Astrobot

This is how they've stacked up at BillsCamp IMHO: Johnson Graham Woods Da'Rick Rogers Marquise Goodwin Brad Smith Chris Hogan - Brandon Kaufmann Kevin Elliott DeMarco Sampson Johnson, Graham, and Woods are slam-dunks. I see Goodwin as multifaceted; he's looked really good in slants over the middle and as a burner on the outside. Sampson is a cut Elliott may be back by the end of camp, but he can be put on injury and not count in our list of 6. Smith has renegotiated his contract and will stick around into next year. Hogan may last on the PS where Kaufmann might not. Nod to Kauffman on the list of 53

Oscar-type show in an exotic location, preferably Niagara Falls. Include 3 nominees per position (you must be present in order to win, but NFL pays their way to the show)--one chosen by fans, one chosen by players, and one chosen by coaches except Belichick. Name the winner "live". Winner gets made into a wax statue for Tussaud's. The losers must race Wallenda-style across the falls. Winner of that gets his head made into a Jello mold which is auctioned off on eBay. This can work.

Today I tried to make notes on as many players as I could. 18 Kevin Elliott -- Made the catch of the day but came down wrong. Trainers were looking at his shoulder. He left on a Gator. I think they'd miss him most as a gunner on ST, because he looked among the best at gunner.Gunners on the punt team, in order of success: Kevin Elliott, Silva, Sampson, Brooks, Goodwin-Easley. 8 Jeff Tuel -- has potential but needs to match velocity with the situation. He'd throw a pass without velocity allowing defenders to close on the receiver, then throw a bullet that the WR can't catch. His dump pass went for 40+ yards and was the longest non-TD play of the day. 58 Jamie Blatnick played some with the 1's today (also Carrington, Troup) and got pressure. Another combo was Dareus, Carrington, Branch. 92 Alex Carrington was drawn offsides with the cadence by Kolb. 89 Chris Gragg dropped two easy receptions. You want to like this guy, but... 90 Alan Branch impresses me. He gums up the middle and gets pressure without losing lanes. 4 Kevin Kolb -- The word is unspectacular. Didn't look sharp especially under the blitzing today. He throws the ball to the sideline rather than force it; I guess that's OK. 11 TJ Graham -- Again is showing up Woods. He slipped on one play but had a would-be touchdown. 91 Manny Lawson -- was dogging it. Just saying. He may be one of the smartest players in the NFL, but I disrespect his lack of hustle. 42 Kendall Gaskins -- RB with no chance of making the team, but a likely PS selection. He has size, can catch the ball, and has some burst. EJ threw him a pass in 11 on 11 and Gaskins took it for 15, and another for 10. 99 Dareus was drawn offisdes. 20 Tashard Choice is having a good camp running and receiving, and is likely RB#3 over Gaskins, Zach Brown, or Drew Smith. I'd keep Gaskins or Brown on the PS. Choice needs more work on blitzes Pettine's throwing at them. 10 Woods had a couple more drops, and it's in his head. Some nice catches of 2 poorly-thrown balls by Kolb, though. He's playing on the right outside of the formation with Stevie in the slot most of the time, with Graham on the left. He's also with Graham and McKelvin catching punts. 84 Chandler sat out the practice with a black elastic sleeve on his left calf. 14 Kaufman had another 2 drops. He's tall, but the drops in traffic might come back to bite him. 44 TJ Heath had an awful day at DB. Slipped, tripped, allowed a Brad Smith TD. 24 Gilmore had a INT again and plays Stevie extremely well. I think you're looking at one of the best CBs in the NFL there. He's playing at a higher level. 37 Nickell Robey had another INT, plus a sack on EJ on a blitz. He's tiny (165 lb) but he has radar. I think he's still in the running for nickel or dime. 17 Da'Rick Rogers had the only catch vs Gilmore today to my knowledge. 81 Marcus Easley Made a terrific acrobatic sideline catch, both feet in, on a pinpoint pass from Tuel. 75 Chris Hairston walks gingerly along the sidelines. It's killing him to be there and not in at RT. 50 Kiko Alonso is working on quick reaction 38 Frank Summers the FB can catch pretty well. He's a bowling ball at 5-9, 248. 25 Searcy got flagged for pass interference. It wasn't flagrant, but they have officials there to call it. 62 Zack Chibane OG hustled down to make a block on a swing pass to B Smith from Tuel. Got to give him props. 15 Chris Hogan comes back to the ball, makes catches, was PS last year. Think he stays there. Hogan's hands are glue. He caught a Kolb sideline pass that was low and away with just his fingers. -----

Oooooh! More, Mike! More! Where do you park yourself? I'll come over and say hi.

