CardinalScotts Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 No 30+ yo cornerback is a lock. It may be time to move on from McGee and Florence and just put the kids in. McGee will not be a safety at 5'9". It wouldn't surprise me at all if McKelvin bounced back this year. Brooks is a lock. McGee on the way out just to tough to stay healthy. Florence is a pressure, physical corner not a cover guy give him a pass rush he's a different player he was hung out to dry last year with no pass rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ny33 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Is anyone else as excited as I am about this team this year. This is the first time in a long time where we are going to have serious positional battles with quality players and good people are going to get cut. My breakdown is as follows: QB (3): Fitz is a lock to start, Young (if he comes) and Thigpen battle for #2, Smith lock for #3 RB (3): Jackson (lock), Spiller(lock), White and Choice are battling for #3. WR (5 or 6): This is where it gets interesting. Johnson (#1) and Nelson (#3) are locks. TJ Graham is also pretty safe and is competing for the #2 slot with Easley and Jones - both of whom have a good chance to start or if they lose could get cut. Given we carry Smith as QB#3, there is a good chance that we only carry 5 receivers meaning Ruvell Martin (who IMO can't catch) or Derek Hagan have legitimate chances to make the team over Jones or Easley for their special teams ability. The rest are on the outside looking in. TE (2 or 3): Chandler most likely will start with Smith and Caussin battling for #2. FB: McIntyre - pretty safe OL(9): Wood, Pears, Urbik all locks at their respective position. Levitre may start at LT or LG pending how Glenn vs. Hairston pans out (all 3 are in). Given Glenn's ability at Guard and his potential at tackle, I wouldn't be surprised if they feel that Glenn-Levitre is better than Levitre-Glenn or Levitre-Hairston as an overall combination. Rinehart I think is also safe, leaving Asper, Sanders and Brown as the realistic competition for the last 2 slots. DL(8 or 9): Williams (2x) and Dareus are locks. Although Anderson was a high-priced free agent, I wouldn't expect Kelsay to go down quietly. He may put up a big fight and win the other end position. Needless to say this is a great problem to have. The remaining 3/4 positions are loaded with talent - Merriman (if healthy), Carrington, Johnson, Edwards, Troup and Heard all have legitimate shots of making the team or getting cut. Danny Batten they are listing at DE, but I think will be rotated back to LB by the season. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur Moats is rotated back to DE (where he played in college) and him making the team over all those previously mentioned. LB(6 or 7): This is by far our weakest positional group. Barnett is solid and Sheppard should be. Morrison is ok and although is penciled in as a starter may not make the team. Bradham and Carder have a good chance to make it solely due the lack of competition. Thoughts are they carry 6 - Barnett, Sheppard, Bradham, Carder, White and Batten. CB(5): This is a fun positional battle. Ultimately Gilmore and Williams will be starting (maybe not this year). Florence and McGee both make the team (however don't be surprised if they move McGee to safety). McKelvin, Brooks and Rogers all battling out for last spot. Sorry people - McKelvin will make it. S(4): Byrd and Wilson are locks. Searcy is pretty safe. If they carry Scott as a LB, look for them to move McGee to S. This would open the roster for Rogers (who in IMO should be on the team) K/P: Don't be surprised if the Lindell/Moorman stranglehold is broken this year. We actually have real competition at these positions. The changing of the guard may be now. LS: Sanborn is a lock Sorry for the longwinded post. I have just been sooooo juiced and need to get my thoughts out there. Martin has zero shot of making the team- I hope- since Ron Brooks and Nigel Bradham supposedly are extraordinary on special teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 A couple of thoughts on my logic: 1. McKelvin is in a contract year - he is going to play out of his mind. He knows that he is going to take a steep cut in pay if he doesn't blow the doors off of everyone this year. Chix knows this as well. 2. Brooks may be a steal for a 4th rounder, but they can easily park him on the practice squad You contradict yourself, my friend. Brooks would be snatched and signed to an NFL roster immediately. With respect to McKelvin -- I don't care if he IS giving it 100% effort this season. I've seen no evidence he will magically learn to pick up the football on deep sideline routes. He is best served playing the slot receiver, where he can be physical and doesn't have to worry about the deep ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
....lybob Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 When Judging who stays and who goes especially at back-up positions I think the following will be the greatest factors. 1. Cheaper- it will hard to justify some of the Bills salaries as backups- Kelsay, Edwards, Spencer Johnson, Florence, Merriman, McGee 2. special teams- the more special teams you contribute to the better chance you have of sticking 3. positional versatility- Buddy has talked about this repeatedly, a guy who can play OG, C and RT is going to have a better chance of making the team than a guy who's a OG only, a backup who can play DT and LDE or LDE and RDE is at a big advantage over a DT only guy. 4. younger- if two backups are relatively equal the younger guy with more upside is probably going to get the nod unless the other guy is mister locker room super team player 5. durability- Bell played at a pretty good level when he was healthy but he was hurt too much and I think this year could be a last chance for some guys. 6. years under contract- all things being close the guy with more years on his contract is a better bet. 7. size/length - it seemed like Buddy mentioned length as a positive about 30 times when talking about the draft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) DE and DT are tough. DE Mark Anderson Danny Batten Lionel Dotson Robert Eddins Spencer Johnson Chris Kelsay Shawne Merriman Kyle Moore Mario Williams