Bills Tender Keith Freaking Ellison

[John from Riverside]

This guy was NEVER MEANT TO BE A STARTER.....even last years staff said so much that he got thrust into being a starter because of injuries.

 

He is strictly a reserve player....and he may not even make it through training camp.

[Rzon604]

????? Right dude... do you know any NFL LB that ain't been schooled by Brady? WTF?

 

How much would you like to wager that some team won't pick him up as part of some compensation package... draft pick or other. He's 26 years old (PRIME), 4 years of NFL starting experience in a cover 2, has good speed, had 68 tackles in 8 games last year. seems to me he'd fit the profile for teams like Indy, Philly, Tenn, Saints, Giants.

 

And don't forget... Jauron and Fewell are now assistants with two of those teams.

 

Why the hell do you think the Bills tendered him? They aint gonna keep him. So, why not outright release him?

 

The fact you said he is "highly regarded as a cover linebacker" shows you are as bright as a 5 watt light bulb. Good luck finding one other person anywhere to agree with you. He was only in the game at the end because Poz was hurt, so in the nickel package HE WASN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE FIELD, so he was not one of the top 2 cover-guys, out of 3. Get a brain, doctor.

[FLFan]

http://www.wgr550.com/pages/6495905.php

 

What a joke. Nice first move of FA, tender a useless 220 pound LB who doesn't fit inside or outside in your scheme. Nice job. This pisses me off so much, I thought we were finally rid of this d.b.

 

 

Free agency does not start until Midnight tonight. I expect the Bills to tender all their restricted FAs. Does not make sense not to. You do realize they bring 80 players to camp right? This does not mean he will make the team, but for now he is one of their few experienced starters.

[Rzon604]

This guy was NEVER MEANT TO BE A STARTER.....even last years staff said so much that he got thrust into being a starter because of injuries.

 

He is strictly a reserve player....and he may not even make it through training camp.

 

Another false statement. None of the LB's were hurt on opening day. Let's refresh your memory - they brought in several LB's during FA but decided to go with Ellison as the starter. Jauron "liked him a lot." He has started for 3 years. He was not an injury replacement, let's not revise history. The Bills willingly went into the season with him as a starter.

[C.Biscuit97]

Another false statement. None of the LB's were hurt on opening day. Let's refresh your memory - they brought in several LB's during FA but decided to go with Ellison as the starter. Jauron "liked him a lot." He has started for 3 years. He was not an injury replacement, let's not revise history. The Bills willingly went into the season with him as a starter.

 

 

Both Spikes and Crowell were starting over Ellison until they got hurt. It was a terrible FA LB class and none of those LBs really made any type of impact.

 

Ellison should be strictly a backup. No one is arguing that. But all the hostile you have for the man is silly. He is a 6th round pick who doesn't make much moeny and has some value. And the Bills are smart for protecting their investment.

[Ghost of Rob Johnson]

I don't see the harm in bringing him into camp.

[SawchukBills]

http://www.wgr550.com/pages/6495905.php

 

What a joke. Nice first move of FA, tender a useless 220 pound LB who doesn't fit inside or outside in your scheme. Nice job. This pisses me off so much, I thought we were finally rid of this d.b.

 

Those were some harsh words for Ellison...I know he doesn't really fit into our new defensive scheme but come on...sounded like you two had a bad breakup...lingering emotions got the best of ya?

[Chandler#81]

This!

 

There are dozens of former Bills enjoying great success playing for other teams. Players that the moron minority couldn't wait to get out of here yet they stand around baffled when the player succeeds elsewhere.

 

Most of these "run'em out of town" guys couldn't tell the difference between a cover 2 and a nickle yet they're self professed experts on evaluating talent. They're a bunch of !@#$ing lemmings who've never had an original thought.

 

Ellison will never be Ray Lewis but he is a seasoned starter. Letting him walk for nothing would be idiotic.

 

Wow, Mike!

