Buffalo Bills' Spencer Johnson Making Depth Chart Push

by Brian Galliford on Aug 30, 2011 1:30 PM EDT in Buffalo Bills Opinion

Of the many questions asked of me on a daily basis, one of the most frequent endeavors to find out which Buffalo Bills player may end up being a "surprise starter" - and that question has picked up of late thanks to Marcus Easley's exploits this past Saturday.

It's just my opinion, but if you're asking me to pinpoint one surprise starter for the Bills, I'm going to go with Spencer Johnson.

Ever since the Bills drafted Marcell Dareus with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Buffalo's starting defensive line has been penciled in - and it didn't include Johnson, an eighth-year defender entering his fourth year with the Bills. The starting end spot opposite Dareus was always supposed to belong to Dwan Edwards, a 2010 free agent signing hand-picked to play defense by the current regime.

Johnson, however, has had a better pre-season to this point than Edwards has. That's not to say that Edwards has played poorly, because that's not true. Johnson has simply made a bigger on-field impact playing next to the team's two defensive stars, Dareus and Kyle Williams.

Fans have noticed Johnson making more plays in the pre-season (though statistically, he and Edwards are even, save Johnson's sack). Members of the media have noticed him playing at a high level in practices. Even Bills head coach Chan Gailey has gone out of his way to praise the way Johnson has been playing this summer. Edwards, meanwhile, has been seen taking early second-team reps in the last two pre-season games, while both have shared reps with the top unit.

Both Johnson and Edwards are locks to make the team, even with rhetoric to the contrary regarding Johnson. With the Bills emphasizing versatility in their hybrid front, however, Johnson may have as much - if not more - value to the defense, and has certainly earned a chance to start.

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Love hearing about players stepping up their play.

Go Spencer!

Year two is upon us.

by Buffalo for Eternity on Aug 30, 2011 1:39 PM EDT reply actions

Whoa. Buscaglia’s projected roster looks crazy.

Including the aformention Spencer Johson, he has Caulcrick over McIntyre at FB? Corto over Bryan Scott? And he has Jasper making the 53-man roster over Chris White ostensibly because the Bills are more worried about him clearing waivers. I don’t see these happening :/

by Leo Crow on Aug 30, 2011 1:43 PM EDT reply actions

he knows better

just making waves for people to talk about, no one thinks Corto is better than Scott and Jasper is on the practice squad for sure

by badnewsBills on Aug 30, 2011 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I love Buscaglia’s concern about another team claiming Jasper. Now, I don’t think Jasper has played bad, to the contrary. But, he hasn’t flashed enough to be claimed and he certainly didn’t flash enough to get picked higher than the 7th round.

It'll be just you, me, and Peter Nincompoop.

by BeastMode on Aug 30, 2011 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Levi Brown hasn't shown flashes of Tom Brady but he is still around

Jasper should get a chance to be Vince Wilfork

by badnewsBills on Aug 30, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

I’d prefer that chance be on the practice squad given the team’s needs elsewhere.

It'll be just you, me, and Peter Nincompoop.

by BeastMode on Aug 30, 2011 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Levi Brown hasn’t shown flashes of Tom Brady but he is still around

For another 5 days…

by BuffaloRepresent on Aug 30, 2011 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

LOL

He’s gone.

by BuffaloOwdaTwnr on Aug 30, 2011 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Levi will end up back on our practice squad.
He knows our system and is still a developing young QB.
You never know………

"There is not a loser in this room." Marv Levy.

by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Aug 30, 2011 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

i dont believe levi is ps eligible

He was active for more than 6 games last year so its 53 or nada for brown

Calling anybody a "career Redskin" when Dan Snyder is the owner is laughable. That dude make moves like he's some kid trading football cards. -greenwood1921

by Gpluehri on Aug 30, 2011 10:01 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Are you sure? In the old rules was the emergency 3rd QB counted as an ‘active player’? Yahoo has only stats for him in the last game v the Jets, so it isn’t very helpful to see if he was active or not and I dont think its very worthwhile to go through all of Cris Brown’s blog posts to see if he still has the inactives each week…
But having said that, I think that he is still eligible as a PS player, it all depends on the former rule determining the active status of the emergency 3rd qb and if he was listed as it during the season.

by polar2292 on Aug 30, 2011 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions

that still shouldn't matter

since you need to be in 8 games to become ineligible.

