Hebert19 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 We missed on so many picks over last 25 years that we always had to sign vets to fill holes. Well there are less and less holes to be filled. Late 80s likely the last time we had a young core like this? Core players. Josh Devin Knox Edmunds Tre Oliver Very solid and young Dawkins Ford (as a guard please) T Johnson And 9 more picks this year to get a young WR and Edge to go with them. Throw in 90M and if we can hit on this years draft we are going to be around for a long time in the playoffs. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Success Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 That's the thing I love the most - this isn't some thrown-together, 1-2 year window team w/ older FA's - we're built to last. I can't wait for next season. I think this could be one of the top teams next year. 2 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaccof Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 9 minutes ago, Hebert19 said: We missed on so many picks over last 25 years that we always had to sign vets to fill holes. Well there are less and less holes to be filled. Late 80s likely the last time we had a young core like this? Core players. Josh Devin Knox Edmunds Tre Oliver Very solid and young Dawkins Ford (as a guard please) T Johnson And 9 more picks this year to get a young WR and Edge to go with them. Throw in 90M and if we can hit on this years draft we are going to be around for a long time in the playoffs. Yes, starting in '88. Thurman Thomas was a rookie, Bruce Smith had been there two years, Kelly two years, I believe Reed was in his fourth year, on the line Kent Hull and Will Wolford had been there two years, Cornelius Bennett and Shane Conlan had just finished their rookie seasons. Pretty good core and very young. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putin Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 5 minutes ago, Success said: That's the thing I love the most - this isn't some thrown-together, 1-2 year window team w/ older FA's - we're built to last. I can't wait for next season. I think this could be one of the top teams next year. If Allen takes another step forward we all know what he needs to improve on , We need to add ( imo ) two more legitimate weapons , with the defense we have This team could be DANGEROUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProcessTruster Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 1987 Kelly 2nd year in league Reed 3rd year in league Wolford, Hull 1st year in league Bennett, Conlan, Odomes , Kelso Rookies Smith, 2nd for starters. and we all know the good stuff that happened after 1987. go bills. trust the process. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Sure. Kelly Thurman Reed Bruce Shane Talley Biscuit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianmoorman4jesus Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I got to see more from Knox before I’m going to count him here. I most be in the minority. I think he’s made a few nice plays with the ball in his hand but he’s left so many plays on the field. Seems very average to me. Need to see these drops go away before I feel like he’s an important piece. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthomas Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 6 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said: I got to see more from Knox before I’m going to count him here. I most be in the minority. I think he’s made a few nice plays with the ball in his hand but he’s left so many plays on the field. Seems very average to me. Need to see these drops go away before I feel like he’s an important piece. He's shown me more than Kroft has. In Knox's rookie season he was 16 yards short receiving to Krofts best year in 2017. And salary wise, what Knox makes over 4 years is what Kroft gets in 1. Dawson will be here for awhile & i'd expect him to improve next year, but just like every position i'm sure Beane will look for upgrades where possible. And as much as i wish we'd move on from Kroft (as i wish we never signed him in the 1st place), i expect he'll be here again next year as well. But yeah our future looks great... as long as Allen keeps making strides in improving his game. This team will go as Allen goes. But yeah we're in a much better position now than we have been in decades. Its time for us to circle the wagons on the AFC East & the rest of the NFL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hebert19 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 So it's only been 30+ years. Ha. Either way. Great core and they will only get better. Beane needs one more good draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) 1989 says hello. Pos Player Age Yrs GS Summary of Player Stats Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) Offensive Starters QB Jim Kelly 29 3 13 228 for 391, 3,130 yards, 25 td, 18 int, & 29 rushes for 137 yards and 2 td Buffalo Bills / 1st / 14th pick / 1983 RB Thurman Thomas* 23 1 16 298 rushes for 1,244 yards, 6 td, & 60 catches for 669 yards and 6 td Buffalo Bills / 2nd / 40th pick / 1988 FB Larry Kinnebrew 30 6 10 131 rushes for 533 yards, 6 td, & 5 catches for 60 yards and 0 td Cincinnati Bengals / 6th / 165th pick / 1983 WR Keith McKeller 25 2 7 20 catches for 341 yards, 2 td Buffalo Bills / 9th / 227th pick / 1987 WR Andre Reed* 25 4 16 88 catches for 1,312 yards, 9 td, & 2 rushes for 31 yards and 0 td Buffalo Bills / 4th / 86th pick / 1985 TE Pete Metzelaars 29 7 16 18 catches for 179 yards, 2 td Seattle Seahawks / 3rd / 75th pick / 1982 LT Will Wolford 25 3 16 Buffalo Bills / 1st / 20th pick / 1986 LG Jim Ritcher 31 9 16 Buffalo Bills / 1st / 16th pick / 1980 C Kent Hull* 28 3 16 2 fumbles recovered RG Joe Devlin 35 13 16 Buffalo Bills / 2nd / 52nd pick / 1976 RT Howard Ballard 26 1 16 Buffalo Bills / 11th / 283rd pick / 1987 Defensive Starters LDE Art Still 34 11 16 0.0 sacks, 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered Kansas City Chiefs / 1st / 2nd pick / 1978 NT Fred Smerlas 32 10 16 1.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered Buffalo Bills / 2nd / 32nd pick / 1979 RDE Bruce Smith* 26 4 16 13.