Success Posted March 20 Posted March 20 7 minutes ago, FireChans said: If the Bills were the 3 seed in the AFC would you still say they were better than the 2023 team that was the 2 seed? It's not outlandish. After our early injuries, we were squeaking by the entire season until the end. Could have easily missed the playoffs just as easily as getting the 2 seed, as most fans know. Quote
90sBills Posted March 20 Posted March 20 1 hour ago, FireChans said: If the Bills were the 3 seed in the AFC would you still say they were better than the 2023 team that was the 2 seed? Seeding aside, to me, being better is advancing further in the playoffs. At this point it’s hard to envision the Bills advancing further than this past season. We’ll see how it plays out. 2 Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted March 21 Author Posted March 21 12 hours ago, FireChans said: Will the Bills win more games in 2024 than 2023? Yes I think they will Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted March 21 Author Posted March 21 On 3/18/2024 at 7:48 PM, FireChans said: @transplantbillsfan not to put too fine a point on it, but I’m going to create a character for you. His name is transplantravensfan. Here is his thoughts on the 2024 Ravens. ”I think it’s pretty clear that the Ravens are already better in 2024. QB - BETTER (Lamar gets another year with experience in Monken’s system. Safe to say this will only grow and help him perform even better than his MVP year. We also added Josh Johnson as backup who is Lamar Lite.) RB - BETTER (Henry is a star RB and Dobbins was always hurt. Gus was nothing special) WR - BETTER (Getting rid of Odell was addition by subtraction, he was clogging up targets for our younger guys. Zay Flowers had a great rookie year and is primed to be even better this year) OL - BETTER (Retaining all the same young guys who are only gonna keep building chemistry, and again, more experience in the Monken system) DL - BETTER (Locked up Madubuike who is a rising star on the DL and is only going to get better) LB - PUSH OR BETTER (Lost Patrick Queen, but we had already traded for Roquan who was a way better player because Queen wasn’t good enough, but we have Trent Simpson our ILB in waiting who was a third round pick who has a year of experience learning the system, I think he’s gonna rise to the occasion) DB - BETTER OR PUSH (Kyle Hamilton is a rising star and is only going to keep getting better. Rock Ya Sin is still a pending FA and I’m hoping we can bring him back on a cheap deal because he was decent last year, but even if we get a rookie or two, we have Humphrey as a vet to help lead them.) ST - SAME (We have the best kicker in the league and Harbaugh always has a pretty good to great ST unit) So there you have it. I think the Ravens are going to be better pretty much all around next year. We were already in the conference championship, which means next step is the Super Bowl!!!” Just to be clear, I don’t follow the Ravens that closely. It took me 5 minutes and their Spotrac page. Do you see how little analysis that actually is? Something I notice you did here--which you have a tendency of doing--is avoid the heart of the issue by deflecting. You imitated my post below with the Ravens as your case study On 3/18/2024 at 6:33 PM, transplantbillsfan said: The Bills are making moves. Ty Johnson back upgrades our RB corps from the beginning of the year considering how late he joined us last year. I think Curtis Samuel brings some serious juice to a meh WR corps along with a lot of creativity. Watched his highlights because I've never really watched him before. In particular I watched the year he was with Joe Brady in Carolina. Truly is Deebo light. Ran multiple times and for multiple TDs out of the backfield. Although I still think/want a WR early in the draft, I think our WR corps has already been upgraded with the subtraction of Gabe, Harty and Sherfield and the addition of Hollins and Samuel. One week into FA... this is pre-draft and with Blackmon currently visiting and a bunch of CAP space cleared, here's very simply the way I'll assess every position. Is it "better" or "worse" overall at this very moment. Better vs worse is NOT only determined by personnel, though. It's also determined by experience & chemistry building (like for Bernard, Cook, Shakir, Kincaid, & Torrence) and health (Josh, Milano & Jones) Feel free to disagree Coaching- BETTER QB- BETTER RB- BETTER (even if we only had 2, which we won't) TE- BETTER WR- BETTER OL- undecided (I honestly lean towards better, but I know I'd be called a homer. Center and LG are question marks, but I also think the right side of the line will be better) DE- BETTER (Already know I'll get pushback here based on Von. I will disagree. I really think Jonathan and Kline would be fine at #4 & #5 DT- WORSE (based on depth) LB- BETTER CB- BETTER SAFETY- WORSE (but honestly... if Blackmon signs and it's Blackmon and Rapp I lean better) PUNTER- same KICKER- BETTER Special Teams- worse So without a draft or a bunch of offseason acquisitions, unless you disagree with those assessments (and I embrace the discourse), I fail to see how this team will be worsenin 2024, barring significant injuries to its most important players. Now, instead of deflecting and trying to argue that "every fanbase can (and of course they will... they're fans) make the same argument that their team will be better and therefore no teams will actually be better" ... can you instead provide your honest opinions about where I was wrong and why? I provided 14 categories on the team and I think 9 will be better, 1 will be the same, 1 I'm undecided on, and 2 will be worse. Since the thread is about how the Bills, NOT the Ravens will be better in 2024, where do you think I'm wrong and why? Quote
