Buffalo Bills 2018 Preview/Record Prediction

Dylan Kuhn
Sep 4, 2018 · 3 min read
Image from buffalobills.com

I’ll try and keep these posts short and sweet so everyone can get a little taste of what’s going on in my head and then go on with their day. With that being said, I’m going to go with the bad news, good news format then cap it off with a nice little summary. I’m a strong believer in when given the option, always listen to the bad news first. Now that that’s taken care time to preview the 2018 Buffalo Bills.

Bad News

There are a lot of holes on this roster. The biggest of which is on the offensive line where 3 starters were lost in the offseason (Eric Wood, Richie Incognito, and Cordy Glenn). Their. departures have left the Bills scrambling to find replacements. From what was seen in the pre-season it appears to be shaping up to be one of the worst position groups in the NFL. Expect Buffalo to be picking an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2019 Draft.

Looking at the offensive skill positions the only player that puts any sort of fear into opposing defenses is LeSean McCoy who is involved in a legal battle that could potentially lead to a suspension. When the Bills gave up a 7th round pick for former 1st round receiver Corey Coleman it appeared they stole a guy who could become an instant contributor to the offense. After cutting him they are left with his 3 million dollar cap hit, injury plagued Kelvin Benjamin and Charles Clay followed by a wide array of unproven pass catchers.

Add those ingredients up and it leads to a bad mix for the week 1 starting quarterback Nathan Peterman and rookie Josh Allen who will undoubtedly get his chance to play this year.

Good News

There is some promising talent on the defensive side of the ball. It starts with Defensive Rookie of the Year Runner-Up cornerback Tre’Davious White. White came in as the highest rated rookie by Pro Football Focus in 2017 ranking as the 21st best player in the NFL. If he improves off his strong rookie campaign he will be a top tier number 1 corner in this league. Looking at the rest of the secondary you got two guys at safety in the Pro Football Focus Top 100 players from 2017 in reigning All-Pro Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer who had a breakout year. If the Bills get anything out of the veteran Vontae Davis you’re looking at a very good secondary.

Buffalo did a lot to try and improve what was a bad front seven last year. On the defensive line they signed Trent Murphy and Star Lotulelei and drafted Harrison Phillips in the 3rd round. The trio will certainly help upgrade the line but by how much is to be determined. The player to watch in the front 7 is 1st round pick Tremaine Edmunds. Edmunds comes in with a lot of hype walking in as a day one starter. He just recently turned 20 though so there will be a learning curve.

With the upside of Edmunds and what we’ve already seen from White the Bills appear to have 2 great pieces to build the defense around moving forward.

Summary

This is certainly the beginning of a rebuild for the Bills. They drafted who is hopefully their long term starting quarterback in Josh Allen and they got a couple building blocks on defense with White and Edmunds. The established talent on the roster though is very limited and it’s why they will be picking in the top 5 in the 2019 draft. Looking at the schedule I’d only expect the Bills to be favored in 2, maybe 3 games all year (Jets and Dolphins at home, and maybe the Bears at home). With that being said a successful 2018 season for the Bills won’t be reflected in the win column but by what we see out of the young talent on the roster.

2018 Record Prediction: 3–13

The Bills will split with the Jets and the Dolphins and steal another game in front of the home fans in Orchard Park. Other than that expect the losses to pile up. Rome wasn’t built in a day, the cursed playoff drought is over, now it’s time to rebuild the right way.

Dylan Kuhn

Written by

Reporter/Anchor at WIVT/WBGH NewsChannel 34

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