edited August 22, 2018 by TigerJ

[26CornerBlitz]

1 minute ago, TigerJ said:

The Bills are placing afairly sizable bet on Trent Murphy, but he's another guy Benoit fails to mention.   I'm sure Josh Allen will have some growing pains, but honestly, I think his ceiling is higher than Cam Newton because I think he has more potential to learn to read defenses.  He's also done a lot to rework his footwork, which could be a key to greater consistency and accuracy in his passing.

 

He very much mentioned both in the SI write up and with a Murphy specific tweet:

 

Jerry Hughes—who, by the high standards he set in 2014, has been up-and-down the past three years—is the only natural pass rusher. Free agent Trent Murphy was paid like one—$22.5 million over three years—but he’s more of a miscellaneous flex piece in a hybrid scheme. If he could truly bend the edge or penetrate inside, the pass-rush-needy Redskins would have retained him.

 

 

[C.Biscuit97]

6 minutes ago, TigerJ said:

The Bills are placing afairly sizable bet on Trent Murphy, but he's another guy Benoit fails to mention.   I'm sure Josh Allen will have some growing pains, but honestly, I think his ceiling is higher than Cam Newton because I think he has more potential to learn to read defenses.  He's also done a lot to rework his footwork, which could be a key to greater consistency and accuracy in his passing.

Is this real life?  Allen’s ceiling is higher than Newton’s?  The guy who dominated the SEC, won a heisman and national championship, set rookie passing records, went 15-1, won MVP, and went to the SB?  

 

At least, you have realistic expectations! ?

[Gugny]

4 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

He had the lowest yards/attempt of his career last year and 1.4 yards less/attempt than 2016.

 

He sure as hell did show signs of decline.  And now he's got a bum groin.

1 hour ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

[mannc]

1 hour ago, DCOrange said:

 

It's possible, but outside of the rookies, it's not like these players are unknown. They've clearly gotten worse on the O-Line for example. All three levels of the defense could go either way IMO. Same with WRs and RBs and the QB play will almost certainly be worse this year. I think the best hope is that Daboll might be a huge upgrade over Dennison.

I was a Tyrod supporter, but I strongly disagree with this.  You may recall that our passing offense was atrocious last year.  It's certainly possible that we get worse QB play this year, but I think it's at least as likely that the position has been significantly upgraded. 

 

I also disagree that the O-line has "clearly gotten worse".  Again, way too early to tell, but I doubt there will be much of a dropoff (if any) from Wood to Groy.  Loss of Incognito hurts but Teller has reportedly played very well so far.  And of course Cordy Glenn barely played last year anyway.   

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Augie]

It’s always sweet to prove them wrong. 

[DCOrange]

28 minutes ago, mannc said:

I was a Tyrod supporter, but I strongly disagree with this.  You may recall that our passing offense was atrocious last year.  It's certainly possible that we get worse QB play this year, but I think it's at least as likely that the position has been significantly upgraded. 

 

I also disagree that the O-line has "clearly gotten worse".  Again, way too early to tell, but I doubt there will be much of a dropoff (if any) from Wood to Groy.  Loss of Incognito hurts but Teller has reportedly played very well so far.  And of course Cordy Glenn barely played last year anyway.   

 

We'll have to agree to disagree. The Bills O-Line was looked at as a top 10 unit last year and it's potentially the worst in the league this year. For example, PFF had them ranked as the 7th best in the league by the end of the season last year and has them ranked #29 entering the season.

 

Tyrod was roughly an average to above average starter last year, and more importantly, he protected the ball at an astonishing rate (sometimes to the team's detriment). That ability to protect the ball, coupled with the defense forcing turnovers at an elite rate, is pretty much the only things that Buffalo really did well last season. Even with McCoy and a good O-Line, they didn't run the ball all that well. Obviously they didn't pass it that well either, but the fact that they didn't turn the ball over and also forced turnovers at a huge rate was easily the biggest factor in the team winning 9 games. That just isn't going to happen this year. I'm confident in Allen and think he'll develop into a very good QB in the future, but it would be very surprising if Buffalo gets improved QB play this season unless it's a result of a far better offensive system thanks to Daboll.

 

Edit: I’ll put it this way. Tyrod was #13 QB on PFF and #14 in QBR. I don’t expect the Bills starting QB in 2018 to be ranked higher than either of those this year. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by DCOrange

[TigerJ]

1 hour ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

He very much mentioned both in the SI write up and with a Murphy specific tweet:

 

Jerry Hughes—who, by the high standards he set in 2014, has been up-and-down the past three years—is the only natural pass rusher. Free agent Trent Murphy was paid like one—$22.5 million over three years—but he’s more of a miscellaneous flex piece in a hybrid scheme. If he could truly bend the edge or penetrate inside, the pass-rush-needy Redskins would have retained him.

 

 

Missed it.  

[1st&ten]

Who the hell is Andy Benoit ?  Is this what I'm missing out on by not being on twitter.

[TigerJ]

1 hour ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Is this real life?  Allen’s ceiling is higher than Newton’s?  The guy who dominated the SEC, won a heisman and national championship, set rookie passing records, went 15-1, won MVP, and went to the SB?  

 

At least, you have realistic expectations! ?

It's what I think based more on my opinion of their skill sets.  Heisman Trophy winning has never been a predictor of NFL ceilings.  The list of Heisman busts is a long one.  The SEC is almost certainly the creme of the college football conferences, but they still don't generally ask their quarterbacks to perform like NFL QBs.  As a rookie, Cam was an anomaly, a quarterback like nobody had ever seen before.   As a result, opponents' defenses werren't well equipped to strategize against him.  He's admittedly very athletic, and strong armed.  I think he is limited in his ability to read defenses.  He's inconsistent in his accuracy.  Those limits make it possible to game plan for him.  He's still good, but he's never reached the 4,000 yard milestone passing since his rookie year, and has a career completion percentage of 58.5%.  I think Josh Allen has shown the potential to be a solid reader of defenses.  The consensus of every media observer I've seen is that Josh Allen has impressed them in the progress he's made with his footwork, and that has led to significantly better accuracy.  He ranks second among the 2018 first round rookie QBs in ball placement accuracy.  Yes, that's a small sample size, and no, I'm not predicting he will be better than Cam Newton, but while his floor is still fairly low (but rising) I do think his ceiling is very high.

[26CornerBlitz]

16 minutes ago, 1st&ten said:

Who the hell is Andy Benoit ?  Is this what I'm missing out on by not being on twitter.

He's a very prominent football writer and analyst for the MMQB and SI. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by 26CornerBlitz

[SF Bills Fan]

He is right about some things like the O-line, but I would not say that this is one of the least talented rosters. You could point at the Patriots and say that outside of Brady, they don't have a talented roster, but they have players that fit their system and execute it well. Is that not how the Bills did it on defense last year? He even says so. Anyway, I like when the media aligns against us. "Us against them" is what fuels the players will and desire. 

[transplantbillsfan]

Couldn't disagree more.

 

I think we get double digit wins this year and firmly make the playoffs.  It's too bad these "experts" only pay attention to a handful of teams like the Patriots, Eagles, Cowboys, etc.

 

McDermott's changed the culture and our 2nd most important acquisition this offseason (next to our hopeful future Franchise QB) is an innovative OC who can adjust to the QB he has running his offense.

 

But it's all right, I like overachieving

[stevewin]

The way this thread unfolded it should be called the Andy Benoit Bills Hot Take Thread 

Edited August 23, 2018 by stevewin