A year ago, after the Buffalo Bills made James Madison defensive end Arthur Moats a sixth-round pick, they moved him to inside linebacker during training camp. Moats looked horrific during the pre-season, was moved back to outside linebacker during the regular season, and by year's end was clearly the team's most promising pass rusher.
Flash forward to this afternoon at St. John Fisher college. Mark Ludwiczak of CBSSports.com confirms that Chan Gailey and Buffalo's coaching staff are set to move Moats back to inside linebacker.
This is one that I can't really wrap my mind around, folks. Perhaps the team is filling the pinch at inside linebacker, where they are admittedly woefully thin from a numbers standpoint at the moment. From that angle, I suppose it makes sense that they're using Moats as an extra body at the position until they can find more reinforcements.
Here's the thing, though: there are a bunch of other young linebackers they can use in that capacity, and unless the Bills are willing to put all of their eggs in Shawne Merriman's basket - apparently, they are - Moats is going to be a highly important player to this team as a pass rusher. He needs every snap he can get outside. From that far more important angle, I don't get this decision - even if it's short-lived.