3-wide, Chandler, Spiller!

Dan Moriarty ‏@moriartysports7m #Bills QB Kevin Kolb gushed about rookie WR Robert Woods. Called him a stud. One of the best rookies he's ever seen. #BillsCamp #BillsMafia You see this in Woods, but I think TJ Graham is going to make it a 2-horse race for #2. John Kryk ‏ @ JohnKryk2h Rookie WR Robert Woods with a killer second move on a completed post-corner vs Ron Brooks, from EJManuel. wow # bills Retweeted by PG Bills Backer and 2 others Expand Joe Buscaglia ‏@JoeBuscaglia2h Jeff Tuel to Da'Rick Rogers. #Bills https:// vine.co/v/hA3npiBIrJW

I think he'd have to go to a U of R frat party in a Ryan Fitzpatrick jersey. I looked for you!

He's our 50th-ranked player right now, and 6th QB I'd take. http://www.drafttek.com/2014-NFL-Draft-Prospect-Rankings/Top-QBs.asp

*** The biggest news today was Justin Rogers starting in place of McKelvin. But don't burn your #21 jerseys just yet. I saw McKelvin looking very flexible in warmup drills and in the punt return group with Woods and Graham. I spent a lot of time at the defensive end of the field watching the very brisk LB drills. LB Coach Driesbach has the LBs divided in half (not A Team - B Team as far as I could tell but you may have an opinion), and they'd run 2 different drills, then the groups would switch. One group was Bryan Scott, Moats, Bradham, Alonso, White and Brian Smith. The other group was Keith Pough, Jerry Hughes, Dowtin, and Kourtnei Brown. Kudos to this teaching technique, as players aren't sitting around waiting their turn. Twice as efficient! I have attended Training Camp for years, and haven't seen Bills LBs doing most all of these drills. Groups alternated doing a strip drill (run through obstacles, strip the ball from Asst LB coach Jim O'Neil. Moats had the best strip move of the lot. Brian Smith wins the awkward strip move award. The other drill was to improve one's angle to the ball, with players running to cross another player coming from another spot. Hughes is the quickest. Chris White's hustle keeps me going back to him. Maybe it's the 51 on his jersey. The next 2 drills, one a Lev Sled drill and one a quick diagnosis drill, made me confirm Bryan Scott still has it. He had to move the Lev Sled upward, push it to one side, and assume a ready position, like LBs do when disengaging a blocker. On the other drill, I liked seeing Jerry Hughes's ability to pass rush. One LB had to block him Hughes until O'Neil (as the QB) ran one way or the other. Kudos also to Blatnick and Brown who looked solid. Why was Blatnick there? He might be one of the hybrid guys like Hughes. Another set of drill had the LBs in groups of 2, blocked by 2 men, where one LB faked a pass rush then went back into coverage and where the other LB continued the pass rush. Alonso's quickness and Hughes, Moats and Bradham get a shout-out here. ---------- I watched the punters. They both have a good leg; Stahovich is outweighed by Powell 243 to 197 and Powell admittedly has the longer kick. Props to Stahovich for dropping one in the coffin corner from 45-50 yards away, then bouncing it out of bounds. ----- Best catch by WR today: Woods from EJ, vs Rob Brooks. But Chris Hogan made a great deep pass reception too. Best INT was Moats, but several excellent PBUs including Chris White (who also dropped a sure INT), Moats, and Alonso. RB's made some good plays today, the best being a Tashard Choice run around the right side. CJ Spiller had 4 consecutive receptions, and has become an early favorite dumpoff for EJ. Fred caught 2 in traffic, beat Dowtin once but Alonso successfully defended a pass to Freddy. Choice "slipped on an anthill" on one play. Kolb won't force the play, shooting the pigskin at the sideline 4 times. Tuel and EJ each took off with the football on at least one occasion. Tuel gained 20 yards. EJ was extremely fast on his scamper. OL looked gassed at times today. I will miss tomorrow's practice. Somebody pick me up and report, OK?

