Youboty is most likely ready

[Fingon]

After earning spot duty as a true freshman in 2003, Youboty started to make a name for himself as a sophomore. Once he moved into the starting lineup, he flashed the big play ability to be the next corner standout at Ohio St. On the season he picked off four passes and finished with 61 tackles. He earned all conference honors this year after positing 56 tackles, six for loss, with a sack and an interception.

 

There is not a single physical skill Youboty lacks. He has good size for a corner, is athletic, has good speed, and is strong. He is one of the more active corners in the draft. In coverage, he will go up and make a play on the ball. He's also not afraid to attack the ball carrier and make plays in the running game. He is at his best going man up, covering the receiver off the line of scrimmage. He has the size and strength to take them out of their rhythm, and the athleticism to turn and cover.

 

Right now, he still needs work. Even though he has good size, he will need to pack on a few pounds to handle the rigors of the NFL. He relies more on his athletic talents right now. He is solid in man coverage, but doesn't always make the correct read when asked to play in space. He has less than two full season of starting experience at the college level.

 

Ashton Youboty is a very solid corner prospect. He is not an elite physical specimen, but he has all the talent to be a starting corner in the NFL. He's not the type you want to give a starting job to right away, but with some work, he has a chance to be a very good starting cornerback. There is no true shut down corner in this draft, so Youboty could hear his name called as high as any real corner in this draft. With good workouts, he could crack the end of the first round, but he probably fits more into the second or third round range.

 

 

 

 

This article has a lot of good to say about him, IMO we don't need to draft a CB in the first few rounds.

[/dev/null]

IMO we don't need to draft a CB in the first few rounds.

 

I agree. Yoboty declared early as a junior. Had he stayed for his senior year he probably would be considered a first rounder this year.

[Sketch Soland]

After earning spot duty as a true freshman in 2003, Youboty started to make a name for himself as a sophomore. Once he moved into the starting lineup, he flashed the big play ability to be the next corner standout at Ohio St. On the season he picked off four passes and finished with 61 tackles. He earned all conference honors this year after positing 56 tackles, six for loss, with a sack and an interception.

 

There is not a single physical skill Youboty lacks. He has good size for a corner, is athletic, has good speed, and is strong. He is one of the more active corners in the draft. In coverage, he will go up and make a play on the ball. He's also not afraid to attack the ball carrier and make plays in the running game. He is at his best going man up, covering the receiver off the line of scrimmage. He has the size and strength to take them out of their rhythm, and the athleticism to turn and cover.

 

Right now, he still needs work. Even though he has good size, he will need to pack on a few pounds to handle the rigors of the NFL. He relies more on his athletic talents right now. He is solid in man coverage, but doesn't always make the correct read when asked to play in space. He has less than two full season of starting experience at the college level.

 

Ashton Youboty is a very solid corner prospect. He is not an elite physical specimen, but he has all the talent to be a starting corner in the NFL. He's not the type you want to give a starting job to right away, but with some work, he has a chance to be a very good starting cornerback. There is no true shut down corner in this draft, so Youboty could hear his name called as high as any real corner in this draft. With good workouts, he could crack the end of the first round, but he probably fits more into the second or third round range.

This article has a lot of good to say about him, IMO we don't need to draft a CB in the first few rounds.

 

Youboty will be most likely ready when he actually steps on the field and we have the chance to see if he is capable of performing like a starting NFL CB.

[KOKBILLS]

Youboty has a HUGE advantage over any Draft Pick because, playing or not, He's been in Buffalo for a Year and should have a good grasp on His responsibilities in the Cover 2...He's got all the tools He needs physically, now He just needs the Reps...I'm guessing He'll be Starting in Sept...But we'll see soon enough...

[Fingon]

I'm comfortable with Youboty, the guy would probably have been a 1st or 2nd round pick if he had come out this year. Plus, he has a year of working with our coaching staff. If we end up drafting Kenny Irons I would not be opposed to drafting David Irons in the later rounds as a back up.

[NewEra]

If we end up drafting Kenny Irons I would not be opposed to drafting David Irons in the later rounds as a back up.

 

But if we don't draft kenny, you don't want david?

