DiGiorgio getting looks at WLB (Photo Source)

Day eight of 2008 Buffalo Bills training camp is in the books, and with it came the team's first major injury of the season.  Rookie linebacker Alvin Bowen, a fifth-round pick out of Iowa State this past April, suffered a severe knee injury in Friday's practice and is likely lost for the season.  As a result of Bowen's injury, the Bills were forced to sign veteran free agent Donnie Spragan, who is expected to be a reserve outside linebacker and special teams player this season.

With Angelo Crowell sitting out of practice and Kawika Mitchell limited as part of a rest regimen for select veterans, backup middle linebacker John DiGiorgio worked with the first team at Mitchell's weak side spot.  Keith Ellison continued to take first team reps at Crowell's strong side spot.

DiGiorgio's case is interesting.  He played weak side in one game last season - a 26-3 loss at Pittsburgh in Week 2 - and held his own in an underrated effort by Buffalo's defense that day.  It's becoming clear that he's a much more valuable reserve in Buffalo's linebacking corps than originally anticipated; it will be interesting to see if he gets any reps on the outside during pre-season action.

Losman Lighting Up Second Team Defense
Trent Edwards' play with the first unit offense has been streaky at best, but veteran backup J.P. Losman has been making plays against Buffalo's second-unit defense.  He continued that trend yesterday with a few more touchdown tosses.

Early in 7-on-7 Roscoe Parrish pulled in a long ball down the near sideline from J.P. Losman for a 50-yard gain.

Robert Royal scored for the second straight day pulling in a touchdown pass from J.P. Losman on a post pattern.

Question for y'all to ponder: if Edwards struggles early (not a huge stretch) and Losman has a killer pre-season, how long before the QB controversy resurfaces in the media?

An Opening for Youboty?
If one thing was proven last season, there's never a lack of opportunities for young players to make an impression - especially when veterans are dropping like flies.  Jabari Greer was the main beneficiary last season at cornerback.  And with Will James going down with a groin injury during yesterday's practice, Ashton Youboty's reps increased.

It's still unclear whether or not James will be able to practice Saturday, but the longer he's out, the better the opportunity for Youboty to state his case for remaining in Buffalo for a third season.  The third-year veteran is on the roster bubble just two years after being the team's third-round draft pick.

Youngsters Getting Reps
With veterans like Mitchell, Marcus Stroud, Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay getting a reduced work load Friday, several young players saw increased reps with the first team.  At defensive end, Copeland Bryan and Chris Ellis both played end with the first team.  John McCargo filled in for Stroud next to Kyle Williams with the first team, and Spencer Johnson saw some time there as well.

Rookie tight end Derek Fine has also seen some reps with the first team offense of late as the second tight end.  It appears that the Bills are experimenting with Fine in a blocking and short-area receiving role with the ones, and the rookie has held his own to this point.  That is very likely bad news for veteran tight ends Courtney Anderson and Tim Massaquoi.

The Bills are in the midst of their Saturday practice at the time of this posting, practicing today from 10:10AM to 12:20PM.  They players get Sunday off to recuperate.

Hardy, others miss practice time (Photo Source)

The Buffalo Bills completed their first full seven-day week of training camp last night with an evening practice at St. John Fisher College, and Buffalo's injury list continues to lengthen early in camp.

The injuries are not yet considered serious, but there are several players missing practice time.  Rookie wide receiver James Hardy, who pulled a hamstring during warm-ups, joined fellow rookie wideout Steve Johnson as sideline spectators.  LB Angelo Crowell missed his third straight night of practice, and S Ko Simpson was absent as well as he had his surgically repaired ankle tested (the MRIs were reportedly negative).  Fellow starting safety Donte Whitner left practice early after getting sick on the field.

Despite the injuries (and the continued absence of a certain Pro Bowl left tackle), the Bills' offense put together one of its better practice sessions of camp last night, particularly in the red zone.  Defensive ends Aaron Schobel and Shaun Nua were also absent.

