AFC East Preview/Buffalo Bills

Projected Roster

5 Trent Edwards QB 25 6-4 231 3 Stanford
11 Ryan Fitzpatrick QB 26 6-2 225 4 Harvard
10 Gibran Hamdan QB 28 6-4 220 3 Indiana

22 Fred Jackson RB 28 6-1 215 3 Coe
23 Marshawn Lynch RB 23 5-11 215 3 California
25 Xavier Omon RB 24 5-11 227 2 Northwest Missouri State
33 Dominic Rhodes RB 30 5-9 203 9 Midwestern State
38 Corey McIntyre FB 30 6-0 258 5 West Virginia

83 Lee Evans WR 28 5-10 197 6 Wisconsin
81 James Hardy WR 23 6-5 220 2 Indiana
81 Terrell Owens WR 35 6-3 224 14 Tennessee-Chattanooga
11 Roscoe Parrish WR 27 5-9 171 5 Miami (Fla.)
82 Josh Reed WR 29 5-10 210 8 Louisiana State

86 Derek Fine TE 25 6-3 247 2 Kansas
89 Shawn Nelson TE 23 6-5 240 R Southern Mississippi
80 Derek Schouman TE 24 6-2 223 3 Boise State

63 Geoff Hangartner C/G 27 6-5 301 5 Texas A&M
66 Seth McKinney C/G 30 6-3 310 8 Texas A&M
50 Marvin Philip C 27 6-1 307 1 California
70 Eric Wood OL 23 6-4 315 R Louisville
67 Andy Levitre G 23 6-2 305 R Oregon State
77 Demetrius Bell T 25 6-5 307 2 Northwestern State-Louisiana
60 Brad Butler T 25 6-7 315 4 Virginia
73 Kirk Chambers T/G 30 6-7 315 5 Stanford
79 Jonathan Scott T 26 6-6 318 3 Texas
68 Langston Walker T 29 6-8 366 8 California

Defense
92 Ryan Denney DE 32 6-7 264 8 Brigham Young
90 Chris Kelsay DE 29 6-4 261 7 Nebraska
58 Aaron Maybin DE 21 6-4 250 R Penn State
72 Ryan Neill DE/LS 26 6-3 253 3 Rutgers
94 Aaron Schobel DE 31 6-4 243 9 Texas Christian

91 Spencer JohnsonDT 27 6-3 286 6 Auburn
97 John McCargo DT 25 6-2 307 4 North Carolina State
99 Marcus Stroud DT 31 6-6 310 9 Georgia
95 Kyle Williams DT 26 6-1 306 4 Louisiana State

56 Keith Ellison LB 25 6-0 229 4 Oregon State
49 Nic Harris LB/S 22 6-2 232 R Oklahoma
59 Kawika Mitchell LB 29 6-1 253 7 South Florida
61 Ashlee Palmer LB 23 6-1 236 R Mississippi
51 Paul Posluszny LB 24 6-1 238 3 Penn State
55 Pat Thomas LB 26 6-1 237 5 North Carolina State

31 Jairus Byrd CB 22 5-10 200 R Oregon
29 Drayton Florence CB 28 6-0 195 7 Tuskegee
47 Cary Harris CB 22 5-11 188 R USC
46 Ellis Lankster CB 22 5-9 190 R West Virginia
24 Terrence McGee CB 28 5-9 198 7 Northwestern State-Louisiana
28 Leodis McKelvin CB 23 5-10 184 2 Troy

43 Bryan Scott S 28 6-1 219 7 Penn State
30 Ko Simpson S 25 6-1 202 3 South Carolina
20 Donte Whitner S 24 5-10 208 4 Ohio State
37 George Wilson S 28 6-0 212 4 Arkansas
Special Teams
9 Rian Lindell PK 32 6-3 233 10 Washington State
8 Brian Moorman P 33 6-0 172 9 Pittsburg State

Position Battles

Trent Edwards is now solidified as the starting QB and forced J.P.Losman to sign with the new UFL. Ex-Bengal Ryan Fitzpatrick should be the backup QB, with Gibran Hamdan staging a preseason battle with Matt Baker to see who will become the 3rd string QB.
RB Marshawn Lynch will again be the starting RB, but Fred Jackson will see his share of time,especially with Lynch likely to miss at least one game, but up to three games if he cannot whittle down his pending suspension. Ex-Colt Dominic Rhodes will be a valuable 3rd RB, with Corey McIntyre the likely candidate to win the starting FB job. 2nd year RB Xavier Omon will have to battle Bruce Hall for a roster spot.
WR Terrell Owens comes over from the Cowboys to give them the big time WR they have been missing, and Lee Evans now becomes an impressive 2nd WR. Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish will compete for the 3rd and 4th WR jobs, with James Hardy likely filling the no.5 spot as long as he can become healthy enough to start the season.
Rookie TE Shawn Nelson should eventually take over as the no.1 TE,with Derek Fine and Derek Schouman, who may also play FB, fighting for the 2nd TE job.
Geoff Hangartner will more than likely be the starting center, but there is a possibility he could play G while rookie Eric Wood mans the center spot. Either way Wood should start along with fellow rookie G Andy Levitre. T Brad Butler will likely also be a starter now with Jason Peters moving to Philadelphia, with Langston Walker starting at LT. Kirk Chambers and Seth McKinney will likely provide depth along the line, while Marvin Phillip,Jonathon Scott,and Demetrius Bell all compete with Chris Denman to find a place on the final roster.
DE Aaron Schobel along with Ryan Denney will likely be the starters at DE, with Chris Kelsay again backing up and rookie Aaron Maybin likely moving to OLB as a starter. DT Marcus Stroud is a solid starter and John McCargo, who needs to stay healthy, will battle Kyle Williams for a starting position and playing time. Spencer Johnson will provide depth.
LB's Kawicka Mitchell and Paul Posluszny are solid starters, but Keith Ellison may find his starting job in jeopardy if Maybin can make the move to LB. Pat Thomas and rookie Nic Harris, who may also play safety, will provide depth at LB, while rookie free agent Ashlee Palmer should be good enough to solidify a roster spot.
CB Terrence McGee should start at CB with 2nd year CB Leodis McKelvin trying to fend off rookie Jairus Byrd for the other starting job. Drayton Florence will provide depth in the dime package,but here is where the preseason is going to count for the Bills as he must outplay rookies Ellis Lankster and Cary Harris, as well as oft-injured Ashton Youboty and second year CB Reggie Corner for playing time as well as a place on the final roster.
S Bryan Scott could be the best safety on the team, but Ko Simpson and a healthy Donte Whitner will also compete to see if they have what it takes to start in 2009. George Wilson will provide backup help.