[BillsVet]

Again, we're hoping and wishing this guy is worthy of the praise we've been heaping upon ourselves and the organization for selecting him and getting a supposed 3rd round bargain.

 

I realize he lost time due to his mother's death in 06, but that occurred in the summer. He wasn't even dressing during the regular season, let alone playing. I believe his only game action at CB was against the Jets. That's just not enough to know if he'll be an effective NFL CB.

 

I don't care if people have opinions, but back them up with something.

 

We don't know if this guy is going to be a reliable NFL starter, same as whether or not Buffalo will be competitive this season. There's too much that can happen between now and opening day.

[C.Biscuit97]

I'm telling you after all the horrible things he went through last year, I just got a feeling about Youboty. He is gonna be a ballplayer for us.

[C.Biscuit97]

Again, we're hoping and wishing this guy is worthy of the praise we've been heaping upon ourselves and the organization for selecting him and getting a supposed 3rd round bargain.

 

I realize he lost time due to his mother's death in 06, but that occurred in the summer. He wasn't even dressing during the regular season, let alone playing. I believe his only game action at CB was against the Jets. That's just not enough to know if he'll be an effective NFL CB.

 

I don't care if people have opinions, but back them up with something.

 

We don't know if this guy is going to be a reliable NFL starter, same as whether or not Buffalo will be competitive this season. There's too much that can happen between now and opening day.

 

The way this new regime has operated is that you earn you position. You don't get it handed to you because you were a high draft pick. Youboty missed time and fell behind. At the same time, guys like Thomas and I believe Greer fully grasped the defense and were playing well. How would it be fair to give a spot to Youboty if Thomas and Greer did not to lose theirs?

 

So none of us can be certain what were getting with Youboty. it is a guessing game. But based on his size, talent, age, and the fact he has a year in the sytstem under his belt, this certainly is enough to give fans hope that he can be the guy.

[BillsVet]

The way this new regime has operated is that you earn you position. You don't get it handed to you because you were a high draft pick. Youboty missed time and fell behind. At the same time, guys like Thomas and I believe Greer fully grasped the defense and were playing well. How would it be fair to give a spot to Youboty if Thomas and Greer did not to lose theirs?

 

So none of us can be certain what were getting with Youboty. it is a guessing game. But based on his size, talent, age, and the fact he has a year in the sytstem under his belt, this certainly is enough to give fans hope that he can be the guy.

 

I guess it'd be safe to say we won't be drafting CB in 2007. My concern with Youboty is he's essentially a rookie. Sure, he practiced and played CB in one game, but he's new and untested.

 

I know the Bills will only play the best player and they've got to earn it. But going into the season with K. Thomas, Jabari Greer, Youboty, McGee and Bassey as the only CB's on the roster makes my head hurt. That's not a position I feel very comfortable with. There were opportunities to acquire veteran talent that can play in this leauge and we chose to stay with what we've got.

 

That said, Youboty needs to play well. We can't just hope he plays well. Our CB depth is so poor there aren't really any options.

[Oneonta Buffalo Fan]

It sounds like Youtboty will be fine. I can't wait to see him play.

[Fingon]

He is essentially a rookie that has spent a year working with our coaching staff. He has the physical tools, so I'd rather have him over a 2nd or 3rd round corner just because of that extra year. I would take david irons if we don't draft kenny, but it seems like it would be good for a young running back to feel more comfortable.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Again, we're hoping and wishing this guy is worthy of the praise we've been heaping upon ourselves and the organization for selecting him and getting a supposed 3rd round bargain.

 

I realize he lost time due to his mother's death in 06, but that occurred in the summer. He wasn't even dressing during the regular season, let alone playing. I believe his only game action at CB was against the Jets. That's just not enough to know if he'll be an effective NFL CB.

 

I don't care if people have opinions, but back them up with something.

 

We don't know if this guy is going to be a reliable NFL starter, same as whether or not Buffalo will be competitive this season. There's too much that can happen between now and opening day.

 

Here is my opinion, backed up with some knowledge...

The reason he wasnt dressing is because of special teams and not his abilities on defense. Being a third or fouth corner you have to play special teams, but just like the offense or the defense, Special Teams is a unit and the more often you put the same people out there together on coverage teams or return teams the more time things go well. Youboty didnt play because at the start of the year when he was not ready due to missing camp for a very good but upsetting reason, he was unable to break into the special teams line-up and therefore he couldnt dress. It never was a question about his defensive abilities it was mostly about cohesion on Specialties.