Evans, Royal, Jackson Making Plays as Receivers
I'm hoping that headline isn't surprising to any of you in regards to Evans.  It's great news to hear just how effective Evans was last night in the red area without the team's tall, shiny new receiver to take attention away from him.  Evans burned both of Buffalo's starting corners, Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer, for scores last night.

The quarterback and receiver hooked up for a pair of touchdowns. Early in practice Edwards zipped a tight pass to Evans outside shoulder as he got just enough separation from Jabari Greer for a touchdown in the front corner of the end zone on the far sideline.  Evans later got by Terrence McGee for another touchdown reception on the near sideline.

Fred Jackson was also a frequent target of Trent Edwards during this session, both down the field and out in the flats.  What's encouraging to hear is that Robert Royal seems to be stepping up his play as he fights for his starting job with the unheralded Derek Schouman:

Robert Royal is factoring a bit more into the offense the last couple of practices. He caught a touchdown pass down the middle on a well-timed pass from J.P. Losman. He also pulled in a well-placed throw down the seam from Edwards.

Defense Making Plays in the Backfield
After two years of attempting to install a penetrating, Cover 2 defense with a disruptive defensive line, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell seems to have finally reached his goal.  Buffalo's active front seven has made plays in the backfield early and often in camp, and continued the trend last night:

Kawika Mitchell came screaming into the backfield on one stretch play to the near sideline and would've had Lynch on a tackle for loss in live football conditions...

Among the other highlights during full team work was a blitz by Donte Whitner as he got to Edwards before he delivered a quick timing pass on a three step drop for a would-be sack...

Third-round pick Chris Ellis also had a would-be sack on Losman as he knifed inside and got into the offensive backfield quickly.

Ellis is still, in my opinion, the key to Buffalo having not just a very good defense this season, but a dominant one.  If he can provide that spark as a situational pass rusher that the team hasn't had in years, Buffalo might just have one of the better defensive lines in football.  It's good to hear that he's finally starting to make some plays in camp; we'll be watching his progress during pre-season games with great interest.

The Enigma that is Demetrius Bell
As the Bills continue to experiment with their depth at offensive tackle, one benefactor has been rookie seventh-round pick Demetrius Bell.  One of the most athletic players on the team - yet also one of the most underdeveloped as a player - Bell has been taking strides as of late and was rewarded with some reps as the second-team left tackle last night.

Seventh-round pick Demetrius Bell has come along of late and was moved up to the second unit to get some left tackle snaps Thursday night. Matt Murphy flipped over to right tackle with the second group.

Murphy has impressed, too, with his footwork after making the transition to tackle from tight end.  Depending on what happens with Jason Peters' holdout situation, it's not completely out of the question to believe that either Bell or Murphy (or both) could sneak ahead of Kirk Chambers on the depth chart.  Again, that would probably only happen if Peters returns in time for the final cut-downs.

The Bills have one practice today (Friday), which runs from 2:15-4:20 PM.

Jackson, backs making plays as receivers (Photo Source)

Day three of 2008 Buffalo Bills Training Camp was a walk-through session; the team made up for the early walk-through today with the first pads practice of camp.  The Bills are completely done with two-a-days for the duration of camp, which may not be a bad thing, considering the way the team was hitting today.

Here's what occurred of note during today's practice, with, as usual, the bulk of the discussion topics lifted from the official site's excellent coverage...

This. Is. Football.
The pads were back on, which means that the Bills were playing physically.  Which means that football is back.  You have to love hearing lines like this:

"Marshawn Lynch got the drill started off with a good hit on linebacker Kawika Mitchell that drew some 'oohs' from the crowd."

Or this:

"In a two-on-two drill where two members of the wedge face two coverage players coming at them, Barnes was a coverage player and cracked rookie Demetrius Bell."

Or even this:

"Xavier Omon effectively lowered his shoulder to put a good lick on John Wendling..."

Running Backs Making Big Catches
We've discussed this very topic a bit already - and we're only five practices in - but running backs Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson continue to make their presences felt in the passing game.

Fred Jackson had one of the prettier catches on the day as he out leapt Kawika Mitchell and Ko Simpson to make the reception down field on a throw from Trent Edwards.

