Going into yesterday's road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it became apparent that the Buffalo Bills were going to be doing some tweaking to their lineup in an effort to get some young players onto the field for late-season evaluations. This week's rep count numbers give us an idea of who, exactly, the Bills were trying to take a look at in Week 14.
Offense
Player | Pos. | TB | TOT | % |
EJ Manuel | QB | 67 | 618 | 66.0 |
Fred Jackson | RB | 37 | 533 | 56.9 |
C.J. Spiller | RB | 26 | 297 | 31.7 |
Ronnie Wingo | RB | 4 | 4 | 0.4 |
Evan Rodriguez | FB | 5 | 5 | 0.5 |
Robert Woods | WR | 66 | 731 | 78.0 |
Stevie Johnson | WR | 59 | 637 | 68.0 |
T.J. Graham | WR | 46 | 665 | 71.0 |
Marquise Goodwin | WR | 26 | 272 | 29.0 |
Chris Hogan | WR | 8 | 115 | 12.3 |
Scott Chandler | TE | 38 | 749 | 79.9 |
Lee Smith | TE | 12 | 321 | 34.3 |
Chris Gragg | TE | 8 | 46 | 4.9 |
Cordy Glenn | OT | 67 | 937 | 100.0 |
Erik Pears | OT | 67 | 937 | 100.0 |
Doug Legursky | OG | 67 | 541 | 57.7 |
Kraig Urbik | OG | 60 | 922 | 98.4 |
J.J. Unga | OG | 7 | 7 | 0.7 |
Eric Wood | C | 67 | 937 | 100.0 |
Buffalo has some work to do along the offensive line this off-season, and they began looking at players buried on their depth chart by sliding J.J. Unga in at right guard for seven snaps. Curiously, they chose to do so at right guard and not left; Kraig Urbik got those seven plays off, while Doug Legursky played the whole game. Perhaps the Bills are simply comfortable with where they are with Urbik right now; then again, perhaps not. That's something to monitor moving forward.
The team did not, as expected, go out of its way to give Ronnie Wingo more touches; instead, he assumed the old role of Tashard Choice and barely played. Similarly, the Bills sat Frank Summers in favor of Evan Rodriguez at fullback, and Rodriguez assumed Summers' role of offensive afterthought, particularly after the Bills got behind.
Defense
Player | Pos. | TB | TOT | % |
Marcell Dareus | DL | 59 | 717 | 76.2 |
Kyle Williams | DL | 53 | 767 | 81.5 |
Alan Branch | DL | 47 | 474 | 50.4 |
Corbin Bryant | DL | 18 | 233 | 24.8 |
Stefan Charles | DL | 10 | 40 | 4.3 |
Mario Williams | OLB | 52 | 811 | 86.2 |
Manny Lawson | OLB | 49 | 560 | 59.5 |
Jerry Hughes | OLB | 25 | 514 | 54.6 |
Ty Powell | OLB | 7 | 7 | 0.7 |
Kiko Alonso | LB | 66 | 941 | 100.0 |
Nigel Bradham | LB | 47 | 207 | 22.0 |
Arthur Moats | LB | 2 | 292 | 31.0 |
Leodis McKelvin | CB | 66 | 728 | 77.4 |
Stephon Gilmore | CB | 64 | 448 | 47.6 |
Nickell Robey | CB | 19 | 487 | 51.8 |
Jairus Byrd | S | 66 | 485 | 51.5 |
Aaron Williams | S | 64 | 871 | 92.6 |
Da'Norris Searcy | S | 12 | 609 | 64.7 |
After weeks of Arthur Moats lining up next to Kiko Alonso as the base inside linebacker, Moats saw just two snaps in Tampa Bay, paving the way for Nigel Bradham to take a whopping 47 snaps - by far the most he's played in any game this season. That's a smart and necessary move for the club; Bradham is much more physically gifted than Moats, and it appears he'll now have an extended audition with which to prove his worth heading into the 2014 season.
Jamaal Westerman was a healthy scratch, and the Bills let Ty Powell - acquired earlier this season, and who had been inactive nearly every week he's been here - assume his role as a (very) situational pass rusher. He saw seven snaps, as well.
It's tough to tell whether or not the Bills have moved Duke Williams ahead of Jim Leonhard as the fourth safety or not - that was a move many (including yours truly) had called for, as well - because a fourth safety didn't get onto the field on Sunday, with the Bucs in a lot of power run looks protecting a lead. The same is true of a fourth cornerback, so Ron Brooks didn't snag any reps this week, either.