Halfway through Preseason....

[BuffaloBilliever]

Alvin Bowen.

[Dan]

Offense: I'd say Langston Walker. He's quickly making the absence of Peters seem less devastating. I wouldn't say the line is great. But, it certainly doesn't seem to be abysmal either.

 

Defense: I'd say Youboty. Maybe it's just a function of him getting a lot of playing time, but he seems to be in on a lot of plays.

 

Special Teams: McKelvin. One near touchdown in the first game. One easy touchdown in the second. Enough said.

 

It'll be interesting to see if they can keep the momentum going in the 3rd game. It could be a blessing in disguise to have several of the Colts stars possibly out. Nothing like a little success to give the team confidence.

[Nostradumbass]

Reggie Corner will probably unseat Youboty and I hope Buffalo can trade Youboty before the cuts.

 

McKelvin for ST work mostly so far.

 

Poz.

 

Edwards based on the last outing..

 

I haven't noticed Ellis that much I'll have to look for him more next game.

 

The whole O-line has looked good without Peters in there.

 

I thought the O-Line was the weakest unit against the Steelers.

 

Its hard not to like the play of Roscoe in the first two games. Also Keith Ellison looks like he actually has the strength to tackle this year

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

Ive never thought Youboty was a liabilty when he played, he just hasnt played much

 

Thats always been my feeling. Seems like everyone is really quick to discount the guy as a football players, while other circumstances (albeit some injuries, which are an issue to consider) have prevented him from giving us a decent sample to analyze.

[Tsaikotic]

the one thing I see the most, and you can see it in that video link when they show plays from last year at the beggining, is if you watch TE from last year he almost always telegraphs the play...last year he lifted his leg way high..almost as high as if he was stepping over a bucket or something...I hated it last year...the game vs Steelers he almost never lifted his leg...I saw a small lift on the first play , but after that he never lifted it again...this alone shows me hes working on getting better and his work is paying off

[devldog131]

Didn't like the x-factor sign in the endzone... he's not the x-factor yet.

 

 

Dude, it's nothing to do with x-factor or anything of the like. Follow the linkage.

 

http://buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?post_id=3847

[bizell]

Kelsay has been applying good pressure rushing the QB.

[Chandler#81]

Xavier Omon and Reggie Corner.

 

We are stockpiling some great, young talent!!

[KOKBILLS]

Well...It's hard not to get excited about McKelvin's ability...It's pretty obvious His ceiling is sky-high...

 

But I'm going to go with Langston Walker...The Bills were bashed by some for signing the guy to play RT, and now He's Starting at LT and doing a decent Job...Im a bit surprised and more than thrilled with His play since He's come to Buffalo...Further proof that Raiders Org was in a major state of disarray a couple Years ago...

 

Got to give credit where credit is due...The Bills saw something in Walker most Teams did not see...And now they are reaping the benifits...

[kenny3000]

Its hard to say who has impressed me most because only a few players were consistent in both games so far. Most Bills players have looked good and one, and bad in the other. The consistent ones I am impressed with is McKelvin, Youboty and Poz.

 

If I had to go and pick an under the radar guy, I'm definitely impressed with S Jon Corto. He has no only been all over the field on defense, but also on special teams too. I think we might be shocked by some cuts at safety this year. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me to see Bryan Scott let go.

 

 

Really - i thought that Bryan Scott was one of the holdovers from last year that i'm really happy with. he's like a linebacker in a db's body. he's a great hitter and i saw a few plays he was in on in the pitt game. i'd be real shocked if he got cut.

[Pyrite Gal]

I think the jury is still out on Scott. He led the team in tackles to his credit but this may be a sign that the Steelers were merely picking on this spot because the QB saw weakness there or the OC saw weakness to that side.

 

He also badly missed a tackle in the backfield which could have set Pitts for a loss and Mendenehall seemed to score on draw plays where Scott left a hole Mendenhall exploited.

[Pyrite Gal]

Reggie Corner will probably unseat Youboty and I hope Buffalo can trade Youboty before the cuts.

 

McKelvin for ST work mostly so far.

 

Poz.

 

Edwards based on the last outing..

 

I haven't noticed Ellis that much I'll have to look for him more next game.

 

The whole O-line has looked good without Peters in there.

I also do not see Corner/Youbouty as a simple direct competition. It is to the extent they both are CBs, but the Bills can easily use 5 CBs on the roster given the heavy emphasis opponents like NE has on having depth at WR. The key will be ST ability for whether either of these two players contribute to the Bills and deserve to stay. My sense is that Corner due to his youth and mutant jumping ability which shows athleticism and Youbouty having playmaker quality plays with his INT against the Skins and doing a very nice job in sacking a good running Pitts QB are both likely keepers.

