The cuts have all been made and the roster is pretty much set, barring any late waiver claims, so it’s time to assess where the Buffalo Bills are headed, going into the 2010 season. It’s one of those years when it’s tough to judge what the team will do based on last season, so here is my take on the 2010 Bills, with a general overview of the coaching staff, offense, defense and special teams, and a position by position look at what to expect from the roster:
Coaching Staff
Although Perry Fewell did a good job of injecting some life and enthusiasm into the Bills after he became interim coach last year, it was a good move by new GM Buddy Nix to bring in a seasoned, experienced head coach in Chan Gailey. Gailey was not a popular choice among fans when he was hired – they were looking for a sexier, more high-profile choice like Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan or even Brian Billick. Supposedly Cowher recommended Gailey when he was was informing the team that he wasn’t interested in the job, so the Bills considered him and were impressed. So far Gailey seems to be winning the fans over. When he chastised some young fans on the last day of training camp for heckling Trent Edwards (“If you dog one of us, you dog ALL of us!”), it may have come across as silly or hokey to the national media, but they don’t understand the Buffalo fan base. They are passionate about their team and the atmosphere at Ralph Wilson Stadium is almost like a college game environment. Gailey’s statement to the hecklers was just another way of saying “Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills”. Another thing that has worked in Gailey’s favor is that, after a terrible preseason opener, they have looked like a prepared, organized football team with a plan in the exhibition games since. After the offensive debacle of the last few years under Dick Jauron, with musical chairs coaches and coordinators and Trent Edwards’ head both spinning from confusion and aching from hits taken behind a patchwork offensive line, Gailey, an offensive-minded coach known for his innovation, has seemed to steady the ship and set it sailing on a course where fans can at least expect to see game plans that have a chance to succeed. There has been a perception in the media that the Bills lack any talent on their roster. The truth is that the Bills roster is full of hungry, hard-working young players who have been starving for some leadership and energy from a competent coaching staff. Some of them have battled injuries (the Bills had more players on IR than any other team the last 2 years), and some have just needed some coaching guidance. Gailey may not be a media darling but he is a tough coach who expects results and is honest with his players, and it will be interesting to see how this team responds on the field in the regular season now that they know they have a head coach who honestly knows what he’s doing.
Offense
The game played last season between the Bills and Cleveland Browns, won by the Browns, 6-3, after Roscoe Parrish fumbled a punt and set them up with the winning field goal, may have been the worst NFL game ever played. Both offenses were terrible, and that game was a microcosm of the Bills’ offense especially last season. They started out featuring a no-huddle offense, fired their offensive coordinator right before the season began, and the replacement OC, Alex Van Pelt, was thrown into the fire, and wound up burned to a crisp. Gailey knows how to organize and run an offense, and will call the plays this year, so the Bills have nowhere to go but up on this side of the ball. With a stable of running backs that all bring something different to the table, and a quarterback trying to resurrect his career, look for Gailey to run a mostly conservative attack that favors the run. That being said, in preseason Edwards has connected on more downfield passes in 4 exhibitions than he did the last 2 regular seasons, and Bills receivers have been running and having success on crossing routes, something that seemed to also be missing under Jauron. Parrish scored a TD on a crossing route in preseason that looked a lot like Andre Reed in his prime. It’s mostly the same players, other than rookie C.J. Spiller, so they aren’t going to suddenly become a quick-strike offense, but I have a feeling that under Gailey there won’t be the same predictability, and they will have a better feel for picking their spots for the deep throws.
