How good are we?

[Cali512]

With all this hype im just wondering how people actually feel about our team. How good are we? Or how good can we be? With so many well known players finally, Jackson, Williams, Merriman, Byrd, we finally have players that have a name across the league, no more secret weapons, no more under the radar guys. Were legit on paper, but how good are we? If you look at the depth chart, besides from QB, we name for name look better than the Patriots, so what does that say? Not only that, on the superbowl champs, name for name, we are 10x better looking in the secondary and at RB. I cant see a team in the NFL that beats us in every single catagory. Maybe its the bias in me, but we beat 90% of teams in RB, interior OL, DL, and secondary. People say well be 11-5, but we were doing amazing last year untill the injuries which leads me to wonder, 3rd year, more talent, plus same talent= more success right? Not one single player on our team can you blame for last years losses, the most you can blame is certain players getting hurt for those losses. But lets see, Jackson, well Spiller is getting better, Chandler, well the team seems pretty confident with Dickerson and Causin, Wood? Well our team seems to like Colin Brown, DE? Well say Anderson and M.Will goes down, our backups are Merriman and Kelsay, and both are starters going down is unlikely, and our staff and Merriman seem extremely confident in his return, so honestly our DEs would be still better than last year, even if our aquasitions go down. DB, is no question, we have a bunch of NBs and starters that could be dropped to the 4th-5th CB spot just because of talent. So i see this year being extremely good.

QB- B
RB- A
WR- C+
TE- B
OT- C+
OG- A
DE- A+
DT- A+
LB- B+
CB- A
S- A

Our D looks great and our O if utilized correctly can be good. I gave the QBs a B, because backups are both players who have had some success in the league, and Fitz was having a great season before he got hurt

[Novacane]

Re: How good are we?

I'm still not sold on Fitz. As he goes so goes the Bills.

[alnilla]

Re: How good are we?

gotta play a game first........

[ublinkwescore]

Re: How good are we?

Well it's definitely better now since we are asking how good are we instead of how much are we going to suck.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Re: How good are we?

gotta play a game first........

....yep... ask again after week 3 and then again after week 8.

[MTBillsFan]

Re: How good are we?

I'm still not sold on Fitz. As he goes so goes the Bills.

Fitz just needs to manage the game ala Trent Dilfer did in Baltimore. I'm not saying our D is to that level but our offensive talent around him is at least equal to theirs.

[ServoBillieves]

Re: How good are we?

Of course, we need to play a game, but with all the hype as asked by Cali... I think we have a great team.

Quarterback is a huge question. Fitzy is the man, Thigpen is terribad, and we don't know what we have in Vince yet. If Vince can learn the system under Chan, I think we have two formidable "good" QB's that can lead the team if the pieces fit.

Running back seems loaded. Freddy and CJ are that 2 headed beast of power and explosiveness that a tandem needs. Freddy and Marshawn was pure power and tenacity, Spiller brings in that "Uh oh, what's he going to do?" aspect. Choice and White (and I guess to some extent Lionel Gate... I mean Douglas) will be fighting for for that 3rd spot. At FB I think Corey's days are numbered: Dorin should be taking that spot for his versatility.

Wide Receiver has upside but this team doesn't want upside anymore. Stevie is the #1. Nelson is the slot guy. Then... Wait for it... Yeah no clue. Graham has looked good in OTA's and the regime has faith in him. Jones is a coach favorite of the staff. Easley was drafted for a reason... Roosevelt, Hagan, Aiken, Martin, and Session, who the hell knows. There's a ton of question marks past Johnson and Nelson.

Tight End is two then who? Chandler's the man, Smith can block, then ? If they want to keep 3 the third would probably be Brock. OR, if we keep McIntyre, I could see Dorin making it as the pure H-Back with keeping only 2 TE's.

OL can be great if healthy. Pears - Urbik - Wood - Levitre - Hairston/Glenn seems pretty formidable. If a G or C goes down, the healthy ones are interchangeable with Rinehart taking over an injured guard and if it's Wood who's injured, Urbik going to the middle. The tackles are all question marks behind the top 2.5, but I do like the upside in Sanders. Asper and Young could be the others.

-----------------------------------

Defensive Line is dominant. I won't even go with splitting the ends and tackles, this group is a force. Mario Williams, Marcell Dareus, and Kyle Williams alone is a nightmare. Add Kelsay or Anderson on the other side and that's just troublesome. Who do you double team? Who do you let through for a FB or God forbid a RB try to block? You double team either of the Williams, and that gives easy pickin's.

Behind them? Shawne Merriman, Alex Carrington, Torell Troup, whoever remains from the cap battle of Johnson/Edwards, and possibly the underdog Kellen Heard. Those are big bodies. Those are tough mothe- (shut yo mouth) talkin' bout Bills? (We can dig it!) BILLS defensive lineman. Without a doubt, THIS is why the team is so hyped this year.

Middle Linebacker has a sophomore, a no name, and a rookie. I like Kelvin. I liked what I saw out of him last year and am very excited to see what he does this year. McKillop is... wait who is McKillop? He's a Pitt grad so that gets him in Wanny's corner, but Tank was drafted by the higher-ups. I don't discount the fact that Moats can play all 3 LB positions, so the backup position should only be a depth/ST pin, but yet again that's a young group.

Outside Linebacker has the best veteran squad. Morrison and Barnett? Yeah I'll take that tandem. Morrison, who had started all but 1 game in his career before coming to Buffalo, is finally back at his home spot. Barnett is changing positions, but he himself stated that he's ready for a change of pace and wants to hit some people in space. Behind them is a mystery. As stated above, Moats will make this roster. Scott will absolutely make the squad, but he's that hybrid D player that just needs a "position" to be put at. So when Morrison or Barn get tired? The battle begins between Batten, White, and rookie Bradham.

