Reason for future optimism?

[ICE74129]

Youth has been served this offseason.

JP should be the QB (Unless marv and DJ screw it up). We have added fowler at center, Reyes at LG and Peters at RT. Evans is starting at WR and we have younger guys (minus peerless) at WR. If Nance gets a fair shot I can see him being an impact by 07 in some manner. RB has youth as well.

On Defense we have seen a major youth movement. By next year all of our DB's will be well under 30. We have two draft picks that might be playing roles on the DL. The only 'Old' position on this team is LB and I see at least one (most likely 2) changes there and we may have those replacements on this roster and both are younger.

so with all of this youth, an apperant players coach and two up and comers at the coordinators positions...does this give reason for optimism from 07 forward?

[HAMMER]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

Sure it does, the two big things that need to happen this year are:
*Losman finding his stride and becoming a leader.
*The Bills becoming a true "team", upper management on down. No backstabbers.

[OpIv37]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

We're young on both sides of the ball now (with the exception of the LB's)- that's always a good sign.

The two things that could be problematic are JP and Jauron. If JP doesn't improve significantly this season, it's time to start looking for a new QB again and that will slow the whole process. Don't get me wrong- I'm not expecting JP to be an All-Pro from week 1 this year. I'm expecting him to look better in Week 1 of this year than he did last year, and look better in Week 17 of this year than he does in week one. If that doesn't happen, we need to start over in the QB search.

Jauron has a losing record as a HC. If he can't turn it around, we'll be looking for another coach again in 2-3 seasons and be behind the 8 ball.

If JP and Jauron both come through and we get some additional help on both the OL and DL next off-season, we should be in decent shape. If both of them blow it, we can expect this garbage to continue into the forseeable future.

[R. Rich]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

Why not? There is young talent in many areas. From here, let's see what our coaching staff can do to get these guys ready to play. We could still get a bit younger (younger and more talented) @ LB, in particular the strongside position. But, we're not doing bad. It was nice that they decided to stock up on defensive players in the draft. Maybe, if those moves pan out, they'll be equally aggressive in addressing the offensive line next year. Now that would make me very optimistic.

[ICE74129]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

Why not? There is young talent in many areas. From here, let's see what our coaching staff can do to get these guys ready to play. We could still get a bit younger (younger and more talented) @ LB, in particular the strongside position. But, we're not doing bad. It was nice that they decided to stock up on defensive players in the draft. Maybe, if those moves pan out, they'll be equally aggressive in addressing the offensive line next year. Now that would make me very optimistic.

1) Name losman the starter and fully back him...period.
2) Sign peters long term, replace Villarial and maybe Gandy.
3) Upgrade DT and RDE

We do that alone with solid coaching and we compete for the playoffs.

[BuffaloBillsStampede]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

I am really excited about our DB's for next season. How can you not think we should have one of the best defensive backfields in the league by '08? Even if Clements leaves we still have McGee and Youboty at the corners with Simpson and Whitner at the safties. If you can't get excited about that then you don't have a pulse. Next offseason we need to upgrade DE, DT, LT, RG, maybe WR, maybe LB. That is a lot to upgrade in one offseason, but if we can get at least half of that done we should be in fine shape because I have all the confidence in the world in JP. I am still a little shaky about McCargo and Williams at the DT at least for this year. I don't watch a lot of college football so i'm not sure what to think about these guys at all, but I hope they change my mind. The main thing that excites me about these young guys is the fact that they seem hungry to play this game for us, which is something that has been lacking for some time now. These guys want to show everyone that they were not reaches and everyone that passed on them was stupid. I can't wait to see Donte Whitner lay out his first WR coming over the middle, the only question is who will it be? Hopefully Chris Chambers.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

I think that they have made a good start at re-making the team and that there is reason for future optimism.

The team is young and I expect it to get younger next season--and with young players you are going to have to expect mistakes--and I don't expect every move that they have made to work out optimally, but, having said that, I think that the team will play hard and that it now has a definite direction and philosophy. And, that's not hard to root for.

