billsfan89

I expect Cook to be a thousand-yard rusher by a wide margin. I think getting a year under his belt plus the revamped interior O-line will only help him. Given that Hines is likely a third-down back and Harris/Murray are likely situational power backs I see plenty of carries and snaps for Cook to achieve these lofty expectations.

Most team's skill position players are rarely consistent after their top 1-2 players, it is very rare that a team has 3 consistent skill position players. The Bills do need someone after Diggs that can be a consistent threat but to act like the Pats have that many if any consistent skill positions players is lunacy.

This narrative that the Bills have zero or very little offensive talent outside of Allen or Diggs is ridiculous. The Pats offense isn't that great. Are Stevenson and a bunch of mediocre RB's that much better than Cook/Hines/Harris? I would argue comparing apples to apples at RB I would take the Bills but even a pessimistic look at the Bills probably yields you to put RB as a push. TE is probably a push between the two units as well and you could with the addition of Kincaid and the regression of Henry argue the Bills are better. Hunter Henry has not been great for the Pats but he is solid and they added Gesicki. That's pretty comparable to Knox and Kincaid the best TE coming out of the draft. With the Bills revamp of the interior O-line I think both O-lines are pretty comparable. The Pats had an average O-line in 2022 certainly better than the Bills. But the Pats didn't add much to their O-line this past off-season. The Bills added one of the better free agent guards and the best guard in the draft along with some depth additions. WR is also pretty comparable. The Pats WR room isn't exactly a bunch of world-beaters. Bourne is a nice WR3, Parker a bit past his prime is more of a complementary player than a stud WR2, Ju Ju is a nice player but not a world-beater and the rest of the Pats WR room are mostly JAGS. Is Parker/Bourne/Ju Ju really all that much better than Diggs/Davis/Hardy or Shakir? Even if the Pats added Hopkins I don't see their WR room despite having a bit more proven depth being all that much better than the Bills. Generally speaking, I would take what the Bills have at RB/TE and push at the offensive line positions to be generous. At WR without D-Hop on the Pats I would take the Bills easily, if the Pats added D-Hop I would then take the Pats WR room in totality but not by a wide margin. I just think you are massively overrating the Pats talent level and underrating the Bills talent level outside Diggs/Allen.

13 seconds is the only catastrophic failure in my opinion. 2020 the Bills were simply banged up at WR and not used to the playoffs. I can write that off. The Bengals were simply better and the Bills who had the season from hell were exhausted so I don't count that as catastrophic given the circumstances. McD will get put on the hot seat if playoff failures mount but just not yet in my opinion. Luckily there are no salary caps for coaches. So much like the Rex deal Pegula can just eat the deals and move on. Better to have a good coach and GM locked in and have to eat money than risk losing them on expiring deals.

I hope Beane realized the over-investment on defense was an issue the past two off-seasons in 2021 and 2022. This off-season while the resources were more limited they did manage to add a quality starting guard as their largest free agent acquisition and draft the best tight end and guard in the draft along with several smaller acquisitions. This past off-season at least showed some reason for optimism about more draft/free agency investment around Josh.

I genuinely thought that too, I figured 3 out of the 4 would have quality seasons. Turns out KC was great, LA was solid but unspectacular, the Raiders were mediocre and the Broncos were ass. I expect KC to be strong again and the Chargers to be a fringe playoff team, Broncos could go either way and Raiders should be mediocre again. Also everyone was so sure the NFC East was trash. Philly and Dallas ended up being strong teams and the Giants were overachievers and even the Commanders finished .500. It ended up being the strongest top to bottom division in football by record.

It makes sense to keep them under contract, McD is not going anywhere for the next 2 seasons and likely next 3. Unless the failures in the playoffs are completely catastrophic he is the coach for the next three seasons and at least the next two. Pegula is not shy about spending money so if he has to eat 2-3 years on those deals he likely will.

I just don’t see this as anything more than offseason filler talks based on nothing

Ideally you have an epic three phase team that crushes everyone. But with the cap and the general decisions making that means you likely have to make some cuts on areas of the roster. The best way to build a consistent contender is likely to once you find the stud QB build out an epic offense and good ST unit and then just try to have an average defense. Making some cuts on defense so your stud QB can have good weapons and protection is likely the best thing you can do.

Diggs wants to win and one of the things that impacted him most in 2022 was the lack of a consistent second-receiving threat. D-Hop is the best WR out on the market and even if he is just 75% of what he was at his peak he still would provide some solid relief for Diggs. I can't blame Diggs for being a little antsy with this situation if you feel DHop would be the last piece the offense needs. That being said while I wish Diggs wouldn't take the to media (kills the Bills leverage a small amount) I think he is at least coming from the right place.

