McKelvin creating great problem for Bills' April

I’d like to see Leodis on Kickoffs ONLY!! Having him and McGee back there would scare the BGEEZUS out of opposing teams and give us great starting field position.

I think a little less wear-and-tear on McGee is a good thing. I say let him have kick-offs and let him split time with Roscoe on punts.

McKelvin’s touchdown was all set up by blocking. The only person he had to beat was the kicker and that guy is only paid to kick the ball. As Brian said, he’s only averaging 17.7 yards without that play. Using him occasionally will probably be the best idea. He can either team up with McGee or Parrish or occasionally fill in for them. He’s certainly a better punt returner than kickoff returner, but we knew that already.

That 17.7-yard figure is a bit misleading. It’s ignoring last week, where he had a pair of good returns – 37 and 23 yards; plus it’s ignoring the fact that one kickoff this week was a short one to the 12, which he returned to the 30. Besides, even Devin Hester would be a bad kick returner if you ignored his touchdowns – he averages about 18 yards/return when you throw them out!

A better stat is to take a look at the average drive start after McKelvin returns the kickoff – from two weeks worth of kickoffs, it was the 22, 35, 18, 30, 26, and a TD (opponent’s 0?). That averages out to the 26 excluding the TD; 38 with it. Not bad at all.

One more thing – watch the punt after the one that was muffed. It again bounced in front of him, and he very obviously waved everyone away, and then fielded it after one hop. He only returned it two yards (to the 19), but he stopped it from bouncing past – since there were Steelers around it, they could have let it bounce and roll inside the 10, possibly even inside the five. It goes down as a two-yard punt return, but it was really a much better play than that.

the whole less wear and tear on McGee I think is a poor argument. He is a football player, an athlete. He is completely used to it and does it as one of the best in the NFL. I don’t see how it wears him down so much. He is not going to explode if he keeps returning kicks.

But the point is having 3 weapons instead of 2 is phenomenal. And 3 dangerous return men, mean April has more options and the Bills are better off. And if McKelvin can push McGee or displace him, I’m all for it. But its football, we are here to WIN games, not save a guy a few bumps or energy cuz he has to return a few kicks. May the best man win. As Herm Edwards would say “HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELO…………WE PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!”

I think he should start the season doing neither.

McGee has EARNED the right to continue returning kicks for us and until McKelvin proves anything in the regular season, I am much more comfortable with Terrence back there. Right now McKelvin IS too boom or bust, while McGee always seems to get us field position around the 30, at worst. I would sprinkle McKelvin in in the spots Brian mentioned, after longer drives. That could be up to 4-5 times a game, or more, depending on how crappy our D is. I just don’t see the need to take away such a proven threat in McGee to put a talented and electrifying, yet unproven and potentially inconsistent, rookie back there. Not yet. If McGee starts to get dinged up during the season, then we could probably see McKelvin take over in more of a full-time role.

I am not sure what to think about having both of them back there. It sounds great in theory and may indeed scare the opposition, BUT it also takes away a quality lead blocker on returns. I think I’d much, much, much rather keep the blocker out there than what amounts to a decoy.

At punt return, Roscoe stays. He’s too good and I’m so comfortable with him back there, as I’m sure most of you are too. Like McGee at KR, Parrish has proven himself to be one of the best punt returners in the league. I don’t want to tinker with that. We’ve been talking about getting the ball into his hands more and more often the past few years, so why would we take touches away from him now? I’d throw both of them back at times for another look, and even a potential trick play, but again, a blocker would be taken away, which is not helpful to us.

Any injuries to Parrish or McGee would obviously put Leodis in full time, which I doubt anyone would have a problem with. Right now though, he should be sprinkled in on kick returns only, IMO. I’m not sure I can see him getting many PR’s this year if Roscoe is healthy because of how good Roscoe is. Bobby April truly does have to get creative if he wants to get McKelvin heavily involved. I’m sure every other ST coach in the league is envious of him right now…..

On kick returns, aren’t there usually two guys waiting for the kick? I’d rather see McKelvin and McGee than Jackson and McGee.

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