Defense
The defensive unit, going into the regular season, is the biggest question mark for the Bills. New coordinator George Edwards is implementing a 3-4 defense, and the results in preseason were mixed. It’s a work in progress. It was tough to tell early on who the starters were going to be, and watching players like Chris Kelsay and Chris Ellis run around trying to play linebacker looked scary. The Bills, even in their losing seasons recently, have always had a competent defense that kept them in games. So it would have been easy to just go with the status quo on this side of the ball. This is another reason why I like Gailey – he has a plan and will implement it whether it looks like a bad idea or not. One frustrating thing about the Bills’ recent defenses was how conservative they played. Despite having a crew of terrific young players in the secondary, they rarely let these guys play. They never made plays on the ball, and instead played a conservative, “bend but don’t break” defense where players were instructed to keep everything in front of them and not give up big plays. The result was that the defense never seemed to get off the field on 3rd down. There was a game a couple years ago where Tom Brady engineered a drive where the Patriots dinked and dunked their way downfield and completed a touchdown drive in which they made 10 first downs. Well, the field is 100 yards long so you can’t do more than that. Somewhere along the line, a team HAS to contest SOMETHING! In that game, the Bills’ defense, playing to avoid giving up big plays, lost 56-10. It will be a positive change if the new coaching staff is more aggressive on defense and puts their young players in positions to make plays, allows them to play football and use their skills. The new coaching staff has already rectified another problem, the “softness” of the Bills defense. They are being more physical in training camp practices and that should carry over into the games, actually on both sides of the ball.
Special Teams
Even in the last dismal decade of losing football, one unit that was always a bright spot with the Bills was the special teams. Under Bobby April, the Bills’ special teams were consistently ranked near the top of the NFL in nearly every category. In fact, the Bills have always had a great reputation for having good “bomb squads”, as the ST were called back in the ’60s and ’70s, going back to the days of the player who changed the way ST were played, Steve Tasker. The coach in Tasker’s era, Bruce DeHaven, is back for his second tour of duty as the squadron leader of the Bills’ “bomb squads”, so the expectation is that they will remain a strong contributor to the team’s success again this year. The Bills are strong and consistent in the kicking departments with solid veterans at punter in Brian Moorman, and with the placekicking duties handled by Rian Lindell. Long snapper Garrison Sanborn is also solid, and even though it was unclear through the preseason who would handle kick and punt return duties, the Bills have plenty of exciting options to choose from among Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin, Roscoe Parrish, Fred Jackson and rookie C.J. Spiller.
Quarterback
For better or worse, Trent Edwards will again direct the Bills’ offense this season. He had looked shell-shocked since suffering a concussion 2 years ago and was running for his life last year behind a patchwork offensive line. So far in preseason he looks a lot more comfortable, and that could be due to the fact that the O-line has done a good job of protecting him for the most part. Edwards also looks like he has bulked up since last season. Hopefully that will help his durability. Edwards still hasn’t shown that he can handle playing in bad weather, a top qualification of any Bills’ QB. It was interesting that after Fewell took over the Bills last season, he started having them practice outside for the first time. Could that be a reason Edwards hasn’t proven he can handle playing in the elements? He still has a lot to prove, but he did win the starting job outright in camp. Look for steady progress from Edwards and in the end, a successful if not spectacular season from him, especially if his offensive line stays healthy and jells together. Ryan Fitzpatrick did a good job holding down the fort in some dismal conditions as last season wound down, and his presence on the roster as the backup is a positive. He is settling nicely into the role as the guy who helps out the younger QBs from the sideline, but is always ready when called upon to play. Coach Gailey heaped a lot of praise on rookie Levi Brown, and raved about his potential, so it was surprising that he was cut, since Brian Brohm didn’t do much to separate himself from the competition in camp. But at this point, should the first 2 QBs go down, Brohm is clearly the more prepared option to lead the team.
After 3 seasons of musical coaches, systems and coordinators, Trent Edwards has a chance to revive his career under the tutelage of new coach Chan Gailey.
Running Back
He saw almost no action at all in preseason, but Fred Jackson will be a major contibutor to the Bills’ offense in 2010.
There was a lot of howling from the national media when the Bills chose C.J. Spiller with their first round draft pick this year, but the Bills so far have to be happy with his play. Combining Spiller’s speed and elusiveness with Fred Jackson’s versatility and Marshawn Lynch’s “Beast Mode” toughness gives the Bills a 3-headed monster for opposing defenses to deal with on Sundays. This is clearly a strength on the Bills’ roster, and they are expected to feature the running game as the focal point of their attack this season. Corey McIntyre provides solid blocking from the fullback position, and also an occasional receiving weapon out of the backfield. If the Bills run into any injury problems in the backfield, they have some pretty good depth on their practice squad with 2 players who excelled in preseason – RB Joique Bell from Wayne State, and FB Rodney Ferguson, who ran hard and showed some toughness on special teams also.