FireChans Posted March 21 Posted March 21 3 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said: Coaching- BETTER QB- BETTER RB- BETTER (even if we only had 2, which we won't) TE- BETTER WR- BETTER OL- undecided (I honestly lean towards better, but I know I'd be called a homer. Center and LG are question marks, but I also think the right side of the line will be better) DE- BETTER (Already know I'll get pushback here based on Von. I will disagree. I really think Jonathan and Kline would be fine at #4 & #5 DT- WORSE (based on depth) LB- BETTER CB- BETTER SAFETY- WORSE (but honestly... if Blackmon signs and it's Blackmon and Rapp I lean better) PUNTER- same KICKER- BETTER Special Teams- worse 4 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said: can you instead provide your honest opinions about where I was wrong and why? I provided 14 categories on the team and I think 9 will be better, 1 will be the same, 1 I'm undecided on, and 2 will be worse. Since the thread is about how the Bills, NOT the Ravens will be better in 2024, where do you think I'm wrong and why? Sure. COACHING - questionable. I like Joe Brady, but he was an abject failure before on admittedly really bad Panthers teams. I think with this team he has a chance to fix his earlier mistakes. No opinion on the new hires for position coaches, they come and go in the NFL. As far as new DC, Babich has never called plays, right? That has just as much chance of failure as it does success. We could very easily see the “McD took over playcalling duties” week 4 article. QB - the same. Josh is still Josh. Trubisky over Kyle Allen is like being covered in ***** but having clean shoes. RB - the same. James Cook and Ty Johnson. WR - pending draft. I like the Curtis Samuel signing a lot, but if the Bills don’t get a good trait WR in the draft, there’s still a gaping hole in the core. I was a big Davis critic, but he is an NFL boundary WR. We don’t have one on the roster currently. TE - SAME TO BETTER. Kincaid, Knox and Quinton Morris. Maybe Brady uses them to be more productive, and Kincaid hopefully continues to improve. OL - worse. Downgrade at LG, switched our FA acquisition LG to C where he never really played in the NFL. The Cowboys shuffled their IOL a lot when he was there and he never stuck at center. I’m fairly confident he won’t be as good of a C as Morse. How much that matters is a different question. DL - same to worse. Von another year older. Daquan another year older. AJE back. The JAGs will continue to JAG. LB - same to better. Healthy Milano, healthy Bernard in year two of the green dot. Dodson was fine but I don’t think he’s gonna be missed. CB - same to worse. Douglas, Benford, TJ are penciled into the big three, but depth is a major loss with Dane and Tre gone. Has Benford ever played a full season? We are a twisted ankle from Elam starting. Yikes. S - worse. This is kinda obvious. Micah and Poyer are shells of their former selves and we’re still much better than the stuff they have now. Maybe McD can make lightning strike again and turn some JAGs into All-Pros again. ST - worse. I hate ST anyway, but Siran Neal was good at it. So worse, even though I don’t care. 1 Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted March 21 Author Posted March 21 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: Sure. COACHING - questionable. I like Joe Brady, but he was an abject failure before on admittedly really bad Panthers teams. I think with this team he has a chance to fix his earlier mistakes. No opinion on the new hires for position coaches, they come and go in the NFL. As far as new DC, Babich has never called plays, right? That has just as much chance of failure as it does success. We could very easily see the “McD took over playcalling duties” week 4 article. Joe Brady was the Passing Coordinator of arguably the greatest offense in College Football history. And he wasn't a Figurehead like Bienamy in KC. Joe Burrow has come out in interviews talking about what he did for them. As for that Carolina team, they were 16th (average) in offensive DVOA in 2020 despite having Teddy Bridgewater at QB, Mike Davis (???) at RB, DJ Moore, Robbie Chosen and Curtis Samuel at WR and Chris Manhertz (???) at TE. Your Monken comparison is ridiculous. If Brady got that group to be an average NFL offense, I think we can establish he knows a little something. Also, Babbich will obviously be supervised by McDermott, who hasn't even conceded playcalling duties to him, yet. 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: QB - the same. Josh is still Josh. Trubisky over Kyle Allen is like being covered in ***** but having clean shoes. Josh is a year older and more experienced. The age he is currently is when it's widely believed that QBs enter their prime. Plus we hopefully don't see a shoulder injury hamper him most of the season. Plus a full offseason in Joe Brady's system... see everything previously said about Joe Brady. 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: RB - the same. James Cook and Ty Johnson. WR - pending draft. I like the Curtis Samuel signing a lot, but if the Bills don’t get a good trait WR in the draft, there’s still a gaping hole in the core. I was a big Davis critic, but he is an NFL boundary WR. We don’t have one on the roster currently. Regarding RB, did you notice our shifted focus when Brady took over? I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I hope you watched the whole season and noticed that difference. Plus Ty Johnson is a weapon... moreso than Murray or Harris were. Whole offseason to utilize him. plus I'm betting/hoping Cook gets on the jugs machine more Regarding WR, I generally agree, but I also think the NFL is going to more of the "positionless" players. Plus, to be honest... we all agree Josh Allen’s best year was 2020, right? Josh's top 2 WRs were Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley. Gabe Davis was 3rd with John Brown just a couple receptions behind him. Mack Hollins had a year in Vegas in 2022 just like Davis's 2020 season. I still know we will add a WR high in the draft, but that only makes this point stronger. I could see the Bills taking a guy like McConkey because Josh really thrives with WRs who can separate, not the big "contested catch" guys. He had those guys in his rookie year. Remember how that went? 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: TE - SAME TO BETTER. Kincaid, Knox and Quinton Morris. Maybe Brady uses them to be more productive, and Kincaid hopefully continues to improve. Oh come on... seriously???? The TEs will obviously be better. 