The last guy chosen to fill in behind Barn, Kirk, Kelvin, Moats, and Scott should be a very interesting camp battle.

Corner back will flourish due to the line. Gilmore, Williams, McKelvin, McGee, Brooks, Rogers. I don't know who can replace that group. Hell, even if those guys go down, there's plenty of guys who can fill that 6th spot that sits on Sunday and Scott drops in to coverage against a slower WR/TE from the 'outside' spot. Troubled and nervous QB's will make mistakes, and if Wanny can put these guys in their place in the deep 4 (in todays NFL, 5 or 6) with the front 4 wreaking havoc... thats a lot of speed and talent able to ballhawk if they can cover their assigned receivers/zones. Even with the high picks and experience, there's a lot of worry when facing the fierce competition across the LoS. I'd say this is the D's weakness to be honest... and that's not saying much.

Safety starters are superb, backups bland. Oh hai illiteration! Byrd and Wilson when healthy (again), are a very scary group of deep guys to throw against and, as Byrd proved last year, both can take your legs out from under you with exceptional abillity. They won't pull Ed Reed skills of wrecking you with hits and picking off an unbelievable catch, but they get the job done very well. That being said... we have Searcy, 3 undersized rookies and an ex-QB as depth. It worked for George in the position transfer, but can Josh Nes follow suit? I'm interested in seeing Delano play, for the sole fact he missed OTA's and those guys in the back need some rest at some point. This defense before playing a snap in even the preseason is devestating on paper.

Kicker could be killer. Rian is 35 and coming off of injury. Any kicker in the league laughs at the fact that kickoffs have become a serious joke, but consistency and the ability to nail the long ball comes in to play. A young Lindell covers all bases, especially with consistency. Enter John Potter. Apparently worth a draft pick, a leg like a Howlitzer, and a MAC record holder in a few categories. He can kick, he can tackle, and dead on with PAT's. A kickoff specialist? I'm not sure, we already have a gadget player (Brad Smith)... so seems like a waste of a roster spot.

Punter is... wait seriously? Next.

LS is Sanborn. I know an arguement was made beforehand as to why LS is an important position and why a backup OL couldn't do it and my rebuttle is... yeah, it again seems like kind of a waste. If you can train a lineman to man the middle and long snap while he's not on the first team and riding the pine, why not train him and say "Hey... well you probably won't be playing but if you want to see a football field we can teach you to toss the ball between your legs accurately and efficiently, then drop and make sure no one gets over your back to block!" Oh Mike Schneck... what a different time we live in...

Long story short, this team looks great on paper, with a few questions to be answered during the season, but that's the NFL is about. We don't know, but to answer the question initially, this is why I'm hyped.

[Ed]

Re: How good are we?

I already bought my super bowl tickets. I'm just undecided on what jersey I'm gonna wear.

[kishoph]

Re: How good are we?

I am more genuinely optimistic going into this season than I have been in a long time. Of course a big question mark is how will Fitz perform ? I think the addition of David Lee as QB coach is going to make a difference, while I don't expect Fitz to be as successful all season as he was for the 1st half of last season, I do expect him to finish in the top half of QB performance. The number 2 receiver position is still a question mark also IMO. I would love to see Marcus Easley grab hold of that spot and become a threat. As far as the OL goes, I think we're solid in the interior, on the outside, I think a lot depends on how well Glenn can learn the position in the NFL, I'm really not worried about his athletic ability to play the LT spot. The right side should be solid with Pears and Hairston battling it out for the starting role. At TE, I'm a big Scott Chandler fan and I think he'll have another good year. That leaves the RB's and the only problem I see here, is how do you split time between Jackson and Spiller. Personally, I want to see Spiller get a lot more touches this year. As far as the Defense goes, "bad things man, I mean bad things." I can't wait.

[jamze132]

Re: How good are we?

We're going to be as good as Fitz and the O-line. If our line plays as well as last year and Fitz throws 20 TDs and 4000 yards, we'll be in the playoffs. Our D-line is going to dominate if they stay healthy.

[DraftBoy]

Re: How good are we?

Borderline playoff team that will have to fight for the wildcard is probably our ceiling at this point. Still some holes to fill and some serious depth concerns. The QB question is still out there and the OL has to not replicate but improve on last year's performance.

[Extremebillsfan247]

Re: How good are we?

It's a tough question to answer with any degree of certainty. It looks good on paper, but we still don't know how it will work once the games go live. Only time will tell. The second half of the season is when I'm guessing we will all find the true mettle of this team. Depth was a huge factor in the massive slide we experienced last year. Hopefully, we have improved enough in that area of the team to be effective. That's what will ultimately determine whether this team sinks or swims into the post season. Just my opinion.

[PTI]

Re: How good are we?

Fitzpatrick is really bad. He was ranked like 22nd, how in the world is that a B? Do they only give grades now on the what they think you get be?

- - - Updated - - -

We're going to be as good as Fitz and the O-line. If our line plays as well as last year and Fitz throws 20 TDs and 4000 yards, we'll be in the playoffs. Our D-line is going to dominate if they stay healthy.

20 TDs and 4000 yards is barely average in today's NFL.

[ddaryl]

Re: How good are we?

We're going to be as good as Fitz and the O-line. If our line plays as well as last year and Fitz throws 20 TDs and 4000 yards, we'll be in the playoffs. Our D-line is going to dominate if they stay healthy.

Well last year Fitz through for almost 3900 and 24 TD's



Fitz needs to up the TD's by at least 5 and reduce the INt's by at least 5 this year IMO... that would be a decent improvement from the QB position


As for the rest of the team. Can we cut back on the injuries and the amount of IR's...

[justasportsfan]

Re: How good are we?

DYNASTY!!!