Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

[Wally The Barber]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

TJ Yates is GOD

[YardRat]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

not yet.

The O will probably be pretty similar. The D is switching schemes for what? the 4th time in 6 years? I lost track. And I don't think McDermott has the personnel to do what he wants to do at this point.

He has most of it. SAM and MLB bear watching with Alexander and Ragland projected as starters there. Still I'd take it over a 3-4, that suits just a few players.

Moving back to the 4-3 is huge. I knew Rex would ruin the defense going to a 3-4.

They still need to figure out who is going to play the Mace.

Maybe Hyde, instead of a more traditional safety role? Maybe that's why McD targeted him early, and gave him a nice contract.

[Buddo]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

Imho, the biggest question mark on how the team will do, is going to be in the Secondary, especially at Safety. I don't have a problem with Hyde, but after him, I think it's very dubious, tbh.

CB play shouldn't be too much of an issue, due to scheme changes, with help being available. As pointed out, Gilmore is a good man CB, but his tackling leaves a lot to be desired. The scheme change will benefit a solid guy who can tackle well, and I expect us to have one on the roster. Darby is a far better tackler than Gilmore imho,and could be set to make some waves again

The front 4 has plenty of talent for a 4 man front, especially with Dareus and Williams in the middle. Hughes is proven at DE in a 4 man front, and I think you could easily use Alexander as an anchor against the run at the other end, and that is without Lawson. Getting good pressure regularly, will ease the load on the secondary, also.

LBer is a bit of an unknown, but more from how the permutations will pan out, rather than not having any talent, particularly now that Hodges has been signed. People, understandably, want a guy with the speed of Kuehly (sp?), but providing you have someone who gets side to side quick enough, it isn't a scheme deal breaker. Ragland has an extra degree of 'grunt' that Kuehly doesn't possess, and finding a way for that to be used, could pay other benefits.

On Offense, improvement at RT will make a significant difference, as will a healthy Watkins (fingers crossed). Zone or Man blocking schemes, won't make much difference to McCoy, as he's an elite talent. It might make more of a difference when it comes to whoever our #2 is though, and while Gillislee is a loss, Williams isn't a mug, and it would seem that he had some injury issues previously, that weren't talked about much.

WR depth has to be better, although I wanted to keep Woods. I think Jones will be an important part of the mix, and could make a big impact, as having possibly the best hands in the draft, is a big positive, especially when Tyrod is hurling short passes at a rate of knots at you.

Overall, I'd say that the focus on individual losses, hasn't been weighed well enough, against the scheme and coaching changes. I'd be surprised if we made the playoffs this year, but I can easily see a comparable record to last year, with much more consistent play overall, in a tougher schedule. If guys stay healthy, then I could see us vying for a playoff spot. There will be some inevitable rookie lumps along the way, but I can see us starting to look like a potential contender from the half way point onwards.

[sukie]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

Worse in the schedule.

I hate the fact that Bills fans look at toughness of schedule when there was a time (a few here lived it in adulthood) when the Bills made other teams fans cry about the toughness of schedule.
We all looked at the schedule to see who we would crush live at Orchard Park.

Wally remembers... He was in his late 60s.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

I think they will be about the same, a good chance to be a little better, like one game.

I'm in the camp that Tyrod will hit his peak this year. Almost all QBs hit their peak in year 3, even though he sat on the bench for 4 years to begin his career. Mind you I agree with Whaley that Tyrod's ceiling is not that high. But if he manages to take a step up from what he did last two years, it would still be the best the Bills have had in years at this most critical position (since Flutie?).

Tyrod aside, the offense also has some interesting stories. Long term, I don't like the outlook (and nobody should be without a Brady at QB). But short term, McCoy, Watkins, Clay, even O-Line Wood, Incognito are all talented but likely looking at free agency due to age or injury concerns. When the words talented and motivation put together, positive outcomes usually follow, unless Rick Denison is a complete idiot.

On defense, the long term outlook is brighter but short term we could very well suffer. Big time scheme change, talent loss, unproven young players. I'm not so sure about D line being as good as people are making them. It's reasonable to assume Dareus to play better, entering his prime years, but Williams and Hughes are all getting long in tooth. Last years' draftees give us no reason to be optimistic. We don't know if we have one single ideal fit for the linebacker corp. and the secondary is really thin at quality safeties, like Buddo pointed out. I still contend that the Bills defense never recovered from the blow of Aaron Williams going out of service last year. And this year that person to watch is Micah Hyde. The scheme might be simpler and the coaching might be better so that the defense does not self-defeating like last year, but the combination of changes and personnel make you wonder if indeed they will take a step backwards.

[streetkings01]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

We got better due to Rex and Rob being fired.

[sukie]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

We got better due to Rex and Rob being fired.

That is true

[Mahdi]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

Gilmore was picked on by the jets and patriots when we played them. He's not that great

Losing Gilmore was big...

That being said, adjusting the scheme zone and bringing in CBs who fit that will offset the loss.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

Ask me if we are better or worse in November or December because right now I have insufficient data

[justasportsfan]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

I can agree that we are weaker talent wise however, a weaker talent placed in a situation to succeed is better than a very talented player set up to fail.
Assuming McD knows what he's doing, he could make the player better than a Rex Ryan coached player who does not know where he is supposed to be.

This is why I think that right now this team went sideways.

[EDS]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

We got better due to Rex and Rob being fired.

The bar is set very low for McDermott and his coaching staff so I agree that that change alone should account for improvement. Personnel wise I think the increased reliance on inexperienced players makes to very difficult to say the roster is better. It would be great if all the rookies and other young players panned out but we all know that won't happen.

[Jan Reimers]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

We got WAY better at head coach, we will have our top 2 draft picks from 2016 - Ragland and Lawson - healthy (hopefully), and we added some valuable pieces in the draft and free agency. I don't see our losses as that staggering, so we may actually see some improvement.

[OpIv37]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

He has most of it. SAM and MLB bear watching with Alexander and Ragland projected as starters there. Still I'd take it over a 3-4, that suits just a few players.

Moving back to the 4-3 is huge. I knew Rex would ruin the defense going to a 3-4.

Rex is an idiot. He might have done ok if he had gone all in on a 3-4, but he knew breaking up a good D would be a tough sell. He had too much of an ego to run someone else's D so he went "hybrid." I don't need to tell anyone here how it worked out.

[Goobylal]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

Rex is an idiot. He might have done ok if he had gone all in on a 3-4, but he knew breaking up a good D would be a tough sell. He had too much of an ego to run someone else's D so he went "hybrid." I don't need to tell anyone here how it worked out.

Yup. But going all-in on the 3-4 would've taken several years. Luckily he didn't pick too many 3-4 players.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh and forgot to mention that Hauschka is also a huge upgrade. I'm hoping the rookie punter Rehkow can be one as well.

[Mahdi]

Re: Aaron Schatz thinks the Bills got worse this offseason

IMO the defense needs a big run stuffing DT that can free up Dareus.