Power Ranking Number 32: Buffalo Bills

Well it might be a long season in Buffalo, New York this year for the Bills and their fans. Terrell Owens last season provided some excitement, but he is gone. They drafted running back C.J. Spiller this past April, but it might hard for him to make the electric runs that we saw last season at Clemson without much of a passing threat and a lack of a great offensive line. But the Bills are resting there season hopes on Spiller and other running back Marshawn Lynch who many thought that the Bills would trade this off-season but haven’t yet.

The Bills are switching from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense with new head coach Chan Gailey. Because of that is looks like one of the Bills best players on defense Aaron Schobel is going to retire then try to play outside linebacker in the new 3-4 defense. The defensive switch will also hurt defensive tackle Marcus Stroud who will be asked to either play nose tackle or defensive end which either aren’t his natural positions.

The biggest question mark surrounding this team is who will be the quarterback when they open the season week one against the Miami Dolphins. Many people thought that they would draft Jimmy Clausen with their first round pick, but they pasted on him. So going into training camp you have Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Brohm, and rookie Levi Brown all fighting for the starting quarterback spot.

Look for the Buffalo Bills to be possible have the number one pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

How the McNabb trade effects the draft.

With the news that the Philadelphia Eagles traded quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins, not only is Washington getting a possible Hall of Fame type quarterback but now the impact of the NFL Draft will be felt.

Now with the Redskins have their quarterback there is no shot that they will draft Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, if like we figure the St. Louis Rams draft Sam Bradford number one overall. The Redskins will most likely draft the best offensive tackle at number four hoping that Russell Okung of Oklahoma State is still there.

So the biggest question mark is where does Clausen go, well right now it looks like he will be available for the Buffalo Bills to select him with the ninth overall pick, but if he doesn’t go there how far will he fall. Would the Jacksonville Jaguars think about him at number ten? Or what about the San Francisco 49ers and one of their two first round picks if they are not sold on Alex Smith. Then there is always the Oakland Raiders, and we know they where looking at Donovan McNabb. A dark house could be the Kansas City Chiefs, since Clausen’s former head coach Charlie Weis is now the offensive coordinator and he has been all around the country working out college quarterback so that tells me they are not sold on quarterback Matt Cassel.

The other person in this situation is Jason Campbell and where does he go now, the Redskins don’t have to trade him, but I would think that they would want to. Some dentations for him could be Buffalo, Jacksonville, Carolina, Cleveland, or even Oakland. We have to see, but things now are getting more interesting.

Another note of interest, the Eagles only have two quarterbacks on their roster, so expect them to draft one late, or sign a few as un-drafted rookie free-agents.

S Mike Newton, Buffalo: Pro Day Star

Buffalo safety Mike Newton had a great pro day to open up the pro day schedule that NFL Scouts, GM and Head Coaches will be attending in the next month leading up to the NFL Draft. Newton who has started since his red-shirt freshman year was 5-10 197 pounds, ran a 4.46 and a 4.48, 40 yard dash, which would have been second for all safeties at the NFL Combine. He had a 41 inch vertical jump again which would have been tied for second among all safeties at the NFL Combine with USC Taylor Mays. He had a 10 foot broard jump, ran a 6.94 3 cone drill, a 4.17, 20 yard shuttle. The only thing that he didn’t do as well was the 225 bench, which he only had 9 reps.

There where 12 teams at the work which where the Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, and the Atlanta Falcons. He was also asked to defensive back drills by the Packers, Eagles, Bills, Browns, Jets and Saints.

Buffalo Bills hire Chan Gailey

The Buffalo Bills have hired former Dallas Cowboys and Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey as their new coach, making him the fifth coach hired by the Bills in the last 10 years.

Gailey was coach of the Cowboys in 1998-99, and reached the playoffs in both seasons but failed to win a playoff game. He coached Georgia Tech from 2002 through 2007 and led the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game in all six seasons at the helm.

Gailey last job was as offensive coordinator of the Kansas Chiefs, who hired him in 2008 and end up firing him after three preseason games in 2009.

The Bills tried to hire the likes of Bill Cowher and Mike Shanahan, Shanahan took the Washington Redskins job and Cowher decided not to go back into coaching this year.

The question will be is this a good hire and can Gailey take the Bills to the playoffs in a small market and going up against the teams in the AFC East. To me right now this doesn’t look like one of the better hires in the NFL, and I think it could be very possible that the Bills will be looking for another head coach in another three years.

Coaches on the Hot Seat

Here are seven head coaches that are on the hot seat already six weeks into the NFL season.

1. Washington Redskins, Jim Zorn – Zorn has been on the hot seat since Week 1 of this season and most likely will have to make the playoffs to save his job. This week he has already lost his offensive play calling role to Sherman Lewis who was just brought in by the Redskins as a consultant and now is the offensive coordinator.

2. Oakland Raiders, Tom Cable – Cable has the Raiders 2-4, but the team has look horrible on offense and with his off the field issue where Randy Hanson reportedly told police that he punched him and broke his jaw. If he doesn’t show improvement on offense and win at least 5 games this season you could see Al Davis make another coaching move.

3. Buffalo Bills, Dick Jauron – Jauron like Cable has the Bills at 2-4 and his offense has also been bad, they fired their offensive coordinator before the season but that hasn’t improved the situation. The Bills might not fire Jauron because of the economics with the Bills and owner Ralph Wilson.

4. Tennessee Titans, Jeff Fisher – Fisher is the longest tenured head coach in the NFL, but with the Titans coming off a 13-3 season and starting the season 0-6, it doesn’t sit well with owner Bud Adams. Adams is thinking Fisher time might have run it course and it could be time to go in another direction.

5. Cleveland Browns, Eric Mangini – Mangini is in his first year in Cleveland, but things aren’t looking good for him. The team hasn’t performed and many players have complained about Mangini and the way he runs a team. Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar has joined the team as a consultant, and will help evaluated Mangini performance.

6. Carolina Panthers, John Fox – Fox has guided the Panthers to two straight wins, but will need to keep the wins coming, because it is public knowledge that former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher has a home in Charlotte, NC and would like to get back in to coaching that the Panthers seem to be a perfect fit for him.

7. Dallas Cowboys, Wade Phillips – Phillips will need to get the Cowboys into the playoffs or owner Jerry Jones will fire him and bring in a big name head coach like Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, or Mike Holmgren to guide the Cowboys in the 2010 season.