They Did What? Explaining The Buffalo Bills Recent Roster Moves

The Buffalo Bills have been headlining ESPN personalities' twitter pages, ESPNEWS bottom-lines, and sports blog updates this preseason. All in the past week.

After one of the poorest preseasons to date, the Bills have made some, for a lack of a better term, "surprising" roster moves. Let's outline them.

Schonert Out, Van Pelt In

Days after the Bills' preseason finale against the Detroit Lions, Buffalo's front office, led by head coach Dick Jauron relieved offensive coordinator Turk Schonert of his play calling duties, in turn firing him. Alex Van Pelt, the former Bill, and at the time, the quarterback's coach was promoted to offensive coordinator.

On cut-down day, normally a sad, but meaningless afternoon, the Bills parted ways with veteran running back Dominic Rhodes—a signee during a busy 2009 offseason. This left Fred Jackson, Xavier Omon, and fullback Corey McIntyre on the roster for opening night.

Today, Langston Walker was released after the Bills allegedly couldn't find a team willing to trade for the 6'8'', 368 pound tackle. Walker's preseason wasn't glaringly awful, but the coaching staff wasn't impressed at his transition from right to left tackle.

Because of this drop, Kirk Chambers was re-signed after being a victim of cut-down day on Saturday. He and second-year player Demetrius Bell are slated to fill the left tackle position.

What does all this mean?

Well to start, it's definitely tough to figure out exactly what's going through the Bills' management's minds right now.

The Good, The Bad

Going chronologically, the Turk Schonert firing wasn't a monster surprise. His "War and Peace"-thick playbook wasn't clicking with a talented, but young offense. He instituted the no-huddle, but the plays simply weren't being relayed quickly enough.

The mark he left remains on the offense, but Van Pelt shouldn't have much trouble tweaking the playbook to simplify everything for Trent Edwards, while taking more shots down the field.

The Good

Van Pelt is allegedly asking for player suggestions on which plays run well, when they do, and against which defenses. Also giving Edwards the option to call his own plays speeds up the no-huddle attack. It allows for the Bills' play makers—and trust me, they have them—to make plays.

The Bad

Van Pelt's promotion probably couldn't have come at a worse time. Outside of play calling in NFL Europe, he's new to this. Tougher yet, he's game planning for a team that's had the Bills' number for the last six years.

With only a week to prepare for the Patriots, Van Pelt doesn't have time to scrap off any rust, and any mishaps during the Monday Night affair could lead to another embarrassing defeat on national TV.

Cutting Dominic Rhodes opened my eyes a bit more than the Schonert firing did. I was actually calling for a new offensive coordinator, but was completely content with the running back situation.

Rhodes didn't standout in the preseason contests, but no one really did. The fact of the matter is that he's still a viable change-of-pace runner in this league.

The Good

Hard to find a whole lot here. If Rhodes was indeed unwilling to pass block, the move is a bit more understandable. Xavier Omon will be on display at least for the team's first three games, and showed a quick burst through the hole this summer. His scoring prowess in college is well documented, as he scored nearly 100 touchdowns while at Northwest Missouri State.

He was very aggressive picking up blitzes, after an offseason where he shed fat and added muscle. Omon may be another success story in Buffalo's backfield. Maybe. Possibly.

The Bad

For as much as I'm trying to talk up the former Division II star Omon, he's carried the ball six times for five yards as a professional. Fred Jackson hasn't had problems rushing against the Patriots, but his finger injury creates worry about ball security.

After New England, the Buccaneers and Saints don't pose a major threat against the run, but Jackson and Omon will need to fight for every yard. Marshawn Lynch will be welcomed back, BIG TIME in Week Four.

Langston Walker's departure from Buffalo had the biggest shock value out of the three latest roster/coaching moves. His size alone makes him an average blocker, but it's his uncharacteristically nimble feet that make him a solid NFL tackle.

The Good

The news of Walker's release was initially disheartening, but I've received information that Demetrius Bell, who hasn't practiced in over a week, will return to the practice field tomorrow. Sigh of relief.

He, along with re-signed vet Kirk Chambers are formidable enough to block Trent Edwards' blind side. I think. Bell has loads of potential, and has already been dubbed by some analysts "the next Jason Peters."

If he has a strong performance against the Pats, who are now without Richard Seymour, it'll build confidence for a budding star on Buffalo's offensive line.

The Bad

It sounds like Bell will start on MNF, which means the Bills will begin the game with basically three rookies on their line. Eric Wood and Andy Levitre saw much more preseason action than Bell due to his injury, but Bell has a year of practice and some game experience on this years' draftees.

This line was shuffled completely heading into the 2009 campaign and Walker's release leads to even more confusion on an offensive line that needs to gel, or else.

Bell needs to begin work with Levitre on assignments and double teams because offensive lines function well as one, not just individual players blocking.

Tough spot to put the rook's in.

Maybe the Bills have a great plan in store, maybe they don't, but they surely are cutting guys that aren't playing up to their heightened expectations.