OVERALL FANTASY IMPACT: Below Average

OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK: The Bills major offseason acquisitions, through trade (DT Marcus Stroud), free agency (LB Kawika Mitchell) and the draft (CB Leodis McKelvin) were all aimed at the defensive side.

The offense will have to improve from within via the young players the coaches are trusting, but most Bills skill players seem like weak fantasy options.

QUARTERBACK: Trent Edwards appears to be the man for now, since the coaching staff seems to have lost all faith in J.P. Losman. The addition of rookie James Hardy gives Edwards a big target that he lacked last season, but that’s not enough to suggest that Edwards will improve dramatically from the 7 TD passes (4 of which came in one game against Miami) in 10 games he posted a year ago.

The ironic thing is that Losman is probably a better fantasy option with his gunslinger mentality and running ability, but neither should be considered as anything more than a stopgap fantasy option.

RUNNING BACKS: Marshwan Lynch is the one guy to watch on this roster. He rumbled for over 1,100 yards as a rookie despite missing three games, and he really got going late, posting all three of his 100-yard efforts in his last six starts. The worry is that the passing game will be so poor that defenses will simply stack the box against Lynch, but he’s still a third-round fantasy pick, at the latest, and has the ability to be a go-to fantasy back. Fred Jackson showed potential in a few starts while Lynch was hurt, and he added more of a receiving element than Lynch, so he could get some time as a third-down back, making him worth a roster spot in deep leagues.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: After a breakout 2006 that put him in the top-10 receivers on Draft Day 2007, Lee Evans went backward in a big way. His yards dropped from 1292 to 849, and his 5 TD’s were a career low. It doesn’t seem like he’ll ever be a guy who catches 80 or 90 passes in a year, so, if you draft him, you’ll be waiting on the long TD catch that, more weeks than not, will not come. Rookie second-round pick James Hardy seems like a red-zone threat with his 6′5″ frame, but he’s not a polished route-runner yet. Roscoe Parrish has never developed the receiving skills to match his punt-return abilities, and Josh Reed gets catches but no scores as a possession guy. Tight end has been a forgotten position in Buffalo since the brief glory days of Jay Riemersma. Robert Royal is the starter but is mainly an extra offensive lineman.