Receivers
Veteran Lee Evans, one of the NFL’s most underrated wide receivers, is the main target in the Bills’ passing game once again this season, especially with the one year Terrell Owens experiment now officially over. It was great to see Evans and Trent Edwards show a little chemistry in the preseason, hooking up on numerous downfield throws. After Evans, the most experienced receiver is Roscoe Parrish, who was buried in Dick Jauron’s doghouse last year but now seems rejuvenated under the new regime. Look for Parrish to not only give the Bills a threat on punt returns, but also provide them with another major weapon in the passing game, probably as the # 3 receiver out of the slot. Stevie Johnson apparently will begin the season lining up opposite Evans as the other starting receiver, and he has a lot of potential. However, undrafted rookie free agent David Nelson, one of Tim Tebow’s main targets in college, looks like he not only has played his way onto the 53 man roster, but is also intent on working his way into significant playing time. You have to love his confidence, enthusiasm and overall football temperament. Another undrafted rookie, Donald Jones, also stuck with the team but his contributions should come mostly on special teams. The Bills are thin at the tight end position to start the season with Shawn Nelson serving a 4-game suspension. Jonathan Stupar will be the starter, and he seems to be one of those players who gets written off in training camp each year, but just won’t go away. Stupar has a pretty good pair of hands and is an able blocker, and could develop into a decent TE. Veteran David Martin, once a Brett Favre target in Green Bay, was signed just this week to provide some depth.
Roscoe Parrish escapes the doghouse of fired Coach Dick Jauron, and makes the leap back into the Bills’ offense as a major weapon in the passing game.
Offensive Line
Eric Wood is on the comeback trail after suffering a devastating broken leg last season.
Most prognosticators write off the Bills as an also-ran based on the fact that their offensive line was terrible last season, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Bills, in fact, have a lot of good, young, aggressive talent along the O-line. The problem has been keeping them healthy and on the field together. The one constant last season on the line was center Geoff Hangartner, the only player to see action in every game. The team drafted a couple of potentially great young linemen last year in Andy Levitre and Eric Wood. Levitre was solid most of the season, but because of the rash of injuries was forced to move around the line each week to replace somebody else. He played both guard and tackle during the season and that provided him with valuable experience at both positions, but this season, if he is able to stay at his natural spot at guard, he should blossom. Wood is tough as nails and it took an ugly, devastating fractured leg injury to force him out of the lineup. Most followers probably didn’t expect to see Wood back playing football until some time in the 2011 season, if at all. But he will be in the starting lineup on opening day, a credit to the kid’s tenacity. The middle of the offensive line is in pretty good hands – it’s the tackle spots that have fans worried. Left tackle Demetrius Bell is supposed to be a solid prospect and last year the coaching staff had compared his development with that of Jason Peters, the former college tight end who became a Pro Bowl tackle but was traded after a contract dispute. The problem is that Bell hasn’t stayed healthy enough to be on the field to show any development. Veteran Cornell Green was signed as a free agent to man the right tackle position, and Jamon Meredith provides depth at both tackle spots, while Ed Wang, the first Chinese-born NFL player, rehabs an injury. Levitre and Wood are backed up by Cordaro Howard, a Chan Gailey soldier from Georgia Tech, and Kraig Urbik, who was signed after being waived by the Steelers. There isn’t much doubt that the health and stability of the starting offensive line will be a major key in whether the Bills’ offense succeeds this season.
