Buffalo Bills fans should be rooting for Kansas City Chiefs’ dysfunction
If the Buffalo Bills are gonna be competitive and get a high draft pick next year, it’s time to hope the Kansas City Chiefs’ tank in 2017.
Are the Buffalo Bills in a rebuild? That’s a hard question to answer this early in the week. They brought in a new head coach/GM combo in Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane, so theoretically it will take time for their roster to take shape and produce.
However, the team didn’t go into a Jets-style fire sale this past off-season; they kept veterans like Kyle Williams and Lorenzo Alexander. In addition, they brought Tyrod Taylor back and didn’t make any crazy trades involving LeSean McCoy or Charles Clay.
A cynic would indicate this means they’re probably going 7-9 again, because they have just too much talent to not suck, but not enough to make the playoffs. An optimist would say now with Rex Ryan gone, coaching will be better and a 10-6 or 11-5 postseason berth is possible.
The common denominator in both scenarios is that the Buffalo Bills won’t be getting a high draft pick. It’s not essential to building a roster (many teams have been built with lower selections), but it could help with a roster that’s at a big crossroad.
Hate him or love him, Doug Whaley built a ‘win-now’ roster. That’s why he traded for McCoy and shelled out the big bucks for Clay. There was also the drafting of Sammy Watkins, a move that sacrificed the team’s 2015 first-round draft pick. That same year, Rex Ryan was supposed to bring all this talent together, and he did at least find the team a serviceable quarterback in Tyrod Taylor.
Since 2015, all that roster has done is get older. Whaley was exceptional at plugging holes in free agency (Lorenzo Alexander, Mike Gillislee, etc.), but just as bad at drafting. Thus, the Bills roster is frighteningly thin at many positions, an injury or two away from total implosion.
More from BuffaLowDown
- Buffalo Bills were ready to trade back if they couldn’t get Dalton Kincaid
- Grading Buffalo Bills drafting Dalton Kincaid in 2023 NFL Draft
- How the Buffalo Bills can win Day 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft
- Buffalo Bills having conversations about trading for DeAndre Hopkins
- Buffalo Bills Draft Rumors: Bills linked to this shocking first round target
Obviously, the way to counteract that is by drafting well, and higher picks often can set a good foundation for a team. Problem is, there is too much talent on this team to out-tank the Jets or Browns.
From there, the question becomes simple for the Buffalo Bills: is 2017 the year of the tank, or of a competitive rebuild? All evidence suggests the latter, and in that case, it’s time to hope for a team that finishes good enough for a playoff berth.
But that will likely net the Buffalo Bills a low-teens to high-twenties pick, depending on a potential playoff finish. That would almost guarantee they miss out on a top quarterback in the 2018 draft (Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen), which would keep it the Tyrod Taylor show for at least another year, if not more.
Luckily, the actions of Sean McDermott made it possible for the Bills to not tank and still get a high draft pick. As avid fans would know, Buffalo traded back with the Kansas City Chiefs so Andy Reid’s team could select quarterback Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech with the number 10 pick.
The Bills then selected Tre’Davious White out of LSU with the 27th selection.
What does that mean for next year’s draft?