The Buffalo Bills are halfway thru the preseason, and there is still room for improvement. There are some highs and lows, and now they must turn from installation to consistency.
In the preseason, Week three is typically the first real simulation for the regular season. You can expect to see the starters for most teams play into the 3rd quarter.
Unlike the first two weeks of preseason, teams will be game planning for their opponents. This will provide the coaches practice, but also simulates what will be the normal regular season practice schedule for players.
After week 3 there is no more sign of the starters until Week 1. The position battles in camps will likely be decided late during the game, but also for those backups, every rep is that much more important since there will be a lot fewer during the game and in practice.
What I don’t need to see this week is an amazing defensive performance. This week although a full regular season simulation is all about the offense to me. The defense has been stellar in games and pre-season thus far. All I want from them is no injuries and to keep building chemistry.
Let’s take a look at the top things to watch all week, starting with the Bills starter at the most important position in football, Tyrod Taylor.
Tyrod Taylor is the Bills starting quarterback going into week one. That isn’t changing, and it isn’t going to change unless he is injured. That being said, Taylor hasn’t played great in the games during this preseason.
In my opinion, Taylor has two elite skills, his legs, and his ability to not throw interceptions. Week two versus the Eagles, Taylor threw two interceptions in a little over a quarter of work. It’s time for Taylor to stop going thru the motions to install the offense and get geared up for winning.
This week, his practice performance will be scrutinized by all of Buffalo median and fans. The Bills will be prepping Taylor and the rest of the offense to pick apart the Baltimore Ravens. The whole playbook won’t be on display, but Taylor will have enough of it to run the offense. This week is about points, and it doesn’t matter if Taylor uses his arm or feet.
Taylor needs to be accurate and not make mistakes. I want to see him gamble a bit by throwing the ball downfield or taking the occasional risk. When the Bills traded Sammy Watkins, it hurt Taylor by him losing a weapon. The trade can still help him if he can spread the ball to multiple targets and keep defenses honest to all receivers.
Shady is going to be elite every week, but this offense goes as Taylor goes. The 1st unit needs to get some momentum heading into the regular season. They won’t be at full strength, but they should still have multiple long drives that lead to points. I wouldn’t remove the 1st team offense until they get two possessions where they have to drive at least 45 yards to score points.
While Taylor looked bad versus Philadelphia, his offensive line hasn’t helped matters yet this preseason. The Bills will face Baltimore in week 3, without left tackle Cordy Glenn. This means the coaches need to show their best backup plan NOW to help the 1st team offense get going.
Seantrell Henderson is suspended to start the season, having him play with the 1s during this game does not make any sense. He isn’t even that good at Left Tackle, so unless you are helping Taylor by having him practice at game speed how to run for his life, then please show us the alternative.
If you watched both pre-season games regardless of which unit has been on the field both the right tackle and left tackles positions are looking bad. Cordy Glenn fixes a lot of that, but if there is any risk he will miss time, I don’t see how you can feel good about this offense with the backups we have seen to this point.
Will the Bills put Dion Dawkins with the first team at LT? He is supposed to be competing for the starting RT job, but he did practice during OTAs with the first team at LT and played there during his career at Temple.
Or will the Bills just admit that there isn’t a great plan for LT, and let Dawkins line up with the 1s at RT? Jordan Mills is ok, but last season we all thought there was room for an upgrade at RT, and in preseason I haven’t seen anything from Mills that tells me I need to change my mind. Dawkins may need time to grow, so you don’t have to rush him, but if he commits fewer penalties and has fewer breakdowns than Mills, just put him in. Let him grow all year and accept his faults early on. Mills has experience in the NFL at LT too, he isn’t great their either, but at least one side of the line may get better.
This week, watch the rotation at Left Tackle and Right Tackle. During the game, I guess each series will see different combinations at each position until the coaching staff can find the right mix. Also, start praying that Cordy Glenn returns fully healthy.
If prayer doesn’t work, there is still another way the Bills can improve their Tackle situations.
This year, is the first year of the new rule that there is only 1 roster cutdown for NFL teams. By 4pm on September 2nd, all NFL teams must be at 53-man rosters. That means the 90 players most teams have currently will all be down to 53.
If you do the math, that’s 1,184 instant free agents. The Buffalo Bills have holes, even before Anquan Boldin decided to retire. In my opinion the Bills can still look to improve talent at WR, Offensive Tackle, Cornerback, and Tight End.
Since there is only going to be one official roster cut requirement, you won’t get to see veteran free agents cut early. Remember when the Bills cut Fred Jackson? That was a shocking move during the 1st round of cuts. It allowed the Seahawks to bring Jackson into their training camp, and he ended up making their team.
Without multiple ’rounds’ of cuts, teams will need to get inventive. My prediction is that you will start seeing teams try to acquire late round or conditional draft picks via trades starting this week. If you need a tight end, and let’s say that Carolina want’s to cut Ed Dickson. They could, or they could call some old friends in Buffalo and try to get a late round pick for him.
The Bills I can see being active in trades starting this week. I don’t anticipate any ‘tanking’ by Buffalo, but they do have talented pieces that teams will be interested in. What role does Adolphus Washington have in Buffalo? TJ Yates looks to have been beaten out for the #2 QB job, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t an upgrade for a team like Indianapolis who is seeking a backup QB with a pulse.
I want to see if NFL teams change their late pre-season business activities from surprise cuts, to multiple trades. By trading during this week, teams can get a full extra week of practice to integrate their new additions into their team strategies.
Speaking of surprises, the Bills Wide Receivers will also be a focal point this week.
The Bills wide receiver group has been in a constant flux this offseason. If Tyrod Taylor was going to have success this year, it was going to be because of consistency from his receivers and less injuries than last year.
Well the injuries haven’t been too major yet, but the Bills front office is keeping Taylor on his toes. Since 2017 we can say goodbye to Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins, and Marquise Goodwin. We said Hello and Good Bye to Anquan Boldin. Now Taylor is looking to enter the 2018 season throwing to Jordan Matthews, Andre Holmes, Zay Jones, Philly Brown, Dakiell Shorts, Brandon Reilly, Brandon Tate, Walter Powell (suspended), and Rod Streater (injured).
This 2018 group won’t make the top 20 WR groups on any pre-season rankings. That being said, this week we are going to see what the Bills actually have to work with. Jordan Matthews may not play this week, but that doesn’t matter.
Taylor has this week to put together sustainable drives using Holmes, Jones, and the rest of the bunch. This group doesn’t need to set receiving records. They do need to be respectable enough to give McCoy a break from carrying the offense.
Andre Holmes was a star in spring, but hasn’t flashed much during training camp. I expect Holmes to get a lot of run with the 1st team this week, but he will be pushed by Brandon Reilly who has flashed when he’s seen the field in games. Reilly could be the 3rd down possession receiver that Boldin was supposed to be.
If Holmes can’t show chemistry this week with Taylor, I still believe he is a prime candidate to be traded or cut. The fact that he could provide the Bills with a compensatory draft pick hurts his chances.
Reilly and Shorts have looked well in their time with both backup quarterbacks. I will be interested to see if they can get in a little playing time with the 1st team offense just to see if they can produce just the same. If they both make the team, look for Holmes/Streater(IR)/Powell to be elsewhere.
In the previous section we talked about possible trades solving problems. Wide Receiver is definitely a position where quality players will be available from teams around the league
Next: Nathan Peterman is Mr. ‘Not So Cool’ Under Pressure
What are you looking for during the entire Buffalo Bills week 3 of preseason?