Buffalo Bills 2018

[longislandcuse]

I'm fine with the Benjamin trade. It hasn't worked out, and he's seemingly gotten significantly worse the longer he's in Buffalo, but it was a worthwhile gamble IMO.

But just off the top of my head:

We'll have to agree to disagree on Star. I think you can replace his production very easily, and he's being paid a lot of money for something that you could probably get out of a $1 million type player.

He paid Vontae Davis more money than EJ Gaines got despite Gaines being a significantly better player and despite Vontae coming off serious injuries of his own.

Ivory has been pretty good so far, but there was absolutely no reason to pay a backup RB that much money in a year that the draft was absolutely loaded with RBs. It's just poor asset management.

He basically lit money on fire by trading for Corey Coleman and then almost immediately releasing him.

He watched the three best offensive linemen on the team walk away and did basically nothing at all to replace them despite watching the holdovers (sans Dawkins) struggle all year.

Even with a long-term rebuilding plan, I don't know how you can watch the WR play last year and then roll it back with the essentially the exact same supporting cast the following year except without the most or second-most talented WR from that last year's poor performing unit.

The defense struggled mightily whenever EJ Gaines wasn't on the field last year, and yet we came into this season with probably even worse depth at CB than the prior year.

And for the love of god, Nathan Peterman is on the roster still.

Peterman has to go. Cut him and bring in a vet like Matt Moore for Allen. Agreed.

I've seen a lot of write-ups on Star, and they are usually positive and show that he's constantly eating up double teams and still pushing them back. You may be right on the overpay, but he's a decent player.

Yea, Davis was a miss. Gaines seems to be injured all the time again this year so I get why they passed on him.

If we trade Shady, like we should, then the money we paid for Ivory is fine by me. I like him and Murphy in the backfield.

The Coleman thing was weird. I think we had money to spend so he just spent it and if it didn't work, whatever.

The OL situation was bizarre. Wood retiring and Incognito going crazy. I think they were hoping to get this year out of them, and then rebuild the OL this offseason and instead got stuck when they lost both of them.

I can see how they thought they'd be ok with a healthy KB and Year 2 Zay. Much like the OL situation, that has backfired in their faces.

They were hoping to have bandaids at WR/OL to get through this year, and it hasn't worked out that way.

What they have done is hopefully find the franchise QB, loaded up the defense with young talent and kept a treasure chest of cap space with a full draft in 2019 to dramatically upgrade the offense.

 

[Melancer46]

Peterman has to go. Cut him and bring in a vet like Matt Moore for Allen. Agreed.

That's all I ask for! It's not that complicated. At best, Peterman should be a practice squad guy.

I've seen a lot of write-ups on Star, and they are usually positive and show that he's constantly eating up double teams and still pushing them back. You may be right on the overpay, but he's a decent player.

I think pretty much any big-bodied DT would be treated the same way. Star isn't even all that good at beating single teams. I think teams have pretty much just double-teamed him because they aren't scared of anyone else anyways and they have an extra body around to block somebody.

Yea, Davis was a miss. Gaines seems to be injured all the time again this year so I get why they passed on him.

I get the rationale behind moving on from Gaines given his injury history, but then why sign a guy who also has a serious injury history and happens to be a worse player for more money? It just didn't make sense.

If we trade Shady, like we should, then the money we paid for Ivory is fine by me. I like him and Murphy in the backfield.

Agreed. I hated the Ivory signing at the time, but if the plan was to move McCoy, it at least made some sense and Ivory has been better than expected. I still think that this draft class was loaded with RB talent though, and they could have gotten someone on a cheap rookie contract that is just as good.

I can see how they thought they'd be ok with a healthy KB and Year 2 Zay. Much like the OL situation, that has backfired in their faces.

I expected much, much, better from Benjamin but I really don't see how they could have had faith in Zay after the year he had as a rookie plus the bizarre offseason.

What they have done is hopefully find the franchise QB, loaded up the defense with young talent and kept a treasure chest of cap space with a full draft in 2019 to dramatically upgrade the offense.

As I mentioned, I think you have to give Beane another offseason to try to make use of the cap space and picks that he worked to acquire. Certainly hope that Allen is the long-term solution at QB (and I've always been high on him). I'm not sure I'd agree that the defense is loaded with young talent; it's basically one elite young guy (White) and three young guys that have shown some promise (Milano, Phillips, Edmunds). Certainly not a bad start though, and you don't need everybody to be young. Poyer and Hyde at 27 and 28 respectively is perfectly fine and they're pretty damn good.

This team looks like it's going to require at least 2 more years of rebuilding though. There's simply too many holes to fix in one offseason.

 

[BuffOrange]

As much as I have never liked Zay, it was a move you could see coming a mile away. Buffalo's WR coach was the guy that coached Zay in college and obviously Zay was an impact player in college.

