Do you guys feel right about FA/Draft and the "Process" ?

[PrimeTime101]

18 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

This is an interesting thread along with the over/under thread.  In 2021, the Bills lost nearly all their 1-score games, in 2022, they won nearly all their 1-score games.  The team learned a mental toughness that allowed them to prevail in the close ones. 

 

So are we better on paper?  The weak OL was addressed, as the Bills brought in 4 guards to shore up the OL.  Some feel this an over-investment, but as bad as Saffold was down the stretch, we didn't have anyone to supplant him.  Another hole is at LB, so we went for an undersized athletic guy with a huge wingspan.  We will see how that pans out.

 

The other major weakness was at WR.  While Gabe Davis had improved stats in 2022, many felt it wasn't enough to be a true #2, especially since he led the team in drops.  Knox's stats went down, McBeane let McKittrick and Crowder go, and signed two projects in their place. 

 

Deonte Harty (not Hardy, get it right) played two games last year due to injury, had a decent 2021, but doesn't impress on paper.  Let's hope he has the potential that McBeane sees in him.  Trent Sherfield has decent size, and we took him from the Fish.  But neither guy produced as much as McKittrick did last year, and that got him run outta town.  Took Shorter as a project in the draft.  I heard two things about him when he was drafted, that he's got great hands and that he drops a lot of passes.  Since even the draftniks can't make up their minds, not sure what I'm supposed to do with that.  WR is still a big question mark.

 

BUT...we got one of the best weapons in the draft in Dalton "Reuben" Kincaid.  If Dorsey can figure out how to use him, he could be the difference maker that renders the whole WR question moot.  Cannot wait to see this kid on the field.

 

GO BILLS!

For the first Sentence, I did this thread because I wanted to show optimism in how many would pick the top 2 choices over the bottom 2. I will be Egar to see how it pans out when we have 150 or so votes. 

 

Last 2 seasons we abused the OL not upgrading it enough, and I think McD/Bean wanted to put that to rest, no matter how much we put into that OL.. I for one am glade our first 2 rounds were offense. I think Harty is depth at best- I agree WR is a question mark, but what we just did was give JA another second to let a guy that does not open up fast enough open up and I think Kincaid will help as well in that aspect.

 

Well.. Well... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllll Written sir  thanks for the reply

[gjv]

4 minutes ago, PrimeTime101 said:

If all you think is buffalo just "Shuffled the deck" ? that's crazy man. We likely have a day 1 starter that locks up LG/RG and enough competition to fix the other guard position... Our guards were at times HORRIBLE... HUGE upgrades at guard. we got a big body TE/Slot man with significant ceiling and you think all we did was reshuffle decks like NE did? 

 

wow

Read the first sentence again. If there is a huge upgrade in the guard position, it will come from the draft. Also coming from the draft is our Big Boby TE/ Slot.

[BarleyNY]

We won’t truly know who we are this year until the playoffs. Everyone should be well aware of what can happen in a long and grueling season. That applies not just to the Bills, but to every team. 

Edited May 2, 2023 by BarleyNY

[PrimeTime101]

1 minute ago, gjv said:

Read the first sentence again. If there is a huge upgrade in the guard position, it will come from the draft. Also coming from the draft is our Big Boby TE/ Slot.

ha! sorry i missed that first part. I NEED MY COFFEE! SOMEONE GIVE ME MY COFFEE

[Udubalum07]

This team is an elite team.  They were 13 and 3 last year, in most years that gets you the one seed.  

 

The defense will be better if they are able to stay healthy.  To end the year Poyer was hobbled, Hyde was out, Miller was out, Phillips was out, Tre wasn't himself,  Elam was a rookie that was still learning, and then you had the Hamlin impact as well.  With some better injury luck and some development from the young guys, the defense could be better without Edmonds.

 

On offense, the two biggest issues were receiving options and the offensive line.  The guards will be improved and I'm still optimistic with a healthy offseason and his athleticism Brown could be an above average right tackle.  Adding some more slot options and adding Kincaid in the draft, plus Josh's elbow healing can improve the passing game.  

 

They also added a couple of running backs that will be improve their options for short yardage.  

 

There is a lot to be excited about. 

 

[PrimeTime101]

5 minutes ago, Udubalum07 said:

This team is an elite team.  They were 13 and 3 last year, in most years that gets you the one seed.  

 

The defense will be better if they are able to stay healthy.  To end the year Poyer was hobbled, Hyde was out, Miller was out, Phillips was out, Tre wasn't himself,  Elam was a rookie that was still learning, and then you had the Hamlin impact as well.  With some better injury luck and some development from the young guys, the defense could be better without Edmonds.

 

On offense, the two biggest issues were receiving options and the offensive line.  The guards will be improved and I'm still optimistic with a healthy offseason and his athleticism Brown could be an above average right tackle.  Adding some more slot options and adding Kincaid in the draft, plus Josh's elbow healing can improve the passing game.  

 

They also added a couple of running backs that will be improve their options for short yardage.  

 

There is a lot to be excited about. 

 

BA BAM! I agree

[damj]

We have more weapons on offense, but will Dorsey use them?

