Part 2 of the Bills’ 2014 season review deals with the offense, which was clearly the weak link of the team, but still played adequately enough to win 9 games. The main story of the year offensively was the benching of EJ Manuel at quarterback, and his subsequent replacement by Kyle Orton. However, the QB position wasn’t the only problem offensively. The O-line was inconsistent, and for the first time in team history the Bills did not have a 100 yard rusher in any game. Note – since part 1 of this season review was posted, Bills’ coach Doug Marrone opted out of the third year of his contract, so the decisions to be made for next season will be made by a completely new regime, as far as the coaching staff is concerned. That being said, here is a position by position look at the Buffalo offense:
Quarterbacks
Coach Doug Marrone made the switch from Manuel to Orton after 4 games and the move worked, as Orton engineered a 7-5 record in his starts. The move got Marrone what he was looking for – consistent QB play. However, Orton was what he’s always been, consistently average. As the season ended, Orton surprised the team by announcing his retirement, which leaves just Manuel and Jeff Tuel, both basically unproven, as the only signal callers on the roster. This is a spot that has to be majorly upgraded in the off-season, even if it means overstocking the club with QB candidates going into training camp, then waiting to see what shakes out of the competition. One thing is for sure – even if Orton hadn’t retired the Bills needed to upgrade the play at the quarterback position going into 2015.
Running Backs
The Bills finished the 2013 season with the running game being the strength of the offense, then made a strong stable of backs even better with the off-season acquisitions of Boobie Dixon and Bryce Brown. The result? The running game never got untracked all season, and for the first time in club history not one runner gained 100 yards in a game all year. Now it looks like running back may be another position of need for the Bills to address, especially with C.J. Spiller entering free agency. Fred Jackson, one of the team’s true leaders, should be back but as the oldest RB in the NFL he is more suited to play a complementary role to another, younger workhorse back. Buffalo has an interesting decision to make regarding Spiller. He missed a lot of the season due to injury, but still never really hit his stride even when healthy. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett hasn’t found any creative ways to get Spiller into open space, in either the running or passing attack. It’s very possible he may sign with another team with better coaches and become the next back to leave Buffalo and blossom (see Marshawn Lynch). Of course, it could be argued that Spiller is the type of player mentioned in part 1 of this review, who makes a bad play for every good one and wouldn’t be missed if he wasn’t re-signed. Dixon is a valuable man on the roster, as a reserve back, special teams player and locker room leader. Brown showed some promise in limited action, but if the coaching staff saw anything in him, he surely would have seen some action prior to when he did, basically after both Jackson and Spiller got hurt in the same game.
Receivers
Bills’ management felt the talent at wide receiver was deep enough that they could afford to jettison Mike Williams, who they gave up a 6th round draft pick to acquire, but beyond Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, both of whom should be solid starters for a long time, there isn’t much depth. Chris Hogan won the #3 spot, and was decent, but he’s a restricted free agent. He’s probably worth re-signing but there might be a free agent available who would be an upgrade. The other receivers on the roster are Marquise Goodwin, who will need to prove he can stay on the field next year to even earn a roster spot, Deonte Thompson, a late-season addition who is totally unproven, and 2 players who are strictly special teams contributors, Marcus Easley and Marcus Thigpen. At tight end, there’s Scott Chandler, a mostly reliable weapon, MarQueis Grey, another late-season signing who made plays and is versatile, Chris Gragg, a late round draft pick who has shown flashes of good play, and Lee Smith, the blocking tight end who is an unrestricted free agent and, with his penchant for penalties, isn’t worth re-signing, in my opinion. He is a poster child for the type of player mentioned in part 1 of this review, except he makes 2 bad plays for every good one and could be removed from the roster and replaced with a better option.
Offensive linemen
While we’re on the subject of Marv Levy’s “addition by subtraction” type of players, we might as well add both starting guards, Erik Pears and Kraig Urbik, to that list. Center Eric Wood didn’t have his best season, but he may have looked worse than he actually played due to the poor play of the guards on either side of him. The starting tackles, Cordy Glenn and Seantrel Henderson, are building blocks for the future. It’s possible Glenn could be moved inside to guard if a good tackle can be found in free agency. Henderson was a feather in GM Doug Whaley’s cap as a seventh round draft pick as he started all year at right tackle and held his own. Two other rookies, Cyril Richardson and Cyrus Kuandjio, still have potential but their lack of development is disappointing considering Marrone’s background is as an offensive lineman. Chris Williams, who was a 2014 free agent signee but didn’t see much action this year because of injury, should also compete for a starting job at guard next year, but didn’t play all that well when he was healthy, so his starting job shouldn’t be automatically handed back to him. Chris Hairston, another reserve lineman, is an enigma – a guy who has filled in admirably when needed at multiple positions but never been able to play his way into the starting five on the line.