Starting today, Buffalo, and the other 31 National Football League teams, are finally allowed to engage in something actually resembling football.
For the past three weeks, per NFL mandate, they’ve done nothing but stretching and conditioning exercises.
As of this morning, the pads can go on as the Bills will have 19 days — 14 practices — to decide which of the 53 players on the current 80-man roster survive the cut come Labor Day weekend.
In effect, league teams have already pared their rosters once, as the normal 90-player training camp squads were reduced by 10 due to Covid-19.
That leaves coaching staffs with only 11 cuts to make — practice squads have been increased from 12 to 16 — but wondering if they made any mistakes in getting down to 80.
AS THE BILLS don pads, there are 28 new faces on the roster including the seven draftees selected in the spring.
If you’re wondering about the breakdown, there are 15 offensive linemen, 14 defensive linemen, 13 secondary players (cornerbacks and safeties), nine wide receivers, eight linebackers, seven running backs (including two fullbacks), five tight ends, five kicking-team players (two placekickers, two punters and a long snapper), and four quarterbacks.
And Buffalo gets down to the hitting portion of training camp in an unusual position … as a slight favorite among Las Vegas bookmakers to win the AFC East.
New England, which has won the division 17 of the last 19 seasons including the previous 11 straight, lost 42-year-old, Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterback Tom Brady to Tampa Bay as a free agent. Then, the Patriots had an NFL-high eight players including three starters — linebacker Dont’a Hightower, tackle Marcus Cannon and safety Patrick Chung — and three heavy contributors — running back Brandon Bolden, fullback Danny Vitale and tight end Matt LaCosse — opt out of the season due to the coronavirus.
Next most opt-outs was five by Cleveland, while the Bills had only two, defensive tackle Star Lotuleilei and cornerback E.J. Gaines.
And that difference of six opt-outs between the Patriots and Bills nudged Buffalo into the division favorite role even after New England signed former NFL MVP Cam Newton as its presumptive new QB.
OF COURSE, Bills’ fans hardly needed any more reason for optimism as general manager Brandon Beane traded for a much-needed No. 1 wideout. sending a first-, fifth- and sixth-round draft pick (in 2020) and a fourth-rounder (2021) to Minnesota for Stefon Diggs.
Meanwhile, in the draft, Buffalo selected defensive end A.J. Epenesa, predicted to be a first-rounder, in round two, tabbed power back Zach Moss in the third, took two wide receivers of potential — Gabriel Davis and Isaiah Hodgins in the fourth and sixth rounds, respectively — added a successful quarterback. Jake Fromm, in the fifth and a placekicker (Tyler Bass) expected to challenge incumbent Stephen Hauschka, also in the sixth.
Then there was free agency where Buffalo grabbed three veteran defensive linemen (tackles Vernon Butler and Quinton Jefferson and end Mario Addison), two linebackers (A.J. Klein and special teams standout Tyler Matakevich), cornerback Josh Norman and offensive tackle Darryl Williams plus re-signing running back/special teamer Taiwan Jones.
Finally, head coach Sean McDermott, who has taken the Bills to the playoffs in two of his three seasons, was signed to a contract extension through 2025, with Beane sure to follow, and left tackle Dion Dawkins, heading into his contract year, was extended four seasons with a $60 million deal, $34 million guaranteed.
IT’S ALSO CLEAR the Bills appear to be one of the NFL’s best franchises at minimizing the impact of Covid-19 and Beane seems to have done an excellent job of building depth at virtually every position except linebacker.
But with all the unicorns and rainbows emanating from One Bills Drive, there are also two doses of reality.
One is the schedule. Last year Buffalo went 10-6 against one of the weakest slates in its history.
This year, the Bills’ schedule includes six games against playoff teams, including both Super Bowl participants, Lombardi Trophy winner, Kansas City, in Orchard Park with no fans and at San Francisco. There are also two games against the Patriots and one each versus Seattle (home) and Tennessee (away).
Of the eight road games, four are either in the Mountain or Pacific time zones (Las Vegas, Arizona, Denver and San Francisco), all fatiguing cross-country trips, plus the visit to New England where the Bills have lost 17 of the last 19 games.
But there’s a more pressing concern.
Despite all of the good things that have happened to the Bills since their crushing 22-19 overtime playoff loss to the Texans in Houston last January, after leading 16-0 with only 21 minutes to play, the coming season ultimately rests on one key factor.
Quarterback Josh Allen must take a giant step forward, particularly with his accuracy. He improved by six percentage points from his rookie season, but was still under 59 percent completions last year. And his percentage on deep balls was one of the NFL’s worst.
In two seasons he’s accounted for 47 touchdowns, but 17 were on the ground. Allen is a certified threat on the run, but he’s also one big hit from a devastating injury. Then, too, there are the turnovers. He’s thrown 21 interceptions in two seasons and fumbled 22 times, though the Bills have recovered 16 of them. Still, 43 potential giveaways is way too many in less than two full campaigns.
This year’s Buffalo mantra, with the addition of Diggs, the return of John Brown and Cole Beasley at wideout and a running game of rising star Devin Singletary and Moss, has been “Now Josh Allen has no excuses.”
Small wonder he will be the focus over the next three weeks of the countdown to the regular season.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
