Last Year:

Record: 7-9

Offense: 24.9 (10th)

Defense: 23.6 (16th)

Offseason: 

Key Acquisitions: WR. Andre Holmes, WR. Corey Brown, S. Jordan Poyer, S. Micah Hyde, K. Stevan Hauschka

Key Losses: WR. Robert Woods, LB. Zach Brown, CB. Stephon Gilmore, S. Corey Graham

 Breakdown

Offense:

The Bills were quietly one of the better offenses in the NFL a year ago but after the departures of some key pieces it will be interesting to see if they can do it again. The Bills biggest losses came at the skill positions where the team lost it’s second best WR, Robert Woods, and second best RB, Mike Gillislee, in free agency. They should still be fine at RB where they still have one of the game’s elite backs in McCoy playing at a high level but it was nice having two backs last year that could average over five yards per carry. The receiver position is where the biggest question marks lie. Sammy Watkins is the team’s best WR but he is often injured and now with Woods gone if he gets hurt this year they may not have anyone talented enough to be a viable number one option. The number two option will be up for grabs between free agent pick up Andre Holmes and rookie second round pick Zay Jones. Holmes has a lot of untapped potential and terrific size at 6’4 but has yet to put it all together and find a feature role for an offense but it will be his job to lose. Brown was another free agent pick up who tho figures to be the guy in the slot. He will be looking to bounce back after a down year with the Panthers. The offensive line was one of the better units in the league last season and could be even better if the right side improves just a little. The left side is one of the best with Glenn at LT and Incognito at LG. Glenn is an elite pass blocker and Incognito is phenomenal run and pass blocking as is their best overall offensive lineman. Eight year vet Eric Wood has been the Bills Starting center for years now and will do so again in 2017. He hopes to bounce back from an injury riddled season and return to the high level he played at in 2015. The right side was where the Bills had problems but they are hoping to get those fixed with the addition of Dion Dawkins who will compete and have every opportunity to win the RT job from the struggling Jordan Mills. At RG is John Miller who run blocks really well but struggled in pass pro. The Bills have to be able to pass protect on more than just one side if Tyrod Taylor is going to maximize his ability. Speaking of Taylor the sixth year QB completed his second season as a full-time starter and it was another good one despite the dis-functionality of the organization. Taylor is one of the elite running QBs in the NFL and is an underrated passer. Last season he was pro football focus’s 13th ranked QB outplaying the likes of Phillip Rivers, Cam Newton and a host of others who are widely considered more talented than he is. How good the Bills can be this season on offense I think largely depends on the receiving corps. If Sammy Watkins can stay healthy and emerge as an elite receiver and some of the new guys they brought in are effective then the Bills passing game will work and we already know the running game is terrific. They also need the pass blocking of the right side of the offensive line to improve. If all of these things happen there is no reason why the Bills cannot be a good offense again in 2017.

Defense:

With the Ryan brothers out and Sean McDermott in as head coach with Leslie Frazier as his defensive coordinator the Bills will be switching from the hybrid 3-4 look to a 4-3 look. Now the defensive line goes from a three man front to four and I think it will benefit the Bills as the defense was a lot better in 2014 when they were a 4-3 defense before Rex Ryan arrived. The biggest beneficiary should be Marcel Dareus who was considered an elite DT before being forced to play nose tackle in Ryan’s scheme. The other DT will be Kyle Williams who honestly can play in any scheme and has had success in both. Williams has terrific play recognition ability and block shedding ability and at 34 is still going strong. The edge guys struggled last season but are hoping to benefit from a new scheme as well. Jerry Hughes will start at RE and has been a very good pass rusher over the years. He has never offered much in run defense but last season his effectiveness rushing the passer dipped really hurting his overall value. Shaq Lawson figures to be the man at the other end spot as he looks to improve off a shaky rookie season. The linebacker position will not change very much outside of the base 4-3 formation. Lorenzo Alexander will be the Strong side backer and figures to see more time offline instead of playing primarily on the line of scrimmage. He was a breakout player last year on the edge because of his ability to pass rush. But if Hughes and Lawson are not getting it done at DE I could see the Bills moving him down to end. Reggie Ragland figures to have the middle spot locked down. However, he missed his entire rookie season in 2016 due to a torn ACL so it remains to be seen what he can do. His backup Preston Brown has not played well since 2014 and does not figure to be able to hold Ragland off if he is as good as he was projected to be coming out of the draft. The weakside linebacker spot is the toughest to call right now. It is completely up in the air with three guys primarily vying for the spot in Brown, free agent pick up Gerald Hodges, and Ramon Humber who played primarily on special teams a year ago. Right now Humber is the projected starter but the position is still completely up for grabs as even rookies Matt Malano and Tanner Vallejo could have a shot to compete. The Bills secondary also has a ton of uncertainty. Ronald Darby will be the team’s top corner. After a fantastic rookie year his play fell off significantly in year two and he will be looking to get back to playing at a high level this season. Opposite him will be the team’s first round selection Tre’Davious White. We know from Darby that rookie corners are capable of coming in and playing at a high level and White has the talent to do so. Free agent pick up Shareece Wright figures to be the favorite to be the third corner. It remains to be seen if he will play the slot or if the team might move White inside in nickel packages and let Wright play outside but those three are likely going to be the top three corners on the depth chart. The Bills were not very good at safety a year ago which is why it comes as no surprise that the team opted to sign two new safeties in free agency and that both of their starting safeties from last year still remain unsigned at this point. Micah Hyde will start at SS and Jordan Poyer at FS. Hyde was solid for the Packers a year ago and figures to be the team’s best safety in 2017. Poyer has struggled over the past two seasons with the Browns but has some untapped potential and natural athletic ability that the Bills are hoping to tap into. Overall the switch to a 4-3 defense helps the D-Line but the Bills are weak at linebacker and inexperienced and unproven in the secondary. As a whole this defense will experience some growing pains in 2017.