I was always of the mindset that Cooper Kupp or Chris Godwin were much better prospects than Zay though. One saving grace is that Beane wasn't the one that pulled the trigger on that pick.

Having said that however, if you look at the moves that Beane has made so far in his tenure, I don't know how you could possibly be confident that he's going to effectively use this team's draft picks and cap space. The track record is pretty terrible already but I think you have to give him the offseason since this was always at least a 3 year rebuilding plan.

Evaluating Beane to me is like talking about the DC when Rex was the HC. McDermott runs the show. He hired Beane.

It's umm, going poorly so far as you've documented. I don't see how it doesn't end badly short of Allen emerging as a stud next year. Too many holes to fill in one offseason.

 

[shandeezy7]

That's all I ask for! It's not that complicated. At best, Peterman should be a practice squad guy.


I think pretty much any big-bodied DT would be treated the same way. Star isn't even all that good at beating single teams. I think teams have pretty much just double-teamed him because they aren't scared of anyone else anyways and they have an extra body around to block somebody.


I get the rationale behind moving on from Gaines given his injury history, but then why sign a guy who also has a serious injury history and happens to be a worse player for more money? It just didn't make sense.


Agreed. I hated the Ivory signing at the time, but if the plan was to move McCoy, it at least made some sense and Ivory has been better than expected. I still think that this draft class was loaded with RB talent though, and they could have gotten someone on a cheap rookie contract that is just as good.


I expected much, much, better from Benjamin but I really don't see how they could have had faith in Zay after the year he had as a rookie plus the bizarre offseason.



As I mentioned, I think you have to give Beane another offseason to try to make use of the cap space and picks that he worked to acquire. Certainly hope that Allen is the long-term solution at QB (and I've always been high on him). I'm not sure I'd agree that the defense is loaded with young talent; it's basically one elite young guy (White) and three young guys that have shown some promise (Milano, Phillips, Edmunds). Certainly not a bad start though, and you don't need everybody to be young. Poyer and Hyde at 27 and 28 respectively is perfectly fine and they're pretty damn good.

This team looks like it's going to require at least 2 more years of rebuilding though. There's simply too many holes to fix in one offseason.

I'm all for giving McDermott a longer leash, but if ownership feels as though Beane has been underwhelming/bad at his job, then I'm not sure letting him make decisions in potentially the biggest offseason in decades for the Bills would be the correct move.

 

[longislandcuse]

I'm not sure I see all the holes that you all see.

On Defense, lets say Kyle and Lorax retire:

Hughes - Star - Harry - Murphy

Edmunds - Milano - ?

White - Johnson - ?

Hyde - Poyer

Potential Depth:

DE - Yarborough - Orchard
DT - Lawson - ?
S - Neal - Bush
LB - Lacey - Stanford - Humber
DB - Lewis - P Gaines

Obviously there could be changes on the DL and with the defensive depth, but that could be a pretty good defense as listed.

On Offense, the only players I see as safe are Allen - Dawkins and maybe Croom. Everyone else could be traded, cut, or not resigned.

That's a lot of holes on the surface, but I'd draft a WR in Rd 1, a G & C in Rounds 2 & 3, and a RB in Rd 4. Bring back Ivory and Murphy. Sign a RT in FA. Sign 2 FA Wr's. Bring in a vet back up QB.

Allen - Vet
Dawkins - Teller - Draft Pick C - Draft Pick G - FA RT
Ivory - Murphy - Draft Pick RB
Draft Pick WR - FA WR - FA WR - Zay Jones - Ray Ray - Foster or Holmes
Croom - Thomas - Lee

At least that's my take as I'm spending way too much time on this while bored at the office.

Trade Shady, Let Benjamin and Clay go. Sign a top end RT, two #2 FA WR's, a solid FA starting LB and a solid FA starting DB. Draft an elite WR, a top end Center, along with a solid Guard in the 3rd. RB in the 4th. The rest of the draft and cap space for depth.

 

[BuffOrange]

I'm not sure I see all the holes that you all see.

On Defense, lets say Kyle and Lorax retire:

Hughes - Star - Harry - Murphy

Edmunds - Milano - ?

White - Johnson - ?

Hyde - Poyer

Potential Depth:

DE - Yarborough - Orchard
DT - Lawson - ?
S - Neal - Bush
LB - Lacey - Stanford - Humber
DB - Lewis - P Gaines

Obviously there could be changes on the DL and with the defensive depth, but that could be a pretty good defense as listed.

On Offense, the only players I see as safe are Allen - Dawkins and maybe Croom. Everyone else could be traded, cut, or not resigned.

That's a lot of holes on the surface, but I'd draft a WR in Rd 1, a G & C in Rounds 2 & 3, and a RB in Rd 4. Bring back Ivory and Murphy. Sign a RT in FA. Sign 2 FA Wr's. Bring in a vet back up QB.