Defensive Line
With a brand new scheme being implemented on defense this season, it was hard to figure out who the starters were and what position they were playing as the preseason began. Former defensive linemen Chris Kelsay, Aaron Maybin and Chris Ellis were now listed on the roster as linebackers, but seemed to spend a lot of their time on the field playing with their hand on the ground along the D-line. As the exhibition games played out, however, the smoke started to clear and the line took shape. In the new 3-man line, the starters are Kyle Williams at nose tackle, with Marcus Stroud and free agent acquisition Dwan Edwards at the ends. Like most NFL teams, the Bills will likely rotate the linemen to keep them fresh, so veterans Spencer Johnson and John McCargo will see plenty of action. Rookies Torell Troup and Alex Carrington are both green but have potential and will gain experience as the season plays out. Williams is a tough player who looks like he’ll thrive at the nose. Stroud is adapting well to his new position, and Edwards brings a toughness from the Ray Lewis-led Baltimore Ravens that the Bills need to add to their overall defensive personality. Johnson is a steady veteran presence who plays hard, and McCargo, like Roscoe Parrish, gets a fresh start under the new coaching staff after being a scapegoat last year.
Kyle Williams, a solid tackle last season in the Bills’ 4-3 defense, moves to the nose tackle spot in Coordinator George Edwards’ new 3-4 scheme.
Linebackers
Paul Posluszny will man one of the inside linebacker spots in the Bills’ new 3-4 defense.
The switch to the 3-4 defense means the Bills will carry a record number of linebackers on the roster this year – 10. The depth chart heading into opening day shows holdover Paul Posluszny and newcomer Andra Davis as the starting inside backers, with Kawika Mitchell, Keith Ellison and Arthur Moats as the backups. After Jauron was fired and Perry Fewell took over last season, Posluszny started to look like the playmaking LB the Bills thought they were getting when they drafted him out of Penn State. Hopefully that will continue under the new staff. Davis was more of a force in preseason than Mitchell, and it’s not surprising that he is starting. Mitchell may be still looking for his sea legs after missing a lot of last season with an injury. Ellison provides versatility in that he can play both outside and inside, and Moats, although he looked lost at times while trying to switch from college lineman to pro LB, showed great speed and range and looks like a good prospect. Chris Kelsay and Reggie Torbor are listed as the starters on the outside. Kelsay is still learning his new position, and in preseason struggled in pass coverage. His best play came on passing downs when he lined up with his hand on the ground and rushed the passer. Look for opposing offenses to try to isolate him in pass coverage with a back or extra receiver and take advantage of the mismatch. Torbor didn’t play at all in preseason but played in Miami last year so the new coordinator knows him well. Chris Ellis and Aaron Maybin, both former defensive ends, are the backups along with Antonio Coleman, who is a development project. Ellis and Maybin are similar players who actually always seemed better suited to play linebacker anyway, being slightly undersized as linemen. They should both be able to take advantage of their quickness more effectively now, and if they work hard and develop more of a mean streak, one or both could be in the starting lineup eventually.
Defensive Backs
The defensive secondary is one of the strongest and deepest positions on the Bills’ team. It is loaded with skillful young players, and hopefully the new coaches will play a more aggressive scheme and allow the players to use those skills. The starters at safety are Donte Whitner, who underachieved in the old passive conservative scheme, and Jairus Byrd, who burst onto the scene with 9 interceptions last year. Veterans Terrence McGee and Drayton Florence open as the starters at cornerback, but with the passing game dominating the league now, there will be lots of 5 and 6 defensive back schemes used, and Leodis McKelvin, another underachiever, will see plenty of game action. The Bills have a stable of good DBs to throw out against an opponent, and all have experience. Ashton Youboty and Reggie Corner join McKelvin as backups at CB, while veterans George Wilson and Bryan Scott back up the safeties. All of these guys could be starters with other teams. Cary Harris is also available, but he likely will make his contributions on special teams. With Kelsay able to play LB and end, and Scott getting experience last year at LB, due to injuries, as well as his regular safety spot, the Bills have a lot of versatility to go along with the talent on defense. This should allow George Edwards, the new DC, to do some interesting things against their opponents.
Jairus Byrd showed great ballhawking skills in his rookie season at safety for the Bills.
So Bills’ fans, with opening day and a huge division game against Miami fast approaching, click on the link below to get ready for what hopefully is a surprising and exciting season!
Buffalo Bills – Shout Song
