After parting ways with their 4 big-name players this off-season (Takeo Spikes, London Fletcher, Nate Clements, and Willis McGahee), most have pronounced the Buffalo Bills as ‘dead’ or going through a ‘re-building phase’.
Not so fast ………….
Let’s look at what’s REALLY happening in western New York. This team maintains many of their key components and has young talent at many positions.
At quarterback, J.P. Losman is enjoying the luxury of heading into his first season NOT having to learn a new offense. Losman made huge strides in 2007 within this offensive scheme and he now gets a 2nd year (for the first time in his career) to fine-tune more things with his receivers in the same offense.
At receiver, Lee Evans is still a Bill and he is one of the best young receivers in the game. Price, Reed, and Parrish fill out a VERY formidable group. The tight end position is the biggest weakness on this team but with the WR corps the Bills have, the tight end isn’t going to get very many balls anyway. All they need is a good blocking TE and hopefully one of them will step up and give them that.
Speaking of blocking, the O-line has been a severe weakness for the Bills for a long time and the Bills have taken action this off-season to rectify it. They brought in 2, possibly 3, new starters. Derrick Dockery takes over at left guard while Langston Walker takes over at right tackle. Jason Whittle, the 3rd off-season O-line acquisition, has been playing at right guard with the first team during mini-camp. It appears they are hoping he earns that job. Melvin Fowler should stay at center and Jason Peters should remain at left tackle. Peters remaining at LT is not real exciting but if Dockery can give Peters more help on the left side on the line, it will make Peters better.
At running back, obviously, Bills fans are hoping that Marshawn Lynch can be the explosive back running the ball and catching balls out of the backfield that they have missed since the day Thurman Thomas retired. Time will tell but all indications are that Lynch is for real. Having a back-up the caliber of Anthony Thomas is a nice luxury also.
The receivers and QB have now been playing together for a long time and began to show real signs of potential in 2006. If the O-line gels and Lynch can be as explosive as many think, this offense could become dangerous.
As far as the defense, upon first look, losing Spikes, Fletcher, and Clements is a scary proposition, but is it really? Clements is a nice corner and a hard-hitter but is he really the best cover corner in the league? Not even close.
Spikes has been injured a lot over the past 2 seasons and, at his age, is losing productivity. The biggest loss, to me, is Fletcher. Having a MLB with his ability to make plays and his years of wisdom as a field general will be hard to replace. However, he ALSO is very long in the tooth and when he no longer ‘has it’, it will go quickly for him and this is why the Bills felt they could let him go.
Fact is, it is EASIER to build a dominant defense with young talent and through the draft than to hang on to aging talent or acquiring over-priced veteran players. Ask Bill Polian how well building a defense with young talent has worked for him. He’s had some success with it recently.
So how is the defense taking shape? At linebacker, the Bills moved up to draft Paul Posluszny, who will take over the MLB position. There is no doubt there will be a learning curve for the kid and the game will seem fast to him at first, but he has the intelligence and skills to pull it off. Angelo Crowell is a budding star and is being moved to the strong side. Keith Ellison now has a year under his belt and should understand the game more this year playing the weak side.
At cornerback, many perceive the Bills to be extremely young and inexperienced at this position. They are not. The top 2 corners appear to be McGee and Thomas, who have a combined 11 years of NFL experience between them, much of it as starting CB’s. The Bills also really like their young talent Ashton Youboty. Don’t be surprised if he steals a starting spot.
On the D-line, Aaron Schobel remains the anchor. Denney and Kelsay make a nice rotation on the other side at DE. Defensive tackle is still to be determined with the contract status of Walker and the foot injury of McCargo. If Walker and McCargo are both playing this season, their rotation, which also includes Kyle Williams and Larry Triplett, will be good. If Walker and McCargo do not play, they will be thin at this position and will need to address it.
Finally, at safety, the Bills may have the best young starting duo in the NFL in Simpson and Whitner. Both players are heading into just their 2nd years but started 15 games together in 2006. They will now have a good understanding of their defensive scheme and will continue to grow their communication with one another.
As you can see, the Bills have IMMENSE young talent at many positions. Running backs typically don’t require the learning curve that many other positions require and if Marshawn Lynch has the raw talent and explosiveness that many claim, he WILL make an impact from day one. Combine this with Losman’s continued improvement and a solid corps of WR’s, and this offense becomes dangerous.
I am a big believer in an O-line being successful by playing together for a while and ‘gelling’. This fact, along with Posluszny most likely needing a year to learn the game, tells me that the Bills are going to be VERY good in 2008 and beyond ………….but don’t write them off for 2007 quite yet either ………….