[SCBills]

We’re a top 3 caliber team:

 

Chiefs

Bills

Bengals

Eagles

 

I want to say 49ers but can’t get over the QB hurdle with them. 
 

We need to figure out how to match up/scheme better against the Bengals, but I do believe we match up well with KC, and while we were physically & mentally beat up end of last season… I believe we enter this year improved at OL, RB, WR, TE & S.  With expected improvement from Tre White, Kaiir Elam, Spencer Brown and James Cook.   Along with Year 2 of Kromer/Dorsey, McDermott taking over the Defense, a healthy Josh Allen and the additions of Von Miller and Micah Hyde off injury.
 

There a good bit of “hope” in there towards the end of my outlook.. and while hope isn’t a strategy, I don’t think anything I listed is unreasonable to think will be improved upon.  
 

Every team has some questions marks, ours are:

 

RT

WR2

MLB

OC

DL (until Von comes back)

 

RT likely has to be solved by improvement from Brown

 

WR2 could be Davis making a jump and/or Kincaid becoming that piece, allowing Davis to be more of a Weapon3 piece in the Offense. 
 

MLB.. no clue what we’re doing here.  Hopefully it works out. 
 

OC, another “have to hope” situation where Dorsey improves with a year under his belt. 
 

DL, I think gets solved in FA.  If Von is going to miss time, and maybe even if he doesn’t, we’ve had a good bit of smoke with FA DE’s & DT’s as well.   Also, I’m not worried about Von.. it wasn’t a catastrophic tear and he is a physical freak.  Just give us 80-90% of what he was pre-injury for this year and next, along with his penchant to step up in big moments, and that’s still the guy we paid for. 
 

This is a really talented team, with a lot of depth and reasonable hope that the weaknesses get ironed out before Game 1. 
 

Edited May 2, 2023 by SCBills

[Gregg]

The Bills are a top team and have had a lot of success in the regular season. At some point that success needs to carry over to the playoffs. So far it hasn't.

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

I was pretty lukewarm on the off-season until we signed Damien Harris. I don’t know why but if he can stay healthy I think he is just the type of back we need to compliment Cook. I began to come around with some of the other pieces Beane put in place considering our resources. With  the drafting of a Kincaid and Torrance I think we have improved the line to better protect  Josh and take pressure off Diggs. 

 

I do think a lot will fall on Dorsey and how fast he can get Kincaid involved. I hope they don’t hold him back and figure out a way to get him on the field.

 

Josh seems really focused and locked in this season according to him so let’s go. Take the short stuff. Do what we did opening week against the Rams.

 

I am not really worried about the D. There is enough there barring injury to do their part. 
 

I like our chances but it will be a gruelling schedule. I’d rather not even be considered the favorites to be honest.

 

 

 

 

 

[PrimeTime101]

10 minutes ago, SCBills said:

We’re a top 3 caliber team:

 

Chiefs

Bills

Bengals

Eagles

 

I want to say 49ers but can’t get over the QB hurdle with them. 
 

We need to figure out how to match up/scheme better against the Bengals, but I do believe we match up well with KC, and while we were physically & mentally beat up end of last season… I believe we enter this year improved at OL, RB, WR, TE & S.  With expected improvement from Tre White, Kaiir Elam, Spencer Brown and James Cook.   Along with Year 2 of Kromer/Dorsey, McDermott taking over the Defense, a healthy Josh Allen and the additions of Von Miller and Micah Hyde off injury.
 

There a good bit of “hope” in there towards the end of my outlook.. and while hope isn’t a strategy, I don’t think anything I listed is unreasonable to think will be improved upon.  
 

Every team has some questions marks, ours are:

 

RT

WR2

MLB

OC

DL (until Von comes back)

 

RT likely has to be solved by improvement from Brown

 

WR2 could be Davis making a jump and/or Kincaid becoming that piece, allowing Davis to be more of a Weapon3 piece in the Offense. 
 

MLB.. no clue what we’re doing here.  Hopefully it works out. 
 

OC, another “have to hope” situation where Dorsey improves with a year under his belt. 
 

DL, I think gets solved in FA.  If Von is going to miss time, and maybe even if he doesn’t, we’ve had a good bit of smoke with FA DE’s & DT’s as well.   Also, I’m not worried about Von.. it wasn’t a catastrophic tear and he is a physical freak.  Just give us 80-90% of what he was pre-injury for this year and next, along with his penchant to step up in big moments, and that’s still the guy we paid for. 
 

This is a really talented team, with a lot of depth and reasonable hope that the weaknesses get ironed out before Game 1. 
 

I think Browns injury has held him back... I think not having even close to an acceptable Guard next to Brown has held him back.. and yes that does matter.  I have a gut feeling Brown will look much better this year.

 

WR2 ? Hope... That is all I have... Hope... that he gets his drop issues solved and that he starts running more crisper routs.

 

MLB? Who the heck knows! By Committee and Milano takes over the play calling? seems likely. 

 

Rest of the defense, I think we will be ok over time... 

