If the Bills get Hopkins, with Kincaid added to the mix, what's your starting lineup?p/

[tomur67]

Also, do you have to trade away somebody?

[Ethan in Cleveland]

No need to trade a WR. Get rid of Gilliam and just keep two TEs on the roster. That opens a space for an extra WR and an extra OL that can play TE3 when needed.

[Augie]

I don’t care much who starts. I would see him as one more part, so when we suffer the inevitable injury at WR we don’t have a big drop off. I hate to gamble the season on the young guys stepping up if a WR misses a few weeks due to injury. I like their promise, but a lot is at stake. The team suffered when Gabe Davis played with that high ankle sprain last year. Allow it to heal properly and still play quality football that defenses have to respect. 

[DJB]

All this talk of Hopkins but I hope we win the TE Lee Smith sweepstakes 

Edited May 27, 2023 by DJB

[NewEra]

Starting lineup doesn’t mean anything to me.  Snap count and 3rd down usage > starting lineup 

I think we’d see a lot of Digg, Hopkins, Kincaid, Knox and Cook/Harris

 

[Robert Paulson]

28 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Starting lineup doesn’t mean anything to me.  Snap count and 3rd down usage > starting lineup 

I think we’d see a lot of Digg, Hopkins, Kincaid, Knox and Cook/Harris

 

whoever would be the 3rd receiver, Davis mostly/Kincaid sprinkled in,  would feast

[Adam]

4 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

whoever would be the 3rd receiver, Davis mostly/Kincaid sprinkled in,  would feast

High hopes for Shakir improvement. Harty could be interesting

[JGMcD2]

53 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

No need to trade a WR. Get rid of Gilliam and just keep two TEs on the roster. That opens a space for an extra WR and an extra OL that can play TE3 when needed.

They should be able to keep something like: 

 

3 RB

1 FB

2 TE

7 WR

 

That’s usually the total number of skill guys they keep - except it’s typically been 4 RB. Only Taiwan Jones was a RB in name only. 
 

Cook/Harris/Hines

Gilliam

Knox/Kincaid

Diggs/Hopkins/Davis/Harty/Shakir/Sherfield/Shorter 

 

Gilliam/Hines/Shorter/Sherfield will all play ST mixed with Matakevich/Dodson/Neal/Bernard and whatever backup DB they put in there. 

 

[SoCal Deek]

Here’s my simple take: If the Bills add Hopkins to Diggs, Davis and Knox/Kincaid they’ll have officially entered the Embarrassment of Riches category. If they can’t get to a Super Bowl with Allen and that WR/TE group then it simply can’t be done. 

[Bobby Hooks]

36 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Here’s my simple take: If the Bills add Hopkins to Diggs, Davis and Knox/Kincaid they’ll have officially entered the Embarrassment of Riches category. If they can’t get to a Super Bowl with Allen and that WR/TE group then it simply can’t be done. 

Simple is right. Manning had tons of bites on the apple. He was only facing off with Brady. 
 

Allen will be facing off against Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert, and many others. 
 

You need luck/breaks too, mainly staying healthy. I think we had a legitimate shot last year if Von didn’t go down. 

We’ll have a few shots. It’s not a one year make it or break it. 
 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Bobby Hooks

[Simon Says]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

No need to trade a WR. Get rid of Gilliam and just keep two TEs on the roster. That opens a space for an extra WR and an extra OL that can play TE3 when needed.

I think the Bills should keep 3 TEs. Kincaid will be an important piece of this offense ,whether you use him as a slot or TE . Need a backup who can play TE, not another" Bobby Hart fooling no one".

I agree the addition of Hopkins likely makes Gilliam expendable. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Herb Nightly

[SCBills]

58 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Here’s my simple take: If the Bills add Hopkins to Diggs, Davis and Knox/Kincaid they’ll have officially entered the Embarrassment of Riches category. If they can’t get to a Super Bowl with Allen and that WR/TE group then it simply can’t be done. 

Eh.. I don’t know what can really be considered an embarrassment of riches in the AFC.