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Brandon-Long-term-deal-still-the-goal-with-Jairus-Byrd/3b607ae0-9b8e-4ae5-824e-b5ab3bc73985?campaign=tw_buf_article "With the decision solely up to Jairus Byrd on when to sign his franchise tender and report to training camp, the Bills are being patient waiting for their Pro Bowl safety to return. What the current situation has not done is dissuade Buffalo’s desire to reach a long-term contract agreement with Byrd. Appearing on the Howard Simon show Monday morning on the Bills’ flagship station WGR Sportsradio 550, team President and CEO Russ Brandon emphasized their intent to pursue a multi-year extension at the end of the regular season."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Tues and Wed and Fri are all 8:10-11:00 practices. I won't be at Tuesday's, but I'll be at today, Wed, and Fri. practice.

Nope, not me. That was Belichick's lackey I was far end. You coming to practice today?

Yes WM, you can see the future in EJ. He didn't look "deer in the headlights" overwhelmed like Losman or Trent. He looks unflappable, smooth, occasionally making the rookie mistake (not getting rid of the ball, fumbling). When protected, EJ throws a great ball. You also see the command already.

For what it's worth, Troup had 2 would-be sacks in practice yesterday and Branch also looked solid.

Yes, tomorrow http://www.buffalo.com/sports/blog/peter-king-hits-bills-training-camp-on-july-30/50318

Team 1 was Kolb, Chandler, Woods, Stevie, Graham, and Spiller, with Wood, Brown, Pears, Urbik, and Glenn. Team 2 subbed in EJ, Marquise, Woods, and Smith. Team 3 subbed in Da'Rick, Gragg, Brandon Kaufman or Easley, and/or Dickerson. ----- RB--If I had to put the RBs in order of performance tonight it would be Spiller, Jackson, Choice, Zach Brown, Kendall Gaskins, then Drew Smith. Smith is the lankiest and tallest but is not a blocker or receiver. Brown is hustling all over the place, and Gaskins made a sweet catch in traffic. Our fullback is Fran Summers--5'9" 248. You won't see him until it's too late. He's a bowling ball out there but I doubt he makes the team. WR's in order of performance tonight were Stevie (a diving catch that brought the crowd to the loudest cheer of the night), TJ Graham (2 TDs and a drop), Brandon Kaufman (6'5" is nice but his catches in tight quarters were nicer and had 3 catches on 3 successive plays), Marcus Easley (gets open often and caught 3 in traffic, and was impressive as gunner), Woods (some exquisite routes and gets open consistently but also 2 drops--one would have been a TD), Marquise Goodwin (always open by 5 yards, one time went over the middle and had all the room in the world, but wasn't thrown to), Da'Rick Rogers (made a good gunner and had some good separation), then Dorin Dickerson (he's a man without a position but made a couple of nice moves as a WR). Our weakness at WR is now our strength. TE Scott Chandler is BACK! He made a few nice catches and they didn't seem to limit him. Gragg can separate but EJ overthrew him. Gragg is smaller than I thought but only relatively as we have 3 tall TEs. Smith isn't giving up his spot easily; known for blocking, he made 2 fine catches and one ugly catch. Caussin made a couple good catches but wasn't ready for one pass to him. We won't miss Mickey Schuler. QB- Kolb is still ahead, but he telegraphs his throws at times. EJ had a fumble and 2 overthrows to open guys. EJ is showing command under center. The D-Line is unpredictable even without Mario. I think Branch (definitely) and Jay Ross (maybe)can add something. Troup would have had 2 sacks tonight. LB-Alonso looks like Spielman and has a nose for the ball. Likely first string. Moats isn't far behind and showed the most hustle of the group. Bryan Scott still has "it" in his 11th year. Dowtin is a great match for this system. Jerry Hughes is going to contribute on 3rd down. I watched these guys less, so I'll watch more Monday. S -Searcy and Aaron Williams got their INT with Williams' INT coming on the first 11 on 11 play. Jairus who? CB-Gilmore vs Stevie is a thing of beauty. Both will have a huge year. Gilmore is less obvious with his interference. McKelvin looked improved and in great shape but I would have called him on his interference twice. Nobody else was noticeable except TJ Heath, who's on his man quick and blanketed him, and Ron Brooks who had a couple nice PBUs. Meeks was good against the gunner but he's very tiny. Random-The pace of practice is BRISK (50% more work in the same amount of time). At one point I timed the hikes of the ball at 14 seconds, then 16 seconds, then 14. Nobody seems gassed. Stevie got stretched by a trainer on the sidelines for about 5 minutes (hammys, groin, quad, sartorius)--then bounded off. Don't like using Woods or McKelvin as a KR as both will be starters. DraftTek Positional Analysis-I'm less concerned about LB and S than I was before practice. I'm WAY less concerned about WR and TE. I'm concerned about the same as I was about CB--love Gilmore but need a shutdown guy. May increase need at Guard That's it. Going again at 2:00 today--let me know if you're going. ---Astro

