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2017 Buffalo Bills Predictions

So it's time once again to register my predictions for the upcoming Buffalo Bills season. In case you don't recall, my 2014 predictions were startlingly accurate. 2015, not so much, and then 2016 wasn't too far off from what actually happened.

QB-I think we all sort of know, deep down, that this is Tyrod Taylor's last year in Buffalo. The fun thing about #5 is that he does something really exciting a couple of times a game, and I hope we'll see a couple of great deep throws or ankle-breaking runs, but he's going to be frustrating and ineffective for far too many stretches, and we're all going to be talking about college QBs by week 5. Nathan Peterman, if he sees the field, is going to look like a poor man's Alex Van Pelt. Seriously, NO ONE should hope for this.

HB-LeSean McCoy, I think, has one more quality year left in him. The biggest question for his season isn't really about what he's doing so much as what the rest of the offense looks like around him. I don't think anyone's going to dropping extra men into coverage to work against the passing offense, and the offensive line looks worse than it did last year. Also, look for lots of dropped passes by fullbacks and reserve tight ends.

WR-Oh, it could be SO bad. Anquan Boldin will be the best interview of the locker room week to week, and one of the biggest liabilities on the field. Jordan Matthews will slowly improve as the season goes on, but don't look to him to either break 1000 yards or lead the team in receiving touchdowns. I'd love to have high hopes for Zay Jones, but we might have forgotten he's on the team by midseason. He seems like the type of guy that will be inactive with an ankle for multiple weeks somewhere along the line. Or did we trade that guy to the Rams? I forget...

OL-Cordy Glenn coming back is probably the most important thing that could happen between now and the regular season. No amount of Jordan Mills or Seantrel Henderson is going to solve the problem that is the right tackle position. Mills and Wood should be unspectacularly fine, and Richie Incognito will say something stupid about women and/or Rex Ryan by season's end. We're all kind of assuming that this is Eric Wood's last year too, right?

DL-This is the year of Marcel. I predict this is perhaps the lone bright spot for the team this year--a standout defensive line that keeps the anemic offense in tantalizingly close games. Shaq Lawson will have far more penalties than positive plays, but Jerry Hughes will look great, and the Dareus/Williams combo will make everyone wish that it wasn't a "wasted year."

LB-The Ramon Humber show. (Seriously, he'll probably be the best looking one of the bunch.) Reggie Ragland won't see the field unless something catastrophic happens, and will eventually get traded away for a 7th round pick in the offseason. Preston Brown will play with all of the determined intensity of someone who's going to get a raise next offseason to play for a better football team in a nicer climate.

DB-It could be even worse than WR. Tre'Davious White might look okay against some weaker competition, but it's going to be a rough year for him. E.J. Gaines will play in 8 games, max, and we're all going to have to steel ourselves for the thought that they're going to use a 2nd round pick on a corner in the draft AGAIN. Poyer will be better than Micah Hyde, but most of the time when any of us pronounce their names it's going to be with an expletive following.

Kicking Teams-Colton Schmidt looks better this year, Steven Hauschka will miss an inexplicable number of extra points. People will wonder whether it's something to do with the field.

Overall: 5-10-1, the tie coming in a battle of epic futility against the Dolphins. (I'd call this one against the Browns, except somehow we don't play them this year.) 3rd place in the AFC East (yes, the Jets are THAT bad), and armed with all of the picks to go get a quarterback next year.

Fun Fact: This time ten years ago I was at Deep Creek Lake with J's family a few days before our wedding, and I was neglecting my packing up because I had a chance to watch a Bills-Titans preseason game. I told J how excited I was to follow the team this year because J.P. Losman was going to lead the team out of an unfeasibly long SEVEN year playoff drought!