 

KC is the gold standard right now.  Up until last year, they had Kelce, Tyreek, solid supporting skill players, they were so content that they drafted a RB in RD1 a few years ago.   Last year Tyreek moved on, and they downgraded at WR, but gave Mahomes an elite OL. 
 

Burrow has had an embarrassment of riches at the skill positions since entering the league.  OL was their problem.. they invested in it last year, but suffered the injury bug entering the playoffs. 
 

Jags are coming on heavy with Kirk, Ridley, Etienne, Ingram, OL is decent.. added a RD1 OT and RD2 TE. 
 

Dolphins are loaded and may be adding Dalvin Cook to the mix shortly.  
 

Ravens have an OL, running game, Mark Andrews, OBJ and two recent RD1 WRs in Bateman and Flowers. 
 

In reality.. Allen would have, what we believe will be a much improved OL and at the skill positions Diggs/Hop/Kincaid as high investment pieces … the rest are a RD3 TE we developed, a RD4 WR who is a good WR2/3 option, a couple mid-level FA’s, a RD5 WR and RD6 WR. 
 

Im not saying we wouldn’t be loaded, but a lot of teams we’re competing with are, and I think some people here tend to overrate our talent on offense as of late because of how elite Josh Allen is. 
 

The reality is, we’ve added a good bit of potential so far this off-season, but there’s a lot of unknowns and hope.  
 

Edited May 27, 2023 by SCBills

[frostbitmic]

Diggs ----- Kincaid ......... Dawkins ... McGovern ... Morse ... Torrence ... Brown ...Knox ............. Hopkins

.....................................................................................Allen

..............................................................................................Harris

 

Edited to make it an 11 man offense

Edited May 27, 2023 by frostbitmic

[Simon Says]

59 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

They should be able to keep something like: 

 

3 RB

1 FB

2 TE

7 WR

 

That’s usually the total number of skill guys they keep - except it’s typically been 4 RB. Only Taiwan Jones was a RB in name only. 
 

Cook/Harris/Hines

Gilliam

Knox/Kincaid

Diggs/Hopkins/Davis/Harty/Shakir/Sherfield/Shorter 

 

Gilliam/Hines/Shorter/Sherfield will all play ST mixed with Matakevich/Dodson/Neal/Bernard and whatever backup DB they put in there. 

 

If Shorter makes the 53,I don't think Gilliam will. Shorter maybe can back up Kincaid as a big slot,or a wide TE

22 minutes ago, Bobby Hooks said:

Simple is right. Manning had tons of bites on the apple. He was only facing off with Brady. 
 

Allen will be facing off against Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert, and many others. 
 

You need luck/breaks too, mainly staying healthy. I think we had a legitimate shot last year if Von didn’t go down. 

We’ll have a few shots. It’s not a one year make it or break it. 
 

 

Speaking of health and luck; I think Hopkins would be extremely valuable as insurance for Diggs. Diggs has been durable in Buffalo,but if he goes down, the depth hasn't been there. 

[The Jokeman]

2 hours ago, DJB said:

All this talk of Hopkins but I hope we win the TE Lee Smith sweepstakes 

I thought he retired.

[Mat68]

Majority 11 Cook With Diggs Davis Hopkins and Knox.  Sup packages will allow be used to keep Diggs and Hopkins fresh. Second would be 12 with Cook Diggs/Hopkins Davis Kincaid Knox.  They have plenty of passes to go around.

[Dr. Who]

28 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

Diggs ----- Kincaid ......... Dawkins ... McGovern ... Morse ... Torrence ... Brown ................ Hopkins

.....................................................................................Allen

..............................................................................................Harris

I don't think playing with ten men on the field is a good idea.

[LabattBlue]

Hopkins should be able to make the final 53 as a 5-6-7 depth guy. 
😈

[Augie]

15 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

I thought he retired.

 

Sure, let’s call it that.   

 

I am also “retired”.   😋

[SoCal Deek]

52 minutes ago, Bobby Hooks said:

Simple is right. Manning had tons of bites on the apple. He was only facing off with Brady. 
 

