With players hitting the field, BuffaLowDown takes a look at the Buffalo Bills’ most important position battles heading into the new season.
The offseason workout program is in full force and with two of the three weeks of OTA’s now complete, that only means the mandatory minicamp is right around the corner. With that being said, position battles will start to heat up on a Buffalo Bills‘ squad full of them.
So far, what we’ve seen has created optimism for the season ahead. During the rookie camp, the Bills’ draft picks looked sharp and ready for the season ahead. When OTA’s began, we saw a lot of positive signs from Tyrod Taylor, Reggie Ragland, Eric Wood, Kolby Listenbee, Shaq Lawson and Sammy Watkins — all of whom returning from injuries.
We also saw improvement from Cardale Jones and young players embracing opportunity for increased role next season, like Jonathan Williams and Kevon Seymour. Marcell Dareus is showing signs of his old self and has received praise from the coaching staff early on.
If the Buffalo Bills are going to win in 2017, they’re definitely on the right track.
One thing that will help keep that optimism around is competition within the positions. There are a lot of new faces and that only means a lot of people will have to prove themselves before earning a spot on the roster — something McDermott has been vocal about.
With so many position battles currently in full swing, let’s go through some of the biggest throughout the depth chart — starting with the quarterbacks.
Tyrod Taylor will be the starter Week 1 barring an injury, but the heated battle will be at backup quarterback.
For the past two seasons, fans have been receiving mixed messages from all over the place on how to feel about Tyrod Taylor. He was a quarterback brought in by Rex Ryan and although it was made to look like he was competing for the starting job in 2015, everyone knew who Rex’s guy was.
Since being named starter, we have learned a few things. First off, he’s not a bad quarterback — despite the negative media coverage (or as Donald Trump would put it, “covfefe”). He has definitely had his ups and downs and doesn’t have a lot of games with huge numbers, but he’s the best mobile quarterback in the NFL and simply does things that other QB’s can’t do.
In my opinion, Tyrod Taylor needs the right coach and right system to truly showcase what he can do. Rex Ryan wasn’t that coach. With the Buffalo Bills bringing in a head coach that has seen a mobile quarterback go to the Super Bowl (Cam Newton) and an offensive coordinator that absolutely loves Taylor’s style of play, I think Buffalo has found the coach and system for Taylor.
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Having more tight ends on the field and adding a receiving fullback will give Taylor check-down options when things get stuffy. If Sammy Watkins can stay healthy and Zay Jones plays well, adding in a top-tier running game, Taylor will have everything needed to succeed.
With that being said, fans will know for sure after this season whether or not T-Mobile is their quarterback.
As for the backup quarterback, it’s currently a race between T.J. Yates, Nathan Peterman and Cardale Jones. Yates is the only one with any experience, with Jones only having a quarter of regular season experience and Peterman being a rookie.
Out of those three, Yates would be my backup Week 1 because he’s proven to be a game manager when needed — even in the playoffs. However, I’m not sure if they will keep Yates. He knows the system, but with two young quarterbacks with potential, he could’ve just been brought in to help smooth the transition between the coordinator change.
I doubt all three will stay and the performance of Cardale Jones will likely be the deciding factor between keeping him and Peterman, or keeping Yates and Peterman.
It’s going to be a good battle.
Prediction: Tyrod starts, Yates gets cut, Peterman and Jones stay to backup — giving the team two fall-back options.
LeSean McCoy is the best in the game, but behind him is an open competition for backup running back.
The Buffalo Bills didn’t retain Mike Gillislee this season, allowing him to stumble over to the Patriots with Stephon Gilmore. Losing him opened up a valuable part of the Buffalo Bills‘ offense — the backup running back.
The Bills have proven to be the league’s best rushing team over the past two years and it’s not just because we have the best back in the NFL — it’s because we have a quarterback that is dangerous on the ground and have had the most effective backup RB in the league (Gillislee). If the Bills want to sit atop the mountain for a third time, they will need a lot of yards from their backup.
Currently, there are four running backs on the Bills’ roster — Cedric O’Neal, Jonathan Williams, Jordan Johnson and Joe Banyard. Of the four, the Bills will likely keep three of them to work behind McCoy. Last season, they featured McCoy, Gillislee, Williams and Reggie Bush.
Right off the bat, I can see the Buffalo Bills electing to go with McCoy, Williams, Banyard and Johnson this season — unless O’Neal comes out and surprises everyone.
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Jonathan Williams will likely lead the way, since he has the most experience — both in the league and with the Bills. Granted, Banyard is entering his fourth season, but only has 23 career carries. Williams had 27 carries as a rookie last year.
I like Banyard and think he will have a good training camp this season to secure a third or fourth string spot on the roster. He will ultimately be battling with Johnson and O’Neal, unless Williams has a huge fallout.
If you need to, take a look at Williams’ college stats. The number of huge runs with broken tackle after broken tackle is ridiculous. The dude can run and I can see him filling in for Gillislee nicely.
Also, I am thinking of Mike Tolbert as a fullback, that’s why his name was not listed. I think he will only be used as a short-yardage, goal-line player and that’s pretty clear.
Prediction: McCoy starts, Williams backs him up, Johnson and Banyard split third and fourth string.
Much like last season, health will be the major concern with the wide receivers. With that being said, they need all the help they can get.
The Buffalo Bills have 12 wide receivers on their roster currently — only five of them were with the team last year.
Between those five that are returning, only 32 games were played. 15 came from Brandon Tate, who was more of a special teams player than receiver. Sammy Watkins played 8 and Walter Powell played 9 (only because of injuries). Kolby Listenbee and Dezmin Lewis didn’t play.
They also combined for just 50 catches, 688 yards and two touchdowns. Watkins had most of that, finishing with 28 catches, 430 yards and 2 touchdowns.
