Life moves pretty fast. I think it was Ferris Bueller who said that. That's what I was thinking about while watching the Buffalo Bills exhibition game on Saturday night, and their impressive rushing attack.
Because it wasn't long ago where we were speculating how early you needed to draft last year's rookie sensation Karlos Williams to make sure you get him -- not as a handcuff to LeSean McCoy, but as a running back to start on a regular basis, whether McCoy was playing or not. Last year Williams appeared in 11 games and scored touchdowns in eight of them, including his first six. He had a pair of 100-yard rushing performances, and those were games McCoy started. Awesome!
But even late last year, Williams was vying for hype in the backfield with Mike Gillislee, a former Dolphin (oops, Miami) who had come out of nowhere to score touchdowns in three straight games down the stretch. Two from outside 50 yards. I snapped up Gillislee in dynasty and was glad to do so. Guy was gonna be a player in the backfield.
Fast-forward to April, and the Bills drafted Jonathan Williams out of Arkansas. Just a fifth-round pick, but that might have been due to a foot injury; a talented guy. I dropped Gillislee; tough for him to even make the roster now.
But here we are. Karlos Williams showed up to camp overweight, explaining something about his wife being pregnant and he gained weight out of sympathy or whatever. Bottom line, teammates quietly wondered if he was pregnant. And then he got hit with a four-game suspension on top of it.
I rushed to the waiver wire and picked up Gillislee.
Jonathan Williams got arrested for DWI. Not a good look for the rookie, but the wheels of justice move slowly on such things, and it's not expected to affect his availability in 2016.
Which brings us to Saturday night. McCoy started, but was quickly whisked off the field. Gillislee came in and ripped off a 20-yard gain as part of his night. He's the backup. Then Jonathan Williams came in, churning out 6-, 5- and 14-yard carries on his 8 for 44 performance.
The Bills signed Reggie Bush recently, and Rex Ryan said something or other about having big plans for him or whatnot. I'm calling it worthless Ryan-speak. If Bush makes the team at all, it's because they don't need a roster spot for Karlos Williams the first four games, or because somebody else gets hurt. It's McCoy, Gillislee and Jonathan Williams who matter here.
In Week 5, Karlos Williams will be available, and then we'll see. Maybe both Williams work their way ahead of Gillislee, and I'll start thinking about sending him back to the waiver wire. Roster spots are precious.
But life moves pretty fast. Maybe McCoy gets hurt. Maybe one of the Williams does. Or maybe Karlos can't shed the weight (the four-game suspension won't help).
If I draft McCoy (I won't), I'll be looking at Gillislee as the backup. I might even pick up a Williams in the final round of the draft if need be. One of them will probably start some games there this year.
The other approach is to just avoid all of them. Too many good players, too many potential starters. Some will certainly do that with Bills running backs.
But I think when you see a player who impresses you, you've got to take a chance. Yesterday's nobody can be today's somebody. Grab him while you can, put him in your lineup, and get the production you can.
While accepting that tomorrow, he might be nobody again.