Jackson has been a frequent target of QB Trent Edwards through the early portions of camp.  He was also a frequent target of Edwards during the latter parts of the '07 season; it's not a reach to expect Jackson to catch around 40 passes this season.  He should be involved heavily in the offense, even with Marshawn Lynch healthy.  That's good news for this ball club.

You have to love hearing this as well - if this can be utilized during the regular season, Lynch's celebrity will blossom in a big way...

Lynch may have trumped Wright however, as he made a reception 40 yards downfield as Edwards deftly dropped a ball between a pair of defenders for a big gain.

Welcome to the league, rookie
CB Leodis McKelvin, in his first official training camp practice as a Buffalo Bill, learned a valuable lesson at the hands of WR Roscoe Parrish today.

Leodis McKelvin got his welcome to the NFL from Roscoe Parrish. The speedy wideout flew past him on a go route and J.P. Losman hit him for what would've been a 40-yard gain.

Clearly, Leodis has still got some learning to do.

Impressed by Bowen
Working with the second unit as a rookie fifth-round draft pick, I've been impressed with what I've been hearing about Alvin Bowen.  He's been making plays against the pass, and today, he showed that he can be a factor defending the run as well.  He sounds like a very active linebacker.

John McCargo penetrated to grab Jackson behind the line, fifth-round pick Alvin Bowen also had a tackle for loss on an end around to Steve Johnson and Shaun Nua chipped in a tackle for loss.

Tuesday 7/29: Night Practice
Buffalo's first night practice will take place tomorrow night at 7PM, and Buffalo Rumblings will be represented there by your humble narrator (and we're going to meet up with one of the Dukes of Awesome!).  If anyone is able to make it out to tomorrow's night practice, I know that I would love to meet any and all Rumblers present.

McKelvin signs, will practice in pads Monday (Photo Source)

After their opening day of practices in which the offense shined and several players were signed, the Buffalo Bills received more good news on Saturday.  Left tackle Jason Peters, who continued his holdout on Saturday, remains the lone off-field distraction for the Bills.

Rookie cornerback Leodis McKelvin won't be missing any more practice time, as the first-round pick inked a 5-year, $19.4 million deal with $12.6 million guaranteed to officially end his short holdout yesterday.  As the Bills have a closed practice session today, the first time Bills fans will get to glimpse McKelvin will be during Monday's practice in pads.

Here's what took place of note on the field during Saturday's two practice sessions (courtesy of BuffaloBills.com):

Running Backs Catching Passes
As promised, new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert is making a concerted effort to get Buffalo's running backs more involved in the passing game this season.  Both Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson - and even Dwayne Wright to an extent - made some plays in the passing game, as Trent Edwards had another efficient day throwing in the short and intermediate areas.  We're very interested to see how this practice field development manifests itself during pre-season action.

Play of Note: "Jackson slipped down the sideline and Edwards tried to drop in ball over Paul Posluszny in coverage. Poz had solid coverage 20 yards downfield, but Jackson leaped up and over Posluszny to pull the ball in for what looked to be a reception and a 30-yard gain along the near sideline."

Schouman moving up depth chart?
As was the case during spring practices, second-year tight end Derek Schouman has been taking the bulk of first-team reps at the position - even with veteran Robert Royal fully cleared to practice.  An interesting note from Chris Brown:

In Royal's defense he's still getting his legs up under him after doing no football related work in the spring since he was still rehabbing. But Schouman has looked good in the passing game making plays every practice. And as I said earlier in the offseason when the pads go on he won't disappoint. He likes the physical nature of the game.

Royal is currently second in the tight end rotation, followed by Courtney Anderson, Tim Massaquoi and Derek Fine.  Definitely an interesting situation brewing at this position.

James Impressing at Corner
In Buffalo's defensive backfield, veteran free agent acquisition Will James continues to impress.  He's repeatedly making plays on the ball, tipping passes and making things happen in the turnover department.  He's not alone, however; Terrence McGee, Ashton Youboty and even rookie Reggie Corner have made some similar play themselves.  With McKelvin already two days behind in terms of on-field work, James seems to be a virtual lock for the nickel role - unless, of course, he challenges for a starting role.

