RealityCheck Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Which one of our LBrs broke a QB's ribs last year? London Fletcher is still a very good player and Shep needs someone to compete with him for the job. Handing him the starting job in the middle without any real competition is not the best way to develop this kid. I would like to see him outplay a quality player if he is to be the starter, especially since that would also mean we have depth behind him.
need therapy Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Why is it that some of the folks on this board are always looking backward? I saw another post that suggested we re-sign Evans and Maybin. Fletcher is a good player who will not want to sign as a backup. Sheppard is a good young player who is developing and will be a quality starter. Bringing Fletcher in would stunt Sheppard's development. Barnett is a veteran voice in the linebacker group, and he's already a starter. He can help the younger players along. Same with Morrison. London Fletcher would be redundant.
Campy Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I'd be surprised if London doesn't re-sign with the 'Skins. FWIW, their fans think of him as the heart and soul of their defense. I respect him a lot. I liked him with the Rams and I still do. But I'd rather not see him come back - I can't imagine he has more than a year or two left.
ajzepp Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13995/kelvin-sheppard I hope you are right AJ, but imo he was far from impressive last year. He obviously needs to make some plays. I hope I'm right, too! lol I'm factoring in the growth curve here, along with what I've heard coaches say about the kid. With certain exceptions, I just tend to give rooks some room to make mistakes. To me, the most important thing is that they work hard, learn from their screw ups, and show growth...and I think he's on that path.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 A trailer? Every time I see the guy play he's stinging people.
Mark Vader Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 Kind of a tough call for me. I loved London when he was with us, and I think he has been an underrated player in the NFL for most of his career. I do believe that the coaching staff are going to give Sheppard every chance to be the starter. While he did have a rough time as a rookie last year, he did get better at the end of the season. While London is a veteran and is a leader, I'm sure the Bills will be satisfied with Morrison as the back-up. The player that needs to go at this position is Andra Davis. He is a veteran, but at this point he is just holding a roster spot that can be used elsewhere.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 Would be taking reps and time from Sheppard to develop and we already know what he can do; tackle a lot of guys 5 yds down field.
D521646 Posted March 18, 2012 Author Posted March 18, 2012 I think a guy like Fletcher is exactly what this team needs. Did you see his game when we crushed them last year? He played the whole game.. No quit in this guy! That's worth money to me if I'm building a team.... Tim-
benderbender Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 Bills thought he was too old 5 years ago when we let him go, why would the FO think he was any better now?
RealityCheck Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 Why is it that some of the folks on this board are always looking backward? I saw another post that suggested we re-sign Evans and Maybin. Fletcher is a good player who will not want to sign as a backup. Sheppard is a good young player who is developing and will be a quality starter. Bringing Fletcher in would stunt Sheppard's development. Barnett is a veteran voice in the linebacker group, and he's already a starter. He can help the younger players along. Same with Morrison. London Fletcher would be redundant. Easy with the broad strokes. Thinking that Fletcher would add to the defense does not mean that I want Evans or Maybin back. The fact is that all the lame reasons people gave in this thread about why he is not a good player are simply not true. None of our LBrs ever looked that good when we were playing Jouron's scheme with that undersized D-line in front of them. Sheppard just did not look good last year and I don't see how his performance warrants not getting a quality player to compete with him, whomever that may be. It's about winning games. If so many agree that a camp competition between Spiller and Jackson would benefit the team then why would you just hand Shep the job and keep ???? as a back up when we all know there will be injuries at some point. It is the NFL, players will miss games here and there even in ideal circumstances. Bills thought he was too old 5 years ago when we let him go, why would the FO think he was any better now? Nix was the GM 5 years ago?
vincec Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) How about tackle totals of 132, 116, 147, 133, 142, 157, 146, 128, 133, 142, 136, and 166 in the last 12 years? Making lots of tackles is bad. This has already been discussed on this board in the myriad of Donte Whitner threads. Apparently, what you want is players who are so good that they never have to make tackles. The offensive players just surrender from fear. Edited March 18, 2012 by vincec
chris heff Posted March 18, 2012 Posted March 18, 2012 Why not sign London Fletcher back? Prolly get him for league veteran, (Perhaps a bit more) but I think it makes a lot of sense. He's a veteran tough guy, GREAT locker room presence (Captain type), and boy what he could teach our new guys at LB.. I think this would be a solid move for the Bills. Thoughts? Tim- No, he is a tackling machine nine yards passed the line of scrimmage. I mean no disrespect this is just one Bills fan helping out another. There is no such word as "prolly" the word is probably.
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