Who's to say the Bills won't be competetive this year?

[PromoTheRobot]

Good coaching wins games. If Chan is any good we can go 9-7 with the same team we had.

 

PTR

[sharper802]

Who's to say? Why not ask these guys how bad the Bills are going to be....

 

The LT we currently don't have on the team

The NT we don't have despite switching to a 3-4 defense

The multiple former practice squad guys that may end up being starters

The aging veteran DE being asked to move to OLB

[sharper802]

I share this optimistic outlook, let me explain why:

 

1. Our defense will be better. The need for a NT is not nearly critical as some posters want to make it out to be. Our DL is not that bad off the way it is. Byrd enters the year as the starter, something he didnt do last year. Davis and Maybin really beef up our LB core with Davis veteran play in a 3-4 and Maybins speed and eplosiveness. Overall, I really like the prospects of our defense and think we could see a top 10 D out there on the field this year.

 

2. Our O Line will be better: Injuries, lack of playing time together as a unit, and inexperience were major reasons the line struggled so much. Its healthy again, Wood is ahead of schedule, and I expect to add a LT in the early parts of the draft. The line has a lot more experience now and will have the whole preseason to gel as I dont expect any Walker like cuts just before the season. They will still need to continue to get better, but I certainly think there is talent on this line and expect to add more in the draft.

 

3. Nelson: I expect Nelson to be integrated into the passing game much more this year and love his potential as a weapon. I think with someone like him, it will really help open up the running game and passing game.

 

4. The QB position: I cant imagine the QB production not improving, it was atrocious last year and yet we were still in games. There will be an open competition, and with a new staff I think we can expect better performances from this position. Honestly, if we go into camp with these 3 guys, I actually think Brohm wins the job. More importantly, I think Chan will get more out of this position regardless who is starting.

 

5. I actually think Johnson or Hardy will become a real factor this year, if not both. I am higher on Johnson and think he will be the one that takes control of the #2 spot, but I think they both have promise.

 

Curveball: If we get McNabb, then the odds of us making the playoffs signifcantly jump in my opinnion. Given points 1, 2, and 3 along with fixing the QB issue with McNabb makes us a legit contender for the division in my opinnion.

Please give one reason why you think Brohm will be the starter. And you can't use because Edwards and Fitz are awful.

Why does this board love practice squad guys like Stupar and Brohm????

[thewildrabbit]

Please give one reason why you think Brohm will be the starter. And you can't use because Edwards and Fitz are awful.

Why does this board love practice squad guys like Stupar and Brohm????

My view of Brohm is he will be cut if the Bills add a veteran QB, JMO.

 

For him to be waived by the Packers and then added to the practice squad tells me the Packers coaching staff thinks he needs a ton of development.

 

After watching him in that Falcon game last season I didn't see anything great. The one deep throw to TO was very under thrown and intercepted, lots of dump offs.

[BobbyC81]

With a little luck we could all be pleasantly surprised.

 

 

Just my thoughts. KMA

 

I agree. They went 6-10 with injuries & inexperience resulting in horrible O-line play.

 

Also there were a couple of close late losses & pathetic coaching.

 

How can people say 2-14 next season??

[Celtic_soulja]

Honestly I think we have a pretty solid team...even at 6-10 with a better offensive gameplan we win a whole lot more games...I think with a run first coach like Chan we go 10-6 this season...

[Thurman#1]

Who's to say the Bills won't be competetive this year?

 

 

 

Um ... me!

[Thurman#1]

- find an NT - Said it would be nice but not required

 

 

Gosh, well, if you said it would be nice but not required, then it must be true.

 

- find a QB - Said a second rate QB would suffice if he could "manage the game"

 

 

Second-rate QBs need one thing to manage the game ... an excellent offense around them. And game-managing QBs only win numerous games if they have extremely good defenses. We have neither.

 

 

 

- have a badly injured guy return very quickly and be as good or better than he was pre-injury - I did say that, but don't expect him full speed until a month or 2 into the season.

 

 

Alright, this one is definitely possible, if not probable, but Wood frankly wasn't great last year. He was pretty good for a rookie, but in the grand scheme of things, he struggled. And now in the off-season his strength, ordinarily increasing greatly between the first and second years, can't be worked on and he won't be doing much in offseason workouts or training camp. Frankly, this isn't a big deal, unfortunately.

 

- get some production from our WRs (tied to finding a QB) - Not that far out to assume 1 of 2 prospects might be decent.

 

 

It's certainly possible, but frankly neither guy has had much experience at all. You'd expect them to be strong and fit at this point, but neither guy could beat out Josh Reed last year. There's a chance, but it's far from a slam dunk that even one guy will prove to be NFL standard.

 

-- draft an LT - How unlikely is that?

 

 

Very likely. What is unlikely is that a rookie LT playing next to a second-year man at LG will play extremely well. These things take time. I would definitely expect an upgrade from last year's LT situation if we get an LT in the first two rounds, even from a rookie. But does that mean that play will be at a competent level? Not necessarily.

 

-

- successfully run a 3-4 by capitalizing on the defensive personnel we have even though many don't match the scheme - We just signed an ILB and a 3-4 DE to what was already a talented group.

 

Nice try

 

 

If it was already a talented group, how come our defense wasn't all that great last year? We weren't as bad as the stats indicated, our defense wore down because of the pathetic nature of the offense, but we were definitely far from great. Far from it.