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: OL - worse. Downgrade at LG, switched our FA acquisition LG to C where he never really played in the NFL. The Cowboys shuffled their IOL a lot when he was there and he never stuck at center. I’m fairly confident he won’t be as good of a C as Morse. How much that matters is a different question. I said undecided for this, but I think Edwards at LG is really about the same. Dude was a legit starter in the NFL. McGovern is a question mark, but he has been a Center before. He's also 20 lbs heavier than Morse and as I've mentioned I know Beane wants a bigger, stouter IOL to account for the rapidly improving NFL DTs. I noticed you only brought up 2/5ths of our OL. Interesting.... 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: DL - same to worse. Von another year older. Daquan another year older. AJE back. The JAGs will continue to JAG. Agree 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: LB - same to better. Healthy Milano, healthy Bernard in year two of the green dot. Dodson was fine but I don’t think he’s gonna be missed. Oh now just shut up... all credibility lost. We get Milano back after not having him for 13 regular season games and 2 playoff games and you can't even just say they'll be better.... oooookkaaayyyy brooooo 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: CB - same to worse. Douglas, Benford, TJ are penciled into the big three, but depth is a major loss with Dane and Tre gone. Has Benford ever played a full season? We are a twisted ankle from Elam starting. Yikes. Douglas with a full season and offseason with the Bills???? Seriously??? And Elam was a 1st round CB who has made plays in big games. Plus lots of Bills media with their ears to the ground think Buffalo will shift to a lot more Man principles this season. I don't know about the other depth, but i think Ingram is a sleeper. Also, when has McDermott not made it work with CBs??? From milking the best from Kevin Johnson to EJ Gaines to UDFA Levi Wallace to 7th round pick Dane Jackson... McDermott is a secondary coach first and foremost and will make the secondary work. 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: S - worse. This is kinda obvious. Micah and Poyer are shells of their former selves and we’re still much better than the stuff they have now. Maybe McD can make lightning strike again and turn some JAGs into All-Pros again. Agree generally, but see what you just said about Micah and Poyer and what I said about McDermott. McDermott has a history stretching back to his time with the Eagles of making Lemonade out of Lemons with the safety position. We now have Taylor Rapp, Cam Lewis, Mike Edwards and Damar Hamlin. I think we add to that, but I also think McDermott would make that work. 41 minutes ago, FireChans said: ST - worse. I hate ST anyway, but Siran Neal was good at it. So worse, even though I don’t care. Neal wasn't very good this season according to film gurus. I noticed he's the only one you brought up... Interesting.... Quote
FireChans Posted March 21 Posted March 21 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: Joe Brady was the Passing Coordinator of arguably the greatest offense in College Football history. And he wasn't a Figurehead like Bienamy in KC. Joe Burrow has come out in interviews talking about what he did for them. As for that Carolina team, they were 16th (average) in offensive DVOA in 2020 despite having Teddy Bridgewater at QB, Mike Davis (???) at RB, DJ Moore, Robbie Chosen and Curtis Samuel at WR and Chris Manhertz (???) at TE. Your Monken comparison is ridiculous. If Brady got that group to be an average NFL offense, I think we can establish he knows a little something. Also, Babbich will obviously be supervised by McDermott, who hasn't even conceded playcalling duties to him, yet. Monken was the OC on back to back national Champion Georgia…. What was Carolina’s offensive DVOA in 2021? You know, the year he got fired? 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: Josh is a year older and more experienced. The age he is currently is when it's widely believed that QBs enter their prime. Plus we hopefully don't see a shoulder injury hamper him most of the season. Plus a full offseason in Joe Brady's system... see everything previously said about Joe Brady More “players improving” talk. I think we all know what this means. “Lamar in year two in Monken’s system is bound to get better, he’s a year older and more experienced, he’s just entering his prime” Yawn. 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: Regarding RB, did you notice our shifted focus when Brady took over? I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I hope you watched the whole season and noticed that difference. Plus Ty Johnson is a weapon... moreso than Murray or Harris were. Whole offseason to utilize him. plus I'm betting/hoping Cook gets on the jugs machine more Regarding WR, I generally agree, but I also think the NFL is going to more of the "positionless" players. Plus, to be honest... we all agree Josh Allen’s best year was 2020, right? Josh's top 2 WRs were Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley. Gabe Davis was 3rd with John Brown just a couple receptions behind him. Mack Hollins had a year in Vegas in 2022 just like Davis's 2020 season. I still know we will add a WR high in the draft, but that only makes this point stronger. I could see the Bills taking a guy like McConkey because Josh really thrives with WRs who can separate, not the big "contested catch" guys. He had those guys in his rookie year. Remember how that went? More players improving talk. Even brought out the jugs machine. The Bills are apparently the only team that has one. Ravens must have ran out of cash building the Ray Lewis statue. Yes, Mack Hollins has replaced our WR4 role. We don’t have a WR2. So it’s not better, yet. I concede it very well could be after the draft. 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: Oh come on... seriously???? The TEs will obviously be better I’m fairly confident Kincaid will be better. I’m not sure Knox will be better. Morris is a nothing player. But it’s still player improving talk. 