Going into the 2009 season its apparent that the Bills have helped themselves in a number of areas.

Every NFL team brings in players during the offseason to help their team.  While doing this, they also help individual players based off of circumstances that the new individuals create while joining their new teammates.

I thought the Bills did a good job of helping individuals this offseason, while in turn, putting the Bills in a better position to translate success onto the field.  You see from time to time the impact that players bring to their respective teams because of their ability to help those around them - usually the big fat guys - but there are other examples out there that keep me excited for the 2009 season.

Maybin and Walker/Butler

While Maybin will help the d-line from time to time - I think in a practice setting Maybin will help Walker/Butler this year because of the type of DE's we face this year.  Maybin has a quick first step - something that Walker/Butler must adjust to.  Seeing his speed in practice every day will help Walker/Butler with the Dwight Freeney's of the world their going to face all year. 

No Maybin isn't polished, experienced or anything right now really - but he's fast - really fast.  Something that if the Bills line him up against Walker/Maybin he will benefit greatly from. 

I'm sure the coaching staff will probably put Maybin at LDE first - but both of our tackles will benefit from his speed alone.  His hard work in practice (from what I hear - he works very hard) won't allow Walker/Butler to get away with anything because he's going 100% every play.  Not only because its apparent that he works hard - but because he's a rookie and wants to make a name for himself.

TO and Lee/Reed

First Reed:

He goes back to his natural spot - slot position first down dude.  As a WR2 Reed is about as average as they come - probably a little below average for what you want, however, as a slot guy Reed is money.  His ability to block, find soft spots in the zone are going to be key for Trent this year.  I fully expect him to be MVP material for us this year.  Not in the flashy numbers sense - but in that "we needed that first down" sense. 

Reeds experience as a WR2 will also help him out in the slot because he's going against #3 corners or safeties.   This should allow him to be open and use his experience much more frequently to get open. 

Lee Evans:

Lee's time for the Bills has finally come.  He won't be double covered all game and will see a good amount single coverage.  Clearly he cannot be covered man to man.  From time to time yes he can be covered, but the kids good - he will be open and find ways to be open when drawing man coverage. 

Statistics aside - everything about TO's signing helps Lee become the player we all know he is capable of being.  I'm not saying that Lee's bad in anyway - because he's not - but having  a second threat will do wonders for his game.  We all know how awesome Lee is - Donahoe did a great job with that pick, but Lee never had a compliment that allowed his game to flourish - now he does.

Rhodes and Marshawn/Jackson

Rhodes experience in Indy's offense should help our running backs get adjusted to the hurry-up or no-huddle (yes theirs a difference, but for both systems) offense quicker while making less mistakes.  Clearly Peyton is phonemonial - his experience with Peyton will help get the other RB's understand their assignments and they should have a better idea of what to look for when picking up blitzing schemes and when to "leak" out of the backfield.  Marshawn and Jackson are still a little green in the NFL - Rhodes experience will help them. 

He also allows the Bills to sub in RB's all game - we should have a fresher RB attack at the end of games (hopefully by wearing out the clock).

Rhodes/TO/Maybin and Trent Edwards

The obvious playmakers in Rhodes and TO will help Trent with our system dramatically.  He has options all over the place, not only that - he has experienced help all over the place.  Trent should be able to just run the system and be fine.  TO/Rhodes can help him see things maybe he normally wouldn't look for - yes he's still green folks.  It's no wonder teams like NE try to gather experienced players - they know the ropes of the NFL and they know how to be productive or they wouldn't be in the league anymore

Maybin will help Trent in the way that Maybin's going to help our tackles.  Having the speed rusher out there will help Trent get adjusted to the extremely fast Freeney type of players he is going to face this year.  Maybin's a kid with something to prove - from all accounts - he plays hard and practices hard.  If he continues to practice at 100 MPH every practice then Trent will get use to that kind of speed during the game, thus his decision making process should improve as to when to step up or step to the right (footwork in the pocket).

Sanders and McCargo/D-linemen

I know that Sanders is a coach and not a player - but a few things jump out at me that I want to state. 

If McCargo's going to do anything this is probably the year.  He got rid of the coach that he didn't like, got a coach that is more about teaching than yelling.  Plus the fact hat he's in a contract year doesn't hurt a thing.  If he can take to coaching and play well he might rebound from his bust label that gets thrown around from time to time.  I've seen flashes of brilliance out of him - no reason why this year couldn't be the year for him.

D-Linemen - well that kung foo ninja tae kwan doe master flex superstar that they got is just cool - so I'm looking to more counter moves out of our D-line to hopefully get more pressure up the middle.  On a side note - I love pressure up the middle from your DT's - if a QB can't step up it messes his throws up. 

WR and DB's - per Keysh67 (thanks!)

With the addition of TO - the Bills boast one of the best WR corps in the NFL - if not the best.  On a daily basis our contingent of DB's faces off against the likes of TO, Lee, Reed, Parrish, Johnson and Hardy (the main group).  Being that the Bills like to take DB's in the draft we have a lot of youth at the position.

McKelvin comes to mind as someone who will benefit greatly going up against the speed of Lee or the size/speed combo of TO.  Sprinkle in some Josh Reed in the slot and our nickel corner gets great reps against a master in the slot.  Youngsters as McKelvin, Lankster, Corner and Youboty (because he's injured - more reps the better) will see all sorts of combinations of skilled positions that they will face.

Everything is a two way street in practice - going up against the best WR group every single practice will help the youngsters become more confident when they play WR starved teams or just teams in general that only have one valid WR threat.  I'm sure they are excited about practicing against the best and being exploited because it will make their games better.  They will realize their weaknesses and work hard on them - becoming more polished defenders in the process.

Conclusion

Basically the Bills did a lot to help themselves in the offseason.  It does have to translate onto the field, but sitting here I feel better than I have in years about this team.  I think the good blend of experience and youth will serve them well this season. 

If they practice hard and come to play in every game - they will be in every game this year.  Even NE.  This is not a bad team - and they just got better in the offseason (c'mon o-line - come together please). 

We have players in the right positions to put up good numbers and to put our offense and defense in good positions during the course of a game.  Lets hope it translates to more victories this year than any other year over the last decade.