 

Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey DoDorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey rsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey Dorsey

 

I think that is the only question for me... Does he have enough help to "Figure it out"

 

the rest!? To the wind~

[ddaryl]

talk to me in November because the things I need to see happen will have to happen

I'm hopefull, yet still concerned. We're not trying to make the playoffs, the only goal now in winning it all and I have to see those improvements being consistent heading into the 2nd half of the season

[Drew21PA]

Team is only good as the weaknesses and I think we got rid of some

 

and brought on some weapons.  
 

time will tell but a couple things I feel make us better

 

mcdermott calling the plays on defense

 

josh is healthy and motivated 

 

dorsey has a year of learning under his belt and another offseason to figure things out

 

gabe has a year he can reposition himself and ball since last year was so bad - I may be the only one that thinks he comes out a beast this year 

 

added kincaid

 

rb room will actually hit holes 

and we will see more rushing attack imo with downhill guys and cook hitting strides year 2

 

isk last yeah I did notice by half way that Cook was getting SOLID gains and was starting to get it.  Then Dorsey would throw lol.  One in particular was the dolphins game where we ran two 15 yarders - then he has Josh throw to Beasley for a pick lol. Whatever it’s in the past

 

 

 

team is recouped from a crazy year that was 2022 for that franchise

 

poyer and Hyde campaign 23

 

von will be back So…..the defensive line will look legit 

 

offensive line DEFINITELY got better already with the acquisitions and subtractions

 

 

[PrimeTime101]

11 minutes ago, Drew21PA said:

Team is only good as the weaknesses and I think we got rid of some

 

and brought on some weapons.  
 

time will tell but a couple things I feel make us better

 

mcdermott calling the plays on defense

 

josh is healthy and motivated 

 

dorsey has a year of learning under his belt and another offseason to figure things out

 

gabe has a year he can reposition himself and ball since last year was so bad - I may be the only one that thinks he comes out a beast this year 

 

added kincaid

 

rb room will actually hit holes 

and we will see more rushing attack imo with downhill guys and cook hitting strides year 2

 

isk last yeah I did notice by half way that Cook was getting SOLID gains and was starting to get it.  Then Dorsey would throw lol.  One in particular was the dolphins game where we ran two 15 yarders - then he has Josh throw to Beasley for a pick lol. Whatever it’s in the past

 

 

 

team is recouped from a crazy year that was 2022 for that franchise

 

poyer and Hyde campaign 23

 

von will be back So…..the defensive line will look legit 

 

offensive line DEFINITELY got better already with the acquisitions and subtractions

 

 

Thanks for the reply mate. 

To the bolded?

 

[Big Turk]

Bills have greatly diversified what their capabilities are on offense and if used properly will be an absolutely nightmare to scheme against on D because no matter what you try and do you will be wrong.

 

Have specifically gotten people who fit different roles well and add a variety of skill sets on offense that will allow them to do just about anything they want and do it relatively well.

[Rc2catch]

Buffalo can beat any team in the league and I can’t ask for much more than that. Under Mcdermott I feel they’ve played down to their competition in a lot of games. I’m happy with the state of the roster. They have enough talent some of it just needs to develop 

[DasNootz]

Every season you think you're a better team after the draft... we cut waste and have some shiny new toys.  We don't know if the new toys are any better than our old toys at this point - they only have more potential because we already knew the others were replaceable.

 

I suspect with a few injuries, we'll be around the same place we were last season.  That said, I think the Jets are clearly better than they were last season.  The Patriots aren't likely better.  I don't think Miami will be better because I think they outplayed their quality last year.  

[strive_for_five_guy]

57 minutes ago, DasNootz said:

Every season you think you're a better team after the draft... we cut waste and have some shiny new toys.  We don't know if the new toys are any better than our old toys at this point - they only have more potential because we already knew the others were replaceable.

 

I suspect with a few injuries, we'll be around the same place we were last season.  That said, I think the Jets are clearly better than they were last season.  The Patriots aren't likely better.  I don't think Miami will be better because I think they outplayed their quality last year.  

One thing I’ve always struggled to factor in is players aging.  Early in a career, you hope that a player will see jumps in their play relative to prior season (a guy like Rousseau).  At the other end of the spectrum, it’s not unreasonable to assume that other guys’ performance starts to trail off due to age and injury (Morse, Diggs, Miller, Poyer, Hyde, White, etc.).  I’m definitely optimistic about the off-season moves, but one can’t just assume that all returnees will be able to play at the same level as last season as well.

[PBF81]

12 hours ago, PrimeTime101 said:

The offensive line and WR team was a huge weakness this offseason. So we signed some FA's at the guard position and at the very least created a ton of competition at both guard positions. We added a TE that can play slot as well and gave Josh Allen a target.  

 

Just pointing it out, but you do realize that we've said similar about the WRs & OL every year since we signed Brown & Beasley, right?  

 

I can see us being the best offense in NFL history, or being about the same with specific issues here and there.  

 

So much of this depends upon Dorsey and I'm not very confident in that regard.  

 

Give us a to notch OC and I see this offense rivaling the best in NFL history.  

 

Time will tell as always.  

 

 

[ColoradoBills]

Top 3 team might be debated but definitely top 4.  When you are that high it really doesn't matter much.