This is the Gridiron Review’s grading and breakdown series of every team’s offseason. This article is the offseason in review: Buffalo Bills
Players Retained:
Offense: Matt Barkley, QB; Taiwan Jones, RB; Ike Boettger, OG; Bobby Hart, OT
Defense: Tyrel Dodson, LB; Siran Neal, CB
Key Losses:
Offense: Mitch Trubisky, QB; Matt Breida, RB; Christian Wade, RB; Cole Beasley, WR; Emmanuel Sanders, WR; Jon Feliciano, C; Daryl Williams, OT
Defense: Harrison Phillips, DL; Mario Addison, DL; Vernon Butler, DL; Efe Obada, DL; Jerry Hughes, DL; Star Lotulelei, DL; Bryan Cox Jr., DL; Justin Zimmer, DL; A.J. Klein, LB; Levi Wallace, CB
Key Free Agent Pick-ups:
Offense: Duke Johnson, RB; Jamison Crowder, WR; Tavon Austin, WR; Jake Kumerow, WR; O.J. Howard, TE; Greg Mancz, C; Rodger Saffold, OG; David Quessenberry, OG; Greg Van Roten, OG
Defense: Tim Settle, DL; DaQuan Jones, DL; Jordan Phillips, DL; Shaq Lawson, DL; Von Miller, DE/OLB; Marquel Lee, LB
Trades(If Applicable):
- Acquired QB Case Keenum in exchange for 2022 7th round pick
Draft Class:
- Round 1, Pick No. 23: Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida
- Round 2, Pick No. 63: James Cook, RB, Georgia
- Round 3, Pick No. 89: Terrel Bernard, LB, Baylor
- Round 5, Pick No. 148: Khalil Shakir, WR, Boise State
- Round 6, Pick No. 180: Matt Araiza, P, San Diego State
- Round 6, Pick No. 185: Christian Benford, CB, Villanova
- Round 6, Pick No. 209: Luke Tenuta, OT, Virginia Tech
- Round 7, Pick No. 231: Baylon Spector, LB, Clemson
Our Offseason Grade: Addressed the needs, but will secondary hold up
Record Prediction(Division Rank): 16-1(1st)
Summary:
It seems like yesterday the Bills season was over with a single coin toss, with Josh Allen not getting the chance to rally his team once more. One offseason later and a brand new overtime rule in football finds the Bills as early Super Bowl favorites, and we buy the hype. We see them, and Josh Allen, having a massive chip on their shoulder that fuels them week in and week out. Let us break down the positional groups and see how the team looks.
At quarterback, our early pick for MVP, Josh Allen returns to lead the team. Gone is superstar backup Mitch Biscuits and in is the Minnesota Miracle man himself, Case Keenum, via trade. They also re-signed Matt Barkley as the third string. The running back room will look a little different. Devin Singletary and Zack Moss are still there, but with the additions of Duke Johnson in FA and James Cook in the second round of the draft. It should be a good rotation with Cook offering value as a route runner out of the backfield and adding a new dimension to the offense. At wide receiver All-Pro Diggs returns, as well as playoff standout Gabriel Davis. They did lose starting slot Cole Beasley and veteran Emmanuel Sanders. They re-signed gadget Isaiah Mackenzie, and brought in Tavon Austin and Jake Kumerow in free agency. In the draft they took another gadget player in Khalil Shakir. The tight end room is headlined by Dawson Knox but got a lot better with the free agent signing of OJ Howard, who will slide in as TE2 with a ton of upside. The offensive line is getting shuffled around some, as they did lose Jon Feliciano and Daryl Williams. They re-signed Bobby Hart and added Greg Mancz, Rodger Saffold, David Quessenberry, and Greg Van Roten in free agency. This is an offense that did a great job adding new pieces and replacing those lost, and should once again be one of the best in the league.
The defense will have a few new contributors as well. On the line, a lot of the young guys will have a new leader and teacher with Von Miller coming over on an insane 6 year contract. They do lose a lot of role players: Harrison Phillips, Mario Addison, Vernon Butler, Efe Obada, Jerry Hughes, Star Lotulelei, Bryan Cox Jr., and Justin Zimmer. They replaced these names in free agency with Tim Settle, DaQuan Jones, Jordan Phillips, and Shaq Lawson. The linebacker room is still captained by Edmunds and Milano, but they are now joined by Terrel Bernard (who is another linebacker that can cover). The secondary has a super strong safety tandem back again, but the corner room is where it gets dicey. They added Elam in the first and White is back from injury. But, depth is still an issue for this team at corner and they are counting on all of their starting corners to not get hurt, otherwise it could be similar to last year. Injuries aside, this defense should be very good in all facets of the game and support a top offense in the game. We have them going 16-1. We know it is crazy to only have 1 loss especially with the added game, but Buffalo should be favored in every single matchup they enter and the chip on their shoulder should prevail them in what close games they find themselves in.