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Yesterday, in completing our Buffalo Bills roster evaluations in the form of this odd-looking depth chart, many of you asked how the Bills would compare to some of the league's elite teams evaluated through a similar lens.
I live to serve - and right now, it doesn't get much more elite than this year's Super Bowl participants, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. We'll compare the Steelers first, as they're sort of the best organization in all professional sports; the "gold standard," if you will.
Pos. | Group 1 (A) | Group 2 (B, C) | Group 3 (D, E) |
WR2 | 83 - Lee Evans 11 - Roscoe Parrish 86 - David Nelson |
19 - Donald Jones 18 - Naaman Roosevelt |
|
LT | 77 - Demetrius Bell | 71 - Ed Wang | |
LG | 67 - Andy Levitre | ||
C | 70 - Eric Wood | 63 - Geoff Hangartner | |
RG | 60 - Kraig Urbik 76 - Chad Rinehart |
||
RT | 79 - Erik Pears | ||
TE | 80 - David Martin 84 - Scott Chandler |
||
WR1 | 13 - Stevie Johnson | 81 - Marcus Easley | |
QB | 14 - Ryan Fitzpatrick | 10 - Levi Brown | |
RB | 22 - Fred Jackson | 21 - C.J. Spiller | |
FB | 38 - Corey McIntyre | ||
DE | 92 - Alex Carrington 99 - Marcus Stroud |
||
NT | 95 - Kyle Williams | 96 - Torell Troup | |
DE | 98 - Dwan Edwards | 91 - Spencer Johnson | |
SLB | 90 - Chris Kelsay 57 - Danny Batten |
||
MLB | 54 - Andra Davis 50 - Akin Ayodele |
||
WLB | 51 - Paul Posluszny 53 - Reggie Torbor |
||
JLB | 52 - Arthur Moats | 55 - Shawne Merriman 59 - Antonio Coleman |
|
CB2 | 29 - Drayton Florence 28 - Leodis McKelvin |
27 - Reggie Corner | |
SS | 20 - Donte Whitner | 43 - Bryan Scott | |
FS | 31 - Jairus Byrd | 37 - George Wilson | |
CB1 | 24 - Terrence McGee | ||
K | 9 - Rian Lindell | ||
P | 8 - Brian Moorman | ||
LS | 65 - Garrison Sanborn |
Pos. | Group 1 (A) | Group 2 (B, C) | Group 3 (D, E) |
WR2 | 86 - Hines Ward 88 - Emmanuel Sanders |
84 - Antonio Brown 82 - Antwaan Randle-El |
|
LT | 78 - Max Starks |
||
LG | 68 - Chris Kemoeatu 79 - Trai Essex 61 - Chris Scott |
||
C | 53 - Maurkice Pouncey |
64 - Doug Legursky |
|
RG | 73 - Ramon Foster | ||
RT | 74 - Willie Colon | 71 - Flozell Adams 67 - Kyle Jolly |
|
TE | 83 - Heath Miller | 89 - Matt Spaeth |
|
WR1 | 17 - Mike Wallace |
||
QB | 7 - Ben Roethlisberger | 4 - Byron Leftwich 10 - Dennis Dixon |
|
RB | 34 - Rashard Mendenhall |
33 - Isaac Redman 21 - Mewelde Moore 27 - Jonathan Dwyer |
|
FB | |||
DE | 99 - Brett Keisel | 93 - Nick Eason |
|
NT | 98 - Casey Hampton |
96 - Chris Hoke |
|
DE | 91 - Aaron Smith | 96 - Ziggy Hood |
|
SLB | 56 - LaMarr Woodley | ||
MLB | 51 - James Farrior | 50 - Larry Foote |
|
WLB | 94 - Lawrence Timmons | 57 - Keyaron Fox |
|
JLB | 92 - James Harrison | 97 - Jason Worilds |
|
CB2 | 20 - Bryant McFadden 22 - William Gay 23 - Keenan Lewis |
||
SS | 43 - Troy Polamalu | ||
FS | 25 - Ryan Clark |
26 - Will Allen 29 - Ryan Mundy |
|
CB1 | 24 - Ike Taylor | ||
K | 4 - Shaun Suisham | ||
P | 9 - Daniel Sepulveda |
||
LS |
Buffalo has one player that I consider among the league's elite at his position; Pittsburgh has five, with four of them defenders. Buffalo has a combined five offensive and defensive linemen in Group 2 or above; Pittsburgh has eight.
Aside from the Group 1 disparity, this is the most significant factor in the differences between the teams: Buffalo has 18 players in Group 2 or higher; Pittsburgh has 22 - and you could argue some of the Group 3 Steelers higher on the rubric (like Hoke, Worilds and McFadden).
But the biggest difference is in elite players. Buffalo just doesn't have the elite talent; they have some complementary talent (though not enough in the lines), but no elite talent to carry them above their general talent level. You can see why Buffalo had Pittsburgh dead to rights in their overtime loss during the regular season, and you can also see why the Steelers are perennial playoff contender, and why the Bills are not.