The Buffalo Bills are heading into the 2009 season without a safety net at backup QB.  The Bills have replaced J.P. Losman with Ryan Fitzpatrick and that’s a huge downgrade.  With that in mind the Bills need injury prone QB Trent Edwards to stay upright if the offense is going to have any success.  Edwards is a solid QB as he has a good throwing arm and with T.O. and Lee Evans lining up at WR it gives the Bills a good chance to have a good downfield passing attack.  If anything happens to Edwards the Bills’ season will likely go right into the toilet.  Fitzpatrick doesn’t have much of an arm as his feet are his best asset on the football field.  The Bengals went into the tank last season when Carson Palmer got injured and Fitzpatrick had to play.  Untested Gibran Hamdan and Matt Baker will battle for the #3 QB job this summer.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  C-

The Bills have invited undrafted QB Cullen Harper in for a tryout.  Harper went undrafted because he didn’t follow up his outstanding 2007 season with a good senior year in 2008.  Harper has good size at 6′2″, 227 pounds but he doesn’t have a rocket arm.  He is very accurate on the short stuff.  In four years at Clemson, Harper played in 31 games (25 starts) in which he completed 518 of 815 passes (63.6%) for 5,762 yards with 42 TD passes and 20 interceptions.  Harper win the #3 QB job for the Bills with a good showing in his tryout.  This was a good gamble for the Bills as Harper does have some upside.

The Bills were really impressed with Ellis Lankster senior season at West Virginia and that’s likely why they took him in the 7th round.  Lankster is on the small side at 5′9″, 181 pounds and he’s not the fastest corner around running a 4.51 40.  But, it’s hard to measure the heart and Lankster has a big one.  Plus, he’s also an asset on special teams which likely helped his cause with the Bills.  Lankster made 84 tackles, forced 1 fumble and he intercepted 4 passes (60 yards) in his time at West Virginia.  He also returned 26 punts for 171 yards (6.6 avg) and 8 kickoffs for 195 yards (24.4 avg) in his career at West Virginia.

The Bills got great value in selecting Carey Harris in the 6th round as Pro Football Weekly had him projected to be selected in the 2nd or 3rd round.  Harris is only 5′11″, 188 pounds which has led him to be a tad injury prone.  But, Harris runs a 4.4 40 and could develop into a classic pass defender at the corner slot.  Harris was also a standout special teams player at USC likely catching the Bills’ eyes.  Harris played in 49 games (34 starts) in his 4-year career at USC in which he made 143 tackles, broke up 17 passes, had 5 interceptions (42 yards), forced 3 fumbles and he recovered 2 fumbles.  This was another outstanding pick by the Bills.

Nic Harris is a big safety who the Bills likely envision as a outside linebacker down the road.  Harris is 6′2″, 233 pounds but he runs a 4.7 40 and that is not good enough to defend the deep middle of the field.  Harris is a standout on special teams and that’s likely where he’ll earn his paycheck initially for the Bills.  Harris played in 52 games (39 starts) in his 4 years at Oklahoma and he made 233 tackles, broke up 21 passes, had 7 interceptions (44 yards), forced 6 fumbles and he recovered a fumble.  Harris was a solid 5th round choice who has a decent upside.