I agree that the keys are Losman and Jauron. Although I may disagree on how I think that the coaches will handle Losman, I think that this will be the year that we will find out what he is made of and what he may be able to bring to the team. I believe that he's ultimately going to be a good NFL QB, but I do expect him to have some rocky moments this season. Nevertheless, I also expect to see him be significantly better, on the whole, than he was last season and to be better at the end of the season than he is at the start. If that turns out to be the case, I think the Bills will be in very good shape. If not, I think that they will be looking for a QB next off-season and that, obviously, could be a problem. If JP just shows that he is developing like a young NFL QB should this season, I think there is reason for a lot of optimism in the future.

I think Dick Jauron is smart enough to have learned from his past mistakes and I expect him to be a better coach than he was in Chicago. But, will that be good enough? I don't know. I believe that he and Marv Levy have taken a big risk in installing a completely new defensive system and philosophy. I wonder how well-suited their personnel is to the new system, although they did a great job of bringing in young guys who seemingly fit the system, and whether the players that they have will be able to play as well in the system as they will need to in order for this team to be as good as it will need to be to win a title. If it works, they will be geniuses on many levels. But, we're going to have to wait to see how well it works: this isn't a team with a B.Urlacher, T.Harris, etc., or A.McFarland, D.Brooks, R.Barber, etc., or even D.Freeney, B.Sanders, etc.

I don't expect Jauron to have a winning record this season. Or, even next season. But, I want to see the team buying into what he and his coaches are doing and playing every game hard from beginning to end. And, most of all, I want to see improvement from the beginning of the season to the end. I'm not pro- or anti- Jauron--I am very much pro-Bills and, as a result, I want to see him do well. I know that he's in a tough spot right now, with a young squad and a recently divided lockerroom, bringing in a new offense and a completely different defensive system and philosophy. So, I'm not expecting miracles--I'll definitely take one, though!--from him or his staff and I'm willing to give him a couple of years to show me what he can do with this team. But, I do want to see some progress and improvement over the course of this season. If Jauron and his staff can demonstrate that they can keep this team improving and playing hard, I believe there will definitely be reason for future optimism.

There's still a long way to go before I see this team competing for a SB title and they're going to have to take baby steps before they take big ones, but I do think that, from what they have done this off-season, the team is moving in the right direction slowly and that is reason for optimism. I will be shocked (and delighted!) if the Bills do very well this season, I will be pleasantly surprised if they have a breakout year in '07, but I do expect them to realistically be contenders by '08 if they continue to move in the direction that they have taken this off-season without any serious setbacks.

[ICE74129]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

If Jauron doesnt' have a winning 07, this team is leaving Buffalo. Ralph is going to have hell the latter part of the season filling the seats, Season ticket holders be damned. We had season ticket holders boycott a couple of the last games, and hold rally's in the parking lot.

After all of ralphs *****ing about the CBA he had better be ready to spend HUGE this next offseason or he will see season ticket holders start dropping tickets after a losing 06. We have another losing season in 07, good luck keeping the Bills in Buffalo.

Jauron and Marv get one season and two offseasons (06/07) to get this thing on the right track.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

so with all of this youth, an apperant players coach and two up and comers at the coordinators positions...does this give reason for optimism from 07 forward?

1. Dick is our HC and is destined to fail....again. 3 years and out.
2. Marv is 83 and will, by assocation with #1, fail as a GM because he won't be around to try again after 3 years given his age and the demands of the GM position.
3. Given #1 and #2, Ralph will be in his 90s when a new FO will have to be put in place. By that time there will be a new ownership.

So, no...I'm not optimistic. But then again I'm cynical, so take with a truckload of salt.

[goodkarma]

Re: Reason for future optimism?

I just don't see this team being successful this year. If the offensive line can surprise me, maybe we can be competitive and win 7 games. But the more likely scenario is the offensive line gives JP no time, resulting in poor decisions and an inability to move the football. On defense, we have no serious pass rush, we're starting a rookie at DT, and our best LB is coming off an injury that ends careers.