Clayton: Buffalo's "Big" Question is Linebacker

by Brian Galliford on May 7, 2007 3:03 PM EDT in Buffalo Bills Opinion

Bills LB Angelo Crowell

Keeping up with today's ESPN.com theme, John Clayton has attempted to pose the "big question" for every team in the NFL. That story can be viewed here. Here is Clayton's big question for the Buffalo Bills:

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"Are the Bills really better at linebacker without Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher?

A follow-up question is whether the Bills are as good at running back with Marshawn Lynch replacing Willis McGahee. Naturally, the Bills wanted Patrick Willis to be their first-round pick. He would have been the anchor to their linebacking corps, but the 49ers drafted him one spot ahead of the Bills. Marv Levy believes he found a new Shane Conlin with the second-round selection of Paul Posluszny.

Spikes and Fletcher are gone, so the linebacking group has been completely overhauled. With a defensive line that isn't dominating, it is hard to tell whether the defense is even better. Making things worse is the loss of Nate Clements at cornerback. The Bills are hoping to get by with Terrence McGee and Ashton Youboty. As a low-revenue team, the Bills have to cut some financial corners. It remains to be seen whether they cut their collective throats by losing too many key defenders."

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Now, I don't have the most respect for Mr. Clayton - especially when a Shane "Conlin" never played for the Buffalo Bills. Edit your articles, Mr. Clayton. However, I digress. It was nice to see Clayton go out on a limb with this question as well. I'm going to answer his questions now for him and save him a season's worth of guesswork.

The Bills are not better at linebacker. Nor are they worse at linebacker. The new players are simply better-tailored to our scheme. The team is going to rely on a new young leader at the position, likely strong-side starter Angelo Crowell. Rookie Paul Posluszny will be a leader for us down the line, and the combination of Keith Ellison and Coy Wire will hold down the fort at the weak side. Depth is marginal, but it was marginal last year as well. The team lost an overpriced, over-the-hill veteran in Takeo Spikes, replaced by Crowell on the strong side. That is an upgrade in speed, youth and (by last year's standards) playmaking. Posluszny seems the most NFL-ready linebacker that was available in the draft, and he gives the Bills one thing that they were lacking in the middle: size. Fletcher was a playmaker for this team, but he simply was not an ideal middle linebacker in a Cover-2 system. Posluszny has a far better chance at filling this role ideally.

The team is much better at running back. Popular media hear the name "Willis McGahee"', realize he's gone and think the Bills have traded away a superstar. What they don't realize is that the Bills shed merely two straight mediocre seasons and a future ugly contract situation. Then they went out and got themselves the most versatile backfield they've had in a long time - Marshawn Lynch, Anthony Thomas and Dwayne Wright each have their own unique skill sets and all three figure to see playing time. That versatility and depth already puts us lightyears ahead at the RB position.

I don't think Clayton was close in his assessment of Buffalo's "big question". He wasn't even thinking on the right side of the ball. To me, the big question is this: Can J.P. Losman continue his development and show that he is a capable, playoff-caliber QB? Defense keeps you in games, but you have to score points to win in this league. We have a fast, physical, damage-control defense in place that is young. I don't expect the group to be stellar, but I do expect them to be consistent - most Tampa-2 systems are. The question, then, is whether or not Losman can consistently put up the points necessary to outscore teams and win football games next season. The Colts have played by these rules for the last half-dozen years, and it landed them a Lombardi Trophy last year. They have a damage-control defense and an offense that ranks among the most dominant in league history. Can Losman provide an attack consistent enough to mask the youth of our new defense?

That's the big question, John.

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Good stuff, per usual, Brian

Clayton is just another moronic (ugly) talking head. Just more typical nonsense from the media who don't even bother learning anything about the Bills.

Naturally, the Bills wanted Patrick Willis to be their first-round pick.

Sorry JohnBoy, but Marv has stated numerous times that Willis wasn't even in our top 3. So, unfortunately you are incorrect as always, but I appreciate the effort. Actually I don't appreciate it because it was a half-assed attempt at providing insight on the Bills. At least he knew who Ashton Youboty was, unlike the the majority of the other writers.

As for your comments B, I think they are right on target. I'm not sure if we are better or worse at LB this year, but it's likely we aren't better because depth has been compromised this offseason. I think our starting unit will be as effective and probably more effective than last year's trio. Spikes was probably one of the worst starting LB's in the league for much of last year, so it's not a big loss with him moving on to Philly. He was absolutely atrocious against the run and I will continue to have night tremors thinking about Travis Henry running him over numerous times. He had to go and it was a good move getting a starting caliber DT in return. Fletcher will be missed for his leadership, but his on-field performance shouldn't be too difficult to replicate and improve on. Poz's size should help him scrape a lot easier and with better quickness than Fletcher, he should be able to help improve our porous run D assuming he's able to quickly read formations and plays. Poz will need to add the dimension that Fletcher surprisingly gave us last year: solid play in passing situations. I was shocked to see Fletcher perform so well on 3rd downs and pick up 4 INT's. Poz will need to step up his performance to match Fletcher's level of success in that regard.

I agree that we are much better off at RB right now. McGahee gave us very little other than a few power runs a game. He lacked explosion, pass catching skills, desire, and playmaking ability. Lynch, on the other hand, seems to possess all those attributes which will help him succeed quickly in Fairchild's scheme. I really like what Wright can give us, the tough running style that we had hoped McGahee would provide. I truly believe Wright will be a major surprise this year. If he gets 7-9 TD's, it wouldn't surprise me whatsoever. Thomas is nothing more than a solid backup runner that can grind out the tough yards. He's not going to give us much in terms of big plays, but if we need to run down the clock, him and Wright would be an excellent 1-2 hammer. The trio we have should make a nice group with each getting some carries each game. If the OL can hold up, our runners will have some great success this year, finally.

Losman is probably our biggest question as you mentioned. If he plays poorly, we aren't going anywhere, but if he can continue his improvement from last year, he could challenge for a Pro Bowl spot as our offense takes off. His ability to take this offense to the next level and keeping it there consistently will be the biggest deciding factor for our success this year. I think our D will struggle at times this year, so Losman will have to lead our offense in some higher scoring affairs than we've seen recently. He'll also need to improve his decision making and reading of the defense, which he struggled with at times last year. When the opposition pressured him quickly, he struggled, so his ability to recognize that will help us hit some quick slants and hopefully big plays.

So, IMO, Losman is the key to our season, with the OL, #2 CB and LB's as secondary concerns. He will be the biggest reason for any success we have this year. We cannot expect the rest of our team to carry him Rex Grossman style. We simply aren't good enough to do that, yet.

by Kurupt on May 7, 2007 11:15 PM EDT reply actions