Questions at QB persist for Bills

The offseason started with a gut punch in the resignation of head coach Doug Marrone, but the Buffalo Bills head into 2015 with a brashness that isn't befitting of a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 1999. Under Rex Ryan, the team is hopeful that its new identity will result in the end of the NFL's longest playoff drought.

Will the uncertainty at quarterback derail what could be the team's best shot at a return to the postseason in 16 years?

Offensive Breakdown

The Problem at Pivot

Simply put, the Bills will be as good as their quarterbacking allows them to be. The thing is, all new offensive coordinator Greg Roman – replacing Nathaniel Hackett -  needs from his QB is competence. There are enough weapons on this Bills offence to get by on average quarterbacking, but that's easier said than done because the Bills haven't found that since Drew Bledsoe left town.

EJ Manuel is the one holdover from last season, but the Florida State man found himself benched in favour of Kyle Orton last season after starting the year at 2-2. The Bills finished 9-7 a year ago – their first winning season since 2004 - and it's not hard to wonder if more from Manuel last season would have vaulted the Bills into an AFC wild card spot. This is essentially a make-or-break third season for the former Florida State Seminole taken 16th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft and he has looked good in the preseason with four touchdowns and a passer rating of 146.9. Still, there's been nothing in Manuel's short career that has suggested that consistency can be expected.

Matt Cassel, acquired from the Vikings for a sixth-round pick, has pivoted a pair of 10-win teams in the past, but the former USC Trojan hasn't done so in five years and has steadily declined in form since, limited to just three games a year ago with a broken foot. His preseason also has been a good one, especially when you consider how slow he looked in the first few days of camp. While Manuel has room to grow, you know what you're going to get with Cassel - methodical, plodding drives. That won't be enough to get it done.

The Week 1 starter will be Tyrod Taylor. This is Taylor's fifth season in the NFL, but he is, for all intents and purposes, still very much a neophyte. Stuck firmly to the Baltimore Ravens' bench behind Joe Flacco for the first four years of his career, Taylor provides the Bills with a mobility that Manuel and Cassel just can't. His accuracy has been solid in the preseason, and he operates with a cool confidence that seems to be lacking in the other two. Despite being a veteran of exactly 35 pass attempts in his NFL career to date, Taylor is going to get his shot to lead this team. If Taylor can translate what he's done right in the preseason to the regular season, fears about the limits to the Bills' offence could be assuaged.

The reason why competence is all that's being asked for at quarterback is because of the fine array of offensive weapons at Roman's disposal. Percy Harvin links up again with Ryan after spending most of last season with the New York Jets. Still only 26, this is Harvin's fourth team in four seasons and a bounce-back year as a tertiary option would do well to keep the "journeyman" label at bay. Harvin, who could be used in the slot, will line up behind sophomore Sammy Watkins and third-year man Robert Woods.

Tight end Charles Clay, signed to a massive five-year, $38-million deal to come over from the Miami Dolphins, is a significant upgrade at the position and adds another potentially tough matchup for opposing secondaries. With the improving Chris Hogan also in the mix, the Bills' receiving corps is a young and athletic one teeming with potential.

Player to Watch: LeSean McCoy – Acquired in the offseason from the Philadelphia Eagles for Kiko Alonso, Shady is a tantalizing prospect for what was an anemic ground game last season. With Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller a season ago, the Bills averaged a paltry 92.6 yards on the ground, good for eighth worst in the NFL. Still only 27, if McCoy can shake off the hamstring injury that has limited his preseason, Roman will have the kind of dynamic running back needed to optimize his style. The addition of one of the best blockers in the back in Pro Bowl fullback Jerome Felton should only further open things for McCoy, who will be looking for his fifth 1,000-yard rushing season in six years.

Cause for Concern: Offensive Line - The uncertainty surrounding the quarterback situation has mostly overshadowed a line that allowed 39 sacks a season ago. Richie Incognito returns to the Bills after a season out of the league following his suspension for his role in Dolphins' bullying scandal of 2013. As much of a potentially disruptive character Incognito is, he represents a massive upgrade at left guard. Cordy Glenn and Eric Wood remain, while rookie John Miller out of Louisville shifts over to right guard and will likely start. Seantrel Henderson, who struggled in his rookie year, lost 10 lbs in the offseason and will start at right tackle. Compounding issues for the Bills at OL is the loss of their coach, Aaron Kromer, for six games. He's been suspended as the result of a summer assault arrest.

Defensive Breakdown

More of the Same?

A year after watching his charges lead the league in sacks and and sit fourth in the NFL in both points and yards allowed, Jim Schwartz is no longer the team's defensive coordinator. Dennis Thurman comes over with Ryan from the Jets and inherits one of the league's finest units. A trio of Pro Bowl linemen in Mario Williams, Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus lead the way up front. That three, along with the returning Jerry Hughes, combined for 39.5 sacks a season ago. In the final year of his rookie deal, Dareus undoubtedly saw the money that Ndamukong Suh received from the Dolphins in the offseason and knows that another strong performance in this contract year could put in Suh's status as the highest-paid DT in the game in jeopardy this offseason.

While the front four grabs most of the headlines, the Bills very quietly have assembled a solid secondary that had 19 interceptions a season ago. Cornerback Ronald Darby, a second-round pick out of LSU, joins Stephon Gilmore, Aaron Donald, Corey Graham and Leodis McKelvin in an unheralded unit that might not have the star power of Ryan's past secondaries, but could prove to be just as effective. The biggest concern for it right now is a potential upper-body injury incurred by Gilmore in a preseason game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If this Bills defence plays up to what it's capable of, it could be one of the finest in the NFL and, perhaps, the best in team history.

Draft Review

The Bills didn't have a first-round pick this past spring by virtue of the 2013 draft day trade with the Cleveland Browns that landed Watkins. It remains a source of contention for some Bills fans, as they could have taken Odell Beckham, Jr. at the ninth-overall selection and not surrendered their 2014 first (and fourth) to move up. While there might not be any game-breakers in this draft class, the likes of Darby and Miller can contribute right away. Sixth-round pick Nick O'Leary is the grandson of Jack Nicklaus.