Have the Bills ever had a young core like this?

[Utah John]

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.  

[Chaos]

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? 

[row_33]

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

 

 

[purple haze]

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.

[BADOLBILZ]

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.  

[Hebert19]

12 hours ago, DCbillsfan said:

I would add Milano and H. Phillips to this.

Agree.  Missed them. 

[The Jokeman]

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. 

[SoCal Deek]

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.

[The Jokeman]

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. 

[SoCal Deek]

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.