Master Plan: Leadership for Losman & Co.

It has been a whirlwind first week of free agency for the Bills. With the flurry of activity surrounding the Bills, the master plan of Marv Levy and Dick Jauron is starting to be revealed. Before I dive into that master plan, though, let's first recap quickly what has happened in Buffalo:

- The Bills opened up free agency on Friday by signing three new offensive linemen. OG Derrick Dockery received a 7-year, $49 million deal with $18.5 million guaranteed. OT Langston Walker received a 5-year, $25 million deal, and OG Jason Whittle received a 1-year, $725K deal. Dockery is expected to start at left guard (replacing Mike Gandy), while Walker and Whittle are expected to compete for starting jobs on the right side of the line with Terrance Pennington, Brad Butler and Duke Preston.

- The team has parted ways with three of its biggest stars from 2006. CB Nate Clements agreed to a record-setting 8-year, $80 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers. The Redskins nabbed LB London Fletcher-Baker on a five-year, $25 million deal. Finally, the Bills traded RB Willis McGahee to the Baltimore Ravens yesterday, where he soon signed a 7-year, $40 million extension. In addition, players such as Anthony Thomas, Kiwaukee Thomas, Gandy, Andre' Davis and Daimon Shelton remain unsigned. Gandy and Shelton in particular are two more leaders from the '06 team who likely will not return.

- Several free agents have visited One Bills Drive since the first-day signings, and more will likely come. Two running backs have visited - Dominic Rhodes of the Colts and Chris Brown of the Titans. A third, former Patriot Corey Dillon, scheduled a visit but cancelled, saying he wanted to play for a more concrete playoff contender. The team is very likely to entertain more running backs as they search for a replacement for McGahee. Also, the team has entertained just one defensive free agent - former Falcons and Panthers safety Kevin McCadam.

A Loss of Leadership
What all of this activity means is that in effect, the Bills have lost some of their most prominent team leaders from the '06 season. Fletcher-Baker was the captain of the defense and a great community member. Clements was never really a vocal leader, but many of the young players in Buffalo's secondary looked up to him. Couple those losses with the eventual trade or release of Takeo Spikes, the Bills could be looking for a new leader on defense.

McGahee was far from a team leader, but he was the foundation of an offense that had a young quarterback in J.P. Losman (pictured top right of post), an even younger offensive line and unproven talent at the skill positions. Gandy was also considered by many to be the leader of the offensive line, so new leadership is needed there as well.

Young Guns Stepping Up
To me, the exodus of Buffalo's old leadership was done by design. If the Bills are going to take the next step and become more than just an infrequent playoff contender, Buffalo's young stars need to lead them there, not older vets from past (and difficult) eras. The Bills currently have a lot of young players on their roster with the potential to lead this team to greatness.

It starts with Losman. Levy has given the young signal-caller a revamped, much stronger offensive line. He has gotten rid of McGahee and will almost assuredly replace him with a stable of backs. Losman has a good array of wide receivers and tight ends. This is Losman's offense to lead now, and he's got to know it.

Melvin Fowler and Jason Peters are the two emerging stars on Buffalo's line. Along with Dockery, all three are expected to be the leaders of an offensive line that is much improved talent-wise, but needs to gel fast.

Lee Evans has the ability to be a team leader as well. The young veteran is the consummate professional, an emerging star and doesn't carry the ego of many of the league's more talented wideouts. He is a fan favorite in Buffalo and along with Losman could emerge as the face of Buffalo's offense.

Defensively, Angelo Crowell (pictured above, left) has the best chance of emerging as the defensive captain. The young veteran is coming off of injured reserve, but he fits Buffalo's Tampa-2 style of defense nicely and is the favorite to move to middle linebacker to replace Fletcher. The team is bound to be extremely young at linebacker, and Crowell will have to become the group's leader because of it. He's got the tools to be a mainstay in Buffalo's defense long-term.

Buffalo's two young safeties, Donte Whitner and Ko Simpson, will be counted on as well to be leaders. The Bills are going to very young in the secondary as well, so these two talents will need to step up and be playmakers as well. Whitner, as the first pick by Levy in his tenure as GM, needs to assert himself into the defense and become the impact player he was drafted to be. Simpson is in effect the quarterback of the defense from his free safety position, and he should flourish in that role while developing into a team leader as well.

Promising Future
For a while, fans may be concerned over the direction of this team. Fans will point out that the team has holes at linebacker and cornerback, and that the team still has yet to prove they have the talent to stop the run. They will mention that Losman has yet to prove he can perform consistently for a full season. I promise you, all of these moves are being made for a reason. The Buffalo Bills' future is now in the hands of its young stars. They have the chance to be special players, and they have the chance to lead this city to a place it hasn't visited since the early 1990s.

A place of greatness.