Play of Note: "Later on in practice however, James successfully tipped a pass in the air and it was caught by John DiGiorgio for an interception. James began running up the field pumping his fist."

Good Pass Rush, or Bad Protection?
Buffalo's defensive front seven successfully got some heat on the team's quarterbacks during Saturday morning's session.  This is either a good sign for a defense that sorely needs to create pressure, or a bad sign for an offensive line playing without its best player.

Play of Note: "A short time later Kawika Mitchell appeared to come on a delayed blitz and would have taken Edwards down from the blind side had it been live football."

The Bills have a closed, walk-through practice session on Sunday.  They'll put the pads on for the first time in a lone Monday practice session, and Tuesday marks the team's first night practice.

Fewell tweaking original defensive scheme (Photo Source)

In two seasons as part of the Buffalo Bills' coaching staff, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell - under the tutelage of long-time defensive coach Dick Jauron - has completely revamped the Bills' defense, both in terms of philosophy and personnel.  Gone are the days where big, lumbering defensive linemen paved the way for a group of excellent linebackers to make plays - the essence of the 3-4 defense used from the Super Bowl era right up through the early years of this decade.  Lighter, quicker, and faster is the motto that Fewell and Jauron have preached for the past two seasons.

In 2008, however, that motto has been altered to a more appropriate and idealistic phrase: bigger, faster and stronger.

Earlier this off-season, we took a look at how 2008 personnel changes have left this defense bigger and stronger, especially in the front seven.  Those were the obvious changes.  But even prior to this off-season - in fact, even as far back as 2006 - Fewell has made some changes schematically that will likely carry over to his "new" defensive philosophy of 2008.  Let's examine...

2006: Coverage Shifting
Back in the early portions of 2006, when the Tampa 2 defense was installed in Buffalo (Fewell brought it with him from Chicago, where he coached it under Lovie Smith), the Bills employed a scheme in which their two starting cornerbacks - at that time, Nate Clements and Terrence McGee - would line up on specific sides of the field, play in and play out.  That scheming was exploited quickly by opposing offenses; by the end of the '06 season, Clements was matching up with the opposition's top receiver.

In 2007, Fewell reverted back to the cemented corner philosophy, as Clements' departure left the team without a clear-cut top cornerback.  After giving up plenty of big plays in the season opening loss to Denver, however, that philosophy quickly reverted - Fewell then employed a mix of cementing and matching for the remainder of the season.  Without a true "lock down" cornerback, Fewell didn't have the personnel to switch to a match-up secondary exclusively; it explains, in part, why Jabari Greer was left to cover Randy Moss so frequently.

The Front Seven and the blitz
Fewell's biggest changes in the front seven (again, aside from the size changes) will actually come in 2008; we'll get to those in a moment.  For two seasons, the Bills had a rotation of defensive tackles that would play exclusively the one-technique or exclusively the three-technique; linebackers were meant to be light and speed-focused solely in the zone defense's gap-control run scheme.

After injuries decimated Buffalo's defensive end corps in 2007 - and it didn't help that the defensive ends who did play suffered a steep drop in production - Fewell started using the blitz far more frequently to attain the much-needed pass rush a Tampa 2 needs than he did in 2006.  The blitzes were creative, too - the Bills offered some of their most exotic post-3-4 looks in a 25-24 Monday Night loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

What's Changing in 2008
Now, Buffalo's defense will likely function a bit differently for the start of the 2008 season.  Gone are the exclusive one-tech and three-tech defensive tackles; Marcus Stroud, Kyle Williams, Spencer Johnson and John McCargo will each be asked to play both positions, and which they'll be playing will be decided by a given offensive play.  Fewell is now asking his tackles to line up according to how the offense lines up, switching between one-tech and three-tech at will.

The blitz will likely remain a more prominent staple of the scheme as well.  Clearly, Fewell prefers not to blitz (see: the entire 2006 season), but Buffalo's defensive line won't be able to generate pressure every play, and the team's three linebackers - especially Angelo Crowell - are very solid blitzers.  Don't expect to see a lot of it, but the Bills will be blitzing more often than they would have when Fewell first took the job.