 

And now all of our "talented group" are playing new positions. You have no problem with that? Strout has never played DE. Kyle Williams, who has good size for a 1-technique - the position he played last year - is a munchkin for a nose tackle, the position he will play this year, a position he's never played. Poz is small for a 3 - 4 ILB. Andra Davis ought to be a solid guy, not great but solid. Not one single one of our OLBs has ever taken a single snap as a linebacker. Ever in his pro career. Ellis, Maybin, Schobel and Kelsay. Not one snap. That doesn't bother you? The only way that can be seen as a positive is if you're on laughing gas.

 

What you basically are saying is that we have about 14 serious question marks and that if all 14 questions end up having the best possible answers, then we might be good. Guess what, there isn't a single team in the NFL that can't say that. If you have a number of serious questions you have to expect that a few will come out with extremely positive results, a few with extremely negative results and most somewhere in the middle.

 

And that is not going to be anywhere near enough to make us a competitive team.

[Thurman#1]

The tendency to think that trends continue and the problem of getting used to such mediocrity has made us forget how quickly teams can turn their fortunes around in the NFL.

 

Just a couple of years ago, the Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5. The Ravens went from 5-11 to 11-5 a couple of years ago as well. There are other good examples.

 

You shouldn't expect anything, but having no hope is pretty silly.

 

Imagine being an Orioles fan (like I am). That's real hopelessness.

 

 

 

Definitely teams can turn things around. Just not when they have the huge number of holes that we have.

 

It's also become very obvious that that good year in Miami was a fluke largely due to an extremely easy schedule that year. The Ravens aren't a great example either. Do you remember what their record had been the year before they went 5 - 11? 13 - 3. Have we gone 13 - 3 in the past two years? If we had, I would definitely think that there was a pretty good chance for a turnaround.

[Rob's House]

Second-rate QBs need one thing to manage the game ... an excellent offense around them. And game-managing QBs only win numerous games if they have extremely good defenses. We have neither.

 

We could well have a very strong defense and power running game.

 

 

Very likely. What is unlikely is that a rookie LT playing next to a second-year man at LG will play extremely well. These things take time. I would definitely expect an upgrade from last year's LT situation if we get an LT in the first two rounds, even from a rookie. But does that mean that play will be at a competent level? Not necessarily.

 

No, not necessarily, but even modest improvement at both tackle positions, could have been the difference in 3-4 games last yr.

 

 

If it was already a talented group, how come our defense wasn't all that great last year? We weren't as bad as the stats indicated, our defense wore down because of the pathetic nature of the offense, but we were definitely far from great. Far from it.

 

And now all of our "talented group" are playing new positions. You have no problem with that? Strout has never played DE. Kyle Williams, who has good size for a 1-technique - the position he played last year - is a munchkin for a nose tackle, the position he will play this year, a position he's never played. Poz is small for a 3 - 4 ILB. Andra Davis ought to be a solid guy, not great but solid. Not one single one of our OLBs has ever taken a single snap as a linebacker. Ever in his pro career. Ellis, Maybin, Schobel and Kelsay. Not one snap. That doesn't bother you? The only way that can be seen as a positive is if you're on laughing gas.

Didn't say it was ideal, but again, not going to a straight up 3-4. Also in a 3-4, depending on how it's run, the OLB position doesn't have to be dramatically different from a DE position, and for guys like Schobel, Ellis, and Maybin I think there's a good chance it will better utilize their talents regardless of whether they've played from that specific position. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mitchell playing OLB either.

 

Gosh, well, if you said it would be nice but not required, then it must be true.

 

Smart ass mother f*cker

 

 

What you basically are saying is that we have about 14 serious question marks and that if all 14 questions end up having the best possible answers, then we might be good. Guess what, there isn't a single team in the NFL that can't say that. If you have a number of serious questions you have to expect that a few will come out with extremely positive results, a few with extremely negative results and most somewhere in the middle.

 

And that is not going to be anywhere near enough to make us a competitive team.

 

Actually, I said if about 3 or 4 of those question marks work out for us we could be pleasantly surprised. You're the one who seems to be so certain of everything.

 

The basic jist was that we have some areas of strength, and while a dominant Super Bowl contender is probably two yrs of good decision making away, it's not unfathomable to imagine the Bills might not suck ass this year. I don't fully understand why that got your panties in such an uproar.

[dpberr]

I don't think we will see the playoffs this year, but I think this team will be competitive.

 

We were 6-10 under the likes of Jauron/Fewell with nearly the entire team being guys picked from the stands at 12:30 before the game. Looking back that was a modern day NFL miracle.

 

I think it will be a promising year. I'm a fan who feels we have a coach and GM with their heads screwed on straight, for the first time since the early 90s.

[HurlyBurly51]

I fear the OLB position for 2010 will be akin to what happened for the OL in 2009. They had an asinine plan in the first place, after getting rid of Peters, to switch Walker over to LT, then cut him before the season. And moving Butler out, before the injury of course, wasn't a great move either, and the injury only exacerbated that decision. They did at least invest wisely on the interior.

 

If they proceed with the current plan at OLB and again choose not to address the position in the draft like they ignored the Tackle position last year (hello, Oher), it will probably play out similarly at OLB this season. I have about 0% confidence that Maybin, Kelsay, Schobel (if he even returns) or Ellis is equipped to make the transition. And they really have nothing else behind that, other than maybe moving some inside guys out. That makes this a high priority in April.

 

C'mon Buddy, I know you're smarter than last years crew. At least build that D up with a NT and OLB. Sprinkle in a LT. Do this with our first 3 picks. We'll probably have to make due with what's on the roster at QB, but add your scatback and throw in a WR, and we can be well on the road to recovery if you can truly pick out "football" players as well as we think you can.