 

McKelvin has shown outstanding difference making ability as a return guy and likely may force April into coming up with a design which utilizes two return guys on KR.

 

The jury is somewhat still out for me regarding Poz. He clearly was reasonably someone to be excited about in his brief appearances last year as he led the team in tackles. However, it really took rose colored glasses IMHO to ignore the sense he looked like a poor man's London Fletcher out there last year as this rookie could be fooled and he made the initial hit and tackle on the rusher but did this too deep in our backfield as he recognized plays later as a rookie tends to do.

 

I think the good news in all of this was he was football smart enough to recognize quickly he had been fooled into a false first step and he had amazing speed in that the belatedly closed on the ball carrier but close and tackle he did.

 

He is a player I think probably profited a great deal from not being able to play last year but still being able to watch the game and see how the pros do it. Its still too early to tell though from what I see against vanilla offenses we face.

 

Edwards did impress a ton in the Pitts game, but what he needs to demonstrate before folks reasonably get too excited (many are easily unreasonably excited after a very good and actually outstanding debut at QB for a rookie) is consistency. So one good game is merely an episode, a second good game unfortunately may simply be a coincidence. I need to see three good starts before I can comfortably label this a trend.

 

I think one has to be impressed with Ellis so far as he has shown he certainly is a playmaker. His game still needs to improve a lot as like most rookies he has shown he can be fooled, but so far so great and i would not be shocked to see him take a starter job in the rotation by mid-season IF he keeps on developing.

 

Just show Peters the money. Depth is the OL issue for this team. Chambers does not cut it as a starter and moving Walker to LT is a band-aid at best. Kudos to the OL crew for great work against Pitts but as long as we do not get Peters on the field it is simply a matter of time until something bad happens.

 

Overall, I think merely having two pre-season games earns NO ONe a legitimate designation as a phenom. In fact, the main conclusions which I think can be drawn is who deserves to stay rather than who is good I think 2 games can point to some potential great upside (all 3 of the top draft picks have shown great upside but for real its still too early to draw any conclusions.

[JinWPB]

Our top picks , who better be good....are.

Fowler seems to have improved at center,but its only two games.

Youboty I think is leading tackler so far.

Corner is a playmaker it seems.I expect Dick to keep an extra CB this year.

Walker has done better than I expected...Jason,phone home.

Royal seems more nimble, not so flat footed.

Simpson looks great.

Really no big surprises.

[Pyrite Gal]

Our top picks , who better be good....are.

Fowler seems to have improved at center,but its only two games.

Youboty I think is leading tackler so far.

Corner is a playmaker it seems.I expect Dick to keep an extra CB this year.

Walker has done better than I expected...Jason,phone home.

Royal seems more nimble, not so flat footed.

Simpson looks great.

Really no big surprises.

Corner has looked okay but nothing special that would earn him the label of playmaker. Right now all there is is subjective opinion about him throwing his body around rather than objective evidence such as if he had recorded an INT or made a sack of Pitts hard running #3 QB.

 

The good thing about your post is that you at least give Youbouty credit for being the teams leading tackler thus far in the brief pre-season showing. What is amusing is that a few posters seem ready to declare Corner as having beaten out Youbouty even though it is the Sheik who has provided the objective evidence of an INT and a critical sack to earn the label of playmaker.

[JinWPB]

Corner has looked okay but nothing special that would earn him the label of playmaker.

 

 

I didn't mean to imply he was a "playmaker" yet. Just that from training camp reports and what I 've seen so far in preseason I'm very impressed . I don't get the feeling that the game is to big for him and as he gets more time in( much like Jabari ) he will be very good. And ,yes I do consider Greer a playmaker after last year. What many considered a weak spot on our D now looks like a position of strength.

[reddogblitz]

Trent Edwards looked good in game 2

DiGeorgio

Leodis

Wright (when he's not fumbling)

Scott (defensive back)

George Wilson

JP

Hamdan

Lynch

Thomas Hardy

[The_Philster]

Thomas Hardy

who?

[colin]

lynch and our 2 starting guards.

 

while other guys have played well for our given expectations, there is a reason we got dock in FA last year ahead of everyone else at G (to some posters whining) and we inked up our RG. they are supposed to be physical athletic studs, and i think they are. they can make up for fowlers lack of power, and for peters being a ph@cking wimp. they can both run and punch straight ahead, and can pass block very well IMO.

 

lynch is just a friggen beast waiting to happen every play. he accelerates quickly and does not hesitate, and i think he is getting saltier in the pass blocking game. you put together the base of our line and a young back showing more complete skills, and you have a shot at some great things.

[reddogblitz]

who?

 

Hardy, James