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: I said undecided for this, but I think Edwards at LG is really about the same. Dude was a legit starter in the NFL. McGovern is a question mark, but he has been a Center before. He's also 20 lbs heavier than Morse and as I've mentioned I know Beane wants a bigger, stouter IOL to account for the rapidly improving NFL DTs. I noticed you only brought up 2/5ths of our OL. Interesting.... If Edwards was close to as good as McGovern, he probably would’ve competed for the job. Instead, he took backup money here after starting in LA. He’s clearly not. Dawkins is another year older and while he had a great year last year, he has been kinda up and downish (still a very quality LT). Spencer Brown had the best year of his career last year, hopefully he duplicates it but I’m not expecting him to suddenly be the best RT in football. Torrence we already addressed. Again, player improvement talk. Yes, I addressed the additions/losses to the group because that’s usually how you evaluate teams in the NFL. When you lose a starter and shuffle two positions, that’s what you talk about. AGAIN, every team has rookies or young OL players they expect to be better next year. Every team can say this. 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: Oh now just shut up... all credibility lost. We get Milano back after not having him for 13 regular season games and 2 playoff games and you can't even just say they'll be better.... oooookkaaayyyy brooooo Um, you’re the one arguing that Von needed two years to return to form. Do we even have medicals on Milano? We know there was a fracture but I thought there was something flittering around about ligament/knee damage. I thought same to better was cautiously optimistic, personally. 2 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said: Douglas with a full season and offseason with the Bills???? Seriously??? And Elam was a 1st round CB who has made plays in big games. Plus lots of Bills media with their ears to the ground think Buffalo will shift to a lot more Man principles this season. I don't know about the other depth, but i think Ingram is a sleeper. Also, when has McDermott not made it work with CBs??? From milking the best from Kevin Johnson to EJ Gaines to UDFA Levi Wallace to 7th round pick Dane Jackson... McDermott is a secondary coach first and foremost and will make the secondary work. Seriously. I get that you have this idea in your head that the off-season magically turns players into different players than they’ve been their whole careers, but it’s just not true. Douglas is an above average starter in the NFL. He played really good last year. I expect him to be really good this year. I don’t think he’s coming into the season at 30 years old turning up another level because of…. Babich teaching him cover 3 zone concepts in the Bills training facility for 2 weeks. I tend to agree about McD making it work with CB’s but part of that was having an All Pro S duo. It’s a lot easier to hide Levi Wallace or EJ Gaines when you have Tre, Poyer and Hyde on the backend as well. He also hasn’t made Elam work yet, which happens. Sometimes players just suck. Like Elam. 2 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said: Agree generally, but see what you just said about Micah and Poyer and what I said about McDermott. McDermott has a history stretching back to his time with the Eagles of making Lemonade out of Lemons with the safety position. We now have Taylor Rapp, Cam Lewis, Mike Edwards and Damar Hamlin. I think we add to that, but I also think McDermott would make that work. I think Rapp is fine. Damar Hamlin was a football disaster in 2022 so McD didn’t exactly make chicken salad with him in the past. This position group is worse, everyone agrees. So moving on. 2 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said: Neal wasn't very good this season according to film gurus. I noticed he's the only one you brought up... Interesting.... Neal was, again, a notable departure. Everyone else is the same. In your world, that means it’s better. In reality, it doesn’t. Bass was shaky last year. There was not, IIRC, any word on if he was dealing with an injury. Maybe he was. Maybe he just sucks now. Dan Carpenter sucked, then had an excellent run, then sucked. It happens. Like I emphasized before, you think “off-season = better player.” Tyrod gets another off-season with Greg Roman, he’s sure to improve. Oh wait, no. We all can be wrong sometimes, but you should try to learn from those mistakes. 1 Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted March 21 Author Posted March 21 6 minutes ago, FireChans said: Monken was the OC on back to back national Champion Georgia…. What was Carolina’s offensive DVOA in 2021? You know, the year he got fired? More “players improving” talk. I think we all know what this means. “Lamar in year two in Monken’s system is bound to get better, he’s a year older and more experienced, he’s just entering his prime” Yawn. More players improving talk. Even brought out the jugs machine. The Bills are apparently the only team that has one. Ravens must have ran out of cash building the Ray Lewis statue. Yes, Mack Hollins has replaced our WR4 role. We don’t have a WR2. So it’s not better, yet. I concede it very well could be after the draft. I’m fairly confident Kincaid will be better. I’m not sure Knox will be better. Morris is a nothing player. But it’s still player improving talk. If Edwards was close to as good as McGovern, he probably would’ve competed for the job. Instead, he took backup money here after starting in LA. He’s clearly not. Dawkins is another year older and while he had a great year last year, he has been kinda up and downish (still a very quality LT). Spencer Brown had the best year of his career last year, hopefully he duplicates it but I’m not expecting him to suddenly be the best RT in football. Torrence we already addressed. Again, player improvement talk. Yes, I addressed the additions/losses to the group because that’s usually how you evaluate teams in the NFL. When you lose a starter and shuffle two positions, that’s what you talk about. AGAIN, every team has rookies or young OL players they expect to be better next year. Every team can say this. Um, you’re the one arguing that Von needed two years to return to form. Do we even have medicals on Milano? We know there was a fracture but I thought there was something flittering around about ligament/knee damage. I thought same to better was cautiously optimistic, personally. Seriously. I get that you have this idea in your head that the off-season magically turns players into different players than they’ve been their whole careers, but it’s just not true. Douglas is an above average starter in the NFL. He played really good last year. I expect him to be really good this year. I don’t think he’s coming into the season at 30 years old turning up another level because of…. Babich teaching him cover 3 zone concepts in the Bills training facility for 2 weeks. I tend to agree about McD making it work with CB’s but part of that was having an All Pro S duo. It’s a lot easier to hide Levi Wallace or EJ Gaines when you have Tre, Poyer and Hyde on the backend as well. He also hasn’t made Elam work yet, which happens. Sometimes players just suck. Like Elam. I think Rapp is fine. Damar Hamlin was a football disaster in 2022 so McD didn’t exactly make chicken salad with him in the past. This position group is worse, everyone agrees. So moving on. Neal was, again, a notable departure. Everyone else is the same. In your world, that means it’s better. In reality, it doesn’t. Bass was shaky last year. There was not, IIRC, any word on if he was dealing with an injury. Maybe he was. Maybe he just sucks now. Dan Carpenter sucked, then had an excellent run, then sucked. It happens. Like I emphasized before, you think “off-season = better player.” Tyrod gets another off-season with Greg Roman, he’s sure to improve. Oh wait, no. We all can be wrong sometimes, but you should try to learn from those mistakes. Whatever bro. Call me a homer. You're an Eeyore. Serious pessimist who must be a blast at parties. I understand why people like you are the way you are when it comes to the Bills... the only way is up from your perspective. It's not that I doubt your Fandom. I just think you refuse to have a positive outlook even when the positive outlook is more reasonable than the negative. So much stupidity in your posts responding to me in this thread that all it clearly ends up being is Ad Hominem. You just leave out so much in your posts that I brought up that it's hard to take you seriously. It's like you just want to endure to be the last one in the argument no matter how stupid what you say is. Well, you win. I'm done arguing with you in this thread. I think your ego needs the W more than mine. Enjoy your offseason. I hope the clouds clear a little and the Sun pokes through. Come back and say hi and celebrate when we get 12+ wins in 2024 Quote
FireChans Posted March 21 Posted March 21 (edited) 36 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said: Whatever bro. Call me a homer. You're an Eeyore. Serious pessimist who must be a blast at parties. I understand why people like you are the way you are when it comes to the Bills... the only way is up from your perspective. It's not that I doubt your Fandom. I just think you refuse to have a positive outlook even when the positive outlook is more reasonable than the negative. So much stupidity in your posts responding to me in this thread that all it clearly ends up being is Ad Hominem. You just leave out so much in your posts that I brought up that it's hard to take you seriously. It's like you just want to endure to be the last one in the argument no matter how stupid what you say is. Well, you win. I'm done arguing with you in this thread. I think your ego needs the W more than mine. Enjoy your offseason. I hope the clouds clear a little and the Sun pokes through. Come back and say hi and celebrate when we get 12+ wins in 2024 I'm sorry that you feel it was "ad hominem." I told you from the jump that I found "another year/offseason, player will be better" to be a paper-thin argument that you could say about every NFL player in the history of the NFL, good and bad, and in your rebuttal you made it about 100 times. What else can I say? Make no mistake, I expect the Bills to win the AFCE, make the postseason and at least finish around where they have the past 3 seasons. Because McD is a good coach and Allen is a great QB. That's why it doesn't really matter to me if the Bills are a little worse from an overall talent perspective than they were last year. They are definitely worse from an overall talent perspective than the 2020 version where Tre White was still an All-Pro, Hyde and Poyer were in their primes, our bargain bin OL guys played at a high level etc. Players get old or injured. Teams have to reload their talent a bit through their franchise QB's (hopefully) 15 year career. Every Pats team during their dynasty wasn't always better than the previous iteration. They had years where their defense was elite, where it sucked, and where it was elite again. They had years where Brady was throwing to guys who were out of the league in two years, and years where he was breaking single passing records throwing to HoFers. It happens. FWIW, I think this discussion could be made moot with a killer draft, which is mostly luck anyway. Beane finds some late round high quality starters and some rookie of the year candidates, and at the end of 2024, we may all agree the team was actually much better. So we can both hope this our Seahawks 2010 draft. One last point I’ll add is that being the most talented version of your team doesn’t seem to matter all that much. This Chiefs team this year was probably less talented than their 2021 team. Yet they won the SB this year and lost to the Bengals that year. The 2019 Pats were probably one of the worst Pats team in their dynasty. They won the title, where the perfect season Uber talented team obviously lost to the Giants. Sure, in an ideal world, being the most talented team would be nice. But football is unpredictable, that’s why we all go nuts over it. So don’t stress so much @transplantbillsfan Edited March 21 by FireChans 2 1 Quote
Nihilarian Posted March 21 Posted March 21 I have no doubt that the start of the season might be a tad difficult until all the new players gain some footing. However, the only position that deeply concerns me is the center position. To me, that is the second most important position on the team because a lousy center can allow quick penetration to the QB. Simply can't have that on a good team. This team can't go into a season with "maybes" at center. 1 Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted March 23 Author Posted March 23 Now we get Austin Johnson. I think at this point every position on D will be better than 2023 except Safety now with our FA acquisitions, returning injured players and having Rasul for the full season. D better 1 Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted April 20 Author Posted April 20 This criticism of Buffalo’s roster is overblown. It's funny... The Athletic came out with an article the other day ranking all 32 NFL rosters ahead of the draft. 4. Buffalo Bills This one makes me a little uneasy, but like Mahomes and the Chiefs, an elite QB (Josh Allen) erases a lot of roster issues. The Bills have had to part with some quality players this offseason, but there are enough solid pieces still around to not panic. The Bills should be mimicking the Chiefs’ plan of the last few years while building around Mahomes and focusing on drafting the best available player at a premier position in the first round. They also have traded away their top wide receiver (Stefon Diggs), similar to what the Chiefs did a few years ago with Tyreek Hill. 2 Quote
BigDingus Posted April 20 Posted April 20 Keep in mind that Dorsey's first season we went 13-3 & were in control of the 1 seed up until the Bengals game being cancelled. Everyone expected the offense to only get better with a year of experience under his belt, adding Dalton Kincaid, and James Cook developing. Instead, the offense was the biggest problem most of the year, the team turned the ball over constantly, and we were chasing the Dolphins until the last game of the season. Now we'll be going into next season having lost our #1 & #2 WRs, a ton of leadership on both sides of the ball, and still don't know what we'll be getting from Joe Brady. Always remember - ALL teams are adding pieces, not just the Bills. I'm sure Dolphins fans are thinking "if we can find a way to win just ONE more game..." as that would've been enough for them to have finished with the 2 seed. Jets are going for a do-over, expecting Rodgers to actually be around this time. Burrow will be healthy again, the Chiefs won a SB with their worst offensive unit yet & will only get better, and the Texans are on everyone's radar now like the Bills were after 2020. It's not impossible that we get better, but it'll be tough to win more regular season games. Quote
Beast Posted April 20 Posted April 20 (edited) I haven’t overreacted. The Bills damn near beat the Super Bowl champions when our roster was in shambles. The Bills will be much stronger, barring injury, this season. Edited April 20 by Beast 2 Quote
cale Posted April 20 Posted April 20 On 3/13/2024 at 4:38 PM, transplantbillsfan said: This is an offseason I'm probably going to largely avoid the national media. I just don't think they have a clue about what the Bills were, what they are, and what they will be. First of all, I love what Beane is doing as we move into the beginning of the new league year right now. Release the old and expensive players and retain a few valuable pieces. All of this in order to get our CAP situation in order moving into future season. Meanwhile, he's accrued 11 total draft picks as ammunition to go get the guys that he wants. We aren't drafting 11 guys and you can bet we'll be trading around in the draft to end up with between 7-9 players. Hopefully 5 or 6 of them turn into SERIOUS contributors in 2024. Pretty sure all of these are what Beane is banking on. But honestly, even without the draft and at a snapshot moment in Free Agency when all the Bills have done is re-sign Jones, Epenesa and Lewis and signed Morrow and Hollins, I think the 2024 Buffalo Bills are set up to be a better team than in 2023. Coaching First of all, the Bills revamped their coaching staff almost completely. They got a lot younger, so some fresh perspectives are likely coming into the fold. On top of that Joe Brady will have an ENTIRE offseason to build and implement his own offense in Buffalo rather than using Dorsey's offense. Our OC and DC are young and energetic and infectious by reports from all the players and media. And what's more, McDermott will still be able to help Babbich grow where he needs to while focusing on more aspects of the team than he was able to last year. Special Teams Bass had the worst year of his career last year, but was a consistent kicker before that. I don't think he goes anywhere but up... and bringing Haack in to (possibly????) compete for the punting job might be a sign Beane & Co. believe holding is a notable part of the problem. And maybe it was???? Remember how bad a holder Bojo was and what happened to the Packers kicking game when he went over there as the punter? If Haack's our punter... he's not a great punter, but hopefully we don't punt a lot Returners are a dime a dozen to me and we have potential returners in Shakir, Isabella and Hamler already on the roster. I'm sure we'll bring someone else in, too. Offense OL-First of all, 4 out of 5 pieces on our OL will be back. And the 1 new piece might end up being a familiar face who played a big role on the team last year. The Bills clearly believe in McGovern as a Center, so I'll trust their judgment. If Edwards is the LG next to him, I'm fine with that, too. He was the starting Guard for the Super Bowl champions a few years ago so he has the talent and experience. Alec Anderson seems like a dark horse to come in and start at that position, though. We'll still very likely draft a young IOL, though. Plenty of other young developmental OL talent to be excited about with the likes of Van Demark and Gourage. and then we'll have what I believe will be one of the best right sides of an offensive line in the NFL with Torrence and Spencer Brown next year. And Dawkins gonna be Dawkins. As far as the IOL moves, I was listening to Daniel Jeremiah on his Move the Sticks podcast yesterday and he was saying how he spoke with Brandon Beane relatively recently about OL and Beane was talking about how it's becoming more and more important to have a more stout, strong IOL nowadays than more of an athletic IOL with what's happening on the defensive side with DTs. I thought it was interesting and seems like that might be a reason for the Morse release and move for McGovern. QB-See above about Joe Brady. Otherwise, not much needs to be said here. Let's just hope that our freak QB stays