'Fasten your seat belts,' Bills fans

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - I think the Buffalo Bills' 2024 season will be a crazy ride for a team that will have a small margin of error.

The upcoming season will be filled with stressful games, and there will be an intense three-way fight for the AFC East title. But as has been the case with Sean McDermott's teams over the last four years, the Bills will play their best football in the latter portion of the regular season, which will help them earn a spot in the playoffs.

Going into Sunday's opener against the Arizona Cardinals, here are the position groups I feel good about:

- Quarterback (There's a big surprise);
- Running back (I love James Cook, and Ray Davis is a nice addition);
- Tight end (Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox are a terrific duo);
- Defensive line (Greg Rousseau will have double-digit sacks, and the depth on the line is good);
- Cornerback (Rasul Douglas, Christian Benford and Taron Johnson give them one of the best top-three in NFL).

On the other hand, I have concerns about the following groups:

- Wide receiver
- Offensive line
- Linebacker
- Safety

The receivers room went through a major overhaul this offseason. 82% of catches by wide receivers from last season are now gone.

Khalil Shakir is the only receiver who has caught a regular season pass from Josh Allen.

I hear what the Bills are saying about not needing a true No. 1 wideout to win and everybody will eat, but I'm worried about this group. The Bills will, once again, need the offense to be the driving force of the team, and the NFL is a passing league.

I need to see the new-look group show me they can be as good as the receivers that surrounded Allen over the last four years.

With the offensive line, the two main concerns are at left guard and center.

It remains to be seen if David Edwards can be the every game answer at left guard. He hasn't been a regular starter since 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams.

Connor McGovern has some big shoes to fill at center, where he takes over for Mitch Morse, who was released in the offseason. McGovern did start every game last season for the Bills at left guard, but only has one career start at center in the NFL.

The Bills also need their starters to stay healthy, because the backups along the line are extremely inexperienced. Last year, the Bills were one of just two teams who had the same five starters in every game.

They could use that good health luck again.

The linebacker position is self explanatory.

The loss of Matt Milano is huge . There is no other linebacker on the roster who, on his own, can replace Milano.

At least the Bills have experience in how to make their defense work without an injured Milano on the field, since he only played in the first five games of last season.

For the first time since the 2016 season, the Bills will go into Week 1 without safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde on the roster. Those two became one of the best, if not the best, safety tandem in the NFL for seven seasons. They provided playmaking, football smarts and leadership on the last line of the defense.

The Bills have been one of the best teams at not giving up big plays during McDermott's tenure, and the Poyer/Hyde pairing was a major reason why. There could be some "cross your fingers and pray" moments going on when it comes to safety play this season.

For me, this all adds up to a 10-7 finish for the Bills this season.

Despite the fact that is one fewer victory than last season, I think it will still be good enough to earn the Bills a fifth-straight AFC East title.

With the amount of roster turnover during the offseason, I think the Bills will go through some growing pains. Add that to a brutal schedule over the first month-and-a-half, and it could lead to a slow start.

However, the Bills will get better as the season goes on, and come playoff time, you never know what can happen.