Cash Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 That's not entirely right. Brooks plays exclusively in the slot. Has since college. Rogers is still technically our 4th CB. If Gilmore, McKelvin and Brooks are all healthy then Rogers doesn't see the field unless they play 4 CBs. Anyway who could they sign who would only want to start for 2 weeks? Gilmore and McKelvin should both be back by the Cincy game at the latest. Brooks has played outside some for the Bills, mostly in preseason. You are correct that he's definitely looked at as a slot guy. And in Week 1, when he was healthy, he played behind Nickell Robey in the slot. You can call Rogers whatever # CB you want, but here's the bottom line: If everyone was healthy, he wouldn't be on the field in the base defense. But if Gilmore got hurt, who comes in to replace him? Rogers. If everyone was healthy, then McKelvin got hurt, who comes in to replace him? Rogers. Rogers is our top backup at outside/boundary CB and the first guy off the bench if either Gilmore or McKelvin can't play. If that makes him a #4 corner because he wouldn't play in the nickel, or #5 because he wouldn't play in the dime either, fine. But he's second-string. Only takes 1 injury to get him on the field. Gilmore was the only CB who was hurt for most of week 1, and Rogers played 87 of 91 snaps. He's not some deep depth chart dude who was only pressed into action out of desperation. He is absolutely the coaching staff's Plan B. As to your question, probably no one. The problem is that if your Plan B sucks, you can't wait till week 3 to address it. You needed to address it in the offseason, when there were decent free agents and draft picks available, and you had time to teach new guys your system. Having said that, I still wouldn't mind seeing some kind of attempt to upgrade the position. It would at least show that the team was being proactive. New England's secondary got a lot better after they traded for Aqib Talib last year, and he didn't exactly know the system. I know that's the exception, and not easily repeatable, but at least it shows that in-season upgrades are possible. Besides, the current plan seems to be to weather the storm till Gilmore and McKelvin both get healthy, but what happens when one of them tweaks a hamstring in 5 weeks? Plan B is still to throw Rogers in there. That's not a great plan. And Plan A (neither starting CB misses any more time once they come back) is pretty unrealistic. Possible, but unrealistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 The error was not signing a veteran when Gilmore went down. He will miss a third of the season. I understand the veteran guarnateed contract issue but we are 3-0 with just a bit better DB play. There is no excuse being this thin at CB. If Leodis can't play this week the loss is on the FO. Give the FO credit for resigning Leonhard . He appears to be playing better than I thought he would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Chris Brown posted on BB.com that McLovin is practicing (not full-go). Along with Mario and Stevie. Decent sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Northern Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Why do you people defend the organization's refusal to sign free agents like Antoine Winfield or Kerry Rhodes, or some other guys out of work who could provide some depth, even if just for a few weeks? It's pathetic. You like getting jerked around by a front office that doesn't give a crap about fielding a competitive team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Why do you people defend the organization's refusal to sign free agents like Antoine Winfield or Kerry Rhodes, or some other guys out of work who could provide some depth, even if just for a few weeks? It's pathetic. You like getting jerked around by a front office that doesn't give a crap about fielding a competitive team? Winfield is retired and would only come back for a SB contender. Am sure that it is not the Bills "refusal" to sign HIM. Kerry Rhodes? Did you see him play in AZ? No thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Vader Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 (edited) Chris Brown posted on BB.com that McLovin is practicing (not full-go). Along with Mario and Stevie. Decent sign. Good to hear, but I'm preparing myself for the probability that McKelvin will not play on Sunday. Edited September 26, 2013 by Mark Vader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Good to hear, but I'm preparing myself for the probability that McKelvin will not play on Sunday. Everyone is preparing for that... however, I thought Marrone alluded in his presser yesterday that he wasn't yet planning on that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimS Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Brandon Burton and Johnny Adams will see time Sunday as per Doug M. earlier this week. Unfortunately, it took a week or two for them to get up to speed. Leonhard has been around, so he was plugged right in. I don't think we are privy to every player brought in for a workout, so personally I am confident Doug W. is making sound decisions for today and the future. Hopkins injury didn't help much either. Just my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Brandon Burton and Johnny Adams will see time Sunday as per Doug M. earlier this week. Unfortunately, it took a week or two for them to get up to speed. Leonhard has been around, so he was plugged right in. I don't think we are privy to every player brought in for a workout, so personally I am confident Doug W. is making sound decisions for today and the future. Hopkins injury didn't help much either. Just my thoughts. I may be naive, but I tend to trust that these guys not only know what they are doing, but want to win more than anything and doing anything they can to make that happen. We don't ever know the whole story or everything that goes into personnel decisions and when/why guys can be signed/play/ etc., etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Bigdog Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 This is what happens when you hire bargain basement coaches. We've all seen this act before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 This is what happens when you hire bargain basement coaches. We've all seen this act before. Not sure how much he makes, but I do know that Marrone was sought after in the off-season by several other teams who were hiring new HC including San Diego. He has far more experience in coaching an NFL team than Chip Kelly (who has none and it shows) yet he is not considered "bargain basement." If you want to talk about Hackett, I'll give you that. Would have preferred a more experienced OC but at this point too early to be definitive on that plus Marrone has enough to compensate and bring Hackett along. But Hackett is not involved in what we are discussing here. And Pettine was an outstanding hire/fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Not sure how much he makes, but I do know that Marrone was sought after in the off-season by several other teams who were hiring new HC including San Diego. He has far more experience in coaching an NFL team than Chip Kelly (who has none and it shows) yet he is not considered "bargain basement." If you want to talk about Hackett, I'll give you that. Would have preferred a more experienced OC but at this point too early to be definitive on that plus Marrone has enough to compensate and bring Hackett along. But Hackett is not involved in what we are discussing here. And Pettine was an outstanding hire/fit. Not to mention many of the position coaches are well regarded in the league. This is a good staff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctk232 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Please feel free to list some of those FA options that would improve our secondary. Gilmore should be back in a week or 2 and with him and Leodis, our secondary all of a sudden isn't a major problem. No, even then it's still a problem. With Byrd gone in the secondary and possibly for good after this year, we have no over the top, ball hawk, cover safety to support either Gilmore or McKelvin. Gilmore is a great DB but McKelvin is subpar and struggles often with one on one man coverage. Our DB corps healthy is frightening and should've have been addressed in the early rounds of the draft. We have zero depth and shut down ability in our secondary. Byrd and Gilmore are the only threats, McKelvin is just a bandaid to patch a major weakness. I'm terrified for how offenses are going to exploit the living hell out of our DB's and safeties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 Winfield is retired and would only come back for a SB contender. Am sure that it is not the Bills "refusal" to sign HIM. Kerry Rhodes? Did you see him play in AZ? No thanks. I don't know if you've followed the Kerry Rhodes saga. He was rated top 5 by some of the analytics type sites last year (grain of salt to that point) but is the only safety in the top 30something currently unsigned (wait, what?!?!?). The speculation as to why is that photos of him with another man came out this offseason and no one wants to look at the gay player (he says he's not). Now he could have unreasonable demands, but to say he doesn't have the ability to make a roster seems suspect. With regards to us the relevant history is he played for the jets under Ryan (scheme familiar) but was traded by the jets (apparently not well liked for the job, or simply poor value - I don't remember the discussions at the time) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eme123 Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 Here's a wild idea. Rogers learns from his mistakes, works his ass off all week, and plays well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted September 29, 2013 Share Posted September 29, 2013 I thought for sure McKelvin would try to play today. What a let down that was. Even him at 70% is better than Rogers. It's going to be a long day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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