box0life Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Don't know about you but I was looking at our new 53 man roster and here is what I come up with. QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade OL - I see no improvement here: No Change TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade Overall the offense is not really any better than last year on paper. DL: With Dareas we have an upgrade. LB's: If Merriman and Bennett can stay healthy this is an upgrade. DB's: Slight upgrade with Aaron Williams. ST's: With kick offs basically eliminating kick returns this may be a downgrade. We have some good returners but they no longer mean anything with the new rules. However, we struggled last year tackling: No Change Overall Defense should improve with the upgrades at DL and LB. Depth is better overall. Problem is I don't see the defense staying healthy throughout the year with all these fragile upgrades. We sit here on pins and needles just waiting for Merriman and Bennett to get hurt. Offensively, I see no real improvement on paper unless the offensive line improves. With the lack of a WR that can stretch the field with the loss of Evans, I don't see this offense improving on last year. The addition of Brad Smith offsets the loss of Evans. Based on the defense being better I see this team winning 6 games this year. Overall: we should be able to improve on sacks and stopping the run. This should result in more interceptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I reserve judgement until after the second game. I don't believe the "final" roster is set wrt adding more veteran players. Remember, if a vet is on the payroll for Game #1, his salary is guaranteed for the entire year. I disagree with the QB position. We're markedly better than we were last year at this time. TE was the anointed starter and BB was the 3rd Stringer. Fitz is much better than the ball-less one. And, in spite of the trashing that TT's received here, he's a decent backup. Smith is better as a Slash/3rd QB than Brohm would ever be. If you can't see that Chandler is a very decent TE, then perhaps you will once the bullets start flying for real. WRT the OL - there's less dead weight there now than last year at this time. It definitely can use some shoring up in the tackle position, but Chan's greased the sled already to make a change depending on who they can or can't get between now and when the final gun goes off on game 1. You really think the WR position is weaker? Seriously? You really think that Lee's 37 receptions for 578 yards and 4 TDs of 2010 won't be matched by another receiver still employed by OBD? Really? Of course in 2009, he had a whopping 44 catches for a massive 612 yards and 7 TDs. Frankly, Lee was a good soldier, and I didn't necessarily like that he asked to be traded and they obliged, but he was not producing - for whatever reason, but the fact is that he was expendable. I wish him well, and that we got more for him than they did. Now that the entire League can't use our D like a floormat, expect to see our Secondary get lit up. That will be the acid test as to how much the D has improved from last year. I do think they've turned the corner and the DLine is much improved as is the LB corps - but as you said, injuries could wipe that gain out in short order. I think we'll be a lot more competitive this year and depending on the health of the teams on any given Sunday, I expect they could win against all of their opponents. That's why they bother to play the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Don't know about you but I was looking at our new 53 man roster and here is what I come up with. QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade OL - I see no improvement here: No Change TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade Overall the offense is not really any better than last year on paper. DL: With Dareas we have an upgrade. LB's: If Merriman and Bennett can stay healthy this is an upgrade. DB's: Slight upgrade with Aaron Williams. ST's: With kick offs basically eliminating kick returns this may be a downgrade. We have some good returners but they no longer mean anything with the new rules. However, we struggled last year tackling: No Change Overall Defense should improve with the upgrades at DL and LB. Depth is better overall. Problem is I don't see the defense staying healthy throughout the year with all these fragile upgrades. We sit here on pins and needles just waiting for Merriman and Bennett to get hurt. Offensively, I see no real improvement on paper unless the offensive line improves. With the lack of a WR that can stretch the field with the loss of Evans, I don't see this offense improving on last year. The addition of Brad Smith offsets the loss of Evans. Based on the defense being better I see this team winning 6 games this year. Overall: we should be able to improve on sacks and stopping the run. This should result in more interceptions. I do think they are better than they were last year. The more important question is are they better relative to the teams in the AFC East. That question will be answered by mid November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 If we have have a pass rush and are even remotely stout against the run we are GREATLY improved. It might not show in the record but I think it's a big step Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Angel Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 <br />Don't know about you but I was looking at our new 53 man roster and here is what I come up with.<br /><br />QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade<br />OL - I see no improvement here: No Change<br />TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change<br />RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change<br />WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade<br /><br />Overall the offense is not really any better than last year on paper.<br /><br />DL: With Dareas we have an upgrade.<br />LB's: If Merriman and Bennett can stay healthy this is an upgrade.<br />DB's: Slight upgrade with Aaron Williams.