NewEra Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 In Choice's defense, he may be slow, but he makes up for that by having no moves and no experience at returning kicks. I would like to see McLovin remain as the punt returner, but not be on the kickoff return team. I don't think he's good enough to justify his price tag as only a corner. Plus, he's not just a good KR/PR, he's a difference maker. I'm willing to live with the added fatigue/injury risk in order to get the benefit of his punt returning. With the ability to fair catch, the risk is minimized somewhat, whereas KO returners basically have to take a monster hit every time. If Tim Brown, Rod Woodson, and Deion Sanders could return punts their whole careers, so can Leodis. I think he should return both. He's too good. Signing him to play CB and only CB is ridiculous. I think he has talent and with this defense, play really well this year....but I think he needs to return kicks and punts. Sucks if the coaches don't agree. He's a great to watch in the return game.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 In Choice's defense, he may be slow, but he makes up for that by having no moves and no experience at returning kicks. And don't forget that he has average size.
NickelCity Posted May 20, 2013 Posted May 20, 2013 How about we remove May 13-15 from the title and just make this a general OTAs thread? Day 4 notes: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/OTA-Practice-Notes---Day-4/87dacc9c-e892-4d52-9da7-209ca0b1dd24 Hoping Hairston's injury is minor.
uncle flap Posted May 20, 2013 Posted May 20, 2013 How about we remove May 13-15 from the title and just make this a general OTAs thread? Day 4 notes: http://www.buffalobi...a7-209ca0b1dd24 Hoping Hairston's injury is minor. Here's the video roundup http://www.buffalobills.com/media-center/videos/Bills-Roundup-Woods-Signs-Monday-Highlights/15673405-5632-4173-be25-2a8819fb4ec9
Mango Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 did i miss it or no talk of the number of snaps per qb or rotation...
eball Posted May 21, 2013 Author Posted May 21, 2013 How about we remove May 13-15 from the title and just make this a general OTAs thread? Day 4 notes: http://www.buffalobi...a7-209ca0b1dd24 Hoping Hairston's injury is minor. Done.
Wayne Cubed Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 (edited) Don't know if anyone uses the Vine app, but Joe Buscaglia posts shorts clips from practice: Bradham and Alonso https://vine.co/v/b9iviMYtKTi Stevie Johnson https://vine.co/v/b9irdzBOgBi Edited May 21, 2013 by Wayne Cubed
MOFO Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 Maybe its just the old in me getting out, but I think Vine is dumb...
Cash Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 I think he should return both. He's too good. Signing him to play CB and only CB is ridiculous. I think he has talent and with this defense, play really well this year....but I think he needs to return kicks and punts. Sucks if the coaches don't agree. He's a great to watch in the return game. 2 problems with having him return kicks as well as punts. First is fatigue. It's tough enough to be a full-time CB (and even the nickel corner is essentially a full-time player these days), chasing around WRs on every play. Adding punts is arguably too much as it is. (I argue no, but it's a fair point.) Kicks on top of that is really pushing it. I'm hard-pressed to think of a full-time player who did all 3 and held up very long. Second issue is injuries. Kickoff returns are some of the most injury-prone plays in the game. And it's rare that the returner gets a chance to run out of bounds. Granted, this is less of an issue now that touchbacks are so much more common, but still an issue. The other factor that's specific to Leodis is that he's a good, maybe great KR, but an elite PR. Last year, he put up his 2nd-best KR average at 28.3 yards/KR (0 TDs), which is quite good. But Brad Smith put up 27.6 yards/KR (1 TD). The leader was Percy Harvin with 35.9 yards/KR (1 TD), followed by Jacoby Jones with 30.7 yards/KR (2 TDs). On the other hand, Leodis led the NFL in yards/PR with 18.7 (next best: 16.1) and tied for the league lead with 2 TDs. Plus Leodis was a better PR than KR in college.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 I agree with Cash on this one. I want Leodis to stay healthy and concentrate on being a cornerback. In sports, one extra responsibility can be the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of being successful. Some guys need less burden. I think Leodis is one of those guys.
