It’s time for reaction to our latest poll results, Rumblers! With the NFL trade deadline only two days away (November 4), we’ve talked at length about who Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane should pursue from other teams. This week, I asked Rumblers to pick between two position groups for the Bills to target in a trade: wide receiver and defensive tackle.
A few folks were disappointed that I left out the safety position, but there are more urgent concerns to consider with what little cap
space and trade options Beane and company have at their disposal. I simply wanted to get a pulse on what side of the ball fans believe needs more attention.
Yes, the defense has lost Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp to IR, so addressing the current depth would be wise. Are they looking for a new starter outside of One Bills Drive to supplant either Cole Bishop or Jordan Poyer? Shoring up the interior of a defensive line ravaged by injury would go a long way toward helping the team’s safeties play better football overall — no matter who’s lined up back there.
Now the Bills have lost defensive tackle Ed Oliver to Injured Reserve (IR), with a bit of hope he could return for a playoff run. DaQuan Jones is still dealing with a calf injury and a nebulous return-to-play situation. With rookie T.J. Sanders and second-year man DeWayne Carter also on IR, options have been sparse all season. Right now, it’s Larry Ogunjobi, rookie Deone Walker, Jordan Phillips, and Phidarian Mathis tasked with holding their own in the trenches. Is the team comfortable not adding other legitimate starters to the mix?
Much of the national discourse and rumor mill is centered around Buffalo’s apparent search for help at wide receiver. It’s arguable that even at full health, the wide receivers room was among the weakest position groups on the team — outside of Khalil Shakir. Curtis Samuel is always one fingernail away from his next injury, and now Joshua Palmer is sidelined with an ankle injury. Keon Coleman just isn’t clicking yet with featured looks and snaps, and Elijah Moore seems typecast into a role that doesn’t suit him. Meanwhile, Tyrell Shavers’ promising training camp and preseason haven’t transferred to a lot of regular-season production.
To be quite honest, as important as defensive tackles are to the team, the wide receiver situation may be having a detrimental effect on quarterback Josh Allen this season. He’s not playing his best football this season, and he has only Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid (when healthy) to regularly count on. The situation is magnified by the fact that Buffalo’s offense rarely involves running backs in the passing game.
For all their efforts in the offseason, One Bills Drive might need to add another wide receiver with premiere talent and/or potential to the mix at this point. Popular names are Brian Thomas Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars), Jakobi Meyers (Las Vegas Raiders), plus Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed (both with the New Orleans Saints).
It’d take an uncomfortable offer to pull Thomas away from Duval County, but it’s a move worth making for a team focused on hoisting a trophy in February. Meyers doesn’t move the needle similarly, but he is a veteran with plenty of experience. It’s perhaps the Saints where Buffalo finds some wiggle room to get something done.
Based on the results of our poll, Rumblers overwhelmingly agree that Beane needs to bring in a wide receiver. Our results saw numbers better than 3-to-1 in favor of WR — where 77% of voters want the Bills to prioritize help for Josh Allen. Just 23% of votes went to adding a defensive tackle.
Next up, the results from our weekly confidence poll:
At this point in the season, Bills fans know the drill. Quite honestly, they had a real pulse on the season’s objective even before kickoff in Week 1. You’d have difficulty finding another SB Nation NFL team site whose fans have such high expectations (and low confidence) in their favorite now-annual playoff team.
That’s not to chastise here. Looking at things without those rose-colored 5-2 glasses, it’s clear that it shouldn’t be status quo at One Bills Drive. When the current NFL MVP wears your uniform, the goal should be winning the Super Bowl. That means a season-long confidence chart is going to trend lower until the real objective is within striking distance.
The good news is that fan confidence in One Bills Drive improved with the latest poll results. In Week 8, just 31% of fans were confident the ship was headed in the right direction. This week that figure is up to 43%. There’s half a regular season to play yet, and it begins later this afternoon with a home tilt against the Kansas City Chiefs.
You don’t suppose next week’s confidence rating will look a bit different, regardless of the outcome, do you?
Here’s the update weekly confidence chart, now that we have a fair bit of data:
There two national polls with results I found interesting enough to share with readers here. Voters were asked to weigh in with who they believe wins NFL MVP in 2025. It’s a quarterback, right? It’s always a quarterback in today’s NFL.
Wrong! Leading the way with voters right now is Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (24%), but a couple of quarterbacks are hot on his heels in Patrick Mahomes (23%) and Baker Mayfield (20%). Taylor’s new favorite quarterback, teammate Daniel Jones finished fourth here (17%), while Josh Allen landed fifth (9%). Matthew Stafford round out the group at six (7%).
Are voters wrong, and who did they forget about?
National polls also asked voters to consider potential Player of the Year award winners, and the defensive candidates/votes might surprise Bills Mafia. That’s because Bills rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker is nowhere to be found here. Despite an impressive stat sheet that includes 17 tackles (12 solo), seven tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, and one sack in seven games (6 starts), Walker cedes votes to other more highly drafted defensive players. Perhaps an impactful afternoon against Mahomes and company will sway some voters?
Think you’ve got what it takes to make a play on the Buffalo Bills this season? Head to FanDuel Sportsbook to get started now!
