26CornerBlitz Posted May 14, 2015 Author Share Posted May 14, 2015 Kind of why I put a asterik on his name. It seems he wouldn't be expected to start right away, but he has potential to after getting some experience. That could be later this season, or next season, or whatever. Either way, he's in group of 3 or 4 guys who are bubble starters and solid depth. We have a very "solid" CB corps, all around. Based on everything that I've heard from Whaley and Rex, the two rookies who have a shot to play significant position player roles this season are Miller and O'Leary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I know this has been beaten to death, but I think his communication "issues" stem from poor speech fluency coupled with a pretty thick Georgia accent. I think he is more intelligent than most on here give him credit for. It wouldn't be to hard. My garden hose is smarter than most here give him credit for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Darby would be schooled by NFL WRs this season as a starting CB. No way he's ready for the 1st team duties IMO. 2016 is another story. That's pretty much my attitude. The starting CBs should be Gilmore and McKelvin, and maybe Graham if they don't rotate him to safety. And I'm not forgetting Robey in there either. That said, if we have learned nothing about our CB group over the last few years, we should have learned that the odds of our top 3 CBS going all season without one of them spending some time on the injury list to be slim to none. The last thing I want is another "and now Justin Rodgers is a starting CB" moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I agree, Darby is expected to supplant Leo. Can't hurt testing his value, he would make good depth however. I'd trade him for a 3rd.... Imo Ironically enough, the scouting reports that I read of Darby sound like his "weaknesses" are very similar to what Leodis had, his first four years or so in the season...they say he can keep up with and cover pretty much any receiver, but his "ball skills" are lacking... McKelvin was awesome in 2013, and after a rocky start in 2014, he returned to his 2013 form. Not sure why everyone is so anxious to run him off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbosrrgood Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) i think Leodis is a potential cut or trade candidate especially if he isnt considered one of the starters I highly doubt that, especially this year. Gilmore is a lock to start, but he has FA looming. Graham is older, and if he is a candidate to start anywhere, the only place he would be considered is safety. Darby is a rookie, and a guy who struggled at times as a starter at FSU (He reminds me a lot of McK coming out in the draft, but less proven. He has the same concerns of having athleticism, but no ball skills)...I doubt the Bills are even considering him as a starter over McK this year. Darby will likely compete with Robey/Graham for the slot position. Darby also makes for solid depth on paper, in case of injury. Furthermore, McK is well suited to a Rex Ryan defense, with good man cover skills at short to intermediate range. Ironically enough, the scouting reports that I read of Darby sound like his "weaknesses" are very similar to what Leodis had, his first four years or so in the season...they say he can keep up with and cover pretty much any receiver, but his "ball skills" are lacking... McKelvin was awesome in 2013, and after a rocky start in 2014, he returned to his 2013 form. Not sure why everyone is so anxious to run him off... As someone who watched Darby his entire career...I can say I agree with those reports 100%. He has all the speed and agility you could want...he stays close to his man at all times...but when the ball is thrown to him, somehow the receiver always seems to come down with it. For those who watched FSU last year, remember how badly that secondary was torched all year...despite the hype with PJ Williams and Darby. I personally thought he was drafted a bit early, and I consider him a project/slot guy. McK is the starter so long as he's healthy. Plus playing against Brady and that spread offense, you need all the cover guys you can get. Edited May 14, 2015 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWATeam Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) I highly doubt that, especially this year. Gilmore is a lock to start, but he has FA looming. Graham is older, and if he is a candidate to start anywhere, the only place he would be considered is safety. Darby is a rookie, and a guy who struggled at times as a starter at FSU (He reminds me a lot of McK coming out in the draft, but less proven. He has the same concerns of having athleticism, but no ball skills)...I doubt the Bills are even considering him as a starter over McK this year. Darby will likely compete with Robey/Graham for the slot position. Darby also makes for solid depth on paper, in case of injury. Furthermore, McK is well suited to a Rex Ryan defense, with good man cover skills at short to intermediate range. As someone who watched Darby his entire career...I can say I agree with those reports 100%. He has all the speed and agility you could want...he stays close to his man at all times...but when the ball is thrown to him, somehow the receiver always seems to come down with it. For those who watched FSU last year, remember how badly that secondary was torched all year...despite the hype with PJ Williams and Darby. I personally thought he was drafted a bit early, and I consider him a project/slot guy. McK is the starter so long as he's healthy. Plus playing against Brady and that spread offense, you need all the cover guys you can get. Didn't think he gave up that many completions? Edited May 14, 2015 by SWATeam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbosrrgood Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) Didn't think he gave up that many completions? I never said he did, the rest of the secondary was targeted more. But when he was targeted he gave up a lot of catches that you would have liked to see him defend. That won't work in the NFL where they don't care if you are close the receiver or not. If they know they can just throw it by you, they will. Much like what happened in McK. I'm not saying Darby will be a failure. He has all the physical skills, and with time could be a nice player....but I think it's foolish to assume he can come in and just start day one. Especially when you have a much more experienced guy in McK, who's coming off the best year of his career. He's got some flaws, which is why he went in the 2nd round (which was considered high end of his projection). He'll likely be eased in slowly, probably starting with nickle/dime duties. No reason to throw him to the fire. And absolutely no reason to get rid of McK. Edited May 14, 2015 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I highly doubt that, especially this year. Gilmore is a lock to start, but he has FA looming. Graham is older, and if he is a candidate to start anywhere, the only place he would be considered is safety. Darby is a rookie, and a guy who struggled at times as a starter at FSU (He reminds me a lot of McK coming out in the draft, but less proven. He has the same concerns of having athleticism, but no ball skills)...I doubt the Bills are even considering him as a starter over McK this year. Darby will likely compete with Robey/Graham for the slot position. Darby also makes for solid depth on paper, in case of injury. Furthermore, McK is well suited to a Rex Ryan defense, with good man cover skills at short to intermediate range. As someone who watched Darby his entire career...I can say I agree with those reports 100%. He has all the speed and agility you could want...he stays close to his man at all times...but when the ball is thrown to him, somehow the receiver always seems to come down with it. For those who watched FSU last year, remember how badly that secondary was torched all year...despite the hype with PJ Williams and Darby. I personally thought he was drafted a bit early, and I consider him a project/slot guy. McK is the starter so long as he's healthy. Plus playing against Brady and that spread offense, you need all the cover guys you can get. Well, Donnie Henderson is credited in some ways, for turning McKelvin into a "talented but frustrating" corner, into a solid pro, who can drift into the elite lane from time to time. Perhaps he can help Darby jump start that process. From everything I heard about the recent rookie camps, Henderson was working on Darby's ball tracking process pretty much from day one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seq004 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) I thought he played really well last year right up until he was hurt. I heard some media saying pro bowl but what really impressed me about his play last year was his passion. I can't remember which game it was but one of our opponents were driving for the go ahead score and he started screaming at the defense and they held. It may have been Chicago. Edited May 14, 2015 by seq004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Greg Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 If Leo stays healthy he is going to have a great year. He has been improving immensely at the position over the past 3 years. He can run with anyone, and he has gotten MUCH better at locating the football and putting himself in great positions to make plays. I am really looking forward to seeing him and Gilmore out there this year. I think they are up for the challenge. Will be great for Darby to learn under those two and get reps here and there. Hopefully they stay healthy and that's how it plays out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metzelaars_lives Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) I bet he starts opposite Gilmour. He's become a good player and this is the perfect scheme for his skills. You really think Doug Gilmour is coming out of retirement and playing CB for the Bills? EDIT: Figured I couldn't be the only one with that response. Edited May 14, 2015 by metzelaars_lives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manther Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Will there be a transcript/translation? You WAY beat me to it! LMAO! That's pretty much my attitude. The starting CBs should be Gilmore and McKelvin, and maybe Graham if they don't rotate him to safety. And I'm not forgetting Robey in there either. That said, if we have learned nothing about our CB group over the last few years, we should have learned that the odds of our top 3 CBS going all season without one of them spending some time on the injury list to be slim to none. The last thing I want is another "and now Justin Rodgers is a starting CB" moment. Totally agree on all this especially not having a strong back up when injuries come that can't play in the league like Justin Rodgers. There is ZERO need to cut a CB. We have 5 good ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 My reason for keeping McKelvin is simple, the Dolphins added A couple of WR, with a 4 WR set of Landry, Stills, Parker and Jennings-we need 4 good Corners! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papazoid Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Leodis stays for 1 more season. his dead money is $2.75 mil this year, but only $1.0 mil next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I agree, Darby is expected to supplant Leo. Can't hurt testing his value, he would make good depth however. I'd trade him for a 3rd.... Imo No team is going to give up a valuable pick for a 30 year old CB coming off of an injury with a moderate but not insignificant cap hit. I think at best you could get a 6th or 7th for him, maybe a 5th if a team gets injuries at the CB position and gets desperate. Overall I think you need a lot of high quality corners in Rex's system. With Gilmore, Leodis, Graham, Darby, and Robey we go 5 deep and the options at 6 aren't terrible. I think they want as much depth as possible at the CB position at least until they know how good Darby is. With a tight cap situation possible next year I do see them cutting or trading McKelvin as his cap hit while not unreasonable might not be solvent for the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 i think Leodis is a potential cut or trade candidate especially if he isnt considered one of the starters I don't see this. Gilmore/Mckelvin/Graham/Darby are all locks and all would get playing time. Brooks and Robey are in for a fight. Cockrell might be a goner. But one injury in the secondary and you may have a rookie playing nickel/slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I agree, Darby is expected to supplant Leo. Can't hurt testing his value, he would make good depth however. I'd trade him for a 3rd.... Imo who would give up a 3rd for him? At a 3rd round pick that's more or less a depth or substitute player. If a team wants him as a starter he will have to be got for a 2nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 he's my favorite Irishman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbosrrgood Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) Based on everything that I've heard from Whaley and Rex, the two rookies who have a shot to play significant position player roles this season are Miller and O'Leary. I completely agree with this, and you don't need to hear Whaley say it for it to make sense. G and TE's were among the bigger holes on the team. Yes Clay is the obvious #1, but surely there will be a lot of 2 TE sets, and Oleary is already the obvious candidate for the #2 role. His blocking/receiving skills make him well suited to the #2 TE role. G has the current weakest set of "starters", so it's certainly within reason that Miller could win the job. Having said that, I do think Darby has a chance to get plenty of playing time on passing downs as the 3rd/4th corner. Edited May 14, 2015 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) Whaley has been consistently saying that he has now built the roster to where he can do what he feels is the correct development at certain positions, which is give rookies a redshirt year before they need to start. CB is a position where it is very critical especially of the areas where polish is needed include technique (like Darby). I wouldn't be surprised if Leo is "available" but it would need to be at the right price (agree they would want 3rd or higher which they are unlikely to get) and even then I think Graham would start over Darby. Edited May 14, 2015 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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