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Connor Byrne at RealFootball365.com has chimed in on our sticky DT situation. His best point is in regards to John McCargo:
To me, McCargo's health is the biggest key to having success stopping the run this season. Through the first four games last season, the Bills' run defense by no means was sturdy, but it was improving. Not until McCargo went out of action in Week 5 at Chicago did the Bills' run defense really suffer; it was from that point that teams were able to tear us apart like a hot knife through butter.
McCargo is the most talented defensive tackle on this roster. That includes Darwin Walker and Larry Tripplett. The success of the defense doesn't depend as much on Walker's contract situation as it does on McCargo's health. We need our talented youngster to come through for us. Dick Jauron says he'll be healthy by training camp, and it's clear that we need him to be. If he's not healthy, we'll be stuck with... don't panic... Tim Anderson again. That's enough to send shudders through even the most hardy of Bills fans.
I'm confident that this situation will begin to resolve itself as we approach training camp. We still have just over two months to give Walker more money. There's still ample time for McCargo to get ready for training camp - even if he can only participate on a limited basis at first. There's still June 1 cuts and the Sam Rayburn visit to consider as well. If there's one thing I've learned the past 1+ years, it's that Marv Levy never rests in the search for talent. I believe that we'll add another DT before training camp, with Rayburn the likely addition. But it's obvious that nothing would help this team more than McCargo getting healthy.