<br />ST's: With kick offs basically eliminating kick returns this may be a downgrade. We have some good returners but they no longer mean anything with the new rules. However, we struggled last year tackling: No Change <br /><br /><br />Overall Defense should improve with the upgrades at DL and LB. Depth is better overall. Problem is I don't see the defense staying healthy throughout the year with all these fragile upgrades. We sit here on pins and needles just waiting for Merriman and Bennett to get hurt. Offensively, I see no real improvement on paper unless the offensive line improves. With the lack of a WR that can stretch the field with the loss of Evans, I don't see this offense improving on last year. The addition of Brad Smith offsets the loss of Evans. <br /><br />Based on the defense being better I see this team winning 6 games this year. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Overall: we should be able to improve on sacks and stopping the run. This should result in more interceptions.<br /><br /><br /><br />Thigpen being no better than Edwards is an upgrade as Thigpen is not starting Is losing a decoy in our receiving corps a downgrade? If Easley continues to improve it wont be. Chandler played well at TE in the preseason IMO he is an upgrade at TE If we judge our oline by the end of last season where they became healthy and formed some cohesion within the unit and not by a preseason game then they should be an upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Any improvement will come from the contributions of rookies and development of other recent draft picks. Ask me again on Columbus Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Any improvement will come from the contributions of rookies and development of other recent draft picks. Ask me again on Columbus Day. Bingo. +1. I would say that as bad as the OL is, it's better than one that had Wrotto and Cordero Howard featured. And while I liked Hangman, he spent most if his time getting pushed backward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserable_fan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 We had the third pick off the board last year. Can't get much worse than that. So yes, I think we've improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koufax Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Don't know about you but I was looking at our new 53 man roster and here is what I come up with. QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade OL - I see no improvement here: No Change TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade Overall the offense is not really any better than last year on paper. DL: With Dareas we have an upgrade. LB's: If Merriman and Bennett can stay healthy this is an upgrade. DB's: Slight upgrade with Aaron Williams. ST's: With kick offs basically eliminating kick returns this may be a downgrade. We have some good returners but they no longer mean anything with the new rules. However, we struggled last year tackling: No Change Overall Defense should improve with the upgrades at DL and LB. Depth is better overall. Problem is I don't see the defense staying healthy throughout the year with all these fragile upgrades. We sit here on pins and needles just waiting for Merriman and Bennett to get hurt. Offensively, I see no real improvement on paper unless the offensive line improves. With the lack of a WR that can stretch the field with the loss of Evans, I don't see this offense improving on last year. The addition of Brad Smith offsets the loss of Evans. Based on the defense being better I see this team winning 6 games this year. Overall: we should be able to improve on sacks and stopping the run. This should result in more interceptions. QB: I think Fitz being the man for the first time ever helps. That is offset a little by the lockout and lack of OTAs, but not going into a season waiting for Trent to fail seems like a big stride forward if he can stay healthy. OL: This is where I disagree with most around here. I think this unit will be improved this year, and I judge based on last year's 4-4 finish more than the pre season shuffle. #1) I think Wood being healthy and at center is a huge improvement for this team. Remember where he was this time last year, just coming off the huge injury and not practicing regularly. #2) Same with Bell. He had a rough day in Denver, but he is a year older, and instead of coming off a huge injury, he is coming off a 16 game season where he continued to improve. #3) Cornell Green is not playing for our team. I would love to see Hairston unseat Pears, but either way our RT performance will be better. I think this unit exceeds expectations. It will still take adding some new talent before this unit is good, but I very strongly think we will be better than last year. TE: One new body, a very low bar to raise, I see this being a little better. RB: Fred is still a low mileage old guy, and Spiller will contribute a lot more. Marshawn is gone, but so is the three back confusion. If Fred is as good, and Spiller is better, this unit would be better right? WR: A great unknown, but considering we only got half a year out of Roscoe last year, if he stays healthy that is easy to be improved. Stevie is young and getting better and developing chemistry with Fred, so I would expect him to be better. Easley is not the receiver Lee was, decoy or otherwise, so that is likely to be a step back, but not as major as some think. I think the unit is somewhere around no change, but possibly a little worse. Add Spiller to the mix and you have a big wildcard since I think he will be on the field together with Freddie more than we expect. So I expect a little more out of the offense, that played pretty well last year. Not an 11-5 offense, but I think they will do their part to us being an 8-8 team. I will leave defense alone mostly, but I am excited about Dareus, Merriman, Carrington, A. Williams, and Barnett contributing more at their respective spots, and don't see any spots where I think we are weaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Don't know about you but I was looking at our new 53 man roster and here is what I come up with. QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade OL - I see no improvement here: No Change TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade Overall the offense is not really any better than last year on paper. Agree pretty much with your