healthy this year and doesn't get injuries that affects his throwing motion the way he did the last 2 seasons. If he has to sit for a week or 2, I think we should all feel a little better with Trubisky than Kyle Allen WR-See above about Joe Brady. I think Diggs was hurt in the 2nd half of the season. I don't know what game that was where he was thrown to the ground, but I think he was playing hurt for awhile. Yes, he's getting older, but Diggs is still a #1 WR. He just needs more talent around him, and with Shakir's development last year, we'll likely see him as a bigger part of the offense. I really think either Isabella or Hamler makes this roster. I don't know which one, but one of them is going to be our 4th or 5th WR/gadget guy/ returner. Mack Hollins feels like a roster bubble guy. Justin Shorter might be the guy to replace Siran Neal as the gunner and will be sitting in the 5th or 6th WR spot. So a lot depends on who we draft at WR. And I think everyone knows we're drafting a WR in round 1 or 2. Whoever it is, let's hope he's better than Gabe. Long term I think odds are he will be. TE-A healthy Dawson Knox and a year 2 Dalton Kincaid with an entire offseason to work on his game???? Sign me up!!! RB-We all saw the weapon James Cook can be. Dude just needs to spend plenty of time on the Jugs machine. RBs are a dime a dozen... we'll find a couple to fill roles and be just fine. Defense admittedly D is our biggest worry. But I think we have less to worry about than feared. DE-Groot was hampered by a foot injury most of last year, which was obvious. Von was clearly still recovering from his ACL tear, which was obvious. I expect both to be better in 2024. I don't really understand those who think Von just all of the sudden sucks. He had an ACL tear and tried coming back to play full time less than a year after it happened. Most athletes say they take a couple years to feel like themselves after an ACL tear. Just ask Tre White. Epenesa re-signing is exciting! If he takes another step in 2025 then our top 3 rotational edge rushers would be an upgrade from last year even with Floyd leaving. I almost anticipate Lawson coming back, but even if he didn't and Jonathan and Kline were our 4th an 5th DEs, that would still be pretty solid depth. DT- Oliver and Jones is a lethal duo. Just getting Jones back and healthy for a full season will be an upgrade. And Jones has been pretty healthy for his career up until this past year. I don't think he missed a regular season game in the previous 5-7 seasons. But that's it for DTs other than Ankou, who frankly might make the team and just might be an upgrade on Settle/Ford/Phillips. But we're going to draft at least one and acquire one... maybe post June 1st as our late offseason Floyd signing. But it's all about Oliver and Jones, really. We didn't have Daquan most of last season. If we do in 2024, that's an upgrade. LB-Everything I said above about Daquan Jones and what the impact would be in getting him back is amplified with all of the same stuff for Milano. Losing Milano last year was the most devastating thing that happened to our team. He was absolutely unbelievable to start the year. His injury isn't the kind of injury that lingers once he rehabs and heals, so I'd expect him to be back to himself. Top that off with the now-known-commodity of Terrel Bernard and we might have the best starting duo of LBs in the league. Throw in Dorian Williams, who I believe will be used as an X-factor in a league that is shifting more and more towards 3 LB alignments because of the heavier personnel and the LB Unit will already be better in 2024. CB-Our starting CBs are pretty much all studs. Taron, Rasul and Benford are all really good to exceptional. I really do think Elam still has a decent shot with this new coaching staff and potentially new (maybe only slightly) system that will utilize some more man principles. I wouldn't sleep on him finding a way into a significant or even starting role. When he does get on the field, he makes plays. We'll draft a CB or 2. We always do. The difference will be that there will be room on the roster for them to actually make the team rather than get poached by other teams the way Alex Austin or Nick McLeod were. And don't sleep on the 2 guys on our PS. Ingram might make the team to play a critical backup role. S-Personnel-wise, this is likely the position we have to worry about the most. But at the same time, Sean McDermott throughout his entire career has always turned other teams' trash into his treasure when it comes to the Safety position. From the Eagles to the Panthers to the Bills, you can go and track all the safeties that have come through those teams and find quality to elite contributors. It's actually pretty insane the way he does it. I expect he does it again. We'll likely get a guy in FA and draft a guy, but I'm really not gonna be shocked if our starting Safety tandem is Taylor Rapp and Cam Lewis. Everyone is going to freak out if that happens. I won't. McDermott knows the safety position better than anyone. I don't even think that's hyperbole. We'll be good. Now... am I predicting Super Bowl???? Heck no!!! Too many variables always come into play and the playoffs are one-and-done so you just never know. However, the widespread national narrative and narrative among some on this board is that Buffalo's Super Bowl Window is closed and what we're seeing this offseason is the start of a rebuild. Not a rebuild folks, We're re-tooling. And the tools we'll have in 2024 will be sharper, shinier and more effective!!! I can't wait to see who else we add in FA. I can't wait to see who we draft, but outside of the positions we just need to bring in some bodies to fill them (RB, DT, & S), I'd feel pretty good about where we are even at this moment. The great thing is that we still have additions coming. It's gonna be a great 2024 season!!! Go Bills!!! I am not an expert on where we had talent and where we don't. All I know is that teams with far less talent are being way more successful built around one or two lynchpins. What i am concerned about is the psyche and temperament of this team. Turns out a lot of the folks on this board were correct in their "gut feeling" about something being off since the Cincinnati playoff game. The first KC playoff