1 - Bills future riding on two rookies' shoulders?The Bills added two of the best all-around athletes in this year's draft in Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds. No matter what scout or analyst you ask, they will admit that both of the Bills first-round picks are athletic freaks of nature. But, they are both also very young with Allen being 22 and Edmunds being 20. Still, both players are being looked at as the future of the team. To CBS's Jason La Canfora, that future could involve slaying the beast of the AFC East.
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*If both become anything close to what this franchise believes they can mold into, then the Bills just might be best positioned to become the beasts of the AFC East once the Patriots' death grip on the division inevitably wanes with even Tom Brady unable to play like an MVP forever. *
For Edmunds and the way the Bills are using him during OTAs, it appears very cut-and-dry what the plans are for the young linebacker.
Edmunds, of course, seems destined to start from Day 1. Being the QB of the 'D' ain't easy, but it pales in comparison to all that comes with being a rookie starting QB in this league. His athleticism is off the charts and moving to middle linebacker should allow him even more room to roam and run and wreak havoc compared to how he was often deployed at Virginia Tech… It's hard to envision a scenario where Edmunds is not on the field virtually all the time as the Bills try to add bite and play-makers to what was the league's 26th ranked defense in 2017 (29th against the rush and 20th against the pass).
In the curious case of Allen, things are anything but cut-and-dry. With a support system of A.J. McCarron and Nathan Peterman, Allen may not have to make any presence on the field for a few seasons. Instead, he could wait patiently in a backup role.
When La Canfora visited the Bills OTA session last week, he started to understand that there is a potential to Allen that may just need to be honed and cared for.
Allen was hardly perfect in Thursday's session, and his accuracy will remain the most discussed and dissected part of his game. Several balls skidded low and in the grass during the 11-on-11 drills -- Allen made a point to come over to veteran Rod Streater and pat him on the back after one series of plays in which the quarterback's play was shaky. There were a lot of short passes and screens -- not too much to show off Allen's powerful arm -but when the rookie took off with the ball his natural speed and athleticism were apparent.
2 - Bills safety playing leadership role in second year with the teamAlongside his partners in crime in Micah Hyde and Tre'Davious White, Jordan Poyer stole the show last year, and a lot of passes. The Bills defensive backs became the stars of Leslie Frazier's defense, and now they are also becoming the newest tutors of it.
The Bills added rookies and veterans alike to the defense this offseason, and with several of the players being DBs, players like Poyer, Hyde and White know they will all be looked to as leaders.
"We just teach them as much as we can," said Poyer. "You know, we're only going to be as good as the next man up, and so it's important for us to teach those guys what to look at, how to line up and the tendencies that you'll see in the formation, and to know how to study too.
"Some of these guys, they can play three, four, five coverages in college, and you come here and you got 54, 55 different defenses. So, it's important to learn how to study yourself and study your opponent, and continue to get better."
Last season, the Bills defense almost won the franchise its first playoff game in over two decades, holding a Jaguars offense to only 10 points. The same offense that in the following two weeks scored 45 points on the Pittsburgh Steelers, and 20 points against the New England Patriots.
For Poyer, he knows with hard work that the Bills defense could become a powerhouse.
"We have really high expectations of ourselves," said Poyer. "So, we just want to continue to get better. We know how good we can be, but that's not going to happen just naturally. We got to continue to work every day. We need to watch film. We need to continue to have positive criticism and coach yourself, and that's only going to make us better."
3 - What more does Shady have to do to be a future HOFHe's been the star of the show, the face of the franchise and the player breaking the most ankles in the three seasons he's been in Buffalo. And although his 30th birthday is in a little more than a month, there still is no apparent rust holding back LeSean McCoy.
Entering his fourth season in the 716, McCoy has built a career that could be argued is Hall of Fame worthy. But what more if anything does the Bills running back need to do to become a shoo-in for Canton? Bleacher Report gave its answer.
McCoy might not need to put together a career year in order to move into the Hall of Fame circle. If he can pick up another 1,100 yards from scrimmage, he'll become just the 11th back in NFL history to hit that mark nine or more times. Eight of the other 10 are in the Hall of Fame, and the two non-Hall of Famers are strong candidates in Gore and Ricky Watters. And a seventh Pro Bowl nod would make him the 11th back to earn that honor more than six times. The other 10 are all either in Canton or go by the name Adrian Peterson.
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