Archives for July 2014

‘Derek Brim, Jajuan Harley – Harley made some plays in the offseason workouts, but he’ll have to work his way up past both Broomfield and Ladler to have a shot at cracking the top five – if there is even a top five to be cracked (they could keep only four players). Brim is a great local story, being a native to Buffalo, a Canisius High School graduate and also a graduate of the University at Buffalo, but that’s likely where the story will end. Brim is perhaps the biggest longshot of all the safeties to crack the 53-man roster.’

‘The Bills addressed their linebacker position Wednesday, signing free agent Stevenson Sylvester. The free agent worked out for the club Wednesday morning and was signed in the afternoon.’

‘Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said standing behind the play in practice he can tell right away if Manuel sees what he’s supposed to recognize in the defensive coverage. Through the spring he felt Manuel was making good identification of the defense.’

‘”I always identified more with the coach or the manager than I did with the players,” he said. “Growing up in Baltimore with a guy like Earl Weaver, even though he’s not a football mentor, that was a guy that I looked up to. And I think a lot of it was my own self-awareness of my playing ability. Even though I played in college, I knew I wasn’t going to be a professional football player, but I was always interested in the strategy of the game.”‘

‘”The best thing for me is when I’m up in the morning and I’m eating my breakfast through my tube to see my daughters and my wife walk out and to see the smiles that are always on their faces every single morning. That’s what I need,” Kelly said. “When you’ve had family support like I’ve had and public support like I’ve had there’s no way that I’m not going to beat this because a lot of it’s mental.”‘

‘The roles of the defensive linemen shouldn’t change drastically, and all four of the Bills’ expected starters fit into a 4-3 defense just fine. The question worth asking is whether or not the Bills will be quite as aggressive when it comes to generating pressure under Schwartz, who traditionally hasn’t utilized the blitz as often as Pettine did a year ago.’

‘Once again, Glenn resumes his role as the team’s starting left tackle and might have a much easier time of it with an upgrade beside him in Chris Williams. Glenn plays within himself and never gets to a point on film where you feel as though he’s lucky to have escaped without giving up a sack. As the Bills said last year, it’s a very good thing when no one is talking about the starting left tackle. It was the case for Glenn, and they’ll continue to give him that opportunity at the league’s most high profile position on the offensive line.’

‘By moving to free safety Williams now has the opportunity to become not only an impact player each and every week, but he can also be the leader of the secondary which is something he’s really taken to since the start of offseason workouts. Always a very vocal player, Williams now has the experience to go along with his chatter. Much like another player in the secondary, a very high quality season can help him become one of the elite talents on the roster. He has all the potential and the role to do it in 2014, now there’s nothing left for him but to go out and prove that he is that player that the Bills hoped for.

‘Kraig Urbik, Cyrus Kouandjio – While it’s likely that Urbik will resume his role as the starting right guard in 2014, the Bills have made it clear through both OTAs and the mandatory minicamp that they aren’t satisfied at the position. Urbik lost some first-team reps throughout the workouts, most notably to Chris Hairston during the three day mandatory minicamp. Even if he loses his job, Urbik still likely lands on the roster as a depth/experience player. The Bills would certainly like the second-round pick Kouandjio to take hold of the starting right tackle job over Erik Pears, but he hasn’t earned the full amount of first-team reps just yet. Kouandjio, at worst, will be the backup swing tackle.’

‘”From what I’m told, bidders are going to be pleasantly surprised with the financials of the Bills” Kaplan said. “Many see it as, financially, a bottom tier team. That’s not the case, they’re probably in the middle of the third quartile pack of the NFL.”‘

‘”This is probably the deepest it’s been since I’ve been here,” said Spiller of the running back contingent. “We’ve got a great group of guys. The thing about our group, we always want each other to get better. I’m excited about the guys we have here.”‘

‘”Last year we went in the season and we had a lot of guys that had never done it, either because they were young and hadn’t done it in college or hadn’t done it period,” said Bills special teams coach Danny Crossman. “Any time you’re on a new staff and a new organization from top to bottom … we were trying to constantly turn over that bottom of the roster so those guys would identify themselves.”‘

‘So why did he fall to the second round? Because his surgically repaired knee reportedly caused him to fail physicals with six teams at the NFL Scouting Combine. Whaley said the Bills’ medical staff was comfortable with the condition of Kouandjio’s knee (he tore his left ACL as a sophomore), but he wasn’t quite the same player as a junior while playing on it.’

‘”We’re confident as a football team, and I’m extremely confident in the roster we have, so now it comes down to execution,” said center Eric Wood. “We have a solid group from top to bottom, with some depth to withstand a full season which is crucial in this league. I’m excited about our roster.”‘

‘Woods will be one of the top two receivers in that base set alongside the presumed top wideout in Watkins. When the Bills go to three wide receiver sets however, Woods will provide the Bills the flexibility to play on either the outside or on the inside as the slot receiver. With Manuel a little bit more comfortable with the offense and his role in that offense, there’s a fair expectation that Woods’ stat line at the end of the year will receive a jump from where it was last season (40 receptions, 587 yards, three touchdowns).’