game knockout fight came down to a tactical error. I still believe that if we had won that game, we would be the ones dominating conversations and more importantly having confidence around every key game. At the time we chalked Cincinnati down to season fatigue, Damar and all that stuff. Turns out we were right. It was locker room chemistry. In spite of what the front office and coaching staff and the players kumbaya-ing said. We could see it last off season. In fact we could see it two offseasons ago. I'm glad McDermott had "a lot of good and open conversations" But the truth of the matter was McDermott didn't know how to manage it. The Tyler Dunne reporting fiasco galvanized the team. But not enough so that team was in sync enough to beat KC at home. You could see it. Everything looked fragmented. Our QB was willing the entire team to victory. It just wasn't enough. More importantly coaching doesn't trust lesser known players to do their job. But we were told we were wrong by just about everyone. I think the draft is important. But I want to see what mini camp looks like and then pre-season (yes, even preseason). This is not the Marv Levy Bills. Pre-season is a pretty accurate gauge of how this team will perform during the season. That's what the data or the book is on this team. It's gonna rough seas here for a bit. Let's see how this group weathers the storm. Our schedule is brutal. Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 (edited) So... let's see how our roster improves starting tonight. I said I think the Bills will be better this upcoming season... I still think they will. As of this moment, just hours before the draft, this is how I view the Buffalo Bills roster at the moment. And yes, we can field a 53 man team that consists of zero guys I'd strictly put in the "Practice Squad" category. LOCKS (1st-5th round rookies included) Close to locks Baseline rosterable depth Players the team seems somehow invested in Rookie 6th or 7th round pick STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH QB Josh Allen Mitchell Trubisky Shane Buechele RB James Cook Ty Johnson Ray Davis Darrynton Evans- WR Khalil Shakir Justin Shorter Tyrell Shavers WR Curtis Samuel Andy Isabella Bryan Thompson WR Keon Coleman Mack Hollins KJ Hamler TE Dalton Kincaid Dawson Knox Quintin Morris Tre' McKitty FB Reggie Gilliam LT Dion Dawkins Ryan Van Demark Travis Clayton Richard Gouraige LG David Edwards Alec Anderson C Connor McGovern Will Clapp RG O'Cyrus Torrence Sedrick Van Pran-Granger Kevin Jarvis RT Spencer Brown La'el Collins. Tylan Grable Tommy Doyle STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH LDE Greg Rousseau Javon Soloman Kameron Cline LDT DaQuan Jones Austin Johnson Eli Ankou RDT Ed Oliver DeWayne Carter. DeShawn Williams RDE Von Miller AJ Epenesa Casey Toohill Kingsley Jonathan WLB Matt Milano Edefuan Ulufoshio MLB Terrel Bernard Baylon Spector SLB Nicholas Morrow Dorian Williams LCB Rasul Douglas Kaiir Elam Kyron Brown SS Cole Bishop Taylor Rapp Kendall Williamson FS Mike Edwards Cam Lewis Damar Hamlin RCB Christian Benford Taron Johnson Daequan Hardy Ja'Marcus Ingram STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH PK Tyler Bass P Sam Martin Matt Haack H Sam Martin Matt Haack PR Khalil Shakir KR Khalil Shakir Andy Isabella LS Reid Ferguson 53 man roster 34 LOCKS 10 close to locks 4 baseline rosterable depth 5 Players the team seems somehow invested in *EDITED POST DRAFT... UDFAs not included* Edited April 28 by transplantbillsfan Quote
ngbills Posted April 25 Posted April 25 33 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said: So... let's see how our roster improves starting tonight. I said I think the Bills will be better this upcoming season... I still think they will. As of this moment, just hours before the draft, this is how I view the Buffalo Bills roster at the moment. And yes, we can field a 53 man team that consists of zero guys I'd strictly put in the "Practice Squad" category. LOCKS Close to locks Baseline rosterable depth Players the team seems somehow invested in STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH QB Josh Allen Mitchell Trubisky Shane Buechele RB James Cook Ty Johnson Darrynton Evans- WR Khalil Shakir Justin Shorter Tyrell Shavers WR Curtis Samuel Andy Isabella Bryan Thompson WR Mack Hollins KJ Hamler TE Dalton Kincaid Dawson Knox Quintin Morris Tre' McKitty FB Reggie Gilliam LT Dion Dawkins Ryan Van Demark Richard Gouraige LG David Edwards Alec Anderson C Connor McGovern Will Clapp RG O'Cyrus Torrence Kevin Jarvis RT Spencer Brown La'el Collins Tommy Doyle STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH LDE Greg Rousseau Kameron Cline LDT DaQuan Jones Austin Johnson Eli Ankou RDT Ed Oliver DeShawn Williams RDE Von Miller AJ Epenesa Casey Toohill Kingsley Jonathan WLB Matt Milano MLB Terrel Bernard Baylon Spector SLB Nicholas Morrow Dorian Williams LCB Rasul Douglas Kaiir Elam Kyron Brown SS Taylor Rapp Kendall Williamson FS Mike Edwards Cam Lewis Damar Hamlin RCB Christian Benford Taron Johnson Ja'Marcus Ingram STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH PK Tyler Bass P Sam Martin Matt Haack H Sam Martin Matt Haack PR Khalil Shakir KR Khalil Shakir Andy Isabella LS Reid Ferguson 53 man roster 34 LOCKS 10 close to locks 4 baseline rosterable depth 5 Players the team seems somehow invested in That is a solid 9-8 team Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 4 minutes ago, ngbills said: That is a solid 9-8 team Fill out the WR corps with a 1st round pick and a guy like Javon Baker in the later rounds and get us a short yardage back like Estime and it's a 12+ win team. Quote
ngbills Posted April 25 Posted April 25 2 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said: Fill out the WR corps with a 1st round pick and a guy like Javon Baker in the later rounds and get us a short yardage back like Estime and it's a 12+ win team. I agree - add a legit WR and it adds 2-3 wins to the expectations. Quote
transplantbillsfan Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 5 minutes ago, ngbills said: I agree - add a legit WR and it adds 2-3 wins to the expectations. I posted the roster because I think it just shows that our only truly GAPING hole is at WR. Quote
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