I would love to see it. Clemson got hosed last year.

He's our 12th ranked QB with zero games played in 2013. I would wait and see. How do you feel about Hundley being 2nd? We get the most flak for that ranking. I'm the RB guy, so if you have any comments on those guys (especially after they start playing games), I respect your feedback. I have made a formula that takes into account 16 weighted factors (rushing average vs AP-ranked teams is one example). Using my formula, 2014 RBs would rank this way: 1 Lache Seastrunk 89 2 Damien Williams 76 3 Bishop Sankey 73 4 Ka'Deem Carey 67 5 Tre Mason 66 6 George Atkinson III 65 7 Antonio Andrews 63 8 Rajion Neal 62 9 Glasco Martin 61 10 LaDarius Perkins 61 11 Ben Malena 60 12 James White 59 13 Josh Huff 57 14 Kendrick Hardy 56 15 Kenny Hilliard 56 16 Zurlon Tipton 55 17 Devonta Freeman 54 18 David Fluellen 53 19 Storm Johnson 53 20 David Oku 53 21 Tim Cornett 53 22 James Wilder Jr. 52 23 Marcus Coker 51 24 Charles Sims 51 25 Marlin Lane, Jr. 48 26 Tim Flanders 47 27 Alfred Blue 46 28 Wesley Tate 45 29 Trey Watts 45 30 Anthony Wilkerson 40 31 Senorise Perry 40 32 Brendan Bigelow 37 33 Orleans Darkwa 35 34 Malcolm Brown 34 35 Isaiah Crowell 27 36 James Sims 27 37 Silas Redd 22 38 Prince Tyson-Gulley 21 39 Michael Dyer 19 40 Henry Josey 4 41 Jaamal Berry -6 The RBs that I think are put at the most disadvantage using my system are Wilder (ain't no way he'll end up being 22nd) and Dyer (39th is just wrong).

Welcome, LongIslandBills! Can't wait for Training camp to start so we actually have real stuff to argue about.

I hope the moderators---all TEN of them--- will do their job, which, according to Wikipedia is "person given special authority to enforce the rules on a forum". Do a search for TBD's rules in the Search box and you'll see the problem:

New Board for July: 1 Jadeveon Clowney South Carolina 6'5" 272 DE43 2 Teddy Bridgewater Louisville 6'3" 218 QB 3 Anthony Barr UCLA 6'3" 238 OLB43 4 Marqise Lee USC 6'0" 195 WRF 5 Taylor Lewan Michigan 6'7" 302 LOT 6 Bradley Roby Ohio State 5'11" 193 CB 7 Louis Nix Notre Dame 6'3" 326 DT34 8 Brett Hundley UCLA 6'3" 227 QB 9 Jake Matthews Texas A&M 6'5" 305 ROT 10 Sammy Watkins Clemson 6'1" 205 WRF 11 Jackson Jeffcoat Texas 6'4" 245 OLB34 12 Cyrus Kouandjio Alabama 6'5" 312 ROT 13 Deandre Coleman California 6'5" 309 DE34 14 Ifo Ekpre-Olomu Oregon 5'10" 190 CB 15 Daniel McCullers Tennessee 6'6" 377 DT43 16 Austin Seferian-Jenkins Washington 6'6" 266 TE 17 Kyle Van Noy BYU 6'3" 235 OLB43 18 Tajh Boyd Clemson 6'1" 225 QB 19 C.J. Mosley Alabama 6'2" 232 OLB43 20 Kareem Martin North Carolina 6'5" 260 DE43 21 Brandon Coleman Rutgers 6'6" 220 WRF 22 Ed Reynolds Stanford 6'2" 205 FS 23 Colt Lyerla Oregon 6'5" 256 TE 24 A.J. Johnson Tennessee 6'2" 240 ILB 25 Lache Seastrunk Baylor 5'10" 205 RBF 26 Marcus Roberson Florida 6'0" 178 CB 27 Mike Evans Texas A&M 6'5" 225 WRF 28 David Yankey Stanford 6'5" 302 LOT 29 Loucheiz Purifoy Florida 6'1" 189 CB 30 Ryan Shazier Ohio State 6'2" 222 OLB34 31 DeVante Parker Louisville 6'3" 205 WRF 32 Ka'Deem Carey Arizona 5'10" 196 RBF 33 Stephon Tuitt Notre Dame 6'5" 303 DE34 34 Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix Alabama 6'1" 208 FS 35 Andrew Jackson Western Kentucky 6'1" 262 ILB 36 David Fales San Jose State 6'3" 220 QB 37 De'Anthony Thomas Oregon 5'9" 176 RBC 38 Adrian Hubbard Alabama 6'5" 252 OLB34 39 Ra'Shede Hageman Minnesota 6'5" 302 DE34 40 Cyril Richardson Baylor 6'5" 335 OG 41 Christian Jones Florida State 6'3" 232 OLB43 42 Damien Williams Oklahoma 6'0" 208 RBF 43 Jordan Matthews Vanderbilt 6'3" 205 WRF 44 Aaron Lynch South Florida 6'6" 244 OLB34 45 Jeremiah Attaochu Georgia Tech 6'2" 240 OLB43 46 Trent Murphy Stanford 6'5" 261 OLB34 47 A.J. McCarron Alabama 6'3" 205 QB 48 Karlos Williams Florida State 6'1" 230 SS 49 Aaron Colvin Oklahoma 6'0" 182 CB 50 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M 6'1" 200 QB 51 James Hurst North Carolina 6'6" 310 ROT 52 Cody Hoffman BYU 6'3" 215 WRF 53 Gabe Jackson Mississippi State 6'4" 320 OG 54 Justin Gilbert Oklahoma State 6'0" 195 CB 55 Bishop Sankey Washington 5'10" 200 RBF 56 Travis Swanson Arkansas 6'4" 305 OC 57 James Gayle Virginia Tech 6'3" 268 DE43 58 Timmy Jernigan Florida State 6'2" 298 DT43 59 Jason Verrett TCU 5'10" 182 CB 60 Lamin Barrow LSU 6'2" 232 ILB 61 Demarcus Lawrence Boise State 6'3" 245 OLB43 62 Lamarcus Joyner Florida State 5'8" 195 FS 63 Eric Ebron North Carolina 6'4" 245 TE 64 Aaron Murray Georgia 6'1" 212 QB 65 Craig Loston LSU 6'2" 205 SS 66 Taylor Hart Oregon 6'5" 292 DE43 67 Dri Archer Kent St 5'7" 175 RBC 68 Jared Abbrederis Wisconsin 6'2" 188 WRF 69 James Wilder Jr. Florida 6'2" 226 RBF 70 Jermauria Rasco LSU 6'3" 255 OLB34 71 Will Sutton Arizona State 6'0" 280 DT43 72 Derek Carr Fresno State 6'3" 212 QB 73 C.J. Barnett Ohio State 6'0" 190 FS 74 Quandre Diggs Texas 5'10" 200 CB 75 Tim Jackson North Carolina 6'5" 285 DE34 76 Max Bullough Michigan State 6'2" 252 