 

By the way...did you back it up with something?

[Captain Hindsight]

Here is my opinion, backed up with some knowledge...

The reason he wasnt dressing is because of special teams and not his abilities on defense. Being a third or fouth corner you have to play special teams, but just like the offense or the defense, Special Teams is a unit and the more often you put the same people out there together on coverage teams or return teams the more time things go well. Youboty didnt play because at the start of the year when he was not ready due to missing camp for a very good but upsetting reason, he was unable to break into the special teams line-up and therefore he couldnt dress. It never was a question about his defensive abilities it was mostly about cohesion on Specialties.

 

By the way...did you back it up with something?

Good Anaylsis champ

[Pyrite Gal]

Again, we're hoping and wishing this guy is worthy of the praise we've been heaping upon ourselves and the organization for selecting him and getting a supposed 3rd round bargain.

 

I realize he lost time due to his mother's death in 06, but that occurred in the summer. He wasn't even dressing during the regular season, let alone playing. I believe his only game action at CB was against the Jets. That's just not enough to know if he'll be an effective NFL CB.

 

I don't care if people have opinions, but back them up with something.

 

We don't know if this guy is going to be a reliable NFL starter, same as whether or not Buffalo will be competitive this season. There's too much that can happen between now and opening day.

The actual facts are that he was in fact joined the team just after the pre-season which is important because he was practicing with the team (usually as a scout player) and working directly with the coach's and also interacting directly with Troy Vincent who had been IR'ed by then but still was a member of the team until we officially cut him just after the second half of the season began. It was obvious after a couple of games when it became clear that the two rookies were holding their own at safety that he would eventually be gone but he stayed in Buffalo with the team to act essentially as an additional coach to lend his CB skills which garnered him several Pro Bowls to help Youbouty catch up since he missed training camp.

 

The objective fact is that these and other development effort proved to be successful as he merited a start against the Jets and the D with him in this critical position performed very well against the crafty but rag-armed Chad Pennington.

 

Rather than not dressing during the regular season being the most accurate description of his status, he in fact began dressing early in the second half of the season as he is listed in the game notebooks as being an active player in game 9 so he actually dressed for almost half the season. His practice with the team from early in the season and remedial work with Vincent (so the position coaches could focus on the significant burden of getting 2 rookies ready to play safety) was well done to make-up for the loss time. In addition to starting against the Jets he saw action in two other games including the final game and he registered a few tackles though no INTs or dramatic plays (which all most fans as casual viewers notice. My recollection though is that his play in the start was good and successful and he at least held his own in his two other starts.

 

I think the key thing to remember when assessing Youbouty is that the consensus scouting report on him seemed to be that he needed another year of work before he came out and because the numeric scouting reports had him rated just behind players who went in the first round last year this was why he was considered a possible first round talent.

 

I think there is a legit factual case that he did drop to the Bills who were picking quite early in the second round. First the consensus being he needed a year more training mitigated against taking him as an immediate or early starter. Second, there was a run on safeties which meant many teams has already spent heavily for the secondary which made taking another DB on the first day a tough move which it turns out the Bills were willing to do.

 

The fact that Youbouty essentially got better training than if he had spent another year actually playing at Ohio State is why I think that it is reasonable to ask and expect a lot of him. If he had stayed in school he would have had the benefit of actually playing 12 or so games against college talent which included the best that college had to offer.

 

However, looking at what happened, i think this training pales when compared to what he got mostly doing off field work but doing it within the Bills system, practicing against NFL players, reviewing game tapes prepared by Bills coaches with a focus on running the cover 2, and operating initially under the attention and tutelage of NFLPA President Troy Vincent.

 

He even put this training to the test getting a start against the Jets and being active in two other games. While not scoring the straight As of making big plays (which CB play in the Cover 2 is not designed to do which can be seen in our letting "playmakeg" Clements go and the public complaints by Dre Bly that he was taking the FA route out of the Detroit Cover 2 designed for them by Jauron because of its limits on CB playmaking). It was not straight As but he easily passed IMHO.