I was a “wrong Josh” guy but within a couple of hours of the pick turned myself around on It. Easily my worst Bills take.

JJ Watt took the bag from a middle-of-the-pack Cardinals team and spent the last two years of his career wasting away in AZ but making good money doing so. Some players don't always value a title and they just want the money.

Dhop, JuJu and Henry would have been super scary in 2020 but several years later and while they may have some gas in the tank that wouldn’t be some super elite group of pass catchers esp with Mac Jones being the one to throw to them. Not that It wouldn’t be a nice add for the Pats but It doesn’t move the needle all that much for them

Poyer was banged up all last year and is a year older while Hyde is a year older coming off a serious injury so while I like the corner play to be better due to the factors you mentioned, I am concerned about decreasing play from an aging safety tandem.

Glad the issue was seemingly squashed glad to get this stuff done and over with in June

I think the over investment on defense was a true concern in 2021 and 2022. But this past offseason the Bills spent their top 2 draft picks on what we’re largely regarded to be the best TE and Guard in the draft. They also spend their biggest free agent contract (McGovern) at guard. McBeane also kept Hines, added Hardy and signed a pair of power RB’s. While the cap space was more limited what little they could do was shifted more towards the offense this offseason. Outside of Floyd who doesn’t cost much I haven’t seen too much added to the defense. The Bills are also still in on Dhop at the very least attempting to address the WR core.

To be clear I think McD will be here through 2025 at least and no sane person would dump him after this season. My personal view is that if this season results in another playoff choke then McD should be on the hot seat for 2024 somewhat at least. But It would take back to back playoff failures and a great coach on the market for me to even consider moving off the coach that completely turned around the organization from one of the worst eras in modern NFL history.

Pessimistic view is he just wants the cash, optimistic view is he is doing his due diligence and wants/should know all of his options. If he is going to take less money to play for KC or Buffalo he should know exactly what the difference in the offers are. I do not think the Bills can present the most money but if they can close the gap they will have a shot.

I wouldn’t suddenly be worried about the Pats if they got Dhop, nice addition but not exactly like the Pats are just one WR away from making noise

Doug Collins is not the best comparison, I would say that Marty Schottenheimer is the better analogy. Marty ball turned around three organizations. The Browns were pretty bad before he got there and he turned them into a contender but always came up short in the playoffs. KC had only made the playoffs once in 17 seasons prior to Marty getting there and they made the playoffs fairly consistently with Marty having a great run in Montana’s last couple of years. But once again falling short. Then Marty completed a solid rebuild of the Chargers turning them into a contender before playoff failures. McD will at least have two more seasons to get It done in Buffalo but if he falls short then he will be this teams Marty

I am more optimistic that the better offensive line and talent along with less pressure (Bills no longer the Super Bowl favorite) will help them stay under the radar a bit. The rosters are similarly talented just a little more balanced with better offensive talent and maybe a step down on defense. The Bills are still legitimate contenders who may actually be better built to win in the playoffs

I wouldn't put it as a "make of break" season for the Bills. Make or break to me means if you fall short of expectations you will be fired. However, barring catastrophic injury a disappointment in the playoffs would be enough to cause put McD and company on the hot seat for 2024. But to fire, McD after 2023 would be far too premature for a man who completely turned around the organization from top to bottom.