 

I know a Bills fan who starred in high school, played college ball and has listened to/seen every play the Buffalo Bills have ever run. He also bitches after every play the Buffalo Bills have ever run (great play or bad- in his mind, some Bill screwed up somewhere). He's 76 yrs. old, is no 'expert', but equally the most loyal Bills fan ever. Just a crazy WNY way of following his team. He's still alive and waiting for a title other than AFL. I hope he witnesses it. He certainly has original thoughts and isn't a **ing lemming, he's my Dad.

 

P.S. He's not a fan of Ellison either..

[John from Riverside]

Another false statement. None of the LB's were hurt on opening day. Let's refresh your memory - they brought in several LB's during FA but decided to go with Ellison as the starter. Jauron "liked him a lot." He has started for 3 years. He was not an injury replacement, let's not revise history. The Bills willingly went into the season with him as a starter.

 

Even in the year that Ellison started the season he was not the first option for the team......they did not know that Crowell was going to do his thing right before the start of the season.

 

I have read in the media at some point (perhaps someone can pull that up for reference) that Ellison was not meant to be a starter.

[mrags]

Me personally. I hate Ellison. I hate what this team has been for the past 10+ years. Undersized, sub-talented, but "High Motor". In actuality, Ellison is not that bad at what he "should" be. He is at best a decent backup on a good team. At worst he is one hell of a 3rd stringer and a hell of a special teams player. Its not his fault he is not starting caliber. He was put into a postion to fail here in Buffalo as the starter and sure enough, most fans blame him for this. Dont blame Ellison. Blame the organization (mainly Levy and Jauron) for trying to make Ellison something he is not.

 

I dont want him on this team as starter, but If hes a backup Im all for it.

[DarthICE]

He's a 6th round pick who has been forced to start for a few years. He's made a lot of tackles and not nearly as bad as he is made out to be. He's not really a NFL starter but he could be a valuable backup who has starting experience and STs player.

 

Yeah the guy is DEPTH. I dont get the problem.

[SuperKillerRobots]

Relax dude. Its just a strategy. They have no intention of Ellison being on the 53 man roster in September. Teams are not tendering their restricted free agents because they want to keep them. Their only value to their team is "trade value" , and thus posturing to use these players as trade bait. If they don't get what they want in a trade, they will be released.

 

In Ellison's case, he is highly regarded as a cover linebacker. And, he does have 3 years of NFL starting experience. Someone with a 4-3 defense that needs a linebacker may very well give up a player or 5th or 6th round draft pick.

 

So, rest assured... Ellison's jersey will be worn by someone else come September.

 

I doubt he gets cut if not traded. By tendering him, they guarantee his salary for the year, cutting him is useless. He will either get signed by another team and we'll get some sort of compensation, or he'll play backup LB and ST for us for a year or two more. We could do a lot worse than having him be a backup for us, regardless of what anyone thinks about him.

[Steely Dan]

He's a 6th round pick who has been forced to start for a few years. He's made a lot of tackles and not nearly as bad as he is made out to be. He's not really a NFL starter but he could be a valuable backup who has starting experience and STs player.

 

Exactly, he showed a lot of improvement as his year went on too. I'm glad they tendered him. It looks Incognito is gonna be allowed to walk.

[Estro]

Any word on some of the other restricted FA's? I was hoping the Bills would tender George Wilson, Bryan Scott, and Richie Incognito, but still haven't heard anything.

 

I think Incognito did enough in his couple of games to at least stick around and compete this offseason. As for George Wilson and Bryan Scott, I think both are underrated players who afford our secondary a lot of flexibility. Both are as good if not better than Whitner IMO, and would come at a fraction of the price. It would be especially surprising if Wilson was not tendered, as there were rumors abound that the Bills were looking to extend him.

 

EDIT: It appears Bryan Scott is actually a UFA as opposed to a RFA, so he obviously can not be tendered. Nonetheless I would love to see the Bills extend him an offer. If not I wouldn't be surprised to see him signed fairly quick as I think guys like Scott who provide versatility and come in at a reasonable $, don't last long on the open market.

[VADC Bills]

I have seen quite a few teams tendering players that shouldn't be on the team. If their salaries aren't a burden, why not?

Before you start letting people walk, teams will need to see what FA and the draft brings because the FA pool isn't as deep as usual.