Allen - Vet
Dawkins - Teller - Draft Pick C - Draft Pick G - FA RT
Ivory - Murphy - Draft Pick RB
Draft Pick WR - FA WR - FA WR - Zay Jones - Ray Ray - Foster or Holmes
Croom - Thomas - Lee

At least that's my take as I'm spending way too much time on this while bored at the office.

Trade Shady, Let Benjamin and Clay go. Sign a top end RT, two #2 FA WR's, a solid FA starting LB and a solid FA starting DB. Draft an elite WR, a top end Center, along with a solid Guard in the 3rd. RB in the 4th. The rest of the draft and cap space for depth.

I just think you can take most teams in history and say "we'll solve A-D in Rounds 1-4 and E & F in FA". Even if we weren't the team that's obsessed with trading up all the time, that's a stretch.

I know, we'll have $. That's something. Anyone know what the FA class looks like? In general I think OL is a good place to spend in FA.

I think the defense will probably be fine. But if we're supposing Allen develops into an ok pretty good QB in the 12-18 range (which is a big 'if' but the realistic hope), you still need a top 10 roster around him to actually be a good team. We're such a looong ways off from that. That's why I think McBeane is in tough right now short of Allen shocking most people and becoming Mahomes 2.0 great.

 

[HSPORANGE]

Watch the Bills knock off the Titans this weekend and Allen throw for 200+ yards and a couple td's. I could see it.

I have full confidence in Beane/McDermott after the years of crap the Bills had in GM and Coaching roles. Once they let Tyrod go you had to know they were tearing it down and building it back up. I just want to see Allen improve and not get blown up behind our suspect ol. I have a feeling next offseason should be really interesting.

 

[NateW]

Watch the Bills knock off the Titans this weekend and Allen throw for 200+ yards and a couple td's. I could see it.

I have full confidence in Beane/McDermott after the years of crap the Bills had in GM and Coaching roles. Once they let Tyrod go you had to know they were tearing it down and building it back up. I just want to see Allen improve and not get blown up behind our suspect ol. I have a feeling next offseason should be really interesting.

I agree. We could easily play solid and win this weekend. Especially at home. With a rookie QB - every week is its own one game season.

Daboll needs to commit to the run and not ask Allen to do too much. Put him in positions to succeed. Aside from the defense’s first 6 quarters of play... Daboll has been the biggest disappointment of the season. I’m very concerned we don’t have the right man in place there.

 

[MSOrange]

 

[shandeezy7]

 

[JeremyCuse]

Finally, how did that take so long.

 

[shandeezy7]

Finally, how did that take so long.

Because I think that Beane and McDermott truly don't know what they are doing. I want to believe that they are the answer to this franchise's frustrations, but I've seen far too many red flags from both of them to really get fully on board.

 

[MSOrange]

Finally, how did that take so long.

Hard to figure what took so long. The need couldn't have been more obvious, but at least it's done and we have an option besides Peterman.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Should be 10-6 at half, no idea what the holder was thinking on that fg, sigh.

 

[shandeezy7]

When will McDermott stop challenging the spot? It's a meathead moron move to keep doing that with zero success.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The lack of talent at Wr is so glaring you need sun glasses to watch this game. Allen has had a lot of time but literally no one open. Still cant believe we haven't signed anyone.

 

[longislandcuse]

Josh Allen needs to be better. I love the guy, but rookie or not, you have to be better than automatic incompletions all the time.

WRs aren’t great and that’s a legit excuse, but he misses a lot of reads and a lot of open guys.

Valuable experience for sure, but he definitely shouldn’t be playing yet.

Hopefully he proves me wrong.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Josh Allen needs to be better. I love the guy, but rookie or not, you have to be better than automatic incompletions all the time.

WRs aren’t great and that’s a legit excuse, but he misses a lot of reads and a lot of open guys.

Valuable experience for sure, but he definitely shouldn’t be playing yet.

Hopefully he proves me wrong.

Hes had a lot of time no ones open. Hes inaccuracy issues scouts were worried about is also a major issue

 

[JeremyCuse]

Andre Holmes is useless. Why is he on the roster? Sign a WR or two for the love of god.

 

[samspann1]

That's what happens when you have garbage WRs.

 

[MSOrange]

Andre Holmes is useless. Why is he on the roster? Sign a WR or two for the love of god.

Just saw it on Red Zone. Josh can't put that one much better than he did.

 

[NateW]

Bills should sign T.O.

 

[longislandcuse]

Botched FG comes back to haunt us?

Agreed with this posts above. That Andre Holmes play was about as good of an example as any of the absolute nonsense at WR on this team.

Heck, early on we had to run up and waste a down in the red zone because we’re so used to Benjamin being loose with the football the rare times he actually catches a pass.

 

[JeremyCuse]

It's sad that I have zero faith in us getting into fg range here.

 

[JeremyCuse]

McCoy is a magician in the open field