Schedule
1 Mon, Sep 14 @ New England 7:00 PM
2 Sun, Sep 20 Tampa Bay 4:05 PM
3 Sun, Sep 27 New Orleans 4:05 PM
4 Sun, Oct 4 @ Miami 4:05 PM
5 Sun, Oct 11 Cleveland 1:00 PM
6 Sun, Oct 18 @ NY Jets 4:15 PM
7 Sun, Oct 25 @ Carolina 4:05 PM
8 Sun, Nov 1 Houston 1:00 PM
9 BYE WEEK
10 Sun, Nov 15 @ Tennessee 1:00 PM
11 Sun, Nov 22 @ Jacksonville 1:00 PM
12 Sun, Nov 29 Miami 1:00 PM
13 Thu, Dec 3 NY Jets 8:20 PM
15 Sun, Dec 20 New England 1:00 PM
16 Sun, Dec 27 @ Atlanta 1:00 PM
17 Sun, Jan 3 Indianapolis 1:00 PM

Preseason Preview
While QB Trent Edwards is improving, and they have added WR Terrell Owens to the offense, the offensive line still needs to get better, and they need to improve on defense as well. RB Marshawn Lynch can be dazzling at times, and pull a disappearing act at others. How long his suspension will be could have some effect as well, but with Fred Jackson proving he can be a capable replacement and the addition of ex-Colt Dominic Rhodes, his presence won't be missed as much. The question becomes how much production can they squeeze out of this ground game though with two rookies possibly starting on the offensive line and can Brad Butler or Langston Walker make up for the loss of Pro Bowl tackle Jason Peters? The WR's are solid, especially with Owens and Lee Evans as the starters, but can this line give Trent Edwards enough time to find them on a consistent basis? Rookie TE Shawn Nelson could also have a positive effect on the passing game, but his pass catching skills may suffer some as they likely will have to keep him on the line a lot for extra protection.
The defense also has some question marks, although they are still solid up front with DE Aaron Schobel now healthy and DE's Ryan Denney, Chris Kelsay, and DT Marcus Stroud all productive players at their positions. Rookie Aaron Maybin should make a positive impact whether he ends up playing DE or LB, but a key here is if either McCargo or Kyle Williams can step it up and become as valuable as Stroud at DT. LB's Paul Posluszny and Kawicka Mitchell are also very good, but if either of them has any trouble making it through the season, I'd be hard pressed to think that Pat Thomas or rookie Nic Harris could give them the same kind of production. Also, if Keith Ellison again has to start at LB, he will need to become more of a playmaker for them to improve. CB Terrence McGee is a very good CB, but how good McKelvin or Byrd can be could also have a lot to do with how good,or bad, this defense will be. Another key here if safety Donte Whitner can return to form after coming back from injury and live up to the potential that was expected when he was drafted 3 years ago.
K Rian Lindell could be one of the most under-rated players at his position and could be an improvement to almost every other team in the NFL. P Brian Moorman is no stiff himself, and at least the two of them, along with Leodis McKelvin returning kicks and Roscoe Parrish returning punts, provide the Bills with some of the best special teams play in the NFL.
Overall, I don't think the Bills have a favorable schedule in 2009, so I wouldn't expect as much from them as some people might think. 2-14? Maybe! They should at least go 1-15, so don't expect a total disaster like an 0 for the season. At best though, I can't see them finishing any better than 7-9. As life goes in the NFL, they may win some games you would expect them to lose, and they may lose some you expect them to win, but overall, with problems still on the offensive line and still a couple of players away from an elite defense, winning more than a couple of games in 2009 could be tough.

Fantasy Outlook
QB Trent Edwards should only be used as a backup QB or bye week matchup.
RB Marshawn Lynch should be an effective no.2 RB or very good no.3
RB Fred Jackson should be a nice late round pickup,especially early in the year when he will be filling in for Lynch.
Terrell Owens is still a nice no.1 WR. Lee Evans is still a good WR no.3, but don't be fooled into taking him too high,especially as your no.2 WR.
Possible sleepers-WR Josh Reed,WR Roscoe Parrish,RB Dominic Rhodes