What Changes Would You Make in 2012?

[BBeck/cuba]

I would definetly shake up the defensive coaching new DC and some assistants. New strenght and condition guy.

 

Draft priority 1. Pass rusher 2. WR 3. OL

 

Sign Freddy, sign Steve (still sure what hes worth tho)

 

FA Depth Depth Depth since they don't want to make a splash

[BillsVet]

New owner in 2012.

[ALLEN1QB]

My change will be not wasting any more money on the NFL package to watch this team self destruct again!!!!!!!!!!!!

[8-8 Forever?]

I don't think Bowe will be back in KC, but he's clashed nonstop with coaches there. Is that really a headache we need?

no

[CBD]

I expect them to find a way to keep Stevie Johnson on the team, even if it requires them using the franchise tag on him for one year.

 

I'd like them to sign a FA wideout, Robert Meachem is an FA at the end of the year. He's relatively young, has deep speed, a bigger frame, is from the SEC & seems like the type of guy the Bills would go after (not a top available at his position but someone who is signed on day 3 or 4 of free agency). Making 4 of your wideouts Johnson-Meachem-Nelson-Smith and a competition between the remaining few for the last two spots.

 

I expect them to resign Pears, I expect Bell to walk as the asking price wont match his output. I wouldn't be surprised, and woudln't hate it, if their 1st round pick is an LT. Seems like there are 3 or 4 OTs that are top 20 picks for this year. This would put that player at LT & allow Hairston & Pears to battle for the RT spot, the loser providing depth at both LT & RT.

 

I expect no moves to be made on the defensive line & the lineup to be pretty much the same coming into next year.

 

I expect Merriman to make an attempt at a comeback, but for them to also use a high pick (first 3 rounds) on a pass rushing OLB.

 

Woudn't be surprised to see a QB taken in the top 3 rounds this year, seems as though there are quite a few of them coming out.

[CardinalScotts]

New owner in 2012.

 

Yes - someone who wants to win. Clean out guys like Russ Brandon. Although I think we are headed in the right direction the thoughts of will the owner spend like others to get this team where it should be? The big no has been the answer. We do not sign NFL caliber players to give the team depth. Wideouts get hurt and instead of going and getting a wide receiver we move a running QB and running back to wide receiver - and tell Chan make it work. Have no depth at LB, defensive line, wide receiver that could have been fixed by going out and spending some money to bring guys in prior to the season starting. In the end until Ralph dies we are stuck right here with the team making 40 plus million dollars and Ralph crying.

also Fred is already signed he's under contract for next year.

Edited November 30, 2011 by CardinalScotts

[I hate the Bills !]

The first problem is that real talented players don't want to come to Buffalo, since we have long cold winters, lousy restaurants, no nite life and a old stadium ,an older owner who should have sold the team years ago with a reputetion for being cheap and a team that hasn't been in the playoffs for over a decade. That's why the Bills get past their prime guys and so-so players (Langston Walkers, Dwan Edwards etc )from other teams who get over paid to come here. We also try to convert players from what they do best to be something else, Chris Kelsey as an OLB - please !

 

Our Defense cant decide if its a 4-3 or a 3-4 and that indecision has cost us draft picks and yes games. We have no real Pass rush to speak of look at our sack total for the year its pathethic.

 

Every year we cut loose several of our key guys who play out their old contract and resign somewhere else for big money, POZ, Jabari, Clements, Winfield, Williams, Leonard

 

OUr Draft History is God Awful in the first three rounds, we do way better with 4,5,6 and 7th round talent, than we do with guys who should be studs for our team. ( You know the list of players who have been drafted, played or rode the pine for 3-4 years then left and we labeled them as busts. OR worse the guys who have left and them blossomed somewhere else!

 

We have a group of aging vets that need to be replaced, Kelsey, McGee, Edwards, Merriman for better talent to name a few but we don't yet have the talent to fill their shoes yet.

