No Gilmore, No Woods, No Brown, No Chance

[White Linen]

The losses are not devastating. The team has picked up solid players. The draft has to bring in 3 starters which is why drafting a QB is not in first 3 rounds will not happen. Look for a guy like Kaaya in the 4th round. More optimistic and see the possibility of a 9-7 season.

 

We don't have a 4th round draft pick and if we don't draft one in the first 2 rounds I don't think we'll draft one at all. I don't believe we'll have Tyrod, Jones and a rookie late round pick in the QB room.

[LeGOATski]

....so you trash the founding roots of this league as "stupid"?....ignorance is bliss...you win....good Lord............

Your "founding roots," yes. Very dumb.

 

Feel free to explain why that is ignorant.

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

No Woods, no Brown, no Gilmore equals better chance as also no Clown Coach anymore.

[sjjr]

Gilmore is a good player but not worth the money the Pats paid him. Woods is an average #2WR at best and Z.Brown is a good player when healthy but most teams seem hesitant to give a long term deal for a reason. These three guys are not the difference between 5-11 and 11-5.

 

The Bills need Marcell Dareus, Jerry Hughes, Sammy Watkins, LeSean McCoy and Cordy Glenn to be productive in addition to some young guys developing like S.Lawson, Ragland and Washington. Put that together with a solid draft this year and better coaching/player development then the Bills can certainly be as good or better than they've been in recent years with the players lost.

[GunnerBill]

I see this turned into another "Gilmore wasn't that good" thread.

 

#fail.

[Philly McButterpants]

Some are glass half full, some are glass half empty.

Great players leave teams every year, good teams adapt and replace.

 

 

You my friend are outside drinking from the garden hose.

 

it's a good thing we didn't lose any "great" players (at least not among the three listed by the OP).

[bisonbrigade]

The losses are not devastating. The team has picked up solid players. The draft has to bring in 3 starters which is why drafting a QB is not in first 3 rounds will not happen. Look for a guy like Kaaya in the 4th round. More optimistic and see the possibility of a 9-7 season.

Optimistic of a 9-7 Season? LOL Such high standards. Your optimism will deflate quickly. 5-11 season.

[jumbalaya]

Gilmore was an inevitable loss, but not irreplaceable. IMO, Darby is every bit the CB, and Seymour may very well step up, too. He certainly showed promise last season.

 

But, Woods, and Brown? Absolutely replaceable.

I'm definitely a "glass half full" guy. But, it's usually half full of sh*t.

Gilmore was an inevitable loss, but not irreplaceable. IMO, Darby is every bit the CB, and Seymour may very well step up, too. He certainly showed promise last season. No, they are not near as good as Gilmore. Not even close.

 

 

But, Woods, and Brown? Absolutely replaceable. Yes, they are replaceable but we did not replace them with better players. When you win 6, 7 , 8 games a year you must retain your good players and use the draft to improve your team not to try to get it back to the level it was the year before. Hence 6, 7, 8 wins every year.

 

I'm definitely a "glass half full" guy. But, it's usually half full of sh*t. This team is more than half full of marginal players and a new head coach ain't going to make much difference. We have one legitimate stars in Dareus that has to be paid (Sammy still on rookie contract) and we have little salary cap room. Hard to believe.

[BillsBoner21]

I think your way off... Losing Robert Woods was the biggest loss of the off-season. I remember reading these message boards last year when we signed Z.Brown and people were bashing him.. he had one good year here now everyone is going crazy that we didn't resign him. I'm all for letting Gilmore walk. He got beat more than any of our CB's last year and he does NOT like to tackle. Coach McDermott is a coach who likes CB's to be physical and can tackle... I'm not saying we're going to the SuperBowl, but every year, every team loses players to free agency, and I think Whaley has done a damn good job grabbing guys to fill some voids. We def. need a LB/CB in the draft to come in and play right away. We already have Reggie Ragland coming back and Preston Brown, along with Lorenzo Alexander. As I said in the beginning, the biggest loss was Robert Woods and he is someone who we can replace in the draft whether it be the 1st, 2nd or 3rd round. There are a lot of WR's out there with a lot of speed, talent and SIZE.

[blacklabel]

If you think losing Gilmore, Woods and Brown sends this team down the river then.... I don't know if you really pay attention. Those are all replaceable players. None of them are cornerstones on any team.

[Iron Maiden]

I'm always amazed how our fans put Gilmore down.....you read this thread and for the most part, you'd think he was a complete disaster.......The best coach in the NFL just gave him a huge contract and we tell ourselves that Gilmore sucked.....

 

Doesn't make any sense....

[bisonbrigade]

If you think losing Gilmore, Woods and Brown sends this team down the river then.... I don't know if you really pay attention. Those are all replaceable players. None of them are cornerstones on any team.

Replaced with what? It is like you want a new car, but instead you keep replacing the tires on the old car. So you are stuck with the same POS.

[Gugny]

The Bills right now are a 5-11 football team, especially with he schedule they have. Even if they keep the rest of their players, you know half of them end up not playing due to injuries. They need to trade down and get as many picks as possible and all of them contribute to even have a chance at 8-8. Exciting.

 

5? You're being generous.

 

Let's just hope McBridge is smart enough to put in Cardale Jones sooner rather than later.

[quinnearlysghost88]

I think your way off... Losing Robert Woods was the biggest loss of the off-season. I remember reading these message boards last year when we signed Z.Brown and people were bashing him.. he had one good year here now everyone is going crazy that we didn't resign him. I'm all for letting Gilmore walk. He got beat more than any of our CB's last year and he does NOT like to tackle. Coach McDermott is a coach who likes CB's to be physical and can tackle... I'm not saying we're going to the SuperBowl, but every year, every team loses players to free agency, and I think Whaley has done a damn good job grabbing guys to fill some voids. We def. need a LB/CB in the draft to come in and play right away. We already have Reggie Ragland coming back and Preston Brown, along with Lorenzo Alexander. As I said in the beginning, the biggest loss was Robert Woods and he is someone who we can replace in the draft whether it be the 1st, 2nd or 3rd round. There are a lot of WR's out there with a lot of speed, talent and SIZE.

