The Bills will be better in 2024 and everyone overreacted

[ToGoGo]

I also think revamping the coaching will be what sets us apart this year. 
 

We are two years away from a SB in my opinion. But I do see us surprising the country with our record. 

[Shaw66]

Well, Transplant, I've gotta agree with you.   I mean, it isn't a sure thing, but I think that a lot of people around here, if they're honest with themselves in December, are going to realize that they were too pessimistic.  

 

I won't rehash all that you said, but I do want to comment on a few things.  

 

First, the thing that has me worried the most are the safeties.  The safeties play a really important role in this defense, and Poyer and Hyde were a magnificent combination.  They were better than the sum of their parts, and I worry that they won't be replaced easily.  Rapp didn't impress me the way Poyer and Hyde did; maybe he'll be better in his second year in the system, but he'll only be better if he has a good running mate back there.   Whoever it is, it's not likely that they'll develop in one season the chemistry that Poyer and Hyde had.   I hope I'm wrong, but that's the position that I think can hold back the progress of the team. 

 

You didn't say much about the draft because, of course, we have no idea who's coming and what positions they'll play.   I agree that Beane will use his excess picks to move up; I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with only 7 picks.  What you didn't say, exactly, is that the Bills will add at least two, maybe 3, possibly 4 starters in the draft.   Not starters in September, but significant contributors by December.  First round guy is almost certainly going to play - Beane seems to have missed on Elam, but it isn't likely to happen again.  We saw what Kincaid added by December last season, and if the Bills take a receiver, we can expect more of the same.  Second round, last season the Bills got a starter who moved in right away, and the season before they got Cook, who by December had taken Motor's starting slot, effectively.  A third or fourth round corner or safety easily could be playing later in the season.  The point is, the Bills will be better because they're going to get some serious help at three or four positions.  

 

Someone said the starting center isn't on the team yet, and I agree with that.  But if he is on the team, I have a lot of confidence that Beane and Kromer know what they're doing.  

 

I agree about Miller.   Gunner says he's done, and Gunner's right a lot of the time, but I think it takes more than a year to recover from that injury, really recover.  

 

Finally, like you, I have a lot of confidence in Brady.  I think the offense is going to hum like we haven't seen in a few years.   I agree that Diggs almost certainly played hurt for the second half of the season.  He wasn't in a funk; he just stopped making the plays he usually made, and his body language said he was trying but just couldn't.   I think Brady will get more out of Diggs, Kincaid, Shakir, and whoever fills the #2 slot.  I think the Bills will be explosive. 

[Chaos]

8 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

a lot of people around here, if they're honest with themselves in December, are going to realize that they were too pessimistic.  

This has not been an issue for the last five seasons.  What has been an issue is that in January a lot of people have to come to realize they were too optimistic. 

[ngbills]

1 hour ago, Success said:

 

That's kind of cherrypicking w/ Sherfield & Harty.  Did you like the Kincaid & Torrence picks?  Did you like getting Floyd?  Did you think Bernard would become the player he is, or that he was a bust?

 

We’ll most importantly last years team was not as good. It took everything they had and a late season push to get in the playoffs. The finish was not awful but can’t ignore what the season looked like.
 

i had mixed thoughts on Kincaid just because we needed a WR more than TE. I was concerned they would not utilize him correctly and was right about that. He still has a promising future though. 
 

No issues with Torrence again other than where is our WR. 
 

My concern last year and again this year is not having weapons for Josh. We spend too many resources on our depth bottom of the roster guys rather than bringing in a couple impact players. They are doing it again with these two to $3 million signings rather than a six to $8 million guy. That could easily be paid for by letting a cam Lewis walk or many other vets that could play Hollins role for less than three mil. 
 

 

 

[Success]

47 minutes ago, ngbills said:

We’ll most importantly last years team was not as good. It took everything they had and a late season push to get in the playoffs. The finish was not awful but can’t ignore what the season looked like.
 

i had mixed thoughts on Kincaid just because we needed a WR more than TE. I was concerned they would not utilize him correctly and was right about that. He still has a promising future though. 
 

No issues with Torrence again other than where is our WR. 
 

My concern last year and again this year is not having weapons for Josh. We spend too many resources on our depth bottom of the roster guys rather than bringing in a couple impact players. They are doing it again with these two to $3 million signings rather than a six to $8 million guy. That could easily be paid for by letting a cam Lewis walk or many other vets that could play Hollins role for less than three mil. 
 

 

 

 

We'll disagree on some of that, but you're not making unfair points.  