 

WNY as a whole is in a downward spiral, the economy is bad and getting worse by the day our factories have closed down, and we stopped building things things anymore, and the Bills cant justify raising ticket prices for a bad product in a depressed area. The Stadium needs 100 million in repairs, and we don't even know if the Bills are going to be here when Ralph kicks.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Wood is Good

[maryland-bills-fan]

If the draft were held right now, the Bills would pick #15, which shows improvement over picking 3rd last year. We have 5 games left and I expect they will win two more games and finish, just below 500, at 7-9. Yea, I know we have been at about 500 before and never got anywhere, yadda yadda yadd, but it does look like there is a plan and a direction this time. Notice that they young guys are being developed and getting a lot of playing time, rather than plugging in and staying with older veterans who are not getting better.

 

For next year I do not see taking a wide receiver early in the draft. We have Roscie and Easley(?) coming back from injury, a couple of young players who might break out, and Brad Smith to work as the 2nd, field stretching wide-out. First round wide receiver draft picks are always the flat out long pass game breakers and we do not have the QB or the offensive line to really make use of such a guy.

 

On the offensive line, we will not draft a offensive lineman in the first round. With Pears, Harriston and Bell, we have three adequate tackles and they are young enough that one of them may really impress as they get more experience. I also have hopes for Jasper to come in next year, make the 53 man roster and be very good. Even with injuries, they have held up okay so far. There is enough potential and enough bodies in the pipeline so this is not a great need area. With respect to the interior of the line, We are in very good shape with Levtre & Wood. Urbik and Rheinhard are okay at the other guard, so the most we might see in a change next year is a 3rd or 4th round draft pick used. Tight end has one adequate player in Chandler- we might see a BPA pick at interior o-line or TE with a 3rd round pick.

 

What we do need is to rethink our defense. The overall plan was to go to a 3-4 defense, but were were and are lacking the edge rush 3-4 linebacker. Merriman was a gamble that was worth throwing the dice on and it didn't work. Batten & Moats were late DE draft picks from small schools and it is clear that they are not going to be top notch talent. Carrington is out of position playing there, although I like to see him getting the snaps. Kelsay is serviceable and is some strenght on the edge as well. Of the rest of characters on the roster, (Morrison, Coleman, Davis. Tobor, White)- they are not quality, but bottom of the roster depth. So what do we have at outside LB? Kelsay is the only, slightly above average OLB. We are okay on the inside with Sheppard and Barnet.

 

Now look at the defensive linemen. We were starting to go towards a 3-4, but along the way, something unexpected that is good & is bad happened. Kyle Williams turned into a force in the center of the defensive line, but his size really prevents him from being a standard 3-4 nose tackle. We drafted a great big spacehog defensive tackle in Marcell Dareus and although he is big enough and strong enough to work as a nose tackle, he is fast and penatrating enought that it would be a waste to use him just as the immoveable rock in the center. We have Heard and the (so far) disappointing Troup as depth.... IF WE GO BACK TO a 4-3. We would have an excellent interior there. At DE we have Carrington, D.Edwards, Spencer and Kelsay and they are adequate with some upside in Carrington and some pass rush ability from Kelsay (6-4 260).

 

Here is what I see us doing. We have been dealt two aces in K.Williams and Dareus. Gailey has shown himself willing to work with what he has. If he has oranges, he makes orange juice. If he has apples, its apple juice. If he has two superior and complementary defensive tackles, he goes 4-3. We will be drafting about #20 next year. In the first three rounds we take 4-3 OLB and DE's. We put in a new defensive co-ordinator. The smaller 4-3 OLB's help our pass defense. We take a QB in the 4th round.

[The Senator]

I'd replace defensive coordinator George Edwards with assistant head coach Dave Wannstedt, and hire as full-time offensive coordinator someone like...

[Dorkington]

Ideally:

 

-Fire Edwards

-Retain our quality players (FJ, SJ, etc)

-Find a big athletic deep WR

-Improve depth at OL and DL

-Find a good quality OLB

 

I don't think a lot of changes are necessary, I just think we need to keep the good guys, and replace some of our bad guys with good/solid players. What is hurting us most is our lack of depth.

