I would say Bobby April is giddy about what his options are now with McKelvin. Of course, the whole key is replacing the blocking that was lost by ST veterans Wire, Aiken, Haggan, Stamer. But, Can you imagine having McKelvin and McGee to return kicks? They would not be able to kick away from either guy unless they squib it. Plus, even on punt returns you could have 2 return men. Not saying that would be effective but it gives so much flexibility. McKelvin has natural kick return skills. I think he will excel at kick returning at the next level.

Plus Brian, you have been clamoring for McGee to set his return duties to the side, but now the same problem is there. A CB who also returns! So Brian what do you think about possible our #2 starting CB also returning kicks during his career? I think it saves a roster spot and gives the Bills so much more flexibility. I love it.

to see that miller highlighted that McKelvin will lay the hat because during all my debating with the Cason and DRC fans out there, the biggest knock many had on McKelvin was that he was afraid to make a hit. All over his film you see him throwing himself at ball carriers, whether successfully or not, showing that not only does he possess courage but that he can be coached into a tough CB. I wanted McKelvin because the guy is LOCKDOWN, even miller says he has potential to be one of the best and also because he is a high character player and a team leader, he was a captain after all. This is a great addition to our team and he should start right off the bat. I think the young players enthusiasm to play and build a winner in Buffalo that was started by Marshawn will come easily to McKelvin. Considering that the WR class didn’t have the clear cut best player, we may have gotten two of the highest ceiling players at CB and WR with McKelvin and Hardy. In many ways I think the first two picks of this draft are just as exciting as Lynch and Poz.

Not really sure who else is near a TV right now, but McKelvin is going to be appearing on ESPN2’s First Take in a few minutes. Of course, they’re asking him everyone’s favorite question,”How do you feel about playing in Buffalo winters?”

First let me say that I saw McKelvin play an entire game only once. Two of my good friends are big Georgia Bulldog fans and I typically watch all their games (especially now that Syracuse is awful). I watched Troy vs. Georgia and had somewhat of an eye on McKelvin. He was considered a second round prospect at the time. I also saw bits and pieces of Troy vs. Florida, I watched about 10 or 15 plays where Troy had their defense out on the field. So most of my opinion come from scouting reports and statistics. I am not a big fan of highlights, I don’t think they tell us much, especially when 50% of the footage is punt returns.

At 5’10 1/2 and 190 pounds, McKelvin has adaquate size, but nothing more. As a comparison, McKelvin is about the same hieght as Greer and 8 pounds lighter than McGee. Size isn’t all that important though and that becomes obvious watching players like Winfield and Ronde Barber. His height and weight are about average (his weight is a little below average) for starting NFL cornerbacks, but it is good enough that it shouldn’t hurt him.

He has elite athleticism. McKelvin posseses both straight line speed and change of direction. His fluid hips allow him to stick with any receiver. In the game I saw, WRs were completely unable to seperate from him at all. There was one play where Massaquoi beat him on a fly pattern. It was second or third and short and McKelvin was playing up on the line, Massaquoi went at him like he was run blocking and McKelvin bit on the play action. It was like a 25 yard gain. I don’t remember if McKelvin allowed another catch all game. His coverage ability is his biggest strength.

There are contradicting reports about his instincts. I think he has poor instincts, but reacts quickly. If he were ever able to jump routes or feel a throw was coming before the QB threw it, then he would have had more than 4 INTs in college. His athleticism is so impressive that he covers up for his marginal instincts with impressive reactions. Even OBD has been talking about how well he plays the ball. He is aggressive going after the ball while it is in the air, but he is more reactionary than anything.

I believe McKelvin will have to get stronger in order to be really effective in run support. I don’t remember him tackling a RB once during the Georgia or Florida games. He is a solid tackler and made some tackles in the secondary against Georgia. Most scouting reports that I have read have mentioned McKelvin will need to add strength. He is best playing off the line of scrimmage, so he should do fine in run support, just don’t expect him to be anywhere near as effective as McGee has been the last couple of seasons. He shouldn’t be a dropoff from Greer and will likely improve over time as he gets stronger and learns how to shed blocks better.

LEODIS MCKELVIN IS NOT A GOOD KICK RETURNER
In the game I saw, McKelvin had 6 KRs for 121 yards. It was pathetic. Georgia averaged over 30 yards per KR.
kick returning and punt retunring are totally different. McKelvin is a dynamic PR, but had basically no success returning kicks in college. Devin Hester is a classic example of the media ignoring the difference in KR and PR abilities. While Hester had the second best PR average in the league, he also had the THIRD WORST yards per kick return of anyone in the league who averaged more than 1 return per game.

McKelvin had 99 career kick returns. He averaged 23.7 yards over those returns and only 23.2 yards his senior season. He had only 1 TD in those 99 returns. If McKelvin does as well in the NFL as he did in the Sun Belt conference he will be an average kick returner. I couldn’t find a list of all the KR leaders from last season, but I did find a list from 2005 and one from 2003. In those lists the top 50 returners who qualified all averaged at least 24 yards per return. Basically, almost half of the teams playing D-1 football had a more effective KR than Troy did last season. I expect him to struggle on KRs if the Bills give him many oppurtunities next season.

Didn’t he break his arm in training camp during his rookie year? If(when) he gets another injury it will be nice to just slide McKelvin in and not miss a beat.

Maybe McKelvin won’t be much of a kick returner, but that’s ok. If McKelvin is a first round caliber corner then the Bills would benefit from grooming him that way. McGee is never going to an elite corner. He’s good, but not exactly a #1 corner. McGee also needs to stay out there as our main kick returner.

Putting McKelvin back there as a compliment is fine, but not as a substitute. He, like Roscoe, lacks that lower body strength and tackle breaking ability that McGee has. McKelvin and Parrish are good at punt returns because they’re quick and they use their change of direction and speed to avoid getting touched altogether. As kick returners, even minor contact would slow them down and allow the coverage team to