Since the blitz should be featured more, expect the match-up corner philosophy to gain prominence as well.  That should become the main defensive back philosophy once top draft pick Leodis McKelvin emerges as a starting cornerback - he's by far the most talented corner on the roster, and with time, he should be able to match up with an opponent's top receiver each week.

The changes that Fewell are employing are pretty major tweaks that will help Buffalo's defense become much more flexible and effective, but the basic philosophies remain - penetration and speed are still the main focuses of this defense.  It's still predominantly a zone defense.  You'll still see every player flocking to the ball on every play.  With added size and the proper tweaks, that speed/flocking philosophy should be much more effective in 2008.

Mitchell adds size to a weak weak-side position (Photo Source)

Prior to the 2008 NFL Draft - in fact, prior to the free agent signing period of this past March - we took a look at the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position, breaking down then-current personnel, finding holes, and building our community needs list.

Now that free agency and the Draft have been completed, and the Bills have infused their roster with new talent, it's time to repeat our process.  Where has Buffalo gotten better?  Where have they gotten worse?  How will additions impact which Bills veterans remain on the roster?  These are questions that we'll attempt to answer over the next week or so.

We continue those discussions today with an examination of Buffalo's outside linebackers.  To view our previous discussions on Buffalo's OLB situation (pre-off-season), bang it here.

Angelo Crowell: Statistically, Crowell had a very solid 2007 season, racking up 126 tackles, two sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery and a safety.  He remains Buffalo's best starting linebacker, simply because he's entering his fourth year as a full-time starter for the team.  A free agent-to-be after the '08 season, Crowell will be playing this season for a lucrative contract extension.  Get in line, Angelo - some guys named Evans and Peters may already be ahead of you.

Keith Ellison: Pressed into action as a rookie in 2006, Ellison - while not overwhelmingly productive - held his own despite being a mediocre athlete and a sixth round pick.  Ellison came back to earth a bit in 2007, tallying an incredibly pedestrian 38 tackles in 12 games (along with a sack and an interception).  It's pretty clear at this point that Ellison isn't starting material at the NFL level, but he's got plenty of experience and is very intelligent, making him a competent reserve and special teams player.

The Additions: Kawika Mitchell, Alvin Bowen, Marcus Buggs, Jon Banks
Mitchell was signed on the opening day of free agency and immediately penciled in as the starter on the weak side (replacing the demoted Ellison).  At 253 pounds, Mitchell is a big pursuit linebacker that can make plays sideline to sideline and gives the Bills much more beef in their front seven - the perceived main problem in the team's inability to stop the run last season.

With the Bills losing so many players at this position (see below), it was imperative for the team to bring in young, bright athletes to compete for backup spots - and that's exactly what they did.  Bowen is the ringleader of the new guard, brought in to play special teams initially.  All three players are excellent athletes with some upside and special teams ability - and with the top three slots on the depth chart set, one or two of these players will make the roster to boost the team's special teams units.

The Subtractions: Coy Wire, Mario Haggan, Josh Stamer, Leon Joe, Kevin Harrison
The first three names on this list are names that Bills fans are used to hearing - these three guys were integral parts of Buffalo's elite special teams units over the past four years, and now all three are ex-Bills.  Wire was a special teams captain, but the biggest loss here may be Haggan - he was the most consistent performer on special teams, and he was the only reserve the Bills had that was big enough to man the strong side position in the event Crowell was injured.  Haggan will serve a four-game suspension for drug infractions to start '08, but he's also an unrestricted free agent, meaning he won't be back.

Pre-Season Outlook: It's surprising how much roster turnover the team has experienced at this position.  Five outside 'backers from the 2007 Bills roster are gone, replaced by four new names.  The changes, at least on paper, look good - the Bills are stronger and more balanced at the top of the depth chart, and far more athletic in the reserves - and those players have upside.  This unit has the potential to be devastated once again by injury, and depth is woefully inexperienced beyond Ellison, so start praying to the football gods now, folks - this unit needs to stay healthy.

Change