Black and Teal » CJ Spiller

Enemy Intel: Bills-Jaguars Q&A with BuffaLowDown

Andrew Hofheimer — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 13:59:13 +0000

Editor’s Note: We’re very lucky here at Black&Teal to be part of Fansided, a wide-reaching network of blogs for every NFL team (as well as a huge selection of NBA, NHL, MLB, and other blogs as well). We’d be dumb not to take advantage of these resources, so welcome to our new feature: Enemy Intel. Each week, we’ll be checking in with the staff from the Fansided blog representing the Jaguars’ opponent for that the week.

This week, we’ll be talking with Brad Andrews, editor of BuffaLowDown.com, Fansided’s Bills Blog. A huge thanks to Brad for taking the time to update us on what’s going on in Buffalo this preseason.

Black&Teal: What’s going on with the Bills RB situation? Do you think Chan Gailey plans to do the committee approach all year or will he ultimately pick a starter? What is CJ Spiller’s projection for this year and the future?

BuffaLowDown: I think ultimately Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller will end up splitting work, with Jackson being the nominal starter but Spiller seeing a bunch of action. Jackson’s a proven commodity, but you have to see what you have in Spiller after using a top-ten draft pick to take him last year. Spiller should have a nice year. He’s looked pretty decent in the preseason thus far, hitting holes much more decisively than during his disapointing rookie season. The knock on Spiller is that he can’t pass protect well at all (while Jackson is supberb in that regard) so it will tough for him to play on passing downs if he can’t improve. (more…)

Jaguars/Bills Preview with Buffalo Low Down

Terry OBrien — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:58:54 +0000

It was my pleasure to join Paul Miller, lead blogger from Buffalo Low Down in a discussion on the Buffalo Bills. I am not as much worried about how the Jaguars will beat the Bills, that is not a hard plan. I am more interested in the state of the franchise and how things look. I do have to warn you all, the opposing NFL teams have been openly laughing at the Bill players. They are in no mood to lose and the Jaguars better be ready for a fight. Just sayin….

B&T: The Bills have a history of fantastic running backs from Cookie Gilchrist through Marshawn Lynch. Is CJ Spiller going to be a hall of fame running back for the Bills?

Many Bills fans scratched their heads when the Bills drafted C.J.

Spiller 9th overall in the draft, but after an explosive preseason, 26 carries for 122 yards (4.69 average per carry) and three touchdowns, the fans of Buffalo had changed their opinion about the running back out of Clemson.

Unfortunately, as the Bills enter week 5, Spiller has only 14 rushing attempts, so it is way to early to tell if Spiller can become a hall of fame running back.

With Lynch now traded to Seattle, I expect to see a lot more of Spiller out of the backfield, which hopefully leads to a lot more points on the board for the Bills and gives the coaching staff a chance to see if Spiller is indeed the real deal.

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Should the Jaguars draft C.J. Spiller?

Terry OBrien — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:37:25 +0000

Imagine this: David Garrard is under center. Mike Simms-Walker is split to the left, Troy Williamson is split wide right, Marcedes Lewis next to Eben Britton. Behind David in a T-formation is (left) Maurice Jones Drew and (right) C.J. Spiller. There is a blitz from the left side and Maurice pancakes his man. Marcedes Lewis helps Eben Britton hold the block on the right. Mike Sims-Walker clears out the corner on the left side going deep . C.J. Spiller slips through the line and the left side of the field is wide open. David flips him a seven yard pass. Anyone want to guess what happens next?

Next play, same formation. Marcedes chips a blitzer from the right and drifts out over the middle. David fakes a play action pass to Maurice as C.J. Spiller picks up the blitz from the right. The middle linebacker is frozen with MJD and C.J. in the backfield, the right corner blitzed and the outside linebacker is trying to cover Troy Williamson with safety help. There is no one 15 yards over the middle where Marcedes has drifted.

Last fantasy, Troy Williamson and Marcedes are on the right side, C.J. Spiller behind David. Troy goes deep. C.J. Spiller comes out of the backfield and goes deep. Marcedes goes deep. In the blink of an eye, the Jaguars have three guys flooding the defensive backfield. David needs three seconds of time to find a man 30 yards down field.

Watch this video and imagine for yourself what Dirk Koetter must be thinking.

The possibilities for the offense with C.J. Spiller are so exciting and so dynamic, I can understand why there are a lot of people excited about C.J. possibly coming to the Jaguars.

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