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Off-season Report Card: Buffalo Bills

Did the Bills do enough to change their fortune?

Trading in Rex Ryan for new head coach Sean McDermott is an upgrade for the Buffalo Bills all by itself. Ryan took a team with a winning record on the cusp of the playoffs and completely ran them into the ground. His inability to put together an NFL roster is only proven by the sheer number of free agents the Bills let go that no NFL team has signed.

McDermott and new general manager Brandon Beane had their work cut out for them this offseason. Let’s take a look at how they did.

Free Agents Kept

Lorenzo Alexander, Outside Linebacker

Jordan Mills, Offensive Tackle

Colton Schmidt, Punter

Brandon Tate, Wide Receiver

Corey Washington, Wide Receiver

Free Agents Gained

Joe Banyard, Running Back, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars

Jeremy Butler, Wide Receiver, formerly of the Los Angeles Chargers

Ryan Davis, Linebacker, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys

Patrick DiMarco, Fullback, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons

Vladimir Ducasse, Offensive Guard, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens

Steven Hauschka, Kicker, formerly of the Seattle Seahawks

Micah Hyde, Safety, formerly of the Green Bay Packers

Leonard Johnson, Defensive Back, formerly of the Carolina Panthers

Mike Tolbert, Fullback, formerly of the Carolina Panthers

Jordan Poyer, Safety, formerly of the Cleveland Browns

Free Agents Lost

Zach Brown, Inside Linebacker, signed with the Washington Redskins

Stephon Gilmore, Cornerback, signed with the New England Patriots

Marquise Goodwin, Wide Receiver, signed with the San Francisco 49ers

Justin Hunter, Wide Receiver, signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Lerentee McCray, Linebacker, signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars

Nickel Robey-Coleman, Defensive Back, signed with the Los Angeles Rams

Garrison Sanborn, Long Snapper, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Robert Woods, Wide Receiver, signed with the Los Angeles Rams

Mike Gillislee, RB, signed with the New England Patriots

Dan Carpenter, Kicker, currently a free agent

Gerald Christian, Tight End, currently a free agent

Marcus Easley, Wide Receiver, currently a free agent

Corey Graham, Safety, currently a free agent

Phillip Thomas, Defensive Back, currently a free agent

Aaron Williams, Safety, currently a free agent

2017 NFL Draft

Round 1: Tre’Davious White, Cornerback, LSU

Round 2: Zay Jones, Wide Receiver, East Carolina

Round 2: Dion Dawkins, Offensive Guard, Temple

Round 5: Matt Milano, Linebacker, Boston College

Round 5: Nathan Peterman, Quarterback, Pittsburgh

Round 6: Tanner Vallejo, Linebacker, Boise State

Proposed Offensive Starters

QB: Tyrod Taylor

RB: LeSean McCoy

WR: Sammy Watkins

WR: Zay Jones

WR: Brandon Tate

TE: Charles Clay

LT: Cordy Glenn

RT: Dion Dawkins

LG: Richie Incognito

RG: John Miller

C: Eric Wood

Offensive Outlook

The Bills’ wide receivers were absolutely raided in free agency, so it’s difficult to not see this group as a downgrade. Zay Jones is a rookie and Brandon Tate is sliding into the Marquise Goodwin slot, a slot that Goodwin only really maximized last year. Sammy Watkins, when healthy, is an elite wide receiver but the Bills don’t trust him to stay that way, which is why they declined his fifth-year option.

Throwing the ball to this group of receivers is Tyrod Taylor. The team had a chance to move on from Taylor this season, but reworked his contract so they could at least ride him another season while looking for an actual quarterback of the future. They did draft a guy, Nathan Peterman, and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get in some games at the end of the season.

LeSean McCoy remains the Bills best offensive weapon and he has one of the better offensive lines in the league to run behind. The left side of Cordy Glenn and Richie Incognito is as solid as any unit you’ll find.

Proposed Defensive Starters

DE: Shaq Lawson

DE: Jerry Hughes

DT: Marcell Dareus

DT: Kyle Williams

OLB: Ramon Humber

OLB: Lorenzo Alexander

ILB: Reggie Ragland

CB: Ronald Darby

CB: Tre’Davious White

FS: Jordan Poyer

SS: Micah Hyde

Defensive Outlook

There’s little question defense is the strength of this team going into the season. McDermott will convert Ryan’s 3-4 into the 4-3 defense he ran with the Carolina Panthers and has added the players, especially in the secondary to make that transition easier. Tre’Davious White should step right in to Stephon Gilmore’s spot on the defense. While that will probably mean a drop off in year one, White looks to me like the real deal.

The team will lose its best pressure guy in the backfield in Lorenzo Alexander. In a 4-3 scheme, he won’t be rushing the passer nearly as much and his 12.5 sacks led the team by a wide margin. No other player had more than six sacks and that was Jerry Hughes. The team might be better served switching Alexander to defensive end and Shaq Lawson to outside linebacker. There’s some real work to be done here to create a consistent rush. The team has an abundance of linebackers now, with Preston Brown probably riding the bench a lot even though he was the team’s No. 2 tackler next season.

Grade: C+

The Bills only lost talent on an offense in dire need of keeping what little it had. What keeps this grade from a C- is simply the addition of McDermott in place of Ryan. There’s no way they’ll be worse.

O/U wins: 5.5

Preseason Schedule

Week 1: Minnesota Vikings

Week 2: at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 3: at Baltimore Ravens

Week 4: Detroit Lions

Key game: There’s a real chance the Bills could open 2017 0-4, so a Lions team at home coached by Jim Caldwell could be just what they need to avoid a complete first-month disaster.

Regular Season Schedule

Week 1: New York Jets

Key game: There aren’t a lot of wins on this schedule, but the Jets have the worst roster in the NFL and shouldn’t be able to play on the same field as anyone, even this version of the Bills.

Week 2: at Carolina Panthers

Week 3: Denver Broncos

Week 4: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 5: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 6: BYE

Week 7: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 8: Oakland Raiders

Week 9: at New York Jets

Week 10: New Orleans Saints

Week 11: at Los Angeles Chargers

Week 12: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 13: New England Patriots

Week 14: Indianapolis Colts

Week 15: Miami Dolphins

Week 16: at New England Patriots

Week 17: at Miami Dolphins

To make a wager on any sport, go to the world famous Diamond Sportsbook by clicking here.

Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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