 

My sense is that Youbouty is quite ready to at least be our nickel and has a shot at being a reasonable starter because his strenghts in the scouting reports are perfect for the Cover 2 (very competitive player and good hand fighter who is built for press coverage, areas he needs work is a tendency to look into the backfield a bit much, but given that the Cover 2 requires the CB to cover the short zone and release WRs generally who are going more than 10-15 yards downfield he should be fine.

 

He will compete with Kilwaukee Thomas ( who said he wanted a shot at being a starter through FA and now he will get one) with the loser of this battle getting the nickel slot. These two are backed up Greer who is a quite reasonable nickel himself so the dime responsibility is fine.

 

I have disagreed with the thought we should take Leon Hall because using our first rounder on a CB would essentially guarantee a 1st day choice of either this year or last would sit on the bench. We have too many needs to waste this resource.

 

In fact, there is not an unreasonable possibility that in fact Youbouty might even beat out Hall if he were picked and I for one would not be a happy fan if our first round choice were for a player who did ST for the most part or if he beat out Thomas for the nickel that we wasted the FA money on Thomas.

[BillsVet]

Here is my opinion, backed up with some knowledge...

The reason he wasnt dressing is because of special teams and not his abilities on defense. Being a third or fouth corner you have to play special teams, but just like the offense or the defense, Special Teams is a unit and the more often you put the same people out there together on coverage teams or return teams the more time things go well. Youboty didnt play because at the start of the year when he was not ready due to missing camp for a very good but upsetting reason, he was unable to break into the special teams line-up and therefore he couldnt dress. It never was a question about his defensive abilities it was mostly about cohesion on Specialties.

 

By the way...did you back it up with something?

 

So he didn't dress because of ST reasons? That's our logic? Many "experts" pegged Youboty as a first, if not second rounder last season. There was a family tragedy and I completely understand his absence in camp. But...

 

how do you explain a guy with such high talent not getting on the field? I may be mistaken, but NFL teams can dress 45 players for a game. According to the Bills website, Youboty played on ST against Miami, Baltimore, and the NYJ. So I believe the coaches got him on the field in that regard. Why he was inactive for SD and TEN after dressing the first time against Houston is beyond me. I'm sure the coaches had their reasons, but all I'm trying to point out is this guy has nothing to show that he can be a reliable NFL CB.

 

And since when should it be a challenge for a 3rd round pick to "break into" the ST lineup? We've got UDFA's and other late round picks that make it onto the ST unit. Stamer, Haggan, heck even Peters a few seasons ago. It should not be hard for someone like Youboty to play ST with his speed as a CB.

 

The fact is, if Youboty had enough talent to play last season he would have. They kept him off the field until November because he couldn't play ST?

 

Nice try.

[MDH]

That said, Youboty needs to play well. We can't just hope he plays well. Our CB depth is so poor there aren't really any options.

 

Actually the CB depth is fine, it's the second starter we're worried about. The Bills 3rd and 4th CBs are fine The depth issue is at S and LB.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

So he didn't dress because of ST reasons? That's our logic? Many "experts" pegged Youboty as a first, if not second rounder last season. There was a family tragedy and I completely understand his absence in camp. But...

 

how do you explain a guy with such high talent not getting on the field? I may be mistaken, but NFL teams can dress 45 players for a game. According to the Bills website, Youboty played on ST against Miami, Baltimore, and the NYJ. So I believe the coaches got him on the field in that regard. Why he was inactive for SD and TEN after dressing the first time against Houston is beyond me. I'm sure the coaches had their reasons, but all I'm trying to point out is this guy has nothing to show that he can be a reliable NFL CB.

 

And since when should it be a challenge for a 3rd round pick to "break into" the ST lineup? We've got UDFA's and other late round picks that make it onto the ST unit. Stamer, Haggan, heck even Peters a few seasons ago. It should not be hard for someone like Youboty to play ST with his speed as a CB.

 

The fact is, if Youboty had enough talent to play last season he would have. They kept him off the field until November because he couldn't play ST?

 

Nice try.