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered Buffalo Bills / 1st / 1st pick / 1985 LOLB Cornelius Bennett 24 2 12 5.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered Indianapolis Colts / 1st / 2nd pick / 1987 LILB Scott Radecic 27 5 12 1.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered Kansas City Chiefs / 2nd / 34th pick / 1984 RILB Ray Bentley 29 3 15 ROLB Darryl Talley 29 6 16 6.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered Buffalo Bills / 2nd / 39th pick / 1983 LCB Kirby Jackson 24 2 13 0.0 sacks, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered New York Jets / 5th / 129th pick / 1987 RCB Nate Odomes 24 2 16 1.0 sacks, 5 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered Buffalo Bills / 2nd / 29th pick / 1987 SS Leonard Smith 29 6 15 0.0 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered St. Louis Cardinals / 1st / 17th pick / 1983 FS Mark Kelso 26 3 16 0.0 sacks, 6 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered Philadelphia Eagles / 10th / 261st pick / 1985 Edited January 7, 2020 by Lurker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 That 90M is going to be spent mostly in re-signing our own players Tre White, Jordan Phillips, Poyer, Dawkins, Kevin Johnson, Spencer The future is bright 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folz Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) I would also add Milano (3rd year), Wallace (2nd year), and Neal (2nd year) to your very solid and young list. A number of times this year I felt that this season (although it looked quite different) mirrored the 1988 Bills season. Remember Scott Norwood was the NFL league leader in points that year. Why? Because the offense had most of the pieces in place, but they weren't quite there yet. They had a lot of field goals and a lot of close games that went the Bills way. Seven of their wins were single-digit margins. It's not an exact comparison because I think that '88 team was at least a half-a-step or half-a-season ahead of this team in terms of experience (specifically at the QB position, where Jim was in his 5th year of professional ball, and Josh is only in year 2), but then this team is ahead of that '88 team in culture/chemistry (as that '88 team still needed to go through the bickering Bills in '89). Who knows if this current team will or won't reach the heights of the 90s Bills, but it is exciting to see our team being built the right way again, through the draft and built for sustained success. And my money says that these kids will grow up over the next year or two and become an excellent team. Edited January 7, 2020 by folz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCbillsfan Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Hebert19 said: We missed on so many picks over last 25 years that we always had to sign vets to fill holes. Well there are less and less holes to be filled. Late 80s likely the last time we had a young core like this? Core players. Josh Devin Knox Edmunds Tre Oliver Very solid and young Dawkins Ford (as a guard please) T Johnson And 9 more picks this year to get a young WR and Edge to go with them. Throw in 90M and if we can hit on this years draft we are going to be around for a long time in the playoffs. I would add Milano and H. Phillips to this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 The future is very bright....how many wins would we have if..... - We had that big size/speed/hands guy to catch touchdown passes? - The big powerful breakaway threat back You add JUST those two things and I think we hadd an extra 3 wins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Grundy Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 1 hour ago, chaccof said: Yes, starting in '88. Thurman Thomas was a rookie, Bruce Smith had been there two years, Kelly two years, I believe Reed was in his fourth year, on the line Kent Hull and Will Wolford had been there two years, Cornelius Bennett and Shane Conlan had just finished their rookie seasons. Pretty good core and very young. Nate Odomes, Tasker, "House" Ballard, "Kazoo" Kelso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Grundy Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 3 minutes ago, John from Riverside said: The future is very bright....how many wins would we have if..... - We had that big size/speed/hands guy to catch touchdown passes? - The big powerful breakaway threat back You add JUST those two things and I think we hadd an extra 3 wins John, would you take Jonathan Taylor at 22 if he's there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penfield45 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) Ford and Dawkins have a long way to go to be considered a future core player. they were both mediocre this season In fact I would not be surprised if Beane uses our 1st round pick on a franchise LT, and signs another RT in FA to replace Ford. Edited January 7, 2020 by Penfield45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putin Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 12 minutes ago, Penfield45 said: Ford and Dawkins have a long way to go to be considered a future core player. they were both mediocre this season In fact I would not be surprised if Beane uses our 1st round pick on a franchise LT, and signs another RT in FA to replace Ford. No chance they're using a first round pick on a LT or giving up on Dawkins , they might move Ford inside but I think they'll give him another year at the RT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chandler's Hands Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Late 80's young core had 4 future HOF'ers and several more multi-year pro-bowlers (Bennett, Tasker, Hull, Wolford, Conlan). The current group certainly has potential but can we cool our jets a bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan in Cleveland Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, ProcessTruster said: 1987 Kelly 2nd year in league Reed 3rd year in league Wolford, Hull 1st year in league Bennett, Conlan, Odomes , Kelso Rookies Smith, 2nd for starters. and we all know the good stuff that happened after 1987. go bills. trust the process. I think Burkett and Harmon were on the 87 team too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah John Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Why has it been so long between the previous great young core and this one? Ridiculously bad DRAFTING. Go back to the drafts of the past 10 years, and you'll see very few players that stuck around in the league very long. A couple of years ago I looked at the results of the previous five years drafts, and I think there were only three players still on the roster. Now, even the guys we cut are playing somewhere else. We're simply, finally, getting professional personnel people on board, which we haven't had since John Butler left after 2000. Look at the GMs since then: Donahoe, Levy, Brandon, Nix, Whaley, and now, finally, Beane. Also the combination of McDermott and Beane is finding players with good skills who will contribute to the team, instead of just being good on their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 1 hour ago, John from Riverside said: The future is very bright....how many wins would we have if..... - We had that big size/speed/hands guy to catch touchdown passes? - The big powerful breakaway threat back You add JUST those two things and I think we hadd an extra 3 wins Do any other teams get to add fill two major holes in these hypothetical games, or just the Bills? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 3 hours ago, chaccof said: Yes, starting in '88. Thurman Thomas was a rookie, Bruce Smith had been there two years, Kelly two years, I believe Reed was in his fourth year, on the line Kent Hull and Will Wolford had been there two years, Cornelius Bennett and Shane Conlan had just finished their rookie seasons. Pretty good core and very young. it was way better than this bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, John from Riverside said: The future is very bright....how many wins would we have if..... - We had that big size/speed/hands guy to catch touchdown passes? - The big powerful breakaway threat back You add JUST those two things and I think we hadd an extra 3 wins We could have had 3 extra wins if Daboll used the Young RB we already have. He breaks away plenty. Breaks away so much Daboll puts him on punishment and gives his touches away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, row_33 said: it was way better than this bunch Yeah people gotta' remember that the Bills got to double dip on talent because they benefitted from drafting early for 3 years and THEN added their franchise QB and pro bowl center immediately after that 3 year run of stacking cheese. There was no free agency back then so the USFL influx benefitted the Bills more than anyone and it caused a real imbalance in the AFC to the point where the Bills had the best roster in the conference for 6-8 year stretch........which is crazy in hindsight. Also some credit should be given to the former Rams personnel men that Knox had brought in that were left to pick up the pieces when he and Wilson parted ways..........Polian gets all the credit but that group of scouts was pretty effective drafting in LA and then later in Buffalo. Knox had preferred veteran players so the team was old in some areas by 83' and had some crippling injuries and then Cribbs and Kelly to the USFL caused them to fall into oblivion but they drafted their way out of it in 3 seasons. That was a lot harder to do then than it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hebert19 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 12 hours ago, DCbillsfan said: I would add Milano and H. Phillips to this. Agree. Missed them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 13 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said: I got to see more from Knox before I’m going to count him here. I most be in the minority. I think he’s made a few nice plays with the ball in his hand but he’s left so many plays on the field. Seems very average to me. Need to see these drops go away before I feel like he’s an important piece. Knox does need to improve but when he did catch the ball he made some great plays for a TE. At this point I wouldn't hand him the starting job next season but he can be a contributor if schemed right/improves his play etc. Just now, Hebert19 said: Agree. Missed them. I'm not sure I'd count Harrison Phillips. He's a great guy but a depth DT at most thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Deek Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 The biggest plus has to be the development of Edmunds. I was a pretty harsh critic of his early on but I have to admit he’s turning into a real player. He went almost unnoticed on Saturday with the live affair for JJ Watt but I’d say he was far and away the defensive MVP for both teams. Looking for continued growth as he hits the weight room and gets another year older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Just now, SoCal Deek said: The biggest plus has to be the development of Edmunds. I was a pretty harsh critic of his early on but I have to admit he’s turning into a real player. He went almost unnoticed on Saturday with the live affair for JJ Watt but I’d say he was far and away the defensive MVP for both teams. Looking for continued growth as he hits the weight room and gets another year older. Edmunds is hit and miss, he's still developing yet think he's out of position. As with his size and pass rush ability to me he's better on the outside. Granted we don't have a better MLB option now but love if we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal Deek Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Just now, The Jokeman said: Edmunds is hit and miss, he's still developing yet think he's out of position. As with his size and pass rush ability to me he's better on the outside. Granted we don't have a better MLB option now but love if we did. I used to say the same thing but something clicked for him about week five or six. I think he’s stopped jumping into holes and instead is using his length to help him tackle instead of being the classic straight up run stuffer. I’m comfortable with him in the middle. Draft a another OLB to replace Lorax and that crew is going to be scary good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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