ABAYARDE IS NOSTRADAMUS JUST WATCH WE WILL NOT YIEALD TO NOBODY YOUR SOUL WE WILL TAKE

by ThaRealTruth on Aug 31, 2011 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Jasper hype seems to me to be just hype, I watched the 2nd half again to look at Chris Hairston, and ended up watching Jasper as well. A couple times when he got doubled, he looked so slow I thaught he was walking forward, even when he wasn’t doubled he just looked slow, not much explosion off the ball.

by cencalclassics on Aug 30, 2011 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree...

It seems like many Bills fans are overemphasizing every positive play he makes. I would love to see him become a good player, but Jasper’s got a LONG ways to go. Let’s see how he looks after a year of practice squad and offseason training.

by michiganbillsfan on Aug 30, 2011 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions

It's not all hype

If you watch all three games he’s routinely causing issues for the OL, getting a good push and generally creating havoc. However he is VERY technically unsound and finds himself out of position regularly against better technique. Also the quality of 2nd and 3rd string OL is significantly more uneven than the 1sts around the league making it much harder to judge if it was his ability or the other teams inability that made him look good.

by Lifyre on Aug 30, 2011 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

this is absolutely my take on jasper. hes always lumbering around at the LOS while all the other moving parts around him are flying about the field.

by boomsauce on Aug 30, 2011 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions

But, he hasn’t flashed enough to be claimed

His size and agility will intrigue some team out there, I keep picturing the Pats because they like those wide bodies plugging up the middle of the line.

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat."

Alex Levine

by Goose22 on Aug 30, 2011 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed..

I blasted Joe in the comments of that article. That was Jerry Sullivan cynical. I thought it was lazy and he was feeding a stereo type rather than doing his actual job. Color me unimpressed

by blitzboy54 on Aug 30, 2011 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, lets not act like what goes on at WGR550 is serious journalism. It’s a sports radio website.

It'll be just you, me, and Peter Nincompoop.

by BeastMode on Aug 31, 2011 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

and this is a blog site

but that doesn’t make Brian’s articles any less professional in nature.

serious journalism doesn’t even occur on major websites much anymore. Newspapers are a thing of the past, and sports radio/websites are the primary source for SPORTS JOURNALISM. so really, i think this statement is somewhat obtuse. where do you expect us to get our sports news from? the guy at the bagel counter? the random passerby? because they are getting their info from websites, and sports radio, and television broadcasts (all by the same people running those websites.)

ABAYARDE IS NOSTRADAMUS JUST WATCH WE WILL NOT YIEALD TO NOBODY YOUR SOUL WE WILL TAKE

by ThaRealTruth on Aug 31, 2011 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Spencer is a good locker room presence as well

I don’t really have specific examples but hearing him speak and the way his teammates talk about him, I think he is the kind of player we want on our team

by badnewsBills on Aug 30, 2011 1:45 PM EDT reply actions

Buscaglia has absolutely no idea what he’s doing here, and often. I know that’s harsh, but it’s the only conclusion I can reach after reading numerous poorly written and poorly thought out columns on WGR550’s site. And, don’t get me started on the whining from him and other members of the media when the game went to overtime last week.

It'll be just you, me, and Peter Nincompoop.

by BeastMode on Aug 30, 2011 1:45 PM EDT reply actions

i think buscaglia actually knows football pretty well. the problem is that hes getting sucked into WGR’s “bills suck, ralph sucks, buffalo sucks, and everything the bills do is completely wrong” mentality.
hence him predicting the bills cut a couple of excellent players (who dont have a snowballs chance of getting cut) for the sake of ralph’s “salary dumps”.

by boomsauce on Aug 30, 2011 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Rec'd

I realize the Bills kinda ask for it, but I can’t take the negative rhetoric or crap blanket WGR throws on the bills. Benefit of the doubt would be generous for talk show radio, but I no longer have to be reminded about ineptitude at any level, not to mention punishing Nix and Gailey for the past 10 years of sucktitude is unwarranted or at the very least a drag.

by garcia76 on Aug 30, 2011 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe that has some effect. i guess we will never know unless he leaves WGR550.

And, I agree, the negativity over there is absolutely over the top. And, this is not coming from someone that believes in Ralph Wilson. I do however believe these players, these coaches and this GM want to win and are doing everything within their power and under whatever constraints Ralph Wilson creates. And, maybe those are so great that the Bills can’t win in today’s NFL (it certainly didn’t prove all that successful for much of the team’s existence). But I just cannot wrap my head around the idea that every draft pick must fail, that every personnel decision is misguided, and that Chan Gailey has no clue what he’s doing in putting the depth chart together.

It'll be just you, me, and Peter Nincompoop.

by BeastMode on Aug 31, 2011 9:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Big Spence

has def had a great offseason, preseason. First he realized he needed to get bigger so he gained 10-15 pounds. The extra has clearly helped. Secondly the guy has just been making plays.

by eze on Aug 30, 2011 2:21 PM EDT reply actions

so important

To have quality depth and a solid rotation along the d-line. We have 5-6 guys that can play well.

by bizarro bills on Aug 30, 2011 2:23 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

he has been underrated since his arrival

in my humble opinion.

ABAYARDE IS NOSTRADAMUS JUST WATCH WE WILL NOT YIEALD TO NOBODY YOUR SOUL WE WILL TAKE

by ThaRealTruth on Aug 30, 2011 2:25 PM EDT reply actions

ya..

^ agreed.

Ryan FitZpatrick - The Inconvenient Truth.

by kgun201 on Aug 30, 2011 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions

He is just a rotational guy

I like Spencer, but the guy is a good back up thats all. You’ll see flashes from time-to-time, but nothing consistant. He’s had opportunites to take over that position last year and didn’t. I think we get too excited when we see our guys play a game or two. In order for me to get on board with this, he has to show that he can be a consistant performer on Sundays.

Also, I think this is the same story with Fitz. A solid back up who is cable of giving you a good game or two, but isn’t consistent enough to make a signfifcant impact…(Fools Gold)

by doctork44 on Aug 30, 2011 3:47 PM EDT reply actions

Cool

Get talent (Dareus/Williams) and those around get better by default. Glad to hear!

Speak Your Mind, But Mind Your Speak. Me.

by buffalobacker on Aug 30, 2011 3:56 PM EDT reply actions

Marcell

So glad we drafted Marcell. Guy is a beast. Crazy vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL5rJ40HUKU

by semiprime on Aug 30, 2011 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

Funny but fake lol

"This is a chance to shine some light on the city, They say it’s too cold. I’m going to bring some warmth to it." Marcell Dareus

by matthew62 on Aug 30, 2011 5:05 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I don't think that video is fake

The guy is pretty strong and powerful. He destroyed some records held at the espn sport science lab and some of those records were Suh’s. And I have a nickname for Marcell Dareus, I think “Dareus the Destroyer” sounds great after you watch this clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vnf_oF9K_k&NR=1

I think we will enjoy “Dareus the Destroyer” destroying some QB’s and RB’s for a long time.

Are we drafting Dino's now?
"6'6" monster receiver with a Terradactyl wingspan "....... Keysh67

by Billsfanstuckinthesouth on Aug 30, 2011 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Theres a diffrence between 3800 lbs of force on something when running and tackling. Throwing a 160lb guy. These things.are easily faked with computers now a days. Its not impossible but highly unlikly.

"This is a chance to shine some light on the city, They say it’s too cold. I’m going to bring some warmth to it." Marcell Dareus

by matthew62 on Aug 30, 2011 7:02 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It’s really obviously spliced from two videos. Watch the car jitter as he “picks it up”, and watch his hands collide with the bumper. Also, no one picks up a car with that much ease.

"Slowly all the roles we act out become our identity. And in the end we are what we pretend to be." - Jerry Cantrell.

by stetzwebs on Aug 30, 2011 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Yah didn’t pay it much attention but the ease part is what got me. Andre the giant was being bothered by 4 drunk guys in a car once . He flipped it over. Imagine being that police officer being told.by 4 drunk men an angry giant flipped their car over. Which is apperantly what the guys told the officer.

"This is a chance to shine some light on the city, They say it’s too cold. I’m going to bring some warmth to it." Marcell Dareus

by matthew62 on Aug 30, 2011 7:46 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs

haha

recd.

ABAYARDE IS NOSTRADAMUS JUST WATCH WE WILL NOT YIEALD TO NOBODY YOUR SOUL WE WILL TAKE

by ThaRealTruth on Aug 30, 2011 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Fantasy football

After several failed attempts to join different leagues on here I just decided to start one myself. It’s a live draft this Saturday September 3rd. If anyone is interested email me at memo3_6@yahoo.com for league ID and password.

by thememo on Aug 30, 2011 4:26 PM EDT reply actions

Do a Fan Post, please.

Stop clogging up other threads.

We’ve waited this long whats another year? hahahaha
- PaullyPforPrez

by ChuckBuffInFlo on Aug 30, 2011 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

@Brian

i don’t see Spencer Johnson starting over Edwards since Gailey wants a improved run defense, and Edwards is quietly good against the run. Spencer is a better playmaker i think, but he will rotate a lot, but not start over Dwan. I like Spencer and i’m not a Edwards fan, but i think he will continue to start this year.

by Fernando brazil on Aug 30, 2011 5:33 PM EDT reply actions

I miss John McCargo

NOT!!!!

Maybe he is back playing in that PA stream moving logs with Coy Wire again?

by freddyjj on Aug 30, 2011 5:57 PM EDT reply actions

Still on the Bucs 80 Man roster

Ashton Yobouty got cut by the Bucs today, though.

We’ve waited this long whats another year? hahahaha
- PaullyPforPrez

by ChuckBuffInFlo on Aug 30, 2011 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions

It doesnt matter who "starts"

Because Dwan will play on rush defense packages while Spencer will be in the pass-rush packages. Each playing to their respective strengths.

Act like a sober human being, not a drunk Internet username. -- Brian Galliford

by NorCal BillsFan on Aug 30, 2011 6:36 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Has played stood out in a good way

but 98 starts opposite the rookie.

"Alright Men, lets go out there, bust um in the chops & get somebody bloody. Keep working till you get it right. Take the W in battle & make the Bills Nation Proud."

by Blood, sweat & Win on Aug 30, 2011 7:38 PM EDT reply actions

I thought that Spencer has had an excellant showing so far...

I haven’t heard nor seen much of Edwards. I wouldn’t have even known he was on the field unless he was listed. You would think w/ Dareus and Kyle that he would be noticed more but it’s been the opposite. Spencer has been noticed! He stands out a lot along w/ Carrington. I think Both have really stepped it up and it shows. I hope it continues….

Lets go Buffaloooo!!!

by Dareurush! on Aug 30, 2011 9:27 PM EDT reply actions

I doubt anyone remembers me boldly claiming that Spencer was going to have a surprising season (in 10). While it wasn’t earth shattering by any stretch, I certainly remember him doing some impressive things. I suppose I was a year off in that regard. But I have always had a soft spot for him and Bryan Scott. Just some solid guys that wont make mistakes and do their job. I am happy he is is flourishing now.

by BillsfanDan on Aug 30, 2011 10:25 PM EDT reply actions