Before he was hurt I thought Ellison was showing improvement. He was actually leading the team in tackles believe it or not. He is no more than a back up but we need the depth. Lets face it our LB's are an area of weakness. Mitchell, Poz and Ellison are basically back ups in my book and there should be a 2 year plan to replace each one.

Mitchell has the best instincts of any LB that we have and he is the most durable. But he is average best.

Poz has taken 3 years to show he can reach the level of average but he is soft. Still bad instincts but he is a fan favorite where if he makes one good play and takes off the rest, it was still a good day for Poz

Ellison was never supposed to be a long term solution. It seems everyone but Jauron got the memo.

Can anyone say our starters were better than DiGiorgio, Scott, or Harris.

When the back ups play as good as the starters we need better starters.

I am curious to see how Gailey approaches this unit.

 

I say tender as many players as you can because you never know how other teams view your players.

[gobillsinytown]

Because the collective bargaining agreement has expired, we'll see a lot of teams doing tenders. I would assume we'll tender all of our RFAs at some point. Teams are maneuvering to deal with the uncapped year, and then the possibility of a lockout in 2011.

[Thoner7]

Relax dude. Its just a strategy. They have no intention of Ellison being on the 53 man roster in September. Teams are not tendering their restricted free agents because they want to keep them. Their only value to their team is "trade value" , and thus posturing to use these players as trade bait. If they don't get what they want in a trade, they will be released.

 

In Ellison's case, he is highly regarded as a cover linebacker. And, he does have 3 years of NFL starting experience. Someone with a 4-3 defense that needs a linebacker may very well give up a player or 5th or 6th round draft pick.

 

So, rest assured... Ellison's jersey will be worn by someone else come September.

 

Dont underestimate their stupidity.

 

This!

 

There are dozens of former Bills enjoying great success playing for other teams. Players that the moron minority couldn't wait to get out of here yet they stand around baffled when the player succeeds elsewhere.

 

Most of these "run'em out of town" guys couldn't tell the difference between a cover 2 and a nickle yet they're self professed experts on evaluating talent. They're a bunch of !@#$ing lemmings who've never had an original thought.

 

Ellison will never be Ray Lewis but he is a seasoned starter. Letting him walk for nothing would be idiotic.

 

Considering cover two is a defensive play, and nickle is a formation, you are comparing apples to oranges (as in the defense could play a nickle cover two instead of a base cover two). Its fairly clear to me that you dont know much about football. Ironic how one who knows so little bashes others....for knowing so little...

 

PS Ellison blows, and our LB play was just as good if not better with Harris/Corto/Buggs in the game. It was much better when B. Scott moved to LB. If this FO lets guys like G. Wilson and B. Scott walk while retaining the infamous Ellison Im just going to snap.

[nucci]

Me personally. I hate Ellison. I hate what this team has been for the past 10+ years. Undersized, sub-talented, but "High Motor". In actuality, Ellison is not that bad at what he "should" be. He is at best a decent backup on a good team. At worst he is one hell of a 3rd stringer and a hell of a special teams player. Its not his fault he is not starting caliber. He was put into a postion to fail here in Buffalo as the starter and sure enough, most fans blame him for this. Dont blame Ellison. Blame the organization (mainly Levy and Jauron) for trying to make Ellison something he is not.

 

I dont want him on this team as starter, but If hes a backup Im all for it.

Do you even know him?

[Heitz]

http://www.wgr550.com/pages/6495905.php

 

What a joke. Nice first move of FA, tender a useless 220 pound LB who doesn't fit inside or outside in your scheme. Nice job. This pisses me off so much, I thought we were finally rid of this d.b.

 

And I should trust your player analysis over Nix, Whaley and Gailey because...?

[Philo]

So, Ellison was tendered. Big whoop. I don't see why people are making such a big deal out of this. Sure he may not be starting material but like others have said he does play with heart and is a decent backup player. Tendering him is actually smart because now he has some trade value and if they don't deal him he can be kept as valuable depth and/or used on special teams.

 

Personally, I don't LOVE the guy but I don't HATE him either and I don't see where people are getting this feeling. Like stated before, he was a 6th round pick who has played well. He's not a stud, but he is worth something.