By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
There’s no fully replacing defensive tackle Kyle Williams for the Buffalo Bills. He wasn’t just the heart and soul of the organization for his talent, he was the team. Williams spent all 13 years of the NFL career with the Bills.
While it seems like much longer, linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, who recently re-signed with the Bills on a one-year deal, is in a similar spot as Williams.
Alexander, who will be 36 when the season starts in 2019, is a well-respected member of the Bills’ locker room and across the NFL. Because of this, Alexander will be expected to become an even bigger leader in 2019 when the Bills take the field without Williams.
“(Signing Alexander) was big for us,” McDermott said on Tuesday at the 2019 Senior Bowl.
“We know the position flex he has, he play linebacker he plays up front, he has impact on special teams. When you look at the impact of losing Kyle, that’s a tough guy to replace, I don’t think you’re able to replace Kyle Williams. But a guy like Lorenzo who’s been around Kyle, who has his own way of doing things, his own personality, his own leadership style… in his right, (Alexander) will be valuable for us,” McDermott added.
While the Bills have several young starters in place on defense already, such as Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano, and Tre’Davious White, that doesn’t mean bringing back Alexander for another season isn’t important.
Buffalo has glaring needs on offense and holding pat with Alexander, even just for once more season which appears to be the case, helps the Bills by giving them flexibly to not worry about filling Alexander’s place. In addition, Alexander simply played well in 2018, so why not bring him back?
In total, Alexander had 74 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2018, up from only three in 2017. Where his career-bests come in were in passes defended (9) and interceptions (2). Digging deeper, the football analytics folks at Pro Football Focus graded Alexander as the Bills’ most improved played from last season to 2018. In 2017, Alexander earned an overall grade of 56.2 from PFF, which increased to 85.8 this year. That was the third-best improvement among any player in the NFL.
Alexander has also previously expressed his thoughts on the team in 2019. He think it’s going to be a good year for the Bills.
“Obviously something special is brewing here. I’ve been on some teams that have had some struggling years leading up to before they exploded so I kind of recognize some of those signs. Obviously, in any position, you never want to leave and then that’s when something special happens. That’s in the back of my mind. I see a lot of great talent… young talent here and they’re definitely going on the rise as far as their development. Next year I think is going to be something special that occurs here,” Alexander said before Buffalo’s season finale against the Dolphins.