FanPost

Camp injuries and trades


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Not too long ago Brian, who by the way has posted an astounding 1700+ (!) stories in the past 18 months, took a stab at the Bills' final roster. He predicted that the Bills would keep 6 WRs (Evans, Owens, Reed, Parrish, Johnson and Hardy...making Jenkins the odd man out), 5 DEs (Schobel, Kelsay, Denney, Maybin, Ellis...cutting Bryan), and 6 DBs (McGee, McKelvin, Corner, Florence, Youboty and Lankster...dropping 6th round pick Cary Harris).

Training camps are getting underway and the requisite injuries are accompanying them. Buffalo, for instance, is having issues at defensive tackle. The Eagles may have lost their new pass catching TE Cornelius Ingram for a while. The Cowboys, for their part, just saw CB Mike Jenkins take an involuntary ride in a golf cart. More teams will have injuries just getting ready for the meaningless preseason games which are about to kick off.

So, how does this relate to the Bills?

Buffalo has an enviable surplus at WR. Jenkins has made some nice plays in camp and is, of course, a valuable special teamer. However, he's the 7th WR and is likely to get cut if Brian's prediction pans out. Roscoe Parrish, who won't get cut, was the subject of trade speculation around the time of the draft. It's a good bet some team will lose a WR in the near future and indeed the 49ers already have. If the Bills really want to keep Jenkins on the roster the team would need to move Parrish. His value would never be higher in that the team he's being shipped to would have an immediate and pressing need. Plus, Parrish would be present for much of training camp and be fairly well prepared for the start of the season in the new (to him) offense.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bills seem fairly well set with their top 6 CBs. Harris really hasn't shown anything in camp to make the Bills think about dropping someone like Florence, Corner, Youboty or the reportedly impressive Ellis Lankster. For the sake of conversation, consider Youboty for a minute though. He has flashed some terrific skills, the type that might entice trade discussions. He's also been injury riddled, what Chris Brown at bb.com describes as a groin injury coming just this week. Would the Cowboys (or anyone else who was over a barrel) have an interest in Youboty? Maybe. Trading him would put Buffalo in a bind when an injury hit in the secondary, unlike a Parrish trade which would still leave the Bills with great depth at that position.

Just for Kurupt I'll add in defensive ends. Buffalo's defense has been snakebit at defensive tackle during camp and Brian predicts (correctly, I think) that the Bills will carry just 4 DTs. He has the Bills carrying 5 DTs, which makes a degree of sense given that Maybin (who is effectively getting dumber by the minute in terms of football IQ since he's not in camp) wasn't drafted to be a full time DE but rather a situational pass rush specialist. From the training camp reports (Thank you MWR et al!) Ellis hasn't been impressive:

Somebody needs to remind Ellis that the Bills are four-deep at end - Aaron Schobel, Kelsay, Ryan Denney and Aaron Maybin aren't going anywhere - and there's no guarantee the team will keep five ends. No sense of urgency on his part; he looks like he either is resigned to his fate, or believes that there's no chance he'll get cut.


If the Bills elect to keep Copeland Bryan instead (Man, how much does a 3rd rounder have to suck to even have that thought register?) then Ellis would get the shoe. Of course, both Ellis and Bryan would be cut if the Bills go with 4 DEs. What if the Bills, in a concession to the salary cap and youth, part ways with Kelsay or Denney instead? Neither of them would get cut but, for a team desperate for DE help due to camp injuries, could either of them bring something in trade?

Assuming a team would want Parrish and/or Youboty and/or Denney/Kelsay, what would make it worth it to the Bills to do the deal?

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.