A little over a month away from camp how are you feeling about the Bills 2023 roster compared to how you were feeling as a fan about the 2022 roster going into the season? Do you feel better, worse, or about the same? Breaking it down position by position group I will leave my thoughts below. Special Teams - Better in 2023 The Bills in 2022 had Bass as a kicker and Ariza as the punter and a strong overall group of ST specialists like Tyler Matakevich and T.Jones. The only hole on Special Teams was the returning game was not really all that great. Going into 2023 the Bills still have Bass and instead of Ariza they have Martin who is a vet punter still fairly young coming off a good season with the Bills replacing Ariza. The Bills no longer have T. Jones but they still have a ton of other specialists on the roster including Matakevich. The Bills also going into 2023 have Hines and Hardy as returners which represents a massive upgrade over the options they had going into 2022. Secondary - Even The Bills were really shaky at CB going into 2022. Tre was coming off a serious injury and likely to miss time and not come back to form. Elam was drafted in round 1 but still a rookie. Outside of T.Johnson there wasn't much stability. But the back end at safety induced more confidence going into 2022. Not only were Hyde and Poyer a year younger but they weren't coming off major injuries. Going into 2023 I like Tre to have a return to form and Elam, Benford, and Dane Jackson are all more experienced this season. But I am also less confident in Po and Hyde both a year older and Hyde coming off a serious injury and Po coming off a year where he was really banged up. The Bills do have better depth at safety with Hamlin getting some snaps and Rapp a solid vet backup. Overall even money for me. Linebacker - Worse in 2023 The Bills entered into 2022 with Milano and Edumonds two high-quality young LB's and Edumonds was entering into a contract year so extra motivation on him, the depth at LB was not really all that great. Going into 2023 Milano is still there but Edumonds is going being replaced by Klein a decent vet and a third-round pick in Dorian Williams. I know a lot of people on here weren't Edumonds fans and I agree with the decision not to resign him. But the Bills will likely see a decline in LB play unless Williams or another player on the roster overachieves. Defensive line - Even If it weren't for Von's injury I would rate 2023 as having an edge with the Poona Ford and Floyd additions. But despite getting a second quality NT and a nice vet pass rusher in Floyd Von coming off a serious injury causes a lot of concern. Feeling about equal, I think the Bills should have a top-quality D-line going into both 2022 and 2023. The defense overall - Slightly worse going into 2023 I liked the defense in 2022 to be the best defense if not at least a top 3 unit going into 2023. But with the likely decline of LB play I think the Bills defense may regress a bit but should still be a top 7-10 unit in the league and could easily be a top 5 unit. But I do think that the defense will feel the absence of Edumonds and there are some more holes going into 2023. Still, the defense should be a good unit. QB - Even Josh is still the franchise QB and the backups are of even quality. Not much to say here. RB - Better in 2023 I thought the Bills had a decent RB trio going into 2022. Cook as a second-round rookie, Singletary and Moss not super inspiring but not tragic either. 2023 the Bills have Cook with a year under his belt and swapped out Moss for Hines who is a much better more dynamic role player. The Bills then swap out Singletary and T.Jones for true power back in Harris and Murray. I think the Bills are much better situated at RB. WR- Even The Bills in 2022 had Diggs and not a lot else proven otherwise. Going into 2023 the Bills are in a similar spot. Davis disappointed in 2022 but going into 2023 the hope is that on a contract year with a full season under his belt as the WR2 maybe he can perform better. Hardy and Sheffield are nice adds to replace Mac and Kumerow but aren't major upgrades either. Shakir has a year under his belt but overall the feeling about the WR group is about the same as last season. TE - Better in 2023 Knox is still there and hopefully won't suffer personal tragedy which would impact anyone and then there is the addition on Kincaid who is far better than OJ Howard who entered into the mix at TE going into 2022. Just overall a lot more talent in the group with the addition of Kincaid. O-line - Better in 2023 The Bills in 2022 were heading into the season with their thinnest O-line group since 2018 and hoping to get a decent season out of Saffold at guard. 2023 they majorly upgraded the guard position getting a younger better-starting guard in Connor McGovern and the best guard in the draft in Torrence. In addition they brought in Edwards as more guard depth and Bates hopefully kicks back onto the bench. Queese is back again along with Snell who should provide some competition for Brown. Overall the O-line is just vastly better going into 2023. Offense overall- Better in 2023 With the addition of Kincaid, McGovern, Torrence and other smaller parts like Hines and Hardy the Bills have better offensive pieces around Josh by a significant margin. 2022 I had massive concerns about the O-line and O-line depth whereas in 2023 my only major concern about the O-line is who is Dawkins backup and whether could they find a better player to compete with Brown (Both of which were concerns entering into 2022). Kincaid adds what hopefully will be a quality weapon and the RB group looks better as well. Team overall - Even Even though component by component, I feel as though the 2023 Bills may be better than the 2022 Bills I had Super Bowl expectations going into 2022 and I have the same Super Bowl expectations in 2023. I do think that the Bills are in a position in 2023 to compete better as I think the offense has the tools to be more consistent and while I think the defense may not be as strong it will still be a very good unit overall. TLDR: Bills have a better ST and offense going into 2023 but the defense is not as good going into 2023 as it was in 2022.

The Bills had a poorly constructed offensive line that also lacked depth and the team didn’t have a consistent second option in the passing game so the offense at times struggled in the redzone. Dorsey being a rookie play caller took a lot of the heat for that right or wrong. Hopefully with better guard play and depth along with Kincaid the offense is more consistent

I think Diggs while temperamental has his heart in the right place and the Bills have also taken care of him in the way that he should be taken care of. I think Diggs knows It is better to sort these things out in June rather than let them linger on in training camp and beyond. Diggs gets to be heard and the coaches let him say his thoughts and they can adjust well before training camp starts