They will be improved this year with SS Donte Whitner and FS Ko Simpson both entering their third...

They will be improved this year with SS Donte Whitner and FS Ko Simpson both entering their third season. Simpson missed the majority of the 2007 season with a dislocated ankle, but should be ready to return as the starter, and the duo gives the Bills two young playmakers with good instincts who can make plays in traffic or in space.

ESPN - Bills' DBs rank #27 in NFL (Insider needed)

about 1 year ago Brian Galliford 16 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Never been a fan of ESPN

I have never been a fan of ESPN’s football analysis, finding it rather uninsightful and always coming after the fact. Their NFL analysis always states what is obvious at the moment and they never go out on a limb or a bold prediction. The Cowboys win three games in a row and they go on a Cowboys rampage about how good they are, the Colts lose two games in a row and they are all clamoring about how the Colts were destined to fall off. Gimme a break. This DB ranking doesn’t actually bother me, its just been building up with each ranking. ESPN is a joke when it comes to football.

McKelvin and Hardy - rookies of the year

by poz on Jul 17, 2008 3:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Scouts, Inc. puts these rankings together. :)

by Brian Galliford on Jul 17, 2008 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

they're really hating on us

McKelvin and Hardy - rookies of the year

by poz on Jul 17, 2008 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's nothing new

The Superbowl era of the early ‘90’s is the only time when the national publications gave the Bills any love.

Get the Bills back to the big game!

by Blitz on Jul 22, 2008 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BS

I mean…there is just no insight here, or elsewhere. When you read the NFL.com training camp preview for the Bills, they say that McKelvin will be looking to secure a starting spot next to Ashton Youboty. That is just outright ignorant and is basically the norm with all national Bills coverage.

This town needs an enema!

by killascript on Jul 17, 2008 4:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ha! Does it really say that? I haven’t seen this preview you speak of…

by Brian Galliford on Jul 17, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The blurb

Rookie spotlight
CB Leodis McKelvin: The Bills are hoping McKelvin, a 5-11, 190 pound corner out of Troy, can start right away opposite another young corner in Ashton Youboty. That may be a lot to ask of an undersized DB coming out of a small school, but there is a precedent for this sort of situation in Buffalo. Safety Donte Whitner - the eighth overall pick by the Bills in 2006 - emerged as a starter in his rookie season and is currently hosting McKelvin in his home as the rookie gets acclimated to life in the NFL

And the link for the full review: http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story?id=09000d5d8092e6cd&template=with-video&confirm=true

I’ll make a fan shot I guess

This town needs an enema!

by killascript on Jul 17, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hmm, thats an NFL.com article, you sure Marshall Faluk didn't write it up?

I mean, after all, MF is the one that said we need a much better left tackle and should draft one. I mean, he is a genuis just like Steve Fairchild….

Fear the mighty helmet wearing gopher, he is coming for your soul....

by WABillsfan on Jul 17, 2008 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

jeez.

i didn’t actually believe you at first.

that is absurd.

by sri on Jul 18, 2008 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What did they rank our special teams? I am not an Insider so I only saw the top two spots, which seemed based on the explosiveness of Hester and Cribbs…even though they said it wasn’t. I am having a really tough time with ESPN and their coverage of almost everything recently (especially football…apparently there are only 5 teams in the league worth covering?), although many analysts have been a little more critical of Favre recently.

by pozzed51 on Jul 17, 2008 5:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Never mind, just saw Brian’s fanpost.

by pozzed51 on Jul 17, 2008 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It’s amazing to me how many people hate ESPN, and yet somehow it’s so big.

If you hate the magazine check this out.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Jul 17, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha. that was well worth reading.

by kaisertown on Jul 17, 2008 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha

that was funny

i have an espn the rag subscription. i used to really enjoy it, now if i don’t read the current issue, i really don’t care. i just got a new one today and it’s got some skateboard freak with his shirt off on the cover. how perfect that fits in to that dude’s letter to espn….

by Kurupt on Jul 17, 2008 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree; that was amusing. With that being said, I haven’t had an issue with ESPN until the last few months or so. Sportscenter is still my #1 show, and I have a lot of respect for a lot of the anchors and hosts for the shows. Hell, one of my favorite TV moments ever happened on ESPN (Trey Wingo’s “And the women…DOT DOT DOT” comment about WIllis…classic). I do like a lot of what Peter Gammons does, and John Buccigross is my favorite hockey analysis. I cannot stand and cannot fathom why Skip Bayless is still around. He brings down the programming to the level of my 8th grade classmates (which was 7 years ago). I did make my goal of making it onto Sportscenter today though; I was at the Cards game and I got there late (5th inning to be exact; I had an Ulitmate Frisbee playoff game that I was not going to miss), but my seats were in the left field bleachers when Mathier hit his pinch hit home run. I was the only royal blue shirt in a sea of red, so I was easy to pick out. And I was proud of myself for some odd reason. And this was an absurdly long comment for what I was actually trying to say.

by pozzed51 on Jul 18, 2008 1:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No surprise

I wouldn’t rank our secondary any higher.

Everyone seems to think we will have a great secondary this year, but I don’t see it. We have solid players in McGee and Whitner, but they aren’t stars and probably never will be. McKelvin should become a good player, but right now I’m not expecting a whole lot this year. Greer is a weak starter and is more suited to be a ST’er/4th CB. James is a decent vet, but not much more. Youboty and Corner and young, and have promise, but they aren’t top notch talents either. Simpson is coming off a major injury and to me, wasn’t that great to start with. Wilson is a poor backup, but a quality ST’er. Scott is another solid vet, but can be pretty one-dimensional. So, in total, we have a couple of good players and a few more players with potential. There’s no star there and not much size or playmaking ability. We belong in the bottom of these rankings until they prove they are capable of being better than #30 in pass defense…..

I just hope McKelvin pans out and becomes one of the top players at his position….

by Kurupt on Jul 17, 2008 7:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs