Getting Closer To Football…

Hello everyone, I’m Jack Goods, the newest writer here at Buffalowdown. I’ll start off by introducing myself before I talk about the Bills. I write for two other websites, including the Sabres fansided site SabreNoise. Most of my experience comes from my work on the lacrosse site InLacrosseWeTrust.com, where I cover a multitude of leagues and host two different online radio shows. At the age of 17 I’m working to make a name for myself before majoring in journalism when I head to college in one year. This is what I want to do for a living so I thank Buffalowdown for giving me the opportunity.

We sit at a point in the year where there isn’t a ton to talk about when it comes to football. Training camp hasn’t started yet, but all of the player moves are done for the most part. Now is just a time to speculate on the season that will soon be upon us.

Since I’m new, I thought it’d be good to explain my position with the Bills at this point. With my young age, I don’t really remember a time when the Bills were a successful team. They have been below average basically for my entire life. As much as I like the team and watching the games, each year I would be less excited for the upcoming season. However, this year does feel different.

The Bills showed at the beginning of last season that they do have the potential to be a team to watch out for. Injuries exposed the team’s greatest weakness, depth. However if Jackson can stay healthy the whole season and the offensive line holds up, I have high expectations for the offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick may not be the best, but he is a formidable starting quarterback who in my eyes could certainly lead a team to at least 9 wins.

As for the defense, everyone is excited to see what happens with Mario Williams. The defensive line looks very promising with both Williams, Dareus, Anderson, and Kelsay. The linebackers are a little more of a question, as the Bills are just hoping that Merriman will be healthy this season. Nick Barnett is obviously the anchor, but Kelvin Sheppard is still very young and unproven. Speaking of young and unproven, the Bills are putting a lot on rookie Stephon Gilmore and second year Bill Aaron Williams. McGee is getting up there in age and has injury issues. If the Bills defense falls apart, my guess is it starts in the secondary.

Overall, I think the Bills are hard to predict. They have so much potential, but a lot of questions. That being said, I am very excited for the upcoming season. No matter what happens, it should be a good one and I can’t wait to be writing about it as the weeks go along.