Six young Buffalo Bills with significant upside

And I feel like you could still include Hardy on that list as well.

It’s amazing how other team’s turned late round WR’s or Non-Drafted WR’s from this year’s draft into stars, but Buffalo has 2 WR’s that have been on the roster for the past 2 years that barely saw any playing time this season.

Josh Reed & Roscoe Parrish were better than both of these guys? Reed was certainly not an explosive player and Roscoe brought no value to the offense, or Special Teams.

Nelson: He should be given every opportunity by the new staff to succeed and be a centerpiece of the offense. We saw some flashes of what he might be able to contribute this year, and his potential as a downfield receiving TE is off the charts. I see a lot of Finley in him, but Finley is a much, much more polished receiver/route runner. Oh how I wish we had picked him in 2008…Oh well, let’s hope Nelson has a similar jump next year!

Levitre/Wood: Both had some very good moments this year, but both also looked like rookies. I think this is a quality duo and will be a strong part of our offense for years (assuming Wood, ya know, plays again). I also think Wood at center makes the most sense, especially because he is apparently a strong leader and pretty smart. He’s got all the qualities that we want in a center, and I think it’s more than worth giving him a shot there this summer. Let Hang be the backup at all the interior positions, or even the starting RG if we don’t sign anyone, draft anyone or bring Incognito back. Levitre—Wood—Incognito/NewAcquisition/Hang is much more appealing than Hang in the middle, IMO.

McKelvin: Meh, I don’t know what to think about his future. I have yet to see anything I like from him as a CB, other than top notch athleticism. His instincts, are as you said, very questionable and his technique leaves a ton to be desired. He needs to work extremely hard this offseason and should be given every opportunity to win a starting job this year. He needs to earn it the hard way though, by outplaying Florence. This is a make or break year for Leo, time to man up kid. I do look forward to him reclaiming his return role, and potentially taking over as the full-time punt returner. The kid can be electric with the ball in his hands, and the Bills need to take advantage of that.

Byrd: I love his ball skills, but am not really impressed with the rest of his game. I think his ceiling is very, very limited and like you, I’m not sure he gets that much better other than in reading and reacting in the run game. His athleticism/size will always be concerning, so he will need to continue placing himself in the right position at the right time. We saw him struggle in run support this year, and he looked a step late, at times, in the passing game. Those areas should improve, but beyond that, I’m not sure how much more he can give us. I think he’s a younger Oshiomogho Atogwe. Average athlete, average size, poor run defender, excellent center fielder. I just hope he can improve in the areas that he is weak to become a much more rounded player. I’m not sure we can expect 9 INT’s, or even 5-6 INT’s every year, but we can expect improvement in the other areas, and I’m looking forward to watching him grow into a full-timer for us. He’s already given us more than Donte Whitner ever did.

Maybin: I’m not seeing Maybin’s potential and huge upside like you are. I have yet to see that fantastic first step we all heard about in the pre-draft process and after he was picked. He looks like he’s got a an average, or decent, first step for an NFL pass rusher. At least so far. I’d like to believe he’ll put on more weight/strength, but his body type isn’t one that looks like that’ll be a certainty. He needs to get stronger in order to give him the chance to disengage from blockers. He absolutely could not get by an offensive tackle at all this season, mostly because he just didn’t look strong enough (or quick enough). I’ve seen him likened to a Jason Taylor in terms of potential, but I don’t see the same fluidity in Maybin’s movements. He looks stiff to me and somewhat goofy when he’s running around. He’s probably still growing into and understanding his body, but this might be where I’m most concerned with him. Having an average, maybe above average first step, strength/weight issues and to me, only above average athleticism, does not lead me to believe he has unbelievable potential or immense talent. I think he has a ton of work to do this offseason, including working on some pass rush moves. I may be underrating his physical gifts, and I hope he completely proves every Bills fan wrong about him. It’s just the lack of any flashes this year, coupled with what appears to be a ton of work to be done, makes it hard for me to really expect much out of him. Prove us wrong Maybin!!!!

I’m not sure I see many other players that would deserve inclusion. We all wish Hardy and Johnson could be on here, but they haven’t done anything to prove they should be considered in this group. Huge offseason for both of them as well. One of them absolutely has to step up next year and prove he’s capable of being a big part of the offense. I actually have more confidence that it’d be Steve Johnson because he seems to move a little bit better. We’ll see though!

I’ve always been a big believer in players. The Bills have some good young players, however those players don’t play at the positions that matter the most (except for Maybin).

My list would be:

Andy Levitre

Eric Wood – I take his injury far more seriously than you do Brian, lets hope we see him next year. Either way, his development takes a hit.

Marshawn Lynch - I’m amazed how quickly we’ve all moved on after one bad season in which he made the mistake of putting on weight. That never works, Adrian Peterson was going to do the same thing before someone with sense talked him out of it.

James Hardy – I still think he can be a good player for us. How did anyone expect him to emerge this year coming off a serious injury and playing in this offense?

Shawn Nelson

Leodis McKelvin

Paul Posluszny - I think Poz has tremendous upside with better coaching. He is ferocious, a leader, tough, and determined. I’m betting a new coach will be good for him and I think there is a lot more to see from him.

Kyle Williams – Still young, finally getting recognized, and figuring out just how good he can be. I think Kyle began his upward slope two seasons ago but really got going this year. I still see two more years of improvement before he plateaus.

Jairus Byrd

Donte Whitner –

Yup, thats right. I have Whitner on my list. The guy can still get a lot better. If you’re seeing a theme that I think a new coaching staff can get more out of our young players than the past regime than your also seeing how I felt about the last coaching staff.

I left Aaron Maybin off the list because you have to do something on the field to even get on the roster of young guys with potential. I still have hope, I really do. But Aaron Maybin was this years Vernon Gholston and that is scary.

Im excited to see Nelson grow over the next offseason. Watching that GB-AZ game yesterday and seeing Finley all year made me think of what Nelson can become (great analogy Brian)

Levitre was solid all year.

I think McKelvin will end up being the nickle back next year because Florence is a better cover corner IMO. But with that being said having McKelvin as our 3rd corner is a lot better than having Corner as our 3rd corner…

The problem that I have whether Maybin will turn into a player eventually or not……..Is the fact that the players we passed up, Cushing, Oher, and Clay Matthews and Orakpo, had good rookie seasons. So in other words, we could have drafted a player who looks like a bonafide Pro Bowler. Whereas, with Maybin, we will wait and see.

This is one of my favorite reads here in a while and, as someone else said, a nice break from the coaching talks.

I’m really glad that you included McKelvin here. I really think he still has great potential as a corner and I thought he was going to have a breakout year before getting hurt so early on. I just hope he comes back next year stronger than ever and ready to make everyone forget about the 2009 play that shall not be discussed.

It’s nice, in a time of such uncertainty and frustration with the team, that we can look at some solid young core players that have a chance to lead this team into the next era.

we need a QB an Oline WR’s and are only decent RB is 29 and our Defense is grossly undersized…can u imagine what this team would do if we got to the playoffs this year just hypothetically… just picture that in ur head for a minute… playing against Baltimore or the Jets for instance what would those games would look like good… we are awful and it will take years to fix

If your 1st round draft pick does not come in and start, he is a bust.

I believe that in order to make the team better, the team must draft players to upgrade the personnel. The teams number one pick must be good enough to the starter.

I like Lankster a lot and hope he gets a shot at more playing time next year.