At DE, I assume Mario and Mark are locks. I would be surprised to see Merriman cut since he's already gotten a bonus this year. Kyle Moore showed promise in his limited action last year. Kelsay is moving back to his natural position, and had some good games towards the end of last year. The FO seems high on Spencer Johnson, and he's versatile enough to play DE and DT (originally signed as a DT). I am not optimistic for Batten, Dotson, or Eddins. Haven't really been impressed by those three. Spencer Johnson is definitely not a DE in this scheme - just mark him down as a DT right now. DT Alex Carrington Marcell Dareus Dwan Edwards Jaron Gilbert Kellen Heard Jay Ross Torell Troup Kyle Williams At DT, Kyle and Marcell are locks. I think Dwan is underrated and would be a very good rotational DT. It's hard to believe the Bills are willing to give up on either Troup or Carrington already. I though Heard made some good plays last year and made a lot of progress from where he was at this point last year. I think Ross and Gilbert will have the most difficult time making it to the roster. HORRAY FOR HARD DECISIONS! Hopefully Carrington is allowed to lose weight and possibly move back to DE. Troup's career with the Bills has to be on life-support right now. Truth to tell, we really don't have much depth at DT behind Williams and Dareus. Spencer Johnson is really the only proven veteran. Heard has been decent. OL(9): Wood, Pears, Urbik all locks at their respective position. Levitre may start at LT or LG pending how Glenn vs. Hairston pans out (all 3 are in). Given Glenn's ability at Guard and his potential at tackle, I wouldn't be surprised if they feel that Glenn-Levitre is better than Levitre-Glenn or Levitre-Hairston as an overall combination. Rinehart I think is also safe, leaving Asper, Sanders and Brown as the realistic competition for the last 2 slots. If Levitre plays Tackle for the Bills ever again, this draft was officially a disaster. Levitre moving to OLT (as their 3rd option, after both Bell AND Hairston went down) was the deathknell of the 2011 season. Edited May 2, 2012 by BobChalmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cocktosten Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Can't wait to see what happens at LB and Oline. I think Carder wins one of the LB spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Can't wait to see what happens at LB and Oline. I think Carder wins one of the LB spots. I agree. My much-too-early projection of the LB corps is Barnett/Shep/Morrison/Bradham/Carder/White. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timba Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Spencer Johnson is definitely not a DE in this scheme - just mark him down as a DT right now. Hopefully Carrington is allowed to lose weight and possibly move back to DE. Troup's career with the Bills has to be on life-support right now. Truth to tell, we really don't have much depth at DT behind Williams and Dareus. Spencer Johnson is really the only proven veteran. Heard has been decent. If Levitre plays Tackle for the Bills ever again, this draft was officially a disaster. Levitre moving to OLT (as their 3rd option, after both Bell AND Hairston went down) was the deathknell of the 2011 season. Spencer is listed as a DE on the BuffaloBills.com roster. They had him playing OLB in the 3-4 (bad idea) which would be a DE in the 4-3. His biggest problem as a LB was getting sideline to sideline. That he did as well as he did speaks volumes of Spencer. He won't have to worry about that as much as a DE, especially if he's put there in the correct situations. I wholeheartedly agree that he's best suited as a DT, but don't be surprised if you see him lined up at end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 This team isn't a SB favorite (yet), but at least they're playing competitive professional football with real legitimate players now. What! Did the season start early? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 (edited) 1335978138[/url]' post='2456127']A couple of thoughts on my logic: 1. McKelvin is in a contract year - he is going to play out of his mind. He knows that he is going to take a steep cut in pay if he doesn't blow the doors off of everyone this year. Chix knows this as well. 2. Brooks may be a steal for a 4th rounder, but they can easily park him on the practice squad 3. As much as I can't stand Ruvell Martin - he is one of the best gunners we have - giving him value. I hope that some of our other players will fill this role as I would much rather have Jones, Hagan, Aiken or even Roosevelt over Martin. 4. Moving McGee to Safety would make a lot of sense. Countless times veteran corners have been moved over and it usually pans out. His veteran leadership would be very valuable as our depth as safety is questionable (Searcy is unproven and Scott is more of a nickel LB). 5. Backup QB is a HUGE hole right now. Vince Young is a talent, but is he smart enough to run Gailey's offense? 6. Mark my word - Brad Smith will be an invaluable asset this year. He was vastly underutilized, especially down the stretch. He is a situational player who will be used more in situations in which we have a lead and the playcalling can be more unpredictable. We were destroyed at WR and were behind most of the latter half of the season when he disappeared at QB. Thing will change this year. 2- You're incorrect on this one. There is ZERO chance of brooks making it to the practice squad . He would get scooped up off the waiver wire instantly. 3- we now have brooks, carder and Bradham for ST. While Martin is an ok gunner, I can't see him winning the job over brooks. The kid is a monster on ST. I think Martin gets cut this year. Edited May 2, 2012 by NewEra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsguy Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 "Best team in years" when you are talking about the Bills is not a major achievement. The Bills have averaged 6 wins per year over the last 11 years. The bar has been set very low, but there is hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAWNDO Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Nix says he likes competition at all spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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