The
quarterback issue that has plagued the Bills for close to a decade has, for the time being, subsided and it looks as though we have a good quarterback in Fitzpatrick. As far as depth goes, I believe we need some improvement in that category. We practically have two rookies at back-up and from what I've seen, they are nothing for apponents to be affraid of. Brohm had a great teacher in Green Bay but you can only be tought so much before you have to rely on raw talent. Brown is to be seen but if he turned out to be good, well that only leaves us with a couple of qb's to work with. I'm not saying we should pick up a qb in the draft or off of free agency. That would be the last thing we need is another qb contraversy. I think that they just need to work hard over the off-season and come out in the pre-season and show us how they've gotten better.
Runningback position isn't that bad. Fred Jackson had a nice season providing the lack of continuity on the line. I think that if he keeps up with his training over the off-season, he should have another good season, maybe even another 1000 yarder. Spiller still has to come into his own before he can make it as a premier NFL runningback. He must realize that everyone is faster and just be patient for his blocks to mature and then hit the hole. Another addition to last years line-up was Ganther. This guy looks like he is a natural runningback. From seeing him play, he looked strong with the ball. He's a solid back-up. If anything, put C.J. at slot and Ganther in the backfield with Jackson. For the most part, there doesn't need to be any changes at runningback.
Fullback is one of those dead topics. We have McCintire and that's it. What, do we think that he will never get hurt? Hell we put him on the most dangerous position when he's on kick-off coverage. I think that there needs to be a little more depth at FB and maybe that will give us a little more power in those short yardage plays and goal line stands. Don't get me wrong, I think Corey is awesome but we need someone else at FB for depth.
Wide Receiver is something very suprising to those of us who watched the whole season and how it unfurled. When Lee and Roscoe got put on IR, we saw the true depth at WR and it was grand with atleast 3 of them being rookies, they showed their stuff. I don't know what happened with Evans but I hope that it gets straightened out over the off-season. Roscoe really came on and showed us that he can play at number 2 WR and if he can stay healthy, he'll be a force to recognize. Stevie Johnson impressed us with spectacular performances but needs to stay out of his own head out on the field and just play the game. Donald Jones, one of the rookies was an instrumental part of the receiving depth as he took some of the pressure off of Lee and Johnson. David Nelson is a beast. He is a great addition to the receiving line-up. It seems like if it's within 5yds of him, he'll get it. As for the wide receivers, keep all of them and use what you got Chan. You got a great bunch of receivers.
Tightends have been an issue for years as buffalo failed to find the perfect mix of run blocking and receiving. The tightend position needs some sprucing. I know that this roster spot isn't really looked at in the draft especially at high pick and that's not what I'm talking about. I mean that Buffalo needs to find a sort of (Tony Gonzalez, Algae Crumpler, or Kellen Winslow) type of player to ballance out their weapons on offense. Buffalo seems to mainly get tightends that are only good in certain scenarios. This year I have only seen one tightend stand out from the rest and I think that it's only due to playing time-Jonathan Stupar who I believe is up for free-agency this off-season. It seems that there are many tightends and not one of them is complete. Work on that will ya Buffalo?
Offensive Line has been beaten up these past years as injuries have made thier way through the majority of the O-line. There is only one remedy that I can think of. CONDITIONING. I don't know how hard these guys work in the off-season but a little conditioning goes a long way or should I say ALOT of conditioning. The line, for the most part, looked good even when all of these injuries took place. Like I have said before, there isn't going to be a winning team if the players don't get used to one another. That's called CONSISTENCY. The only way the line will get better is if they line up next to one another for more than one season.That is providing the members of the O-line are good enough to keep around. Eric Wood is a saint to be able to come in from his gaurd spot and play center and as well as he did. Bell is a solid tackle and I'd like to see Wang get some time in game. If Buffalo goes for an O-line position this off-season, they should do it through free agency because the line is young enough. They need a veteran to anchor them.
Defensive Line could use some work but only a little. As you all well know, Kyle Williams got a Pro Bowl nod this year and why not? Although he was double teamed most of the time, he still got in the backfield and caused chaos. Stroud assisted in the rush but didn't really have the effect that we thought. Since we are going to a multiple defensive scheme, picking up a fast outside rusher for that around the corner pressure but fast isn't much without TECHNIQUE. A (Ted Washington) type player wouldn't hurt to put in the interior line to plug up those inside running lanes. I say this because we gave up way too many rushing yards this season and most of it was from going righ up the middle.
Linbackers were a small disappointment because it seemed that only one guy was making all of the tackles. A little more hustle would be nice. Guys are missing assignments and aren't coming off blocks fast eneough or not at all. I also saw that people were giving up during plays. That is uncalled for. Again, I am unaware of what goes on during the off-season but CONDITIONING, TECHNIQUE, & CONSISTENCY really need to be harped on. I understand why they say to give it 110% out there on the field. It's because some players' 100% just isn't good enough. If Posluszny stays with Buffalo, it would help this organization regroup thier linebacking core. There are members that had banner games but again I stress CONSISTENCY. If Merriman is healthy for the whole 2011-2012 season, I think that with a little assisstance, they could be squared away at these positions.
Corners suprised me in a good way some games and bad in many others. The stats speak for themselves but let me say something else "It's cliche for a corner to drop a ball" so stop being that cliche. Everytime they would drop an easy interception, someone would shout "That's why your defense!" Again conditioning may have had some part in that. Early on in the year, Florence had a bad one and just couldn't get anything right. But, later on, he pulled it together and played as he was supposed to play. McKelvin was very shaky this year and I don't know if he truly has a 100% game. Others faired okay but that doesn't win ball games, it keeps you in them till the offense has nothing left and you implode as a team. This is where they need to maybe pick-up someone either from the draft or free agency that has experience catching the ball and that has some quickness.
Safeties position was disappointing too. Byrd looked like a deer in the headlights and Whitner was just out there to hit someone. He had no coverage and didn't wrap up the tackle. I think that they should let Whitner go for a more rounded individual either from college or free agency. The others I felt did an alright job but it seemed as if they were making up for others missed assignments.
Kickers/Punters well there isn't much to say but that if it's your job to do something like kick a ball and you get paid alot of money to do so, do it and do it great regardless of whatever conditions are thrown at you because you're position is a fragile one. I think that the Bills should stick with who they have in these positions and just remind them of thier expendability.
