The Plunge Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 When reviewing the additions and subtractions on our squad this offseason, we need to remember that we're essentially adding Sammy Watkins, Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland to the team this year. Those are three noteworty additions. Of course, Shaq and Sammy played some last year, but Sammy was far from healthy and it's safe to assume Shaq will be stronger to start this year than he was at any point last year. I try to be realistic with my assessments of the Bills heading into any given year. I had almost no confidence in our ability to improve last year, mostly because I didn't believe in Rex as a coach. But this year, I have a hard time believing we won't improve. If we add another solid receiving option, and re-sign Gillislee, I think our offense should be every bit as good as it was last year in terms of scoring and yardage. Losing Woods sucks, but he's far from irreplaceable. I believe this unit will be well coached, and if they stay healthy should be quite productive. On D, we have some notable subtractions for sure. The secondary is a big question mark. But I believe our front 7 will be notably better than it was in the last 2 years mostly because the scheme fits the talent we have now. The most important improvement is on the coaching front. If we add nobody else to the D between now and the start of the season, I STILL think they perform better than they did under Rex. Do I think this is a Superbowl caliber team? Definitley not. Do I think we can win 10 games and make the playoffs? Yes I do. Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo86 Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Didn't Sammy just have another surgery on his foot? Hopefully he'll be healthy this year. Ragland is a wildcard, but we look to have the slowest LB corp in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Success Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Listenee too, and I agree. I love all of the depth signings right now. With the guys you mentioned and a good draft, this team will have all of the talent we need to compete. The X factor is McDermott. If he turns out to be good or even great, this team could be a real dark horse in '17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcoam Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 You make a decent argument Plunge and you are correct about the additions However depending upon what we do in the draft right now I still have major concerns about starting positions WR #2 and WR #3 And the secondary is in a huge transition I too love that we moved on from Rex's D But I ams still not convinced this new D we can stop the run, until we, stop it Do that and maybe we can survive through a transition secondary I'm just not sure it gets us to 10 wins jc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmalibu Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 I think the wild card factor is MD. He missed the first 8 games and we lost 3 close ones without him. I think that a healthily franchise player like him would have made the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Boy Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 New schemes in all three phases of the game and a rookie head coach, not buying it. Shaq with a bad shoulder, Sammy with a bad wheel and Ragland coming off knee surgery? I want all three to have breakout seasons but the proof is in the pudding and the wrapper is still on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kkspike Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Also Marcell Only tried in 3 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 I think the wild card factor is MD. He missed the first 8 games and we lost 3 close ones without him. I think that a healthily franchise player like him would have made the difference. Not only did they miss him but this scheme promises to return him to the style of play that made him an All-Pro. Better fit for all the DL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_In_NH Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 There will be injuries this year too though, promise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Also Marcell Only tried in 3 games. HAHA...............wait a minute :cry: Good point OP about Lawson and Ragland. SW ANY time you get from that guy is a bonus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuvian Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 I agree that with everyone healthy we could make some noise but with any scheme change on D comes adjustments which I don't expect our guys to absorb until after week 8. I don't see Shady holding up his current workload for 16 games and I expect we will be a run heavy team again this year. If we are at .500 at midseason we have a chance at a wildcard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyDays Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 It's way too early to start thinking about how the team will look. We still have the draft, then training camp where there will be surprise cuts, then another wave of free agency where we will pick up a couple cast offs which has been Whaley's strength. Even still we will need to see what injuries we pick up before the season even starts. And I would bet Whaley fills at least one major hole in FA or the draft. We got a long way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffaloed in Pa Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Also Marcell Only tried in 3 games. Albert ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 When reviewing the additions and subtractions on our squad this offseason, we need to remember that we're essentially adding Sammy Watkins, Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland to the team this year. Those are three noteworty additions. Of course, Shaq and Sammy played some last year, but Sammy was far from healthy and it's safe to assume Shaq will be stronger to start this year than he was at any point last year. I try to be realistic with my assessments of the Bills heading into any given year. I had almost no confidence in our ability to improve last year, mostly because I didn't believe in Rex as a coach. But this year, I have a hard time believing we won't improve. If we add another solid receiving option, and re-sign Gillislee, I think our offense should be every bit as good as it was last year in terms of scoring and yardage. Losing Woods sucks, but he's far from irreplaceable. I believe this unit will be well coached, and if they stay healthy should be quite productive. On D, we have some notable subtractions for sure. The secondary is a big question mark. But I believe our front 7 will be notably better than it was in the last 2 years mostly because the scheme fits the talent we have now. The most important improvement is on the coaching front. If we add nobody else to the D between now and the start of the season, I STILL think they perform better than they did under Rex. Do I think this is a Superbowl caliber team? Definitley not. Do I think we can win 10 games and make the playoffs? Yes I do. Go Bills! You make some good points and remember how much better Miller played in his second year vs. the first. Washington with a whole off season and mentoring from Kyle should get better as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Bill healthy? I'll believe it when I see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 There will be injuries this year too though, promise. If Whaley were any good he'd already know who is going to be injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Everybody pretty much dismisses and forgets about Shaq Lawson because he played some games last year - No training camp or pre season for him - Recovering from a surgery so no NFL offseason strength program as recovering and biulding NFL strength are two separate things - Playing out of position as a LB....most pundits feel his true position in the NFL is DE in a 4/3 I am excited to see what Shaq looks like with a real offseason under his belt....not that he played badly when he got in there...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGBillsFan Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Everybody pretty much dismisses and forgets about Shaq Lawson because he played some games last year - No training camp or pre season for him - Recovering from a surgery so no NFL offseason strength program as recovering and biulding NFL strength are two separate things - Playing out of position as a LB....most pundits feel his true position in the NFL is DE in a 4/3 I am excited to see what Shaq looks like with a real offseason under his belt....not that he played badly when he got in there...... I'm excited to see what Shag, Reggie and Kolby can do with a full off-season program and training camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 I agree that with everyone healthy we could make some noise but with any scheme change on D comes adjustments which I don't expect our guys to absorb until after week 8. I don't see Shady holding up his current workload for 16 games and I expect we will be a run heavy team again this year. If we are at .500 at midseason we have a chance at a wildcard With OTAs , training camp and presaeason games? It's football....tackle the guy with the ball.....shouldn't be that difficult Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Fan in LA Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 First sign of Spring..........optimism of an improved team, and season........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffismagic Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 The Bills aren't the only team that gets players injured. Every NFL team has guys that missed time last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsGospel Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 I don't think this is more than a 6-7 win team but I feel highly right now about the HC, once he starts putting more of a stamp on the players he brings in then I think we can be a playoff and beyond team but as of now it's the same team with a few lesser players than we had before imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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