 

Billsvet,

 

I see what you are saying, but thats the facts about football man. If you have special teams unit they are just like the offense. They need to be in camp and learning all of the responsibilities of thier position on the specialties units. If you are not there to learn and someone else is and they are doing a fine job with no reason to pull them, they are not going to be pulled in favor of a guy who missed the learning period. Youboty didnt learn so he didnt play. It is a simple as that. Contrary to popular believe there is so much more that goes into a special teams play than running as fast you can. There are plays both on coverage and on returns. There are strategies involved to make sure your best cover guy can be unblocked to make the tackle, there are strategies in the return game also. There is a special teams play book. The guy didnt play because of specialties. Guys like Greer, Thomas, Stamer, Haggan, Davis, etc are the reason he didnt dress. They were on the unit in week one and there was no reason to pull them. They were the special teams starters and Youboty was a special teams back-up. I cannot remember for sure but I am willing to bet that when Youboty dressed and played on the specialties someone on the specialties was banged up to the point where the coaches thought Youboty would be more effective, and once whoever he was filling in for was back to heathy, Youboty was benched because he was not a special teams starter. It has nothing to do with talent. Plus, maybe he is not a good special teamer. I assure you that I am not blowing smoke. I understand that a guy with as much talent as Youboty not dressing because of special teams is hard to grasp for some people but its the truth. There is no two ways about it. A third or fourth corner must be a special teams starter, and if that guy is not good enough for specialties, or if he missed the learning curve for specialties then he isnt going to play on Sundays. Special teams can change a game so fast that you must have a cohesive and coherent group that plays together week in and week out. That is why Youboty didnt play. Not becuase of any lack of talent.

 

http://www.geocities.com/thekickinggame/

[BillsVet]

Billsvet,

 

I see what you are saying, but thats the facts about football man. If you have special teams unit they are just like the offense. They need to be in camp and learning all of the responsibilities of thier position on the specialties units. If you are not there to learn and someone else is and they are doing a fine job with no reason to pull them, they are not going to be pulled in favor of a guy who missed the learning period. Youboty didnt learn so he didnt play. It is a simple as that. Contrary to popular believe there is so much more that goes into a special teams play than running as fast you can. There are plays both on coverage and on returns. There are strategies involved to make sure your best cover guy can be unblocked to make the tackle, there are strategies in the return game also. There is a special teams play book. The guy didnt play because of specialties. Guys like Greer, Thomas, Stamer, Haggan, Davis, etc are the reason he didnt dress. They were on the unit in week one and there was no reason to pull them. They were the special teams starters and Youboty was a special teams back-up. I cannot remember for sure but I am willing to bet that when Youboty dressed and played on the specialties someone on the specialties was banged up to the point where the coaches thought Youboty would be more effective, and once whoever he was filling in for was back to heathy, Youboty was benched because he was not a special teams starter. It has nothing to do with talent. Plus, maybe he is not a good special teamer. I assure you that I am not blowing smoke. I understand that a guy with as much talent as Youboty not dressing because of special teams is hard to grasp for some people but its the truth. There is no two ways about it. A third or fourth corner must be a special teams starter, and if that guy is not good enough for specialties, or if he missed the learning curve for specialties then he isnt going to play on Sundays. Special teams can change a game so fast that you must have a cohesive and coherent group that plays together week in and week out. That is why Youboty didnt play. Not becuase of any lack of talent.

 

http://www.geocities.com/thekickinggame/

 

Never did I undervalue the ST game. We have enjoyed a productive ST group under April, though despite this marquee ST group, we've continued to miss the playoffs. ST is important, but defense and offense take priority.

 

Also, I'm not equating sheer speed with being able to play ST. There's more to that obviously. But I think we're making it out to be more than what it is. Kick and punt coverage aren't things that take a Ph.D to master.

 

Now, I realize Stamer was hurt late in the season and they may have necessitated Youboty as a ST late in the season. However, if you've got a good CB, then he's going to play. Youboty did not play, ST or not.

 

This thread discussed Youboty's being ready to go. I personally think we need to see a lot more from him before we can make that assessment. Here's a guy who could not crack the lineup, and it's alarming to see what we've got for depth at CB. Thomas has never started in the NFL, Greer is a backup caliber CB, and McGee was burned often last season. (against MIN and DET no less) CB is a huge question mark...and Youboty isn't the answer, at least not right now.