ILB 77 DaQuan Jones Penn State 6'3" 333 DT34 78 Ryan Groy Wisconsin 6'5" 318 LOT 79 Seantrel Henderson Miami (FL) 6'8" 345 ROT 80 Odell Beckham Jr. LSU 6'0" 207 WRF 81 Zack Martin Notre Dame 6'4" 305 OG 82 Anthony Johnson LSU 6'3" 305 DT43 83 Russell Bodine North Carolina 6'3" 305 OC 84 Anthony Steen Alabama 6'3" 303 OG 85 Shakir Bell Indiana State 5'8" 190 RBC 86 Jalen Saunders Oklahoma 5'9" 160 WRS 87 Ryan Carrethers Arkansas State 6'2" 328 DT34 88 Bryn Renner North Carolina 6'3" 215 QB 89 Morgan Moses Virginia 6'6" 325 ROT 90 Carlos Hyde Ohio State 6'0" 235 FB 91 C.J. Fiedorowitz Iowa 6'6" 265 TE 92 Logan Thomas Virginia Tech 6'5" 254 QB 93 Josh Huff Oregon 5'11" 205 WRF 94 Cameron Erving Florida State 6'5" 310 LOT 95 Ed Stinson Alabama 6'4" 282 DE34 96 Kevin Norwood Alabama 6'1" 205 WRF 97 Jack Mewhort Ohio State 6'5" 310 LOT 98 Venric Mark Northwestern 5'8" 175 RBC 99 Tyler Larsen Utah State 6'3" 312 OC 100 Antone Exum Virginia Tech 6'0" 224 CB 101 Antonio Richardson Tennessee 6'6" 332 ROT 102 Ty Zimmerman Kansas State 6'1" 203 SS 103 Antonio Andrews Western Kentucky 6'0" 212 RBF 104 Calvin Barnett Oklahoma State 6'2" 300 DT43 105 Chris Borland Wisconsin 5'11" 242 ILB 106 Bryan Stork Florida State 6'4" 312 OC 107 Xavier Grimble USC 6'5" 255 TE 108 Darqueze Dennard Michigan State 5'11" 188 CB 109 Clint Trickett West Virginia 6'2" 185 QB 110 Ryan Grant Tulane 6'1" 192 WRF 111 Tre Jackson Florida State 6'4" 328 OG 112 Arthur Lynch Georgia 6'5" 258 TE 113 Trey Millard Oklahoma 6'1" 256 FB 114 Carrington Byndom Texas 6'0" 180 CB 115 Dee Ford Auburn 6'2" 238 OLB43 116 Tre Boston North Carolina 6'1" 190 FS 117 Bennett Jackson Notre Dame 6'0" 185 CB 118 Brandon Thomas Clemson 6'3' 300 OG 119 John Hubert Kansas State 5'7" 192 RBC 120 Nick O'Leary Florida State 6'3" 238 TE 121 Bene Bewikere San Jose State 6'0" 192 CB 122 Jeff Driskel Florida 6'3" 237 QB 123 Chris Burnette Georgia 6'2" 322 OG 124 Jemea Thomas Georgia Tech 5'10" 190 FS 125 Carl Bradford Arizona State 6'1" 241 OLB34 126 Danny Shelton Washington 6'1" 320 DT34 127 Marcel Jensen Fresno State 6'5" 257 TE 128 Brendan Bigelow California 5'10" 190 RBF 129 T.J. Jones Notre Dame 5'11" 190 WRF 130 Pierre Desir Lindenwood 6'1" 205 CB 131 Jeff Mathews Cornell 6'3" 225 QB 132 Devin Street Pittsburgh 6'3" 192 WRF 133 JaWuan James Tennessee 6'6" 324 ROT

/thread

Plus there's the fact that the Bills passed on Kenjon Barner, Tyler Bray, and Mychal Rivera (broke Witten's receiving records). http://www.drafttek.com/2013-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round6.asp

I think the Bills draft CB in Round 1 in 2014 --D. Jauron

I'm back and forth on this one. Lindell has experience, a better kicking percentage inside the 40, and is one of the nicest guys on the team. Hopkins would be a waste of a 6th rounder if we don't keep him, has great range, has the better percentage outside the 40, kicks into the endzone, is the highest-scoring kicker in NCAA history, (466 points), has been clutch in big games, and has a career long of 56 yards, kicked a 60-yarder in practice, and has longevity on his side. Remember Janikowski had a rocky beginning.