 

I think I might have watched the Pats do it for too long without having top wideouts.  The only time they really invested was w/ Moss, and that didn't pan out.  Brady made middlin' guys good & great.  I think Allen can do that too - but the offense needs to be designed better.  When you watch KC, you can see how Reid schemes guys open.  I'm hoping we see that now that Brady can come in w/ his own offensive philosophy.

 

I also think Diggs will be more or less back this season.  With Kincaid, Shakir, Cook & a 1st rounder who hopefully pans out like a 1st rounder - that's a pretty solid set of weapons for the offense.  

 

I get the Hollins signing.  We also need a ST ace now that Neal is gone.

 

[SCBills]

3 hours ago, Billl said:

Still remains to be seen who is going to replace the 7 TD catches and 10.5 sacks that left with Davis and Floyd.

The “hope” is that the answer to this question is:

 

-Von Miller

 

-No clue right now, but I’m tempted to say Kincaid if you need an answer tonight

[jaybills]

5 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

Your thesis is missing one vital ingredient … the draft 

Totally mentions the draft, jackass.

[transplantbillsfan]

5 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

Yep… 

 

Their receivers are currently worse than last year … and it looks like help isn’t coming in FA ..

 

 

I guess you believe WR is the only position on this team.

 

Interesting.

 

Also, our WR corps is incomplete at the moment, but losing Gabe in FA was addition by subtraction. He had a 50 something percent when targeted over the span of the last 3 seasons and Josh Allen’s Passer Rating when targeting Gabe this year was awful.

 

I also think Shakir is going to take another step this season and Diggs is going to get back to his 1st half of season form. A lot of this is my belief that Joe Brady will have an entire offseason to figure our how to best utilize his weapons.

 

Are you really worried about the departure of Sherfield and Harty??? Isabella/Hamlet can fill the Harty role and Shorter came into the league advertised with the Special Teams ability that Sherfield gave us.

 

So... one WR hole to fill in a deep draft at a time in the NFL when rookie WRs come in and contribute???

 

Forgive me... I'm excited, not worried.

 

But you're probably a blast at parties 

5 hours ago, bills6969 said:

Defense has A LOT of wholes that still need to be filled 

 

Yeah... for depth. Our starters are set outside of the Safety position. So it's either 1 or 2 holes on D depending on what you think of Rapp. And I really think everyone should brace themselves for a Cam Lewis & Taylor Rapp tandem.

[FireChans]

2 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I guess you believe WR is the only position on this team.

 

Interesting.

 

Also, our WR corps is incomplete at the moment, but losing Gabe in FA was addition by subtraction. He had a 50 something percent when targeted over the span of the last 3 seasons and Josh Allen’s Passer Rating when targeting Gabe this year was awful.

 

I also think Shakir is going to take another step this season and Diggs is going to get back to his 1st half of season form. A lot of this is my belief that Joe Brady will have an entire offseason to figure our how to best utilize his weapons.

 

Are you really worried about the departure of Sherfield and Harty??? Isabella/Hamlet can fill the Harty role and Shorter came into the league advertised with the Special Teams ability that Sherfield gave us.

 

So... one WR hole to fill in a deep draft at a time in the NFL when rookie WRs come in and contribute???

 

Forgive me... I'm excited, not worried.

 

But you're probably a blast at parties 

Well, we all know that you thought Sherfield was gonna be a big WR contributor in the postseason.

 

For those keeping score at home, Trent finished his postseason with 3 targets, 1 catch and 7 total yards.  So maybe you aren't the bees knees at WR e v a l.

[transplantbillsfan]

5 hours ago, Jrb1979 said:

The direction they are going makes sense and is a positive. There is no way they will be better than last season when they are relying on that many draft picks to fill holes. 

 

I'm expecting a step back this season and possibly next. 

 

Most of the holes the Bills need to fill are depth roles, but leave it to you to not consider the bigger picture.

[transplantbillsfan]

5 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

That's fine I hope that's the mentality they have but they won't have enough Horses to get to the Dance this year.  It's going to take at least two years of drafting to replenish the roster.  

 

And your initial post said you expect the Bills to be better in 2024 so that means you have them at least advancing to the AFC Championship game...I don't see that happening either

 

Getting Milano and Daquan back alone will be huge. 

 

In fact... thanks for pointing this out because the Bills were without TB and Benford against the Chiefs. Notice we were also without Gabe and our offense was solid and Josh was spectacular... just needed Diggs and Sherfield to make some catches... and I'm sure everyone would agree we can upgrade on Sherfield.

 

So yes, I absolutely think we'll be better.

