Webster Guy Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 After last year we know that stopping the run, rushing the passer and decent Oline play are priorities. We look bigger and stronger upfront on D, with good Dline depth and Dareus a huge upgrade (still can't believe Denver passed on the Big Fella) What concerns me is that the two critical question marks are Bell at LT and Merriman for pass rushing. Both of these guys are injury prone, and if you take them out of the equation then I don't see us improving significantly other than run stopping. In fact, we don't even really have ANYONE legitimate backing up Bell on our QB's blindside, so we desperately need him to be healthy this year. He battles hard and seems to finish his blocks well. Hopefully that right knee holds up, and I think he has shoulder problems too, but we need him badly. Levitre played tackle in college, I wonder if he's every been considered a viable option for the job if something happens, maybe slide Hangartner back in C and Wood to Guard. Hopefully we'll never need to find out. As far as Merriman goes, he was just sitting there on waivers to be picked up because of his injuries. We didn't use a draft pick or trade anybody for him so he was free in that regard. He signed relatively cheap and was the only real pass rushing personnel upgrade from last year coming off of serious injuries. Its rare in the NFL to pluck somebody off waivers and have them significantly help your team. We're asking a lot from him. Nobody ever questioned his drive, just his body holding up for a season at LB in the NFL. If he stays healty and pans out, Nix is going to look like a genius. They say the achilles tear makes you lose a little quickness, and obviously Shawne had no problem with that in Chicago, so now the issue is durability. I just wonder if they should use him as a 3rd down specialist to ease him into the season so he doesn't re-injure himself. Sam Cowart had a similar thing happen to him with us in 2001, then the following season at the Jets he partially tore it again and he was pretty ineffective after that. Bottom line is, Nix is planning for the 2012 season to be our playoff year (based on giving away Evans etc) and the coaches need to be VERY cautious with Merriman this season. He's still young, (although steriods can age the body prematurely) and the guy is a beast that would give us potentially three pro bowl-type dudes upfront with Kyle and Dareus. Win, lose or draw this is going to be a fun season. Go Bills!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARCO186 Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I agree about Bell, but Sean M. is going to be fine. Takeo Spikes is in his 14th season, and he's never been to a playoff; but he had his tendon torn, many said he was finished and he's still in there doing his thing. I think Lights out will be lights out. Granted it was justa preseason game against a very questionable Oline. He felt good and you seen that. I think Buffalo does just fine this year, if Bell holds up. That does bother me knowing we don't have a backup. I think Nix should have at least grabbed one in free agancy for insurance but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDaDdy Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 The two Bills we need most to perform and step up are LT and RT. I don't know what their names are yet but if we want to be a .500 team we need better play out of these positions. That being said I think we may surprise some people and become a defense first team. We have some pieces on the defensive side of the ball that could be game changers and unlike the offense their appears to be pretty decent depth with guys coming back from injury and maturing in the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defend Greece Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Fitz and spiller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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