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Friday, March 16, 2012

 

Thoughts on Super Mario World

Before I get down in the weeds, I want to say that this is a great signing. It's great that we're bringing in some serious talent via free Agency. It's great that the Bills are willing to spend money. It's great that they brought in someone who will make current and prospective players believe in the Bills. But remember: We very likely paid Mario Williams more than any other team was willing to pay him. That's true with pretty much every free agent any team acquires. With that, some thoughts on Mario:
  • Don't expect Mario to turns the Bills into a 12-4 team. One player rarely makes more than a one-win difference. The Bills need a very good LT out of the draft, a healthy Kyle Williams, superb seasons out of Aaron Williams and Drayton Florence, and a showing from their 2011 and 2012 draft classes. I also think the Bills probably need another 1-2 free agent signings to will in depth at WR and along the offensive line. KC Joyner made the point that defenses will attack your weakest link. There's no point in having an incredible left-half of the line if the right-half is porous.
  • Mario is unlikely to be a locker-room leader. And that's okay. He was known for being quiet in Houston and he'll be quiet here too. Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, Nick Barnett, Drayton Florence, and George Wilson are all bona fide defensive leaders.
  • He'll be lining up at left defensive end. Or so said Nix on WGR and apparently this was one of Mario's requests. I'd imagine he'll get moved around a lot: LDE, RDE, DT, OLB. Still, I'm not a fan of the quarterback being able to see what's coming.
  • Kelsay will be a lot better. I've never been a Kelsay hater, especially not when he's got his hand on the ground. You have to love Kelsay with double-teams going everywhere but his way and the guy gets to line up on the right side. I think a lot of folks will be clamoring for Carrington, but I'd bet Kelsay has the inside track on the starting job.
  • This means the Bills are running a traditional 4-3. The good news is that our defensive line is perfectly configured to run this. The bad news is that our linebackers are not. Merriman's a poor fit for the scheme. (Great article on systems here and here.)Sheppard has a lot more responsibility in the middle. And Barnett moves into the Will LB position. I suppose Merriman gets plugged in at the Sam LB. If all this is true, you wonder how guys like Moats, Eddins, and Morrison fit in. My gut says Morrison looks damn good in this system, Eddins is too young for us to care, and Moats is on the outside looking in. I'd love to see Bryan Scott resigned for depth.
  • Teams will look for other ways to victimize us. We're still a little light up the middle. Kyle Williams always did play bigger than his size, but he's not a prototypical over-center DT and neither is Dareus. Our inability to stop quick slant passes remains and teams will look increasingly to the quick plays.

Monday, March 12, 2012

 

'Boys and 'Skins Get Spanked

Kinda awesome. Cowboys and Redskins lose $10m and $36m in cap space over the next two years for improperly front-loading contracts in an uncapped year. That space is distributed to the other teams: Bills get another $1.6m in cap space. It is unclear whether this cap space is contingent upon when the Cowboys and Redskins take the cap hit.

With the Bills in one of the best cap positions in the league, the front office is facing even greater pressure to fill clear needs at LT, WR, and DE/LB.

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Bennett
When he's not writing, or cringing over a rank diaper, you can find Bennett in his LA backyard with a six pack of PBR, ruminating on today's most significant issues, such as how does Magic Shell ice cream topping really work, what happened to Darick Holmes, and why does Bennett's cat insist on crapping in the bathtub.

Riley
After spending three years in soccer-loving country, Riley craves his Bills fix. Every Sunday you can find him at McFadden's in DC.

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