[Pyrite Gal]

So he didn't dress because of ST reasons? That's our logic? Many "experts" pegged Youboty as a first, if not second rounder last season. There was a family tragedy and I completely understand his absence in camp. But...

 

how do you explain a guy with such high talent not getting on the field? I may be mistaken, but NFL teams can dress 45 players for a game. According to the Bills website, Youboty played on ST against Miami, Baltimore, and the NYJ. So I believe the coaches got him on the field in that regard. Why he was inactive for SD and TEN after dressing the first time against Houston is beyond me. I'm sure the coaches had their reasons, but all I'm trying to point out is this guy has nothing to show that he can be a reliable NFL CB.

 

And since when should it be a challenge for a 3rd round pick to "break into" the ST lineup? We've got UDFA's and other late round picks that make it onto the ST unit. Stamer, Haggan, heck even Peters a few seasons ago. It should not be hard for someone like Youboty to play ST with his speed as a CB.

 

The fact is, if Youboty had enough talent to play last season he would have. They kept him off the field until November because he couldn't play ST?

 

Nice try.

Again reiterating post above that I was probably working on just as you were working on yours it is inaccurate to describe Youbouty as not dressing last season except for a spot start as baseon the NFL compiled Gamebooks he first dressed soon after the break in Game 9. It is also inaccurate in this post to say that it was ST that got Youbouty into the game against NYJ as you are aware from your posts that he started and actually got substantial gametime against NYJ as McGee was out with an injury.

 

He was an important part of the gameplan as his surprising presence as a starter and with a lot of shuffling and changes of formation which Fewell used in that game to confuse the opportunistic and rag armed Pennington was different personnel in different formations. They suceeded in basically stopping the Jets playoff making offense.

 

Rather than being some negative or demonstration of his failings, Youbouty's usage is easily seen as an endorsement of the relatively difficult to deny fact that his play in practice from early last season and in dressing soon after the BYE built the confidence of the coaches that he could be trusted to start one game and appear in two others.

 

It is beyond our outside observation to say why the coaches sat him after playing him. I think the most likely reasons are:

 

1. Once McGee got his attitude adjusted and he was sat he was a much better player in the second half of the season and the Bills felt he was better. I think that McGee's improved play was a big part of the reason the braintrust seems to feel comfortable with him as #1 starter. He certainly will need to step up because part of his improved play in the second half is the Bills changed up their scheme so that Clements always got the better WR. He will need to step up his play as this responsibility is on him.

 

2. I also think that his start and play are an endorsement of Jauron/Fewell's satisfaction with Kiwaukee Thomas. Thomas announced he wanted to start this year at CB when he began entertaining FA bids. He will get a shot this year with the Bills taking on Youbouty. The fact they stuck with Thomas as the nickel after the start seems to be based more on satisfaction with Thomas than dissatisfaction with Youbouty.

 

3. Looking at the gamebooks against SD and TN, it is only a guess why the coaches did what they did but they seemed to have decided to go with an additional LB rather than a DB and Youbouty sat. Given the fact that both teams emphasized the run heavily it seems quite reasonable that they would be more likely to power up at LB rather than at CB.

 

Youbouty did not take the CB job and make it his so I think one cannot judge him as getting straight As for his work. However, the fact he got a start and played to other games does reflect some trust in him from the coaches and he easily gets a passing grade IMHO.

 

Thomas is the starter for now as it says on the depth chart, but judging from the faith they showed in Youbouty getting a start in a game which the D excelled, i think it is a very good guess that Youbouty will compete with Thomas for starting this year and the loser will likely be the nickel.

 

The team can certainly use some competition at CB, given that there are good things to say about McGee (far better results in the second half of the season), Thomas (reliable player with a good relationship with Jauron) and Youbouty (after the difficult family issues where both parents died and he was the eldest son and obvious breadwinner for the family- one wonders whether NFL scouts had word of the impending death if it was from illness and could not say a lot in public scouting reports but he may have dropped if folks saw this coming) but he bounced back nicely IMHO to earn a start.

 

However, I think the Bills will be reluctant to simply bring in more competition with a first day CB pick unless they get another special opportunity with a dropped player in the draft because this would be using a major resource on a player to create a situation where the Bills will have to sit a player they spent a first day draft choice on either way or one they spent in FA for.