eball Posted May 21, 2013 Author Posted May 21, 2013 Tuesday practice notes are up: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/OTA-Practice-Notes---Day-5/b78739f3-a8e3-4819-a01a-8cc0cb8260f7
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 Stevie's back in action. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Canadian Bills Fan Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 Hopkins getting outkicked by Lindell? I was just going to post the same thing CBF
Cash Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 I agree with Cash on this one. I want Leodis to stay healthy and concentrate on being a cornerback. In sports, one extra responsibility can be the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of being successful. Some guys need less burden. I think Leodis is one of those guys. Not quite. I want Leodis to be both a CB and a PR. He is an absolute elite PR and a potential game-changer, and it's not worth taking a potential game-changing PR off the field to preserve his skills as a (hopefully) solid CB. Our next-best PR (Goodwin?) will probably be pretty good, but there's a big difference to me between good and elite. I don't see him as a good enough CB to justify that drop-off at PR. Besides, the risks of punt returning have historically been pretty low. Like I said originally, if Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, & Tim Brown could return punts basically their whole careers, I think Leodis can as well. Another (minor) point I'd like to make is that unless McKelvin's CB play takes a major leap, it doesn't justify his contract. His CB play (at least last year) combined with his return ability does justify his contract.
eball Posted May 21, 2013 Author Posted May 21, 2013 Hopkins getting outkicked by Lindell? That's what I took from the report also; damn kid can't kick in shorts. Cut him now.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 Not quite. I want Leodis to be both a CB and a PR. He is an absolute elite PR and a potential game-changer, and it's not worth taking a potential game-changing PR off the field to preserve his skills as a (hopefully) solid CB. Our next-best PR (Goodwin?) will probably be pretty good, but there's a big difference to me between good and elite. I don't see him as a good enough CB to justify that drop-off at PR. Besides, the risks of punt returning have historically been pretty low. Like I said originally, if Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, & Tim Brown could return punts basically their whole careers, I think Leodis can as well. Another (minor) point I'd like to make is that unless McKelvin's CB play takes a major leap, it doesn't justify his contract. His CB play (at least last year) combined with his return ability does justify his contract. Gotcha. I think there's enough return talent on the team that I'd like to see him not do any returning. To your point about punt vs kick returns, it was always weird to me that the Bills used him on kickoffs but not punts. Yes, he proved to be pretty good on kickoff returns but at Troy, 7 of his 8 return touchdowns were punt returns. It seems like the Bills had him miscast all these years.
eball Posted May 21, 2013 Author Posted May 21, 2013 Just watched the two videos up on bb.com (interviews with Hackett and Pettine); some thoughts: Pettine will be a head coach one day. Seems comfortable and in complete command. Very smart. Hope the Bills can get at least a couple of years out of him (and groom a replacement). Loved his matter-of-fact answers and I didn't bother to count how often he said they had to "completely change" the mentality on defense. Talked about showing as little, pre-snap, to the offense as possible. Versatility of players a key. Won't talk about Byrd because he has enough to work on with the players who are there. Hackett is enthusiastic and animated. Also comes across as extremely intelligent. Said they're throwing everything at them so they can figure out what everyone does well. Said, "when in doubt, give the ball to a [running] back." Not going to be characterized as smashmouth or finesse; everything they do needs to be physical. The overall tone from these coaches is that they want their units to be aggressive, physical, and versatile. Really fun to listen to them both.
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted May 21, 2013 Posted May 21, 2013 Just watched the two videos up on bb.com (interviews with Hackett and Pettine); some thoughts: Pettine will be a head coach one day. Seems comfortable and in complete command. Very smart. Hope the Bills can get at least a couple of years out of him (and groom a replacement). Loved his matter-of-fact answers and I didn't bother to count how often he said they had to "completely change" the mentality on defense. Talked about showing as little, pre-snap, to the offense as possible. Versatility of players a key. Won't talk about Byrd because he has enough to work on with the players who are there. Hackett is enthusiastic and animated. Also comes across as extremely intelligent. Said they're throwing everything at them so they can figure out what everyone does well. Said, "when in doubt, give the ball to a [running] back." Not going to be characterized as smashmouth or finesse; everything they do needs to be physical. The overall tone from these coaches is that they want their units to be aggressive, physical, and versatile. Really fun to listen to them both. It's really nice to hear. I know, we're supposed to be saying "show me the baby" but after the past few years of soporific coaching interviews you see some life. In one of the earlier roundups they talked about how Marrone steps onto the field to personally help with drills because he feels like he isn't doing anything otherwise and gets bored. Hackett and Pettine seem to have definite plans,and have an energy about it. Of course, come the season we won't care, but while Chan grounded us after freefall (which we needed) suddenly it seems like we have a spark again for the first time since those heady days of Fitz's 5-2 start...
Recommended Posts