Breaking down Buffalo’s roster (Part I - defense)

By Connor Byrne  |   Monday, September 03, 2007  |  Comments( 43 )

Buffalo Bills
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This is the first of a two-part series analyzing Buffalo's offensive and defensive rosters prior to its opener this Sunday against Denver. Today's piece will focus on the Bills' much-maligned defense.

Defensive end: Entering the summer, end was among Buffalo's deepest areas on defense. Unfortunately, the Bills lost Ryan Denney (six sacks last year) for an extended period of time because of a broken foot, and fellow reserve Anthony Hargrove received a four-game suspension from the NFL for failing to abide by the league's substance abuse policies. The team then signed veteran Al Wallace, but he was placed on season-ending injured reserve over the weekend because of a shoulder ailment.

Buffalo still has pass-rushing extraordinaire Aaron Schobel, whose 14 sacks took him to the Pro Bowl last year, and the all-around solid Chris Kelsay, a decent player against the run who took down opposing quarterbacks 5.5 times in 2006. Beyond those two, though, the Bills have unproven guys in Eric Powell and long snapper Ryan Neill, neither of whom has played a down in the pros.

Defensive tackle: This is no doubt the biggest question mark on the roster. Does Buffalo possess any tackles who will become run-stuffing forces this year? Truthfully, probably not. John McCargo, a first-round pick in the '06 draft, headlines the group, but he's constantly injured and is progressing slowly. To the 307-pounder's credit, he was good at times during the preseason.

The Bills' top tackle against the run might very well be Kyle Williams, whom the team chose in the fifth round last year. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Williams is far from a finished product and will probably never morph into a dominator up front.

Aside from McCargo and Williams, Buffalo's final relevant DT is the highly paid, highly disappointing Larry Tripplett. The ex-Indianapolis Colt signed a five-year, $18.5 million deal with the Bills in March 2006, but his play last season was subpar at best; he was regularly shoved around by opposing offensive linemen and never made an impact against the run. Much of that carried over into this summer.

After Tripplett, the Bills are down to the oft-criticized Tim Anderson and the unproven Jason Jefferson. To call this group untested is quite optimistic; in reality, these five will probably be run over by opposing backs on a consistent basis.

Linebacker: On paper, the LBs aren't a huge problem for the Bills. When healthy, fifth-year man Angelo Crowell, the starter on the strong side, has been very productive (220 tackles, five sacks, four interceptions in his last 27 games), but he's missed five contests over the last two seasons because of injuries.

Rookie Paul Posluszny, a second-round pick who not surprisingly won the No. 1 job in the middle, has been much hyped, and for good reason. Posluszny won back-to-back Bednarik Awards (given to the nation's best defender) at Penn State and only slipped to Round 2 of the draft because of injury concerns and a relatively so-so workout at February's scouting combine. Nevertheless, "Poz," as Bills fans call him, was a tackling machine in the preseason; he has the ability and winning attitude to make Buffalo loyalists forget departed veteran London Fletcher rather early.

The Bills' final starter is Coy Wire, who fared well in the preseason and has the job on the weak side now that Keith Ellison sustained a major high ankle sprain. Wire, an ex-college linebacker who became a safety when the Bills drafted him in 2002, could really be a surprise player for the Bills.

Buffalo has OK depth to follow its three starters in special teams aces Josh Stamer and Mario Haggan, plus Posluszny's backup, John DiGiorgio. The problem is that all three of the team's main LBs are smallish and could get shoved back by opposing blockers because of what should be an incredibly weak defensive line. If the foursome up front isn't getting the job done, the linebackers probably won't either.

Cornerback: The loss of former No. 1 cornerback Nate Clements to free agency will hurt the Bills in a big way. Throughout the offseason many preached that Buffalo wouldn't miss Clements -- now a San Francisco 49er -- because its Tampa 2 defense relies on the front seven. Well, that doesn't mean the Bills can just put anybody at cornerback. Clements' replacement, Terrence McGee, is a playmaker (nine interceptions in four seasons), but his coverage skills leave a lot to be desired. At 5-foot-9, 193 pounds, he gives up the size and physicality the 6-0, 215-pound Clements possesses.

At the moment, starting opposite McGee is Jason Webster, an eighth-year man whom the Bills signed to a cheap contract in May. Webster was once considered an up-and-coming defender with the 49ers; however, he signed a big deal in 2004 to join the Atlanta Falcons, with whom his career fell apart. Webster lost his playmaking ability with the Falcons and was burned on a regular basis by the wide receivers he was covering. Much of that was seen during the preseason, when Webster was lit up on a regular basis by opposing offenses. If Webster goes in the tank this Sunday against Denver's skilled WR duo of Javon Walker and Brandon Marshall, don't be surprised if fourth-year man Jabari Greer, who snagged two INTs during the exhibition season, takes his spot as Buffalo's No. 2 corner.

Beyond Greer, the Bills have good fourth and fifth CBs in Kiwaukee Thomas, who was their second-best cornerback last year (trailing only Clements), and high-potential pro sophomore Ashton Youboty, a third-round choice in the '06 draft.

Safety: The Bills took a lot of heat for selecting ex-Ohio State standout Donte Whitner, a strong safety, in the first round of last year's draft, but he stepped up as a solid player on the team's awful defense. Whitner, 22, made the NFL All-Rookie team, amassing 104 tackles and an interception. Despite that, the Bills will need more from him this year. Elite safeties tend to hoard at least four interceptions per year, and Whitner, 22, will have to become a playmaker in Year 2 to justify being the eighth overall selection in his draft class.

Starting next to Whitner is free safety Ko Simpson, also a second-year man. Simpson was a fourth-round pick in 2006 and emerged as a pleasant surprise, even beating out established veteran Troy Vincent for the No. 1 job early in the season. Simpson ended up with 76 tackles and two interceptions, besting Whitner in the latter category. Still, Whitner is understandably a far superior all-around safety than Simpson, whose coverage skills and tackling could use more fine-tuning.

With two guys prepared to start long-term and a decent trio of depth in Jim Leonhard (SS), George Wilson (FS) and rookie John Wendling (FS), safety is probably the Bills' greatest area of strength defensively, for better or worse.

Where Buffalo's defense will finish ...

Floor: 32nd. Yes, folks, the 'D' for the Bills really has the potential to be dead last in the league this year. If the tackles get bullied, as expected, the 'backers will be rendered ineffective, and the corners are likely to be targeted at will once teams establish the ground game. The Bills have to face AFC East running backs Laurence Maroney, Thomas Jones and Ronnie Brown a total of six times, not to mention non-divisional games against elite ballcarriers like Travis Henry, Rudi Johnson, Willie Parker, Maurice Jones-Drew and Brian Westbrook, among others. Buffalo's pass defense is forced to square off against Tom Brady and Chad Pennington a combined four times, plus Jay Cutler, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, Donovan McNabb, etcetera.

Ceiling: top 15. Even if everything goes correctly, Buffalo's defense is simply too young and too untalented to challenge for a spot in the top 10. The run-stuffing ability isn't there, and neither is the wherewithal to shut down the pass. At least the team can take solace in having Schobel, Kelsay, Crowell, Posluszny, Whitner and Simpson locked up for the future. They're all terrific building blocks; the hope is that McCargo and Williams will join that class beginning this year.

Prediction: 30th. For the reasons listed above, the defense of the Bills is not going to be a strong unit. There will be a drop-off without Clements, and trading away two-time Pro Bowl LB Takeo Spikes for basically nothing in return might end up as an error. He came on toward the end of last year, totaling 11 tackles in the season finale.

*E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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