Bills vs. Colts
Date: August 13, 2016 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium Time: 7PM
Who to watch for: Cardale Jones, Reggie Bush
What to watch for: Fullback competition, linebacker situation
Thursday August 11th at 7PM will mark the beginning of the Bills pre-season in a matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. The first of four tune-up games before they kick off their season on September 11th against the Baltimore Ravens.
Entering the pre-season with many questions and voids in the roster, the Bills are in search of much needed answers. How will the running back depth chart round out, who will be Tyrod Taylor’s backup, what chemistry will Taylor have with his new offensive weapons, as well how will the defense, in particular the linebackers perform under their first season of Rob Ryan?
An area of concern, the depth of the Bills will be on full display as you can expect to see heavy doses of backups especially through the second half. In particular the backup quarterback competition and the running back shuffle are two positions of importance. Cardale Jones, the rookie out of Ohio State will look to make his case to beat out the former franchise quarterback EJ Manuel. Manuel, who played briefly in relief of Taylor last season has never truly found his way in the NFL after a successful career at Florida State. With a poor pre-season showing Manuel could find himself falling to third on the depth chart or even worse looking for a new job elsewhere. If Jones is able to beat out Manuel for the backup position it is a very real possibility that the Bills decide to cut ties with the signal caller.
A true area of concern that looks to be addressed, particularly early on in the pre-season is the Bills running game. After Lesean McCoy, the rest of the backfield situation becomes a bit blurred. After a breakout sophomore campaign for Karlos Williams he has been suspended by the league for four games for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substance Abuse. Rookie Jonathan Williams faces at the very least a two-game suspension for a DWI charge. This leaves the spotlight on newly signed Reggie Bush. As Rex Ryan stated he would like to use Bush “like that Ferrari.” More likely than not, against the Colts expect to see Bush used sparingly. In the limited opportunities he receives it will be important to see exactly how Ryan uses Bush and how much the oft-injured Bush truly has left in the tank. By no means will the running back depth chart be finalized by the end of the first pre-season game, more likely than not it won’t even be settled until the season is well under way but against the Colts expect to see a glimpse of the talent in the backfield.
The Bills running back shuffle only becomes more complicated when the fullback competition is thrown into the mix. In a two-headed race between long time veteran Jerome Felton and well-known newcomer, Glenn Gronkowski the Bills have plenty of talent with limited roster space. Gronkowski, a native of Buffalo looks to be a scoring upgrade over Felton who was responsible for only fourteen yards combined rushing and receiving last season. For a team that relies on the running game so often this is a positional battle that cannot be overlooked.
As much depth as there is on the offensive side of the ball, the defense is the polar opposite. A defensive unit full of voids especially at the linebacker and defensive line positions, the Bills have a lot to fix early on. A line backing unit that has been struck with injuries as projected starters Reggie Ragland and Shaq Lawson are both expected to miss extended periods of time while rookie Adolphus Washington looks to make his mark in his league.
On the status of Ragland — Ryan stated, “The truth of the matter is, and I know reports out their say he’s got ‘this,’ he’s got ‘that.’ Guys, there isn’t one person that knows exactly what the injury is, the extent of the injury, until the swelling goes down. I think that’s the progression that we’ve talked about.”Look to see multiple players take reps at outside linebacker against the Colts to fill these voids. The development of this position as well as the other rookies on the roster will play a big role in the success the Bills achieve this season.
Against the Colts the Bills have the potential to answer many of the questions that they are faced with, whether they take advantage of the opportunity or only develop more questions remains to be seen.
