On the heels of a disappointing 8-8 season, the Buffalo Bills entered the off-season with a ton of questions. Can Rex Ryan fix a defense that was ranked 19th overall? Would the Bills use free agency or the draft to shore up the defense? Would Tyrod Taylor go to the next level and compete as a top tier quarterback?
Only Draymond Green from the Golden State Warriors could adequately answer the many questions. Will the Bills defense be better? Nope. Will this be the same old Bills defense? Yup. Will the new Bills have an impact on the defense this year? Nope. Will the Bills make it to the playoffs? Nope.
Will the Buffalo Bills Injury Bug Derail their Hopes of Ending A Long Playoff Drought?
The Buffalo brass knew Shaq Lawson would require surgery when they drafted him. So when he had surgery to repair his shoulder in May, it came as no surprise. With a full recovery, he could return to the field mid-season. The Lawson pick will either turn out to be a great call or a terrible risk. Either way Lawson won’t be much help this year. This is a “what have you have done for me lately” league, so the fans will expect greatness as soon as he hits the field.
The biggest fear for Ryan is that Lawson turns out to be another Jadeveon Clowney from the Houston Texans. He’s played 17 games the last two seasons accumulating 47 tackles and 4.5 sacks. While those statistics are average numbers for a mid round draft choice, Clowney was drafted first overall in 2014. Expectations for first round draft choices are always high. Drafting an ineffective player in the first round could set your team back several years. Thankfully, the rest of the Texans defense has rallied around J.J. Watt and become a top rated defense.
Ragland Also Out
With Lawson being a no-show until well into the season, high hopes are being placed on Reggie Ragland‘s shoulders. Ragland appeared to be on track to, as Ryan stated, “start off of the bus.” He was picking up the defense and ready to step in to make a difference. Rats! The injury bug bites again. Concern was heavy last week when Ragland went down with an apparent knee injury. It turns out Ragland tore his ACL and will either miss a huge portion of the season or all of it. At the very least, two of the Bills top draft picks will miss most of 2016.
Adolphus Washington is the last man standing from the highly-touted draft class. He has crazy upside and potential. He would have benefited from having athletes around him that could hide his deficiencies. But the new guys are gone and so is Mario Williams, to the Miami Dolphins. Williams led the Bills in sacks last year with five. Therefore, Washington needs to fill his spot and then some. Washington has first round expectations to fill.
Veterans get bit by injury bug too
Cordy Glenn, backside support to the league’s best running team, is out all pre-season with a high ankle sprain. The Bills expect Glenn to return for the regular season. Resting Glenn for the rest of the preseason is a precautionary move. If he misses some time, the Bills have the backups to fill in until his health improves.
Sammy Watkins is returning from a broken foot. His recovery has been slow. Taylor signed a huge extension and will need Watkins healthy if he is going to improve upon his 28th ranked passing offense. The Bills gave 92 million reasons why Taylor should be better, but with the defense losing major pieces, he will have to put up big numbers.
Help on the way?
The Bills signed former star Reggie Bush this off-season and re-signed former Bill Brandon Spikes. Bush was bit by the injury bug last season when he slipped on concrete in St. Louis while running out of bounds. Many believed his injury would be career-threatening.
The Bills brought back Spikes to fill the shoes of Ragland. Although Spikes was a defensive captain in 2014 with the Bills, they will need more than the 54 tackles he had that year. Backup linebacker IK Enemkpali was in line to receive major minutes, but he was just bit by the injury bug too. A torn ACL will sideline Enemkpali for the entire season.
The Bills were praised by many for having a great draft, but the injury bug has taken the best pieces off the field. The Bills were getting ready to make a push for the playoffs, but now they are reeling trying to put together a competitive product. While the Bills focus on pushing past the New England Patriots, they are stuck singing the next man up song.
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