Allen will be facing off against Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert, and many others. 
 

You need luck/breaks too, mainly staying healthy. I think we had a legitimate shot last year if Von didn’t go down. 

We’ll have a few shots. It’s not a one year make it or break it. 
 

 

Yep….I agree, there are TONS of factors that the Team cannot control. (weather, injuries, fluke calls, etc) But, this is one that you can, and that’s all I’ll ask from the Front Office. Now, I’m not saying that all is lost if the Bills don’t land Hopkins, but it’s really hard for me to see them punting much, if ever, with that many weapons for Josh to choose from. Move the chains, keep the ball, score, repeat. 

Go Bills 

[Rigotz]

The primary reason I want Hopkins is it allows us to flip Gabe Davis for a draft pick. We simply wouldn’t need him and could get and extra 4th or perhaps even a 3rd. Get something now because we can’t afford him next year.

 

If we sign Hopkins and Davis is NOT traded, your offense looks like this:

 

WR1: Diggs

Slot: Shakir and Harty

TE1: Knox

TE2: Kincaid

WR2: Hopkins, Davis, Sherfield, Shorter

 

In that scenario you’re carrying 7 capable WR and plan on running a lot of 2TE sets… so 4 of them rarely see the field… and Davis doesn’t help you on ST.

Personally, I’d love to see what we have in Shorter and Sherfield on the rare instances we need a pure deep ball guy and then use our extra 3rd or 4th from Davis on a long term WR2 solution.

 

In this scenario, next year we would potentially have 3 third round picks to load up at WR and an upgrade this year in Hopkins.

[Dave_Bills]

I may be in the minority but I think Davis is going to have a very good year as long as he’s healthy. He seems to be dismissed as an after thought.

 

I still think we should make a go for Hopkins but Davis is being very underrated on here in my opinion

[Rebel101]

Realistically how could we afford Hopkins? 

8 minutes ago, Dave_Bills said:

I may be in the minority but I think Davis is going to have a very good year as long as he’s healthy. He seems to be dismissed as an after thought.

 

I still think we should make a go for Hopkins but Davis is being very underrated on here in my opinion

I believe so are Deonty Harty and Shakir as well. 

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

I think we would rotate receivers a ton (especially in the slot). Keeping every receiver at under 80% of the snaps would keep everyone fresh.

 

I don't think we would necessarily trade a receiver like Davis considering it wouldn't create much cap room.

 

If we wanted to sign Hopkins, I think we would need to trade Ed Oliver or maybe even Mitch Morse

[wppete]

WR - Stephan Diggs

TE - Dalton Kincaid

TE - Dawson Knox

WR - Deondre Hopkins

 

RB- James Cook

 

Good luck defending that line up. What do you do? Bring in heavy package to

defend the Run? 

[frostbitmic]

2 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

I don't think playing with ten men on the field is a good idea.

New offense to confuse the defense ... I got so excited about adding Hopkins (what's up Beane) I neglected to throw in Knox

[jethro_tull]

Rotation 

[Dr. Who]

5 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

New offense to confuse the defense ... I got so excited about adding Hopkins (what's up Beane) I neglected to throw in Knox

I knew you just left Knox out, was being a smart ass.

[Pabstblueribbon]

4 minutes ago, wppete said:

WR - Stephan Diggs

TE - Dalton Kincaid

TE - Dawson Knox

WR - Deondre Hopkins

 

RB- James Cook

 

Good luck defending that line up. What do you do? Bring in heavy package to

defend the Run? 

 

It gets even more interesting when you consider that Diggs and Dhop can both run every route out there including from the slot. 

 

I honestly don't think there's a team in the NFL with the personnel to match up against the combinations that buffalo could field. Imagine trying to set your defense while not knowing if you're going to have to deal with Diggs DeAndre OR Dalton running through the middle of the field? 

 

Unless you have Ramsey, Sauce and Gonzalez all in the same secondary you're going to have issues. 