[Buffaloed in Pa]

New D coach. Free agency... Biggest best nose tackle. Throw some money out there. Another Q.B. Thiggy scares me. A veteran inside backer,sorry the stylish Sheppard doesn`t impress yet.

Next draft,picks in order OLb, Wr. Olb center Ilb Wr. De. De. I like our O.L. when healthy. Another center couldn`t hurt.Draft speed receivers like Pittsburgh did. The last 2 picks are tweeners to take a chance on as Olbs.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

The first problem is that real talented players don't want to come to Buffalo, since we have long cold winters, lousy restaurants, no nite life and a old stadium ,an older owner who should have sold the team years ago with a reputetion for being cheap and a team that hasn't been in the playoffs for over a decade. That's why the Bills get past their prime guys and so-so players (Langston Walkers, Dwan Edwards etc )from other teams who get over paid to come here. We also try to convert players from what they do best to be something else, Chris Kelsey as an OLB - please !

 

Our Defense cant decide if its a 4-3 or a 3-4 and that indecision has cost us draft picks and yes games. We have no real Pass rush to speak of look at our sack total for the year its pathethic.

 

Every year we cut loose several of our key guys who play out their old contract and resign somewhere else for big money, POZ, Jabari, Clements, Winfield, Williams, Leonard

 

OUr Draft History is God Awful in the first three rounds, we do way better with 4,5,6 and 7th round talent, than we do with guys who should be studs for our team. ( You know the list of players who have been drafted, played or rode the pine for 3-4 years then left and we labeled them as busts. OR worse the guys who have left and them blossomed somewhere else!

 

We have a group of aging vets that need to be replaced, Kelsey, McGee, Edwards, Merriman for better talent to name a few but we don't yet have the talent to fill their shoes yet.

 

WNY as a whole is in a downward spiral, the economy is bad and getting worse by the day our factories have closed down, and we stopped building things things anymore, and the Bills cant justify raising ticket prices for a bad product in a depressed area. The Stadium needs 100 million in repairs, and we don't even know if the Bills are going to be here when Ralph kicks.

 

Nice problem statement. What changes would you make in 2012 to address these problems?

[PDaDdy]

PERSONNEL

 

#1 OFFENSIVE LINE - Stop trying to get by on the cheap. Get a GOD DAMN LT that can stay healthy and block his man 1 on 1 without constant chip blocking from the RB or TE double teams. Woods is really good but he has unfortunately had really bad luck with injuries. Collectively as a unit they need to be able to PASS block for 3+ seconds so we don't have to rely on Fitz getting rid of the ball in 2 seconds. We made Maybin look like a star last Sunday drawing holding penalties and racking up two freaking sacks! Guess he earned some of that money.

 

#2 PASS RUSHER - Maybin was not an every down player but we jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire by letting him go. His 5 sacks would look pretty damn good added to our crappy team total this year. The Shawn "Good Gamble" Merriman experiment should be over. AT BEST he should be our situational pass rusher next year if he can stay off crutches and out of a boot.

 

#3 PASS RUSHER - Yes another one! I won't trash Kelsay. He is a lunch pail journeyman who isn't bad but we need someone better at getting after the QB who can also defend the run.

 

#4 WR - We looked pretty damn good until as usual we got hit hard and deep by injuries at ONE position as we always seem to have happen every year. Believe it or not Parrish was a big factor in confusing opposing defenses but he can't stay healthy. Neither can Easley. Remind SJ of his dropped passes at critical times and stupid antics that cost the team when he is trying to negotiate his #1 super star contract.

 

#5 DE/NT - Troup can't stay healthy and sucks when he is. Two options; 1) Kick Kyle out to DE, let him bull rush up field all day and get a 350 fat bastard who can anchor the middle and even push the pile like most every other good 3 - 4 defense. 2) Get another DE who can make plays, beat one on one match ups and generate pressure.

 

#6 CB - Leodis can't cover in the NFL. He gets lost if the play lasts for more than 3 seconds which due to our lack of QB pressure seems to happen quite frequently. He is horrible playing the ball and gives up catches that he should swat away but his feet are all tangled up and he lacks body control. Although perhaps our best corner when healthy, McGee as always, is another injury waiting to happen. We need a 6' CB that can play against our division rivals.

