Buffalo Bills: Creating the Blueprint for Optimal Offense in 2015

The Buffalo Bills made a number of significant roster moves earlier this offseason,most of them meant to revamp the look of the team's offense. 

There are a couple of reasons for Buffalo's offensive overhaul. For starters, the departure of former head coach Doug Marrone and the hiring of Rex Ryan brings a change in philosophy and scheme to the team.

The second reason is that despite being a quality 9-7 team last season, the Bills ranked just 26th  (318.5 yards per game) in total offense. 

Buffalo found a way to add a number of new additions via free agency and through trades in order aid the turnaround. New veterans with the team include running back LeSean McCoy, quarterback Matt Cassel, guard Richie Incognito, wide receiver Percy Harvin and tight end Charles Clay.

Adding more talent at the offensive skill positions was a smart move for the Bills, as it is difficult to predict what the team is going to get at quarterback. Last year's primary starter, Kyle Orton, announced his retirement at the end of 2014. This leaves the incoming Cassel to compete with former first-round pick EJ Manuel and former Baltimore Ravens backup Tyrod Taylor for the starting job.

The offense may look a bit different depending on which quarterback wins the starting job. However, new offensive coordinator Greg Roman has NFL experience coaching a both a read-option quarterback in Colin Kaepernick and a more traditional passer in Alex Smith. Both experiences came during his time with the San Francisco 49ers.

Regardless of who starts under center, this will, and should be, a system that is based on running first. A run-first system fits what both Ryan and Roman like to do on that side of the football.

“We prefer to ground and pound it, we’re going to run it 50 times if we can on you,” Ryan said early this offseason on WGR 550-AM in Buffalo, via the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

Running the football 50 times a game might be a bit of a stretch, but offensive coordinators serving under Ryan have leaned on the run heavily in the past. In the six seasons with Ryan at the helm, the New York Jets averaged just over 32 rushing attempts per game (3,078 regular-season attempts in that span). 

Under Roman, the 49ers ran the ball just over 29 times a game in 2014.

In addition to fitting the new coaching staff's philosophy, leaning on the ground game should also help protect any deficiencies at the quarterback position. Taylor and even Manuel are very much unproven, while Cassel has never been more than a game manager as a pro.

The offseason trade to acquire McCoy from the Philadelphia Eagles gives Buffalo one of the more dangerous and versatile backs in the entire league. McCoy is capable of making plays in both the running and the passing game and can break the long run once he gets into space.

Buffalo should also be able to get good production out of the No. 2 running back and has the talent in the backfield to run a three-man rotation if desired. Other backs on the roster include longtime fan-favorite Fred Jackson, Bryce Brown, Anthony Dixon and rookie Karlos Williams.

Most of these guys fit Roman's power running scheme and whoever makes the final roster should be capable of contributing. Expect to see an improvement in the running game, where Buffalo ranked just 29th in the league in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus.

The addition of Incognito and the drafting of third-round guard John Miller should help improve the team's run-blocking.

Getting top-level production from the running game will help lessen the load of the team's eventual starter at quarterback. This is a good thing, as WKBW's Joe Buscaglia has reported the signal-callers have not looked sharp early in the offseason process.

A strong running game will also help to set up play-action, where the Bills are now well equipped to do damage.

As a rookie in 2014, wideout Sammy Watkins averaged an impressive 15.1 yards per reception. Fellow starter Robert Woods averaged a solid 10.8 yards per catch last season.

Watkins and Woods should again be the starters on the outside and both are capable of making plays deep downfield and off play-action. It might also be worth mentioning that Cassel was ranked eighth if play-action efficiency by Pro Football Focus back in 2013 when he saw significant action (nine total appearances).

	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
Sammy Watkins	65	982	15.1	6
Robert Woods	65	699	10.8	5
Percy Harvin	51	483	9.5	1
Charles Clay	58	605	10.4	3
Chris Hogan	41	426	10.4	4
Marquise Goodwin	1	42	42.0	0

The addition of Harvin gives Buffalo a versatile fast-twitch receiver to attack from the slot. For his career, Harvin has averaged 11.5 yards per reception. New tight end Clay hauled in 58 passes for 605 yards a season ago.

This gives Buffalo a dangerous group of pass-catchers to utilize in single-tight-end sets with two and three receivers. Backup tight end chris Gragg has enough talent to make two-tight-end sets a viable option as well, especially when running the football.

Gragg ranked 31st among all tight ends in run-blocking in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Bills will also have the option of using the fullback position with frequency. The team currently has two seasoned veterans ar the position in John Conner and Jerome Felton.

There are a couple of offensive wild cards in all of this, of course.

Ryan was partial to trotting out the Wildcat formation at times in New York. This could create a nice change-of-pace role for Taylor should he not win the starting job.

The Bills can also look to Harvin to provide another option in the running game. Over his career, Harvin has carried the ball 140 times for 885 yards and five touchdowns.

As for a base offense, however, the Bills appear best-suited to rely on power running and play-action. Traditional two and three receiver sets should give the team the flexibility to excel at both, though guys like Marquise Goodwin and Chris Hogan provide enough talent to spread things out if necessary.

A freedom to audible, motion and run gadget plays out of base formations should keep defenses guessing, even if Buffalo's offense appears basic.

Manuel recently said the following of the offense, per Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com: 

"

I just think the dynamics that we have and the personnel that we have, you look at the receivers, running backs and the tight ends we have at the skill positions and the O-linemen getting better, getting stronger, getting nastier. But with the shifts and motions and the things we’ll do to mix it up for a defense is going to be really good. Instead of just being vanilla we’ll have a whole lot of different looks for opponents to prepare for.

"

Overall, expect to see an old-school approach in Buffalo. This is a team that can make a playoff run by pounding defenses with the run, limiting mistakes from the quarterback position and relying on its championship-caliber defense to set the tone.