defense analysis (I think you mean Barnett, not Bennett. How I wish we had the likes of Bisquit back again!). If we can stop the run, it may expose the 2ndary. Then again, if they focus on their job instead of cheating up to stop the run, that may improve. On paper, got to disagree on the offense a bit. Last year we had TE as the starter. Last year showed Fitz is by far the better choice as starter. So even if Thiggy = Edwards (and in principle, he should be better in that he can scramble), I think we're better off than we started the season last year. OL: I think Bell is stronger, Wood is a better center than Hang, and Pears >> Cornell Green. TE, Chandler > Nelson even if only in durability and Pianalto shows promise of >whoever was #3 last year. RB and WR - could be no change, could be upgrade. Spiller seems capable of blocking now, and of hitting the gaps instead of just trying to scamper outside. Football played on grass, not paper. We really need to wait until a couple games have gone by. It's too hard to tell from preseason. Including, the door isn't closed on acquisitions off waivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsMagic1 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 ol worse, te worse, rb same, qb same, wr worse, lb better, db same, dl better, st same, overall same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 (edited) QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade As others have said - the upgrade is Fitz starting instead of Edwards. Smith will clearly have more of a positive impact than Brown, Brohm, and Edwards did combined. OL - I see no improvement here: No Change TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade DL: With Dareas[sic] we have an upgrade. Along with Dareus, I'd add the extra 30 pounds on Carrington and Troup and say a significant upgrade. LB's: If Merriman and Bennett[sic] can stay healthy this is an upgrade. Davis was the best LB on the team last year when he was healthy. People don't want to hear it - but Kelsay looks MUCH better at OLB this year with a full season to adjust. Sheppard and a healthy Batten are further upgrades from last year, and Morrison is legiitmate quality depth (unlike Torbor and Ayodele). HUGE upgrade for the LB unit - even if Merriman misses time...! DB's: Slight upgrade with Aaron Williams. Williams >> Corner. Hopefully we'll feel like Wilson >= Whitner. I'd call the DB's more of a push for now. ST's: With kick offs basically eliminating kick returns this may be a downgrade. We have some good returners but they no longer mean anything with the new rules. However, we struggled last year tackling: No Change Punt returns are still good - but clearly it's a no change. If Moorman bounces back from arguably his worst season, that would help. Overall Defense should improve with the upgrades at DL and LB. Depth is better overall. Problem is I don't see the defense staying healthy throughout the year with all these fragile upgrades. We sit here on pins and needles just waiting for Merriman and Bennett to get hurt. If I told you last November our starting LB's included a healthy Andra Davis, Kirk Morrison, Sheppard, Batten, and Moats, you'd have been thrilled with the upgrade over Torbor and Ayodele. Sure Merriman and Barnett are good and a big upgrade, but they aren't the whole upgrade, so the overall upgrade is hardly "fragile". Offensively, I see no real improvement on paper unless the offensive line improves. With the lack of a WR that can stretch the field with the loss of Evans, I don't see this offense improving on last year. The addition of Brad Smith offsets the loss of Evans. Evans' 40 catches 4 TD's/season are pretty damned easy to offset. He is no loss - sorry. My pet golden retriever is an upgrade over Evans. The OL core of talent on the team improves every year they can stay healthy and play together - Bell-Levitre-Wood are still babies for NFL O-linemen. There's every reason to believe they just keep getting slowly better for the next several years through experience. Based on the defense being better I see this team winning 6 games this year. This ignores that last year, while adjusting to the new schemes, and starting Edwards while showcasing Lynch for a trade, they started 0-8 and finished 4-4, and that they had 3 losses in O/T to playoff teams. This was already a 5 or 6-win quality team last year. This year they are a 8-8 or 9-7 team easy, based on my belief that the defensive upgrades have been huge and they will be in the top 12 or so defenses in the league. Of course, how many wins all depends on how things break and who stays healthy. Also, don't forget Wanny's addition to the coaching staff. Next April they will draft either QB/OT/WR depending on who steps up and who doesn't this season. Going into next season ALL the talk will about being a real playoff contender. Edited September 4, 2011 by BobChalmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Overall, I'm not sure any team knows what it has until the second game. That being said, considering the run defense is what led to many of the 12 losses last year, and the upgrades to it, I'd say yes, the Bills are improved. I don't see teams running on the Bills like they did last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outsidethebox Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I have high hopes for this year. I honestly don't think our play in preseason is indicative of how the team is going to play. We have not seen the coaches and players game plan except for the first half of the Jacksonville game, and see how well the offense played that half. I see this teams record somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 depending on the breaks for or against. I actually think this coaching staff and front office has a plan, we are only on season two of the plan. And I am as negative as anyone else on here. I have to believe this team whom I love dearly will be better. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 (edited) ol worse, te worse, rb same, qb same, wr worse, lb better, db same, dl better, st same, overall same How in Hades do you get "ol worse"??? Are you that broken up about the cutting of Hanny? Or are you pining to get Green back at ORT??? Honestly, that's just weird. "te worse"? Because we don't have Stupar?? Admittedly we lost some potential at TE with Nelson - but that was potenital still - not actual production. Edited September 4, 2011 by BobChalmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Overall, I'm not sure any team knows what it has until the second game. That being said, considering the run defense is what led to many of the 12 losses last year, and the upgrades to it, I'd say yes, the Bills are improved. I don't see teams running on the Bills like they did last year. Now we need to find out if the Bills Offense can stay on the field. This was something they struggled with last year...They could not sustain drives... We were 28th in Time of Posession with 28.36 minutes. That has got to change with the ability to stop the run and run the ball effectively. I am really sick of the 3 and outs and the many times we couldn't run out the clock after taking the lead...If Chan can get the team to play and make less mental mistakes (They were very successful in reducing the # of penalties last year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 (edited) The defense has taken a big big step up. It is now much better handled to run a 3-4 defense. Troup and Carrington are going to take a step up in their second years, Dareus is a monster along the line, Barnett and Merriman should help the LB core, Sheppard and Morrision help the depth at MLB, and getting Dwan Edwards back should round out the D-line. The secondary is slightly better with addition by subtraction in losing Whitner and starting Wilson, and the addition of Williams adds some depth and talent to the corners. Although losing Whitner does hurt the depth at the back end (Searcy does remedy that a little). I still think that Wilson being on the field is a net positive and that Williams adds talent. The offense will be about the same. The loss of Lee will hurt but I think that the whole offense will be better having played a full year in the system. Also I think Easley and Nelson could fill the void Lee left. Brad Smith should add a weapon for Gailey to use. On top of that not starting Turd Edwards for two games should help the offenses performance. Although this O-line (Barring any moves) is still very much a mess. I think that overall this team is improved and will likely see a 7-9 season. But this team is still a good draft class away from being a playoff team. Edited September 4, 2011 by billsfan89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just in Atlanta Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I do think they are better than they were last year. The more important question is are they better relative to the teams in the AFC East. That question will be answered by mid November. QB's - Somewhat agree. Thigpen is a gunslinger, Fitz will improve from an already good season, and Smith will add something interesting. Medium upgrade, but that depends on the line and receivers... OL - Disagree. We added nothing, and lost a veteran in Hangartner. Downgrade. TE: - Disagree. Anything is better than what we had last year. Plus, Chandler looks promising, and we just added a TE from NE. Upgrade. RB's - Disagree. Spiller has to get better. Slight upgrade. WR's - Agree. The loss of Evans, without the addition of a vertical-threat veteran, hurts. Downgrade. DL: I would say huge upgrade. LB's: Huge upgrade. DB's: I don't really know. We had a solid year last year at these positions, but I haven't seen very much out of them in the preseason. ST's: Agree. I would also add Wanstache as a huge upgrade. This team will have a top 10 pass rush, average run D, and probably an average secondary. Based solely on last year, and not figuring in improvements/downgrades for other AFC East teams, and given the fact that we have an equally-tough season this year, I would give us an additional four wins for our D, one win for QB continuity, an extra win for the Wildcat, an extra loss for Evans, an extra loss for the line, and an X factor win for the unis . Prediction: We finish 9-7 or 8-8. If we do nothing to improve this line, and if a lineman gets hurt, I'll downgrade that to 7-9. I don't know if we can beat the Pats or Jets even once, but we will sweep the hapless Fins. Go Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBD Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade I think Smith will be quite a bit more involved in the offense than Brown. You could probably factor him as an upgrade to the RBs and WRs also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc kid 78 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Don't know about you but I was looking at our new 53 man roster and here is what I come up with. QB's - Do be honest with you Thigpen is no better than Edwards, and Smith may be an upgrade on Brown: Slight Upgrade OL - I see no improvement here: No Change TE: - I see no improvement here: NO Change RB's - I see no Improvement here: No Change WR's - We got worse with the Evans trade: Downgrade Overall the offense is not really any better than last year on paper. DL: With Dareas we have an upgrade. LB's: If Merriman and Bennett can stay healthy this is an upgrade. DB's: Slight upgrade with Aaron Williams. ST's: With kick offs basically eliminating kick returns this may be a downgrade. We have some good returners but they no longer mean anything with the new rules. However, we struggled last year tackling: No Change Overall Defense should improve with the upgrades at DL and LB. Depth is better overall. Problem is I don't see the defense staying healthy throughout the year with all these fragile upgrades. We sit here on pins and needles just waiting for Merriman and Bennett to get hurt. Offensively, I see no real improvement on paper unless the offensive line improves. With the lack of a WR that can stretch the field with the loss of Evans, I don't see this offense improving on last year. The addition of Brad Smith offsets the loss of Evans. Based on the defense being better I see this team winning 6 games this year. Overall: we should be able to improve on sacks and stopping the run. This should result in more interceptions. They will be better ,chan has cranked up the intensity ,he has made it clear that no player is safe on this roster.bills 24 kc 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts