In the four-plus weeks since the 2011 regular season ended, we've been conducting our annual State of the Buffalo Bills Roster series, in which we go over the Bills' personnel player by player and position by position.

We finished up reviewing the defense yesterday, so after the jump, we've reviewed the positional outlooks in each area. Give them a re-read, put on your thinking caps, and then cast a vote in our poll (also after the jump) as we try to determine what the Bills' biggest positional need on defense is.

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Buffalo Rumblings is in the process of breaking down the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position. Installments you may have missed: QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G/C, Pass Rushers, LB, CB, S, ST.

When the Bills selected Alabama stud defensive tackle Marcell Dareus with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, fans everywhere - not just in Western New York - thought highly of the possible impact that pairing the versatile 340-pound rookie with Kyle Williams, one of the league's best and most under-appreciated defensive linemen.

That never really came to fruition in 2011. Dareus ranged between fine and quite good as a rookie, but most of the team's run-stopping (and pass-rushing, for that matter) efforts fell on his shoulders while Williams languished briefly on the field before a long-lingering foot issue forced him to IR. Just like that, the Bills didn't look functionally different from the unit they were in 2010.

Williams and Dareus are both on track to be fully healthy at the outset of the 2012 season, so the dreams are being revived. A look at those two players, plus the rest of the team's defensive linemen, is after the jump.

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Buffalo Rumblings is in the process of breaking down the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position. Installments you may have missed: QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G/C, LB, CB, S, ST.

During the 2011 regular season, 14 teams - that's nearly half of the NFL, dear friends - recorded 40 or more sacks as a team. The Buffalo Bills have not accomplished that feat since 2004 - their most recent near-miss at a playoff berth.

Also during the 2011 regular season, two teams - the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots - had two players each record double-digit sack totals. (Three teams did it in 2010: the Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers.) The Bills have not accomplished that feat since 1995, when the trio of Bryce Paup, Bruce Smith and Phil Hansen all had 10 or more sacks.

It has been a very long time, indeed, since the Bills have competently rushed the passer - let alone struck fear into its opponents from that particular on-field angle. With even a meager sense of stability at football's other important positions (quarterback and the offensive line), it's time that the Bills recognize that finding pass-rushers should be their top organizational goal.

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Buffalo Rumblings is in the process of breaking down the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position. Installments you may have missed: QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G/C, CB, S, ST.

The Buffalo Bills were not much better defensively in 2011 than they'd been in recent seasons, which is why the team has made a switch at defensive coordinator. The positional group at which the team did take some positive steps forward, however, was linebacker.

Because we're still not clear on what defensive scheme the Bills will be running as their base system next season under Dave Wannstedt, we're going to begin breaking down the team's front seven personnel in as basic a way as possible: we'll start with linebackers, then cover pass rushers and defensive linemen. Our look at the team's linebackers is after the jump.

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Buffalo Rumblings is in the process of breaking down the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position. Installments you may have missed: QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G/C, S, ST.

The Buffalo Bills currently only have six cornerbacks under contract for the 2012 season (we'll be reviewing a seventh about to hit unrestricted free agency), and have far more questions than answers at the position. In large, that's not good news, as the Bills have important decisions to make regarding three shaky veterans, and have placed a lot of faith on the plates of two green prospects.

There will be movement at this position, with new bodies and potentially even bigger personnel shakeups. For now, this is a position with talent, question marks, a shaky depth chart and some lack of direction.

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Buffalo Rumblings is in the process of breaking down the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position. Installments you may have missed: QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G/C, ST.

It's tough to trundle through an analysis of the Buffalo Bills' defense at the moment, because we're still not precisely sure what system new coordinator Dave Wannstedt plans on implementing this season. Therefore, we're starting at the back end of the defense and moving forward, allowing more time for some sort of game plan to be made public. (No, we're not counting on it happening, but we can dream, right?)

Let's start at safety, shall we? After the jump, we'll look at the team's five players at the position - and before anyone asks, we're including Bryan Scott in our review of the inside linebackers, because let's face it, that's the position he plays.

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Buffalo Rumblings is in the process of breaking down the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position. Installments you may have missed: QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G/C.

The Buffalo Bills are still a desired destination for special teams players. Don't believe me? Just watch the AFC Championship Game this weekend. There, undrafted rookie free agent Danny Aiken will be long snapping for the host New England Patriots. Just this past July, Aiken was a roster casualty here in Buffalo, losing the long snapping job to Garrison Sanborn. Now, he's part of a team a win away from the Super Bowl.

For years, the Bills have been lauded as having one of the most consistently excellent special teams units in the league. Their play has slipped in recent seasons, to the chagrin of many fans, but this is still a unit that, at its best, is decidedly above-average.

In this State of the Buffalo Bills Roster piece, we'll be focusing on core specialists - meaning that return men and coverage players that play other positions won't be covered. Instead, we'll make one exception and focus on kickers, punters and long snappers.

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In the two-plus weeks since the 2011 regular season ended, we've been conducting our annual State of the Buffalo Bills Roster series, in which we go over the Bills' personnel player by player and position by position.

We finished up reviewing the offense this morning, so after the jump, we've reviewed the positional outlooks in each area. Give them a re-read, put on your thinking caps, and then cast a vote in our poll (also after the jump) as we try to determine what the Bills' biggest positional need on offense is.

Continue reading this post »