 

Woods had 613 yards and 1 TD. what did we lose again?

[Rocky Landing]

I'm always amazed how our fans put Gilmore down.....you read this thread and for the most part, you'd think he was a complete disaster.......The best coach in the NFL just gave him a huge contract and we tell ourselves that Gilmore sucked.....

 

Doesn't make any sense....

Has anyone said he sucked? The worst thing I have read about him from these pages was that he wasn't worth the price, and he didn't play as hard last season. Both of those things are debatable, but neither equate to "he sucked."

 

What is more amazing to me is the tendency of so many posters to overstate the opinions of those with whom they disagree. If you are arguing against the notion that "Gilmore sucked," then you are engaging in a straw man argument.

[K-9]

[teef]

 

5? You're being generous.

 

Let's just hope McBridge is smart enough to put in Cardale Jones sooner rather than later.

this is gross.

[Iron Maiden]

Has anyone said he sucked? The worst thing I have read about him from these pages was that he wasn't worth the price, and he didn't play as hard last season. Both of those things are debatable, but neither equate to "he sucked."

 

What is more amazing to me is the tendency of so many posters to overstate the opinions of those with whom they disagree. If you are arguing against the notion that "Gilmore sucked," then you are engaging in a straw man argument.

 

Well, he was called a clown in post #40 and a chump in post #103...there might be more...so technically, you're correct...it doesn't say " Gilmore sucked ! "...but my point is still valid.....

[ChanOverChin]

We don't need Gilmore, Woods or Brown. Gilmore is not an elite CB and can be replaced. Woods is a possession WR who can't seem to stay healthy for very long. I would have liked to have had Z. Brown back, but he doesn't fit the new defensive scheme very well so he too is replaceable.

 

Based upon what the Bills' roster looks like right now I can see why the OP feels disheartened. However, there is still a lot of time to right the ship and a lot of moves that can still be made to make this team competitive this year (i.e. better than 8-8).

 

Our biggest problem is that we have to try to beat the Patriots twice this year.

[blacklabel]

Replaced with what? It is like you want a new car, but instead you keep replacing the tires on the old car. So you are stuck with the same POS.

 

Look at what McDermott did with the defensive backs he had during his time in Carolina. Yes, he had Josh Norman but it wasn't until 2015 that he really put himself on the map. And even with that great season he had, the team decided he still wasn't worth the money... I'm betting a factor in making that decision was their faith in McDermott to get similar results out of other DBs on the team. He had two rookies at the starting corner spots for 2016 and towards the end of the season they started playing quite well. McDermott took former 7th-round pick Kurt Coleman and turned him into a good player. He picked off seven passes in '16 plus another two against Arizona in the NFC Championship game. McDermott appears to have a solid understanding that you scheme to what your players do best. He's going to pinpoint what his guys do best and put them in positions to use those skills and hopefully succeed.

 

I've been a Gilmore fan since day one. The amount of hate that guy got during his time here was kind of crazy. Every corner in the league gets beat. But, more often than not, Gilmore did his job and he did it well. Now, his tackling could've been better. I'm not making excuses for the guy but I believe the injuries he suffered early in his career (which happened as the result of him being in on tackles) messed with him mentally and made him hesitant to run to the ball and stick his nose in to make/help make the tackle. Over the past couple seasons you could see him shy away from scrums and become what evaluators call a "pile watcher." Also, how many times did he have to adapt to new coaches and schemes while he was here? When you're going into every season having to reshape your game based on the new scheme there can be some hiccups. For the most part, I think he is a good player with stretches where he's a very good player. They can't sign 'em all and he's not the type of player they could break the bank for. Combine that with McDermott's track record in getting solid production from less talented players and I think it was pretty easy for them to lay their offer on the table and say "That's as good as it's gonna get. We'd like you back but we understand your position, good luck." Also, Gilmore has stated numerous times that Watkins is the most difficult receiver he's ever covered. Should be fun to watch those two battle twice a year.

 

And I was also a big fan of Woods. He's a team-first guy, a wide receiver on a run-first team who never complained about wanting the ball more. Did his job and did it well, one of the most exciting blocking receivers to watch. But it's not like his production was so off the charts that the team figured, "There's no way we can lose this guy!" He was good for about 50 catches and 600 yards with 3 TDs a year here. He went home to LA, got a nice contract and was probably told, "Look, we saw you against Seattle, we play them twice a year, we'd love to have you repeat that for us." Good for him.

 

NFL = Not For Long. High turnover business, gotta identify your cornerstone players and extend them when possible. Make offers to guys that are a piece of the puzzle and if you get them back, great, if not, you were prepared to have them walk away from you anyway.

We don't need Gilmore, Woods or Brown. Gilmore is not an elite CB and can be replaced. Woods is a possession WR who can't seem to stay healthy for very long. I would have liked to have had Z. Brown back, but he doesn't fit the new defensive scheme very well so he too is replaceable.

 

Based upon what the Bills' roster looks like right now I can see why the OP feels disheartened. However, there is still a lot of time to right the ship and a lot of moves that can still be made to make this team competitive this year (i.e. better than 8-8).

 

Our biggest problem is that we have to try to beat the Patriots twice this year.

 

Woods missed five out of 62 games during his time here. Missed two games apiece in '14 and '15 and missed 3 in '16. That's pretty consistent.