Are we really going to miss any of the departed players?

[Chaos]

4 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I'm not disappointed Beane and McD moved on from Diggs.  But I don't see that Brady got the offense 'back on track.'  Brady's offense last season neither scored a ton of points nor moved a lot of yards.  

After Dorsey was fired we did not lose anymore games by giving teams extra chances to win because we had 12 men on the field. At least that problem was solved by Dorsey's firing. 

[ganesh]

21 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

 

Like everyone else on the defense, he was hurt. But yeah he did fail to bounce back from that hurt and produce again.

They all failed to produce in the Playoffs when it was very much needed.   

[Billzgobowlin]

Worried most about the Safety room.  Rapp seems to get injured and no depth currently.  As far as Diggs and Davis, I like who is left.  The big thing is they have to catch the ball.  Is there a playmaker catching the ball probably not other than Kincaid but offseason isn't done yet.

[KCNC]

Morse is my prediction

[HardyBoy]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:17 AM, GASabresIUFan said:

The sports "Media" is already beginning their "analysis" that the Bills are done in 2024.  The Athletic (a NYT company) has an article today by the Jets beat writer about how the Jets have the most talented roster in the AFC East (their 80 year old QB not withstanding) and we all know how objective the NYT is.

 

https://theathletic.com/5388899/2024/04/04/jets-best-afc-east-roster-diggs-trade/

 

How much are we really going to miss any of the players released, traded or not re-signed this off-season?

 

Wide Receivers

Let's start with the elephant in the room.  The Bills moved on from both veteran boundary receivers including "superstar" Stefon Diggs.  Those two accounted for 2349 receiving yards last season and 15 TDs.  However, Davis caught only 56% of his targets and after week 6 Diggs caught only 61% of his opportunities.  In fact, Diggs, after week 6, was on pace to only put up 830 yards (on 145 targets) in a full season.  That would have put him 25 in NFL.  He also was clearly no longer a fit in a Joe Brady offense. 

 

On the other hand Kincaid and Shakir flourished after week 6.  Kincaid was inactive in week 6, but over the next 13 weeks (including the playoffs) his usage increased and he paced for 860 yards over a 17 week season.  His usage in his second season should increase further with Diggs gone.  Shakir's game also changed after week 6.  In the first 6 weeks last season, Shakir averaged less than 1 target per game.  1 target!  After week six, Shakir was on pace for 845 yards (on only 68 targets).  

 

I also researched how the average WR drafted from 20-40 over the last 5 years produced in his rookie season.  The average was about 660 yards.  There were some stars like Jefferson, Tee Higgins, and Jordan Addison and some duds, but for the most part most were solid to good.  I'm confident that Beane & Co will find someone in the draft to help the Bills stretch the field with their 1st pick, something we didn't have last season.

 

In addition we added proven slot receiver Curtis Samuel who should flourish in Brady's offense and we aren't going to miss the departed Harty or Sherfield at all.

 

Defensive Line

Are we really going to miss Phillips, Lawson, Ford or Settle? No didn't think so.  That leaves Leonard Floyd.  No BS, we are going to miss him.  The hope here is that Miller can capture at least some of his old form (he did look better in the playoffs) and that he and Epenesa can be effective enough to allow Rousseau to go back to his natural position and make up for the loss of Floyd.  My hope is that they draft a edge rusher in the 2nd rd to help make up for the loss.

 

Offensive line

Out with Bates and Morse.  Considering Bates played all of 35 snaps, I don't think he'll be missed.  Morse on the other hand has been the Bills center for the last 5 years and has done a very good job, but at 32 it is a reasonable question to ask how much he has left in the tank.  Beane solution is moving McGovern to center and creating a competition for the guard spot to returnee David Edwards (148 snaps last season - the most by a Bills backup OL) and presumably veteran La'el Collins. Collins has started 86 of 89 career games as a rt, but missed last season with injuries.  

 

Running back

Lat Murray, Hines and Harris are gone.  They won't be missed.  Cook became a star last season. Ty Johnson also returns and was very effective last season in limited reps.  The Bills will likely add another back at some point

 

Safety

Out with Hyde and Poyer and in with Mike Edwards and Rapp becomes a starter.  This is a slight downgrade based on last year's grades, but it was time to move on from Hyde and Poyer.  

 

Corners and Linebackers

White and Dodson are the big name departures, but given White's injury history and the return to health of pro bower Matt Milano, the play of Taron Johnson, Douglas, Benard and Benford, I don't think we'll miss either player.

 

On paper the Bills are slightly downgraded.  We have fair questions at WR, OL, DL and safety.  However, I'm not worried about the wide receivers.  To me, removing DIggs and Davis has opened the opportunity for Allen to longer have to worry about Diggs getting targets.  He can now focus solely on who is open.  At safety, the declines in Poyer and Hyde were very noticeable and Rapp and Edwards should give us at least when the vets did.   I'm also not worried about the OL.  Torrence and Brown should continue to improve and McGovern proved he has a very capable interior lineman last season.  The only loss the really worries me is Floyd. 

 

Despite the downgrades on paper, I can see the Bills actually improving next season.  I think the offense will be better and more consistent.  Besides Allen and Dawkins, the heart of the offense are all young players in Brown, Torrence, Shakir, Kincaid and Cook who should continue to improve.  

 

On defense it's much the same story.  Oliver, Milano and T Johnson are the core, but they received a significant lift from improving kids Benford, Benard, and Rousseau.  

 

 

 

Why is it relevant that it's owned by the NYT?

[Thurman#1]

On 4/6/2024 at 11:17 PM, GASabresIUFan said:

Are we really going to miss any of the departed players?

 

 

 

Yes, of course we are. Diggs was our best receiver, Morse an excellent center. It goes on like that. Of course we are, particularly the starters. They were the best players on our team at the position.

 

Particularly Diggs and Morse, but White and others too.

 

Does that mean we're doomed to a horrible year? No, we could still be a damn good team.

 

But we absolutely got worse. Very significantly. The question now is how much better we can now get.

 

The sour grapes we see here is the same every time a player leaves the Bills. He left, so we didn't need him.  It's nonsense. But we can now watch Beane fight his way through replacing them. That's part of the fun of the off-season.

 

1 hour ago, ganesh said:

They all failed to produce in the Playoffs when it was very much needed.   

 

 

The defense was absolutely demolished by injuries and we still came within a play or two of a win.

 

For how many players either couldn't play or were seriously injured, they had a a great game.

 

 

Edited April 8 by Thurman#1

[KingBoots8]

I will miss them, in that I wanted that core of players to be the ones to get the job done. Poyer, Hyde, Tre, Morse… all instrumental in helping get us out of the gutter and being real contenders. Say what you will about their injuries or their slowing down a bit with age, but these dudes were a part of a really genuinely good core of dudes. 
 

I think they, like anyone, are replaceable and also think that it was time for many of them. Hyde I didn’t want to see injured again, I didn’t want Morse to get another concussion, Tre… talk about just bad luck for a guy who was an absolute beast when healthy before these injuries, and Poyer is still capable of playing but he’s on his way out of the league sooner rather than later.

 

Diggs? I think we miss him a bit, but I also think he’s been a distraction and has vanished when it comes down to playoff-time football. There’s a very petty part of me that wants us to win this year just so he can see we always has it in us, and he can watch on as Josh gets it done without him.