After going through a coaching change despite a 9-7 2014 season, the Buffalo Bills come into 2015 beginning a new era in Upstate New York. The team is under new ownership with Terry Pegula, hired a new head coach, former Jets’ coach Rex Ryan, and they are starting to find a new identity after a tough past decade on the field.
Rex Ryan has sparked some excitement into this team and fan base and Buffalo fans are hoping that it can translate to the field. Rex Ryan did lead the Jets to the AFC Championship multiple times as the Jets head coach, and arguably, he has a better team with the Bills than he did with any of those Jets teams.
The Bills made one of the biggest blockbuster trades of the off-season acquiring running back LeSean McCoy from the Eagles in exchange for all-pro linebacker Kiko Alonso. Alonso missed the entire 2014 season because of injury, but in 2013, was one of the best linebackers in football.
Last season without Alonso, the Bills were still one of the best defenses in football and by acquiring McCoy, they finally have a viable threat in the backfield instead of the running back-by-committee with Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller that had been going on for the past few years.
Quarterback
The Bills come into the 2015 season without a frontrunner to be the starting quarterback. In 2013, they drafted EJ Manuel, but that hasn’t worked out so far as a season ago he was replaced. This season, they have a three way battle for the starting spot and it is a toss up as to who will get the nod.
The three guys are the aforementioned Manuel, along with journeyman Tyrod Taylor and veteran Matt Cassel. All three bring very different skill sets to the table and it will be interesting to see who Rex Ryan ends up choosing in the end.
You have Taylor who is a dual threat guy while Cassel has the most experience and then there is Manuel who was given the job back in 2013, but was unable to hold on to it so far. This could be a chance for Manuel to win back the job and take it for the long run, but there really is no clear-cut leader so far.
If forced to choose today, this writer would say Cassel ends up winning the job just because of his experience in the AFC East, and because he is the veteran of the three and having experience at the quarterback position is key in today’s NFL.
Running Backs
With the Bills acquiring LeSean McCoy in the offseason, they are pretty much set at this position. McCoy is the complete package and will be the leader of this Bills offense from the get go. He can be a playmaker on the ground and will help this team get over their quarterback situation with his play. As for backups, Fred Jackson who has been with the team for quite some time will be there to complement McCoy after the departure of CJ Spiller.
Rex Ryan loves the ground and pound game on offense and with new offensive coordinator Greg Roman who had a lot of success running the football in San Francisco, look for the Bills to do a lot of the same.
Wide Receivers/Tight End
Buffalo’s wide receiving corps could be one of the best in football and is filled with great young talent mostly built up through the draft. Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins lead this group as two tall, athletic receivers who can go get the football and can score some touchdowns especially because they can stretch the field. To complement those two, Buffalo acquired speedy Percy Harvin in the offseason who will try to push his injuries to the side and have a productive season for the Bills. Marquise Goodwin will also help this team as a good option in the slot position.
In addition to these receivers, the Bills went out and signed former Dolphins tight end Charles Clay who can be another weapon through the air. He is a matchup nightmare for defenses in this offense especially when having to account for two good receivers on the outside and a good running back in LeSean McCoy.
The biggest issue with these receivers is having a quarterback who can throw them the ball. If one of the three QBs can get the ball in the hands of one of these receivers, then that will take some pressure off of McCoy running the football and will make this offense very dynamic and a tough one to stop if they are hitting on all cylinders.
Offensive Line
The offensive line doesn’t have that many notable names, but should be solid once the season begins. They did go out and sign Richie Incognito who was at the center of the bullying scandal in Miami, but will bring some attitude to this Bills front. They have some good young pieces and there will be plenty of shuffling around during camp as the roster shakes itself out. There are a lot of moving pieces that O-Line coach Aaron Kromer has to sort out before he serves his suspension of six games once the season begins.
Defensive Line
The Bills defensive line could arguably be one of the best in football. With Mario Williams out on the edge and Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams on the inside, this is a formidable front that will cause a lot of disruption for opposing offenses. Jerry Hughes was also resigned to play on the opposite end of Mario Williams, which is another dangerous weapon. Last season these four combined for 39.5 of the 54 sacks, which led the NFL.
As for depth, some of the backups are good enough to start on other teams so if one of these guys go down, it won’t be as big of a loss as you might think. This front can plain get to the quarterback and will cause havoc in the run game. They are just the start of a solid defense they got going up in Buffalo.
Linebackers
There aren’t many notable names in this linebacking corps, but that doesn’t matter too much as they can flat out play. Last season, Preston Brown led the team in tackles as a rookie with 109 and was complemented by Nigel Bradham who had 104. They have a three-way battle for the third spot between Ty Powell, Randell Johnson, and sixth round pick Tony Steward, but expect whoever wins this job to fit in nicely.
This group filled in fantastically a season ago for Kiko Alonso who led the league in tackles as a rookie and there is no reason why they wont step once again this season while Alonso plays in Philadelphia for the Eagles. The depth was key in the move of Alonso and the Bills are confident that they can last without him. If these guys play anything like 2014, they’ll have no issues. Watch out for this Bills front seven.
Secondary
The Bills secondary has lost some big names the past two seasons in free agency in Jarius Byrd and Da’Norris Searcy, but they haven’t really missed a beat since then. Stephon Gilmore and Leodis McKelvin, two former first round picks, are starters for at cornerback for this team and combined for seven interceptions a season ago. McKelvin’s season was cut short with an ankle injury that forced him to miss the last six games in 2014, but he’ll be back and ready for the 2015 season.
At safety, Aaron Williams and Duke Williams are two guys that are great on the back end and complete this defense in Buffalo. Aaron Williams, a former cornerback, had 76 tackles and five pass breakups a season ago and is looking to build off of that this season. The depth for this safety group might be what sets this group apart from a lot of other teams. Bacarri Rambo, Ron Brooks, and Nikell Robey along with second round pick Ronald Darby out of Florida State can all fill in and this Bills defense won’t seemingly miss a beat.
Overall
After making the offseason moves they made by hiring Rex Ryan and acquiring LeSean McCoy, this team is built to end their playoff drought and win some football games. They had nine last year, but getting to 10 might break the door down for at least a wild card spot, which is what this team will most likely achieve with the Patriots being so formidable in their division.
Prediction: 11-5 record, 6th in the AFC (wild card), 2nd in the AFC East