Anyone raised a Buffalo Bills fan again has tempered hopes for success heading into Sunday’s opener in Baltimore. Having missed the playoffs for the last 17 years fans are hopeful, but realistic. The current roster has some talent, but little depth and players prone to injury.

If the Bills are to have any success it will hing on the play of quarterback Tyrod Taylor. The talented Taylor has a new contract and better handle on the playbook, so he should be primed for success. Yet, Taylor is small for the position and not a prototype pocket passer, a combination that resulted in injury last season. It is doubtful Taylor will start all 16 games and the prospect of EJ Manuel again coming off the bench hardly inspires optimism.

Running back LeSean McCoy is another starter that has demonstrated a recent history of nagging injuries that has slowed his play. McCoy was a work horse for the Eagles and is now paying the price. The Bills paid a hefty sum for McCoy and it would be great to get that type of production, but again, it is doubtful he can make it through an entire season.

Then there is Sammy Watkins who has the potential to be a game changer, but has yet to be that player over more than a half dozen games. During training camp Rex Ryan treated Watkins like a nervous classic car owner and with good reason. Watkins has had chronic leg and foot issues which have affected his play the last two seasons. Then, like so many players today, Watkins waited until the spring to have his off season surgery, meaning he would miss mini camp and several weeks of training camp. So Watkins and Taylor have yet to have a meaningful set of downs since December of 2015.

The Bills offense now has more talent than the defense, a turnaround from 2014. But, to steal a line from Junior Soprano the best players are “hothouse flowers”, meaning fragile. I’m not suggesting that being injury prone is a player’s fault, but for whatever reasons certain players can’t seem to make through 16 games. More and more a sign of the times in the current NFL.

The Bills do not have enough depth to make the playoffs if one of the big three mentioned above misses significant time. For that reason and a defense missing significant players from last season, I don’t see Buffalo breaking the .500 mark in 2016.

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