 

[frostbitmic]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Who said:

I knew you just left Knox out, was being a smart ass.

Guess I forgot him like Josh did last year .... hanging my head in shame on that one.

[Dr. Who]

3 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

Guess I forgot him like Josh did last year .... hanging my head in shame on that one.

Don't beat yourself up. It matters with Josh, though. I mean Josh forgetting him. OTOH, Dawson might not invite you to his birthday party.

Edited May 27, 2023 by Dr. Who

[Nephilim17]

Kincaid becomes WR3 and Davis is WR4 and rides the pine and dreams of free agency.

[LeGOATski]

I'm starting with Diggs, Hop, DK, DK, and Jimbo.

[wppete]

2 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

I'm starting with Diggs, Hop, DK, DK, and Jimbo.

Good luck to any LB trying to cover Kincaid or Cook. The mismatches are going to be amazing. 

[Simon Says]

5 hours ago, tomur67 said:

Also, do you have to trade away somebody?

TRADE somebody? That would lessen the impact of signing Hopkins and would be pointless. And I'll ask again,like I always do,how do you force a team to trade with you just because it might  benefit  YOUR team? Why is that proposed so often?

[LeGOATski]

Just now, wppete said:

Good luck to any LB trying to cover Kincaid or Cook. The mismatches are going to be amazing. 

Yep, but then again Knox and Cook will barely get any attention in the passing game.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

3 hours ago, Bobby Hooks said:

Simple is right. Manning had tons of bites on the apple. He was only facing off with Brady. 
 

Allen will be facing off against Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert, and many others. 
 

You need luck/breaks too, mainly staying healthy. I think we had a legitimate shot last year if Von didn’t go down. 

We’ll have a few shots. It’s not a one year make it or break it. 
 

 

Manning faced off against Roethlisberger & Rivers as well in the AFC. Those guys were def worthy opponents. 

[KOKBILLS]

5 hours ago, tomur67 said:

Also, do you have to trade away somebody?

No...

 

The Bills will be multiple without DHop...And multiple with him...I'd say he plays around 65-75% of snaps...In that area...He'll drain a bit off Gabe, but not a ton...

 

McKenzie and Crowder were almost exactly 60% combined last year...Kincaid is going to eat up some of that, and probably all of Sweeney/Gilliam's 22.5%...But there are plenty of snaps to go around.

 

What is going to be interesting this year, especially later in the year, is to see how the formations play out if the Bills are a MUCH more effective rushing Offense. And make no mistake they want to do this badly. Because the Bills will be ahead or close in almost every game into the 3rd Quarter. They still have Josh Allen, Diggs, a very nice group of receiving talent overall, and the opportunity to kill teams with a efficient balanced approach in the 2nd half of games will be there...They have the personnel to do that too...So who knows how it looks at the end of the year?

 

Throwing DHop in this mix is pure cheat code for the Bills. He's literally picture perfect made for what they need most in the short/intermediate range. Just get him and worry about the snaps after winning the SB... 

[Special K]

5 hours ago, Augie said:

I don’t care much who starts. I would see him as one more part, so when we suffer the inevitable injury at WR we don’t have a big drop off. I hate to gamble the season on the young guys stepping up if a WR misses a few weeks due to injury. I like their promise, but a lot is at stake. The team suffered when Gabe Davis played with that high ankle sprain last year. Allow it to heal properly and still play quality football that defenses have to respect. 

 

Yep. Both Diggs and Davis played through injuries that they would have been able to rest and heal up if the Bills had a guy like Hopkins in the mix

[Warriorspikes51]

3 WR, 1 TE  Diggs, Hopkins, Davis, Kincaid

 

2 WR, 2 TE  Diggs, Hopkins, Knox, Kincaid

 

Harty is WR4 subbing in for any of the top 3 and in 4 WR sets

 

Sherfield, Shakir battle out in camp for Slot #2 behind Kincaid.

 

Shorter makes the roster due to ST and is active on gameday.  
 

Shakir is likely the healthy scratch…as of now