[CaptnCoke11]

2 hours ago, ngbills said:

We’ll most importantly last years team was not as good. It took everything they had and a late season push to get in the playoffs. The finish was not awful but can’t ignore what the season looked like.
 

i had mixed thoughts on Kincaid just because we needed a WR more than TE. I was concerned they would not utilize him correctly and was right about that. He still has a promising future though. 
 

No issues with Torrence again other than where is our WR. 
 

My concern last year and again this year is not having weapons for Josh. We spend too many resources on our depth bottom of the roster guys rather than bringing in a couple impact players. They are doing it again with these two to $3 million signings rather than a six to $8 million guy. That could easily be paid for by letting a cam Lewis walk or many other vets that could play Hollins role for less than three mil. 
 

 

 

These free agent WRs are worth nowhere near the money they are getting.  I’m glad Beane doesn’t piss away money just because we need a WR.  

[transplantbillsfan]

5 hours ago, FireChans said:

Having a bunch of guys that would’ve been cut on a better roster does not make your team better.  It actually makes it worse. 

 

Developmental depth, bro. Not starters. As far as rookie "starters" go at this moment we need 2... and 1st and 2nd round picks are expected to start year 1 in the NFL usually.

 

Beane has spent money on vets in FA and the team has prioritized experience over youth in terms of depth. Now that's going to need to shift.

[transplantbillsfan]

5 hours ago, Jrb1979 said:

Realistically how much is going to change roster wise that's going to significantly make the team better? A lot of big names in Free Agency are gone, and rookies more often than not don't make an impact in their first season. 

 

This team will still be a playoff team as the rest of the division isn't good but they most likely are closer to a 10 win team than a 13 win team. 

 

Rookies at certain positions actually frequently have an immediate impact. One of those positions is WR, which will almost certainly be one of our first draft choices.

 

RBs do, too. One of our 3 RBs this year will also likely be a rookie.

4 hours ago, CircleTheWagons99 said:

McD doesnt really play the rookies much. The only downside I see. 

 

Allen, Edmunds, Milano, Taron, Dion, Tre, Oliver, Knox, Gabe, Moss, Benford, Kincaid, Groot, etc. all beg to differ

[pennstate10]

6 hours ago, FireChans said:

This is a terrible plan.

Not only has Beane never had a draft where more than 3 guys have “seriously” contributed day one, but to bank on the draft as a “plan” when picking late in rounds and having lots of day 3 picks is just awful when you know it’s a complete crapshoot. 

 

We currently have 1 starting safety on the roster. Why? Because every safety that Beane and co. drafted in their tenure here has sucked. 

Hmm

 

Just wondering if you can name all a dem safeties dat Beane drafted who suck. 
 

The way you wrote that there must be a dozen or more, so let’s go….

[transplantbillsfan]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

It doesn’t happen for another six week chump 

 

weeks

[transplantbillsfan]

44 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Well, we all know that you thought Sherfield was gonna be a big WR contributor in the postseason.

 

For those keeping score at home, Trent finished his postseason with 3 targets, 1 catch and 7 total yards.  So maybe you aren't the bees knees at WR e v a l.

 

Honestly... I stand by that. I wish we did trade Gabe and just let Sherfield roll in as the #2 because we would have had all the blocking and Sherfield's catch % throughout his career has been much higher than Gabe's.

 

I can't remember if it was a Sherfield interview I was listening to or a podcast but there was some frustration on his part in his lack of use in the offense. He got very few reps throughout the year.

 

But did you notice how our offense started humming after Gabe got hurt against Pittsburgh and Sherfield came in???

[PauleeeWalnuts]

I don’t know how losing Morse, Poyer, Hyde, White, Floyd, and Davis makes them better. I don’t know how an already depleted WR core that subtracts instead of adds makes them better. I don’t know

how a team that can’t get passed the Divisional Round doesn’t sign any impact FA makes them better. Sometimes people see what they want to see, but these Bills are not better, no matter what they do in the draft. 

Edited March 14 by PauleeeWalnuts

[90sBills]

13 minutes ago, PauleeeWalnuts said:

I don’t know how losing Morse, Poyer, Hyde, White, Floyd, and Davis makes them better. I don’t know how an already depleted WR core that subtracts instead of adds makes them better. I don’t know

how a team that can’t get passed the Divisional Round doesn’t sign any impact FA makes them better. Sometimes people see what they want to see, but these Bills are not better, no matter what they do in the draft. 

Agreed with most you said. The bright side is they will definitely get younger so it’s not all doom and gloom. 

[Trogdor]

This is a cry for help