How many of you were optimistic going into the preseason?

[Kirby Jackson]

I wasn’t optimistic about the results this year. I still am not optimistic.

 

I was down on Allen as the guy. He’s ahead of where I thought he’d be. I’m optimistic about the big picture.

 

 

[BigDingus]

7 hours ago, njbuff said:

And how many of you did a 180 as to what happened in the preseason.

 

For me, it was seeing this OL in action that turned me from optimistic to supremely negative, as a bad OL WILL derail a season. Just ask the 2017 New York Giants that.

 

I hope I am way wrong and the Bills surprise me. I wanna stay positive, so I will be tuning in Sunday (of course) and hoping for the best.

 

Thoughts?

 

I wasn't optimistic going into the preseason, but surprisingly more optimistic now.

 

I'm a realist, and I try to remain objective as much as possible. Going into the preseason, a few things were obvious on paper.

 

1a) We had one of the worst QB groups in the league, with a combined 4 games of pro experience between 3 people. 

  b) We had no veteran QB to mentor our young & inexperienced group, something that fans were severely downplaying as an insignificant issue while players & experts underlined as one of the most important aspects of proper QB development.

 

2) Our O-line lost our 2 best players from 2017, and our 3 best overall. We had a good group with high production in 2016 with Woods, Glenn & Incognito, and already took a step back in 2017 just losing Glenn. Without all 3, our unit becomes a patchwork group of journeymen, backups, and undersized, undeveloped guys just happy to be on a team.

 

3) The WR corps is also one of the weakest in the league, and if Benjamin goes down, likely will be by a large margin. Our #1 WR has size & athleticism, but isn't known for his route running, separation skills, speed or elusiveness. He's a great red-zone threat, but requires a QB who has exceptional ball placement skills to get it in the right area where only Benjamin can come down with it, or at least give him a chance to fight for it. We have journeymen, ST players, long-shot rookies, & some unreliable question marks filling out the rest of the ranks. Zay Jones could help turn this around, or he could bomb worse than Corey Coleman with a repeat of last year.
 

4) Run Defense was awful last year, and although we tried to address that with Harrison Phillips & Star Lotulelei (as well as shoring up the MLB spot with a 1st round pick), the scheme & those players have yet to prove they're worth the investment. It's not nearly as concerning as the offense, but it's still a concern nonetheless. Sadly, I still expect the defense to get a lot of the blame for losses, even though the high point totals 


Yet here I am, still more optimistic than I was before. A lot of that has to do with fan perception and reality sinking in, but there's more to it than that. Now that most of the fans realize the media wasn't just being big ol' meanies with their Bills discussion, I feel it'll take some of the pressure off McDermott & Beane and to focus primarily on development. Fans clamoring to rush the rookie QB out, or call for the OC to be fired because we look pathetic on the field, can potentially lead to ownership trying to rush the process. Seeing that we're indeed letting Allen sit & learn, along with fans finally remembering "oh yeah, we knew this guy was the most raw 1st round QB in the draft & was picked on POTENTIAL, not how great he's been on the field!" and being ok with him sitting for now, proves for once that maybe we're going to try & develop a QB right for once! 

 

To top it off, I think the defense has a lot of talent in place, and unlike the O-line, will get better when they start to gel. People like to say "the O-line will improve when they start to gel!" but fail to acknowledge there's only so much they can do without proper talent. The defense however, has a ton of talented players, and when they start figuring out the ins & outs of the scheme and working with each other, they'll begin to thrive. Unfortunately, if our offense continues to go 3 & out like last year, we can still expect 2nd half break downs & high point totals against us, simply due to the exhaustion of the defense being on the field for 75% of the game.

But the final thing I'm feeling optimistic about is the likelihood we'll be able to keep the same Offensive Coordinator around for more than a season. Whether it was Roman, Hackett, Dennison, etc. fans blamed the OC & play calling for all the pitiful performances, even though execution was the more obvious issue. People also fail to realize that personnel directly affects the plays called, as coordinators know the limitations of their players. "Why did we run on ____ play?!" or "Why didn't we run more play action!?" etc. are cried after each loss. But when you fail to execute, cant build momentum, find yourselves in 3rd & long situations time & time again, it impacts the play calling options available. And if your QB can't throw out routes or comeback routes without huge risk of throwing an INT due to weak arm strength, you lose those options as viable calls. Coaches and fans finally seem to agree for once, allowing this year to give us a pass & expect greater results for our future.

 

Anyway, I think this year will playout rough, but will ultimately prove to be the turning point & foundation on which future successful seasons were built. As long as the coaches stick to their guns, actively pursue talent, and put a greater emphasis on the lines this offseason, we could be in for great next decade.

[PlayoffsPlease]

I was very optimistic.  The team had gotten rid of a weak starting QB, and drafted someone who is a special talent.  Then they decided to start a QB who is worse than last years QB, and I became pessimistic.  

[COTC]

6 minutes ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

I was very optimistic.  The team had gotten rid of a weak starting QB, and drafted someone who is a special talent.  Then they decided to start a QB who is worse than last years QB, and I became pessimistic.