 

#7 DEPTH - We don't spend a lot of money and we know it. In a magical world where everyone stayed healthy we might be fine as we have SOME damn good to pretty decent starters. Perhaps the real area where our lack of spending shows up is our lack of depth at some positions. We lose some guys due to injury and it all starts to go to hell. I have no idea but I wonder if other teams rotate their starters more to keep them healthy where as we seem to work ours to death or IR as it were. Could totally be wrong on this one.

 

SCHEME AND COACHING

With better personnel I think this takes care of itself BUT:

 

Running Offense - Split the load. We can't keep beating the crap out of Freddie by not letting our other guys get involved enough. He is going to be north of 30 and no RB under 230 lbs and over 27 should take that kind of pounding.

 

Passing Offense - With an improved offensive line we can take more shots down the field. We take a few shots down field a game. Good teams seem to take a few shots downfield a drive. You don't have to hit on every one of them but it makes the defense cover the whole field instead of press coverage on our WRs at the line who generally have trouble beating it. Yes, losing all of our 4.3 speed WRs this year was a BIG factor. The bunch formation worked. I imagine the only reasons we stopped is because we didn't have enough WRs left to run it.

 

Rush Defense - More beef in the middle as mentioned above should help the results. I'm not sure it is a scheme problem.

 

Pass Defense - With better covering corners and an improved pass rush due to personnel we would be effective in generating sacks, thrown away balls and interceptions. PLEASE PLEASE for the love of god come up with something creative on defense. When we attempt to blitz it's almost worse than staying in our regular coverage. Sending an extra man doesn't generate any more pressure it only creates weaker coverage. Try some exotic blitzing! Bring pressure from different areas. Over load one side or the other. Unexpectedly drop guys back into coverage. DO SOMETHING!

Edited November 30, 2011 by PDaDdy

[Mr. WEO]

What I think likely, or what I'd like to see?

 

1) Not only Edwards goes, but several of the defensive assistants get the ax in favor of men with serious experience in the NFL. Saunders departs. Talley joins the Bills as the OLB coach. Modkins departs and Chan hires a real offensive coordinator who oversees a lot of the grunt self-scouting, balance work and design of routine plays, leaving Chan to exercise his creativity.

 

2) We draft top-drawer pass rusher, top-drawer WR, and OL (BPA at these positions when we draft).

 

3) We pick up a quality WR and another quality LB in FA

 

Abracadabra. Better coaching, better players, better team.

Do I think it's likely to happen? Just sign me....Doubtful

 

I believe many posted this last year....

[DDD]

Two changes for 2012 in order to turn the mess around that is the Buffalo Bills:

 

1. New ownership that actually is dedicated to winning and has a plan

2. New GM, preferably one who is not sleeping when free agency begins and who does not draft undersized players in areas that are not pressing when the team has so many other holes. Also, a GM who doesn't trade quality players under contract for mid round draft choices.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Mr. Wonderful

[Rico]

New owner in 2012.

[Dorkington]

The problem is, anytime we pick up a good player in a position, we seem to lose one or two good players in that same position. We're never going to get better until we get the mentality in our heads that we need to have more than one good player at each position.

[CodeMonkey]

I don't think Bowe will be back in KC, but he's clashed nonstop with coaches there. Is that really a headache we need?

 

 

no

Yeah the Bills certainly have no for need a top tier player. I mean, he might do stupid things in the endzone and cost the Bills a game. Who needs that kind of a player ... oh wait ...

Edited November 30, 2011 by CodeMonkey

[Keukasmallies]

Banish the Clinton's from public life.... Oooops, wrong forum.

[PDaDdy]

The problem is, anytime we pick up a good player in a position, we seem to lose one or two good players in that same position. We're never going to get better until we get the mentality in our heads that we need to have more than one good player at each position.

 

 

Or stated another way. Winning teams keep their good players and fill their holes with new talent. Losing teams make new holes by letting their good players leave and keep filling the same ones over and over and over and over.