My point is that literally every wide receiver on the roster will have something to prove and will definitely have to earn their spot. Even Sammy Watkins, who has secured the No. 1 spot, but will have to prove he can stay healthy and also prove that he’s worth keeping in town.
Everyone else is either a new face or someone who was a depth player, looking for a bigger role. It should make for a fun training camp and preseason with this position group. It will be a battle for the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 wide receiver. They could keep more, but I’ll stick with that number because it’s half of who’s on the roster currently.
That will also make my prediction a little difficult, since Bills’ fans have never seen most of these receivers. I’ll go based off what they’ve done in the past.
Prediction: Sammy Watkins, Andre Holmes, Zay Jones, Philly Brown, Rod Streater, Kolby Listenbee
If they keep more, I would say Daikiel Shorts or either Dezmin Lewis/Walter Powell would be safe bets. I have Holmes listed as No. 2 WR mainly due to size and where he’ll line up a majority of the time, but I think Zay Jones will be the No. 2 receiver in terms of production. Everyone behind those three will fight for contribution.
Besides depth positions, the only battle on the offensive line will be at right tackle for the Buffalo Bills.
If it weren’t for the struggles at right tackle last season — and a couple injuries — the Buffalo Bills would’ve had one of the top offensive lines in the league. I would still put them top ten, but they could’ve been top five with better pass protection.
A lot of that lack of pass protection came from the right tackle, more specifically Jordan Mills. Although the team re-signed him, I don’t think it will be for a starting spot. At best, I would put Mills as the backup tackle, but not as a starter.
Currently, Dion Dawkins, Cameron Jefferson, Michael Ola and Mills are all battling for the starting right tackle position. Dawkins is expected to handle those duties if he shows he’s ready by Week 1. If not, the team will likely look at Mills to get one last look at whether he can improve or not.
Jefferson enters his third season, but hasn’t made a roster yet and Ola is a long-time veteran that has seen his fair share of teams.
Prediction at tackle: Dion Dawkins and Cordy Glenn start, Michael Ola and Jordan Mills back them up.
At guard, we know the starters will be John Miller and Richie Incognito and center will be Eric Wood. However, the depth behind those three is a battle.
Currently, Zach Voytek, Greg Pyke, Ryan Groy and Vladimir Ducasse are battling for the backup roles. If they keep three, Ryan Groy will no doubt stay as he re-signed with the team and filled in at center perfectly last season. Vladimir Ducasse is a veteran that would be nice to have around. He can fill in when asked to.
That third person will be the real battle, if they take a third. With Groy’s versatility, they could save a roster spot. Between Voytek and Pyke, they are both undrafted free agents this season.
Voytek is 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds and was a decorated lineman at New Haven. His offensive line only allowed 10 sacks all last season. Pyke is a 6-foot-6, 325 pound lineman and is known as a hard worker. I think he will win the coaches over in training camp.
The Buffalo Bills’ linebacker group has competition all over the place and the bodies to fill what’s needed.
The Buffalo Bills have 12 linebackers on their roster right now. Switching to a 4-3 defense, the team won’t need as many linebackers as last season. The weird part is, only one starting spot (Lorenzo Alexander) is secure and the rest behind that is a question mark.
The big question mark is what the Buffalo Bills will be doing at middle linebacker and weak side linebacker. With the recent signing of Gerald Hodges and Leslie Frazier’s comments on Reggie Ragland possibly playing outside, things are a little up in the air at the moment.
I think Hodges is best suited on the outside and think he would do great splitting reps with Preston Brown. I think Ragland would be best in the middle. There’s also the possibility of getting rid of Brown, especially if the team buys into Hodges. If that happens, it will likely be due to some of the younger linebackers on the roster showing out.
As I stated above, there are 12 linebackers on the roster. If the team keeps one starter and one backup for each of those starters, then they would be cutting half of those on the roster currently. I am going to assume that Brown stays and also pencil Alexander, Ragland and Humber in as definitely staying (although Humber will be more for special teams).
The other two spots will likely go to one of the rookies if either of them impress the staff (Tanner Vallejo or Matt Milano). Carl Bradford is the only one with more than one year experience experience out of the remaining candidates, with Anthony Harrell, Jacob Lindsey, Logan Abner and Eddie Yarbrough just getting started in the league.
Prediction: Lorenzo Alexander, Reggie Ragland, Gerald Hodges start. Preston Brown, Ramon Humber, Matt Milano back them up.
If they keep more, I would like to see more of Jacob Lindsey and Logan Abner.
The Buffalo Bills’ defensive backs got a complete makeover this offseason, with depth being the main battle right now.
I’m pretty sure it’s obvious. Ronald Darby and Tre’Davious White will start at cornerback with Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde starting at safety. However, the team will likely use a third cornerback and safety in heavy rotation, in addition to the other backups.
With that being said, there are a few spots available for two positions that currently have a lot of bodies on the roster. In addition to the 8 cornerbacks, the Buffalo Bills have 7 safeties on the roster right now. A lot of those players will stay as special teams.
Looking at the third cornerback and third safety, Trae Elston’s name and Leonard Johnson come to mind right away. Elston is a big hitter playmaker that McDermott obviously saw something he liked in. Johnson was a free agent signing that had ties to McDermott in Carolina. Playing for him last season, he has a good feel for his system and will likely see a lot of reps.
Behind that, I would like to see Kevon Seymour get some time at cornerback, as well as Charles James or Shareece Wright. As for safety, I think Colt Anderson will see time in addition to special teams.
The Buffalo Bills hit the field again June 5-8, before their mandatory minicamp from June 13-15.
Next: 41 players are returning to the Buffalo Bills' roster this season
What do you think about all of the position battles happening this offseason? Leave your thoughts below!