Day: September 7, 2007

Categories
AFC East Current Bills Players

2: Moss & Chambers & Coles… Oh My!

(Counting down to Opening Day at The Ralph, I’m going to highlight four critical questions facing the Bills as we head into the 2007 season. This is the third of four articles, focusing on our defensive backs.)

Randy Moss joins the AFC EastWhen I visited training camp this summer, one of the things I noticed in person, and perhaps even more on the printed roster, was the size of our football team. Or, more precisely, the lack of size. Aside from our behemoth offensive line, led by 6’8″ 366 pound Langston Walker, our team is definitely on the lighter side of the NFL.

One of the more noticeable positions is defensive back. Our CBs are all either 5’9″ or 5’11”. Donte Whitner is 5’10”. Our tallest DB, Ko Simpson, is 6’1″. Jim Leonhard is only 5’8″ and 185lbs!! These guys are not that beefy, either. McGee is the heftiest at CB – 198lbs. Our safeties are just over 200lbs.

But does that matter, if they can play the position well? I think it might.

When you look at our division, what do you see? Randy Moss of the Pats at 6’4″ certainly stands out. But there are other star receivers who have a slight height edge on our DBs, and an even bigger apparent edge. Chris Chambers of the Dolphins knows how to make us look pretty bad, and Laveranues Coles does a fine job as well.

At the end of last season, when we all knew Nate Clements would be finding a new place to play cornerback, I said on our show that the scariest position to me was our defensive backfield. I just didn’t know who we were going to put back there. And to tell the truth, after watching this pre-season… I’m still pretty concerned.

Terrence McGee is a fine athlete, and will get his share of INTs. But is he a solid, every down CB? Jason Webster has some experience in the NFL, but I’m still not convinced that he is a good answer for Clements’ replacement. Then we have some decent depth guys, Jabari Greer – who had a great pre-season – Kiwuakee Thomas, and Ashton Youboty – who to this point, still only has “promise”. Is that roster of guys going to be enough to stop Moss, and Chambers, and Coles?

Brady, Pennington, and maybe even Trent Green must be at least a little excited to go up against this very green unit. There are ten DBs on the roster, and the average experience is 3.4 years, bumped up by two guys entering their 8th year in the league. (Webster and Thomas.) The most experienced safety is Jim Leonhard, entering his third year in the NFL.

This is definitely a BIG question entering the 2007 season. One to which I do not have an answer. We hope the front seven can put enough pressure on the QB to give the DBs a bit of a break, but other than that, we’ll just have to see.

Moss, and Chambers, and Coles… Oh My!!!

Tomorrow: Question #1 – “Are We Too Young?”

Categories
Sports

Countdown To Opening Day!

Buffalo BillsI am writing a series of short articles for the Buffalo Bills Review highlighting what I think are probably the top four questions (at least, they are for me) heading into the 2007 season. Stop by our articles page to read them all. I posted the third of four articles today. I’ll link them individually below.

4: Can We Stop The Ru(i)n?
3: RB By Committee… Will It Work?
2: Moss & Chambers & Coles… Oh My!
1: Are We Too Young?

Categories
Current Bills Players

3: RB By Committee… Will It Work?

Buffalo Bills Running Backs

(Counting down to Opening Day at The Ralph, I’m going to highlight four critical questions facing the Bills as we head into the 2007 season. This is the second of four articles, focusing on our running game.)

We’ve heard it said over and over again by Dick Jauron and his staff, “We’re going to take a running back by committee approach this season.” When we first heard those words, Willis McGahee had just been shipped to Baltimore and the Bills were left with Anthony Thomas, Shaud Williams, and whoever they might be able to acquire in free agency and the draft. So, at that point a committee sounded pretty good.

But then they landed Marshawn Lynch with the #12 pick. He was very highly rated, maybe only second in the draft to Adrian Peterson. And not long after Lynch, we picked up another RB who seemed promising – Dwayne Wright. All of a sudden we have a premiere RB in Lynch, and a decent stable of backs with A-Train, Lynch, Williams, and Wright. Maybe the committee is the right way to go?

Add an amazing pre-season performance by I-AA college player, Fred Jackson, and maybe even throw Josh Scobey in the mix, and the coaches stick to their original prediction that we’d see a team of guys handling the ball this year rather than a feature back. Now Shaud Williams and Josh Scobey are gone, but we’re left with four very good options in our backfield: Lynch, Thomas, Wright & Jackson.

But does a committee really work? Don’t we need to get one guy “in a rhythm”?

I am reminded of 1988. The Bills did not have a feature back that year. Thurman Thomas was a rookie, and did get a good deal of the carries as the season wore on, but as I remember it, Thomas shared the carries with Robb Riddick, Ronnie Harmon, and even Jamie Mueller. He ended up with 881 yards that season, and had a decent rookie year not bearing the burden of being the feature back.

Perhaps that could be the best thing that could happen to Marshawn Lynch? He won’t have the pressure of being the go-to guy. He’s part of the committee. He’s not even the chairman right now. That job – until further notice – belongs to the more seasoned “A-Train”. (I believe he will begin to take over the bulk of the carries as the season wears on, but for now, Thomas gets the starts.)

Really, what will make the difference in the run game for the Bills is not whether Lynch is the featured back, or part of a running back committee. Really it comes down to our offensive line opening holes for one or all of those guys. In the pre-season we did not see much of that, and by the coaches’ own admission, they just need more time to “come together”.

Unfortunately, we only have three more days.

The Bills will take a committee approach at the running back position this fall. I do believe it can and will work. I think Lynch will develop very well in that system – where he does not bear the full burden. We’ll just have to see how the big boys up front can “come together”. And our rookie may just be elected chairman of the committee by the end of the year.

Tomorrow, Question #2: “Moss & Chambers & Coles, Oh My!”