Archives for April 30, 2011

‘I remember speaking to the scout you just spoke of. I kind of knew a little bit from the meeting with him. But other than that, I didn’t know too much. I appreciate the opportunity.’

‘He’s a tough, instinctive, hard-nosed football player. Chris has started two years there at Mississippi St. since being on campus and coming from a junior college. He started outside last year, inside this year. He’s a instinctive player that plays downhill. The one thing that sticks out to me with Chris is you can actually see him going to the ball as it’s snapped. His ability to diagnose plays and fill run lanes is something that he did better than anybody I saw this year on tape.’

‘Chan Gailey seems like a real cool head coach. Like I said, they definitely have a work hard first (mentality) and want to win.’

‘It was unbelievable evaluating those guys. I mean, there was 15, 16, 17 guys I wrote. Then with all the drama going on there and the injuries. There were about 150 people there, it was unbelievable (at North Carolina’s pro day). We had four people there, Mr. Modrak, Buddy, myself and Darrell (Moody). Some teams had their whole coaching staff there. It was unbelievable. Next year and years to come, they’re going to have guys. But it was a crazy year, it really was.’

‘”I love it because I have a linebacker background,” he said. “I played linebacker all through high school, so I still have a little bit of the mentality in me. Being able to come up and support the run is very important to me.”‘

‘I wasn’t really sure where or when I’d go. It was just the motto, when I go saying hopefully it’s the best situation for me and I just feel like God has a plan for me. Wherever he puts me, that’s where I’ll be a good fit.’

‘As you just saw on the highlights, he is extremely big, long, good player, good athlete, productive in both phases for them (Clemson). He’s more of an in-line guy than a space player. He can do it, but more of an in-line guy. Just a good player.’

‘Coming in, I wasn’t highly recruited. Coach took a chance on me and I was able to get in to a program with a great o-line coach and a whole lot of great talent. I was able to grow every year, try to get better and better. It took a lot of work and I really had to learn how to play the game of football. I was very raw when I first got there. Now, a lot of hard work has paid off and I’m excited to be coming up to Buffalo and playing.’

‘Da’Norris Searcy is a strong safety. he could play free safety if he had to and he’s played nickel for them. He’s also returned for them as an emergency returner. He gives you a lot of versatility and he gives you some size. He’s a good athlete that can also be a good (special) teams player for you.’

‘I’m an aggressive safety. I love to come up, play in the box. I can play back in the middle of the field. I’m an excellent tackler and I just enjoy the game.’

‘In the first three rounds, Nix addressed all three levels of one of the NFL’s weakest defenses.’

‘”I loved Buffalo from my visit,” the 6-3, 319-pounder said. “I called my big brother Pearson and I told him, ‘Buffalo may be my city’ because I like it slow. It’s a big city with a small city feel to it. The fans love the team, and it’s just like being in Tuscaloosa. The fans love Alabama. The fans love the Bills. And when you’ve got people behind you pushing you, it doesn’t even matter what else is going on.”‘

‘”Everything goes in cycles in football,” Nix said. “It’s gotten now that you’ve got big receivers, you need big corners. They’re hard to find, and this guy’s talented. He’s really a good athlete. He’s got some versatility. He can play corner, obviously. He can play in the slot in nickel, and we think he can play safety.”‘

‘”Without a doubt,” he said. “I have pretty big size for corner, and I can run pretty well for my size, and I’m pretty physical. Again, I’m going to do the best I can whatever position they put me at.”‘

‘”After being down at the Senior Bowl and having that contact with the coaches once I stepped in the door everyone was like, ‘Shepp, what’s up man?'” Sheppard said. “Just the contact, the good feeling, the good vibe I got on the visit, all the arrows pointed toward the Buffalo Bills. You never know how the draft goes and I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”‘