Reasons for Optimism: Buffalo Bills

By Andrew Symes, Lead NFL Writer

In our end of season series, our writers will be looking at each franchise as they are eliminated from the playoff picture, and looking at three reasons for optimism heading into 2016. Here, Lead NFL Writer Andrew Symes looks at the future for the Buffalo Bills following an inconsistent 2015.

For the Buffalo Bills, it has now been 16 seasons since a playoff appearance. After hiring Rex Ryan as their head coach when Doug Marrone had surprisingly opted out of his contract following a 9–7 2014 season, the Bills had high hopes. The defense had been one of the top units in the league, ranking top in sacks over the season, and the offense had some nice pieces. With the addition of LeSean McCoy at running back, it looked as though they could take the next step in an open AFC field. The highlight was stopping the New York Jets reaching the playoffs in the final week, but an 8–8 record accurately showed their inconsistency. There are reasons for hope heading into the next year.

1. Hope at quarterback

It seems as though the Bills have struck lucky with the addition of Tyrod Taylor as the quarterback. After drafting EJ Manuel in 2013, then picking up Matt Cassel as a veteran presence, few gave Taylor much hope of winning the starting gig when he signed as a free agent having been Joe Flacco’s backup in Baltimore for four years. After a sterling job in the preseason, he deservedly won the job and showed everyone why as the season progressed.

He has great athletic gifts and helps in the run game due to the fact that defenses have to take account of his rushing ability. He passed for over 3000 yards despite missing two games to injury, throwing 20 touchdowns to 6 interceptions, and also picked up four rushing touchdowns amongst his 568 rushing yards. His contract is just over $3m for three years, meaning the Bills can spend in other areas to build up their roster. For the first time in a long time, the Bills go into the offseason not having to worry about the most important position in the sport.

2. Sammy Watkins

When the Bills gave up a future first round pick to take Sammy Watkins with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 draft, most people were shocked. Watkins was the consensus number one wide receiver in the class, but it was a deep class and the Bills were hardly a wide receiver away from a Super Bowl. Whether it was worth trading up or not — and in my opinion it is never worth trading up in the top ten — the fact is Watkins is showing why the Bills were so enamoured with him. After a slow start in his rookie year — mainly due to inconsistent quarterback play and a few nagging injuries — the Clemson product announced himself on the NFL stage in 2015.

He has built up a great rapport and trust with Taylor that will only continue to blossom as they spend more time playing together. He posted 1047 yards and 9 touchdowns, with the vast majority coming in the second half of the season as his understanding with Taylor continued to grow. He torched Darrelle Revis for 11 receptions and 136 yards in the season finale. Now that he is the focal point of the passing game, expect his confidence and contentment to grow after early grumblings about not being used enough. He is still only 22 and he is a special talent.

3. The defense will improve

This may be going out on a limb slightly. I can give no definite reason why this will be the case. After all, just one year after leading the NFL in sacks, the Bills registered their lowest total in franchise history in 2015. I suppose my feeling is that it cannot be worse. Ryan, for all his faults as a head coach, has generally produced very good defenses. There was certainly a lack of buy-in from key players this past season — see Williams, Mario — but with another draft and offseason to focus on key pieces and expanding the playbook, Ryan should see the unit improve.

There is no lack of talent: the secondary looks strong with rookie Ronald Darby alongside Stephon Gilmore, and the defensive line is still lead by Marcell Dareus from the inside. If Ryan learns how to use his weapons to their strengths, they should take a huge step forawrd and get back to the levels we saw from them in 2014. After all, that is the level this unit showed they were capable of achieving.