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Have the Bills ever had a young core like this?


Hebert19

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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. 

 

 

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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.  

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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 

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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. 

 

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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

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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 by Lurker
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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.

 

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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.

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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

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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?

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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. 

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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 

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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

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