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My thoughts on Easley and the future of our offense
You can call it a hunch, you can call it blind homerism, or unfounded enthusiasm. But, it is my opinion that Marcus Easley is going to be our number two wide receiver in the (near) future and a good one at that.
I had the privilege of watching one or two of Easley's games this past season, but finally took the time to sit down and go through his highlight reel for the first time, tonight.
I know that he has a lot of work to do, being a walk on player and only having one year of solid playtime. But there are flashes there of his speed and instinct. He's got good hands too, people.
I just see something in this kid. Even the way he conducted himself on ESPN First Take was a breath of fresh air.
I haven't been this excited about one of our rookies in a while.
Sure, I can't wait to see Spiller in action. I know he is a future pro bowler and we are going to have him as an offensive focal point for years to come.
But, something about Easley screams star wide receiver to me.
I guess we'll see soon enough, but I think we got two offensive building blocks in this year's draft.
Gaither would sure be a welcomed addition. If we were to land Gaither our offense could look like this:
Offensive line:
Gaither at left tackle: A young, reliable starter at the most crucial position on the offensive line. He would be a good blindside protector for this team.
Levitre at left guard: Proved last year to be a durable, solid starting left guard.
Hangnarter at center: For now at least, he is an adequate stop gap. I would love nothing better than for Wood to move to the pivot and make Hangnarter expendable.
Wood at right guard: This kid, if he returns healthy, is going to be a dominate force in the middle for years. Whether he plays center or guard.
Bell/Wang/Meredith at right tackle: Any way you go here, there is youth and depth. Whether or not there is talent remains to be seen.
It has the makings of a good, young, talented offensive line.
Backfield:
Anyway you spin it we have talent back there. Jackson is 30 and not getting any younger. So, keeping Lynch seems like a smart decision. Add in Spiller to the mix and we look really solid at running back.
Quarterback:
A new, improved Brohm or Edwards or a high first-round rookie next year.
Tight end:
I don't know about anyone else on here, but I for one think that Nelson is going to be a really good tight end for us. Schouman wasn't too shabby before his injury last season. We may need a better blocker if we are planning to run, run, run.
Wide receiver:
Very young and like right tackle, its an unproven area with unknown talent.
A starter opposite Lee Evans could very well emerge from the likes of Easley, Hardy or Johnson. If one does, then we have a Roscoe for the slot and young depth across the board. Wide receiver is a mystery, but if Easley is as good as I think he will be then we are set.
I don't know folks. There are going to be growing pains on both sides of the ball, but let's just say for the hell of it that we hypothetically get Gaither (or Brown from NO), Brohm or Edwards hypothetically click under Gailey and Easley or another WR step up to be a true number two.
Well, that doesn't look like a bad offense. If Gailey really knows offense, he has youth to work with.
Sorry for the optimism. I was in the mood for a good, positive rant tonight after watching Easley in action. I'll probably become negative as soon as rookie mini camp is over and I start remembering that we still have enigmas all across the roster and our QB position is still in a state of flux.
Even so, there may be a little hope right now for the blind homer, or unfounded enthusiast in all of us Bills fans. We have a lot of youth that has yet to untap its potential. Jauron preferred to start veterans over his young players. So we never really got to see what we have in a lot of our 2nd-3rd year guys.
We'll see I guess. I don't expect a top ten offense, but I do expect improvement.
Rant, over.
I had the privilege of watching one or two of Easley's games this past season, but finally took the time to sit down and go through his highlight reel for the first time, tonight.
I know that he has a lot of work to do, being a walk on player and only having one year of solid playtime. But there are flashes there of his speed and instinct. He's got good hands too, people.
I just see something in this kid. Even the way he conducted himself on ESPN First Take was a breath of fresh air.
I haven't been this excited about one of our rookies in a while.
Sure, I can't wait to see Spiller in action. I know he is a future pro bowler and we are going to have him as an offensive focal point for years to come.
But, something about Easley screams star wide receiver to me.
I guess we'll see soon enough, but I think we got two offensive building blocks in this year's draft.
Gaither would sure be a welcomed addition. If we were to land Gaither our offense could look like this:
Offensive line:
Gaither at left tackle: A young, reliable starter at the most crucial position on the offensive line. He would be a good blindside protector for this team.
Levitre at left guard: Proved last year to be a durable, solid starting left guard.
Hangnarter at center: For now at least, he is an adequate stop gap. I would love nothing better than for Wood to move to the pivot and make Hangnarter expendable.
Wood at right guard: This kid, if he returns healthy, is going to be a dominate force in the middle for years. Whether he plays center or guard.
Bell/Wang/Meredith at right tackle: Any way you go here, there is youth and depth. Whether or not there is talent remains to be seen.
It has the makings of a good, young, talented offensive line.
Backfield:
Anyway you spin it we have talent back there. Jackson is 30 and not getting any younger. So, keeping Lynch seems like a smart decision. Add in Spiller to the mix and we look really solid at running back.
Quarterback:
A new, improved Brohm or Edwards or a high first-round rookie next year.
Tight end:
I don't know about anyone else on here, but I for one think that Nelson is going to be a really good tight end for us. Schouman wasn't too shabby before his injury last season. We may need a better blocker if we are planning to run, run, run.
Wide receiver:
Very young and like right tackle, its an unproven area with unknown talent.
A starter opposite Lee Evans could very well emerge from the likes of Easley, Hardy or Johnson. If one does, then we have a Roscoe for the slot and young depth across the board. Wide receiver is a mystery, but if Easley is as good as I think he will be then we are set.
I don't know folks. There are going to be growing pains on both sides of the ball, but let's just say for the hell of it that we hypothetically get Gaither (or Brown from NO), Brohm or Edwards hypothetically click under Gailey and Easley or another WR step up to be a true number two.
Well, that doesn't look like a bad offense. If Gailey really knows offense, he has youth to work with.
Sorry for the optimism. I was in the mood for a good, positive rant tonight after watching Easley in action. I'll probably become negative as soon as rookie mini camp is over and I start remembering that we still have enigmas all across the roster and our QB position is still in a state of flux.
Even so, there may be a little hope right now for the blind homer, or unfounded enthusiast in all of us Bills fans. We have a lot of youth that has yet to untap its potential. Jauron preferred to start veterans over his young players. So we never really got to see what we have in a lot of our 2nd-3rd year guys.
We'll see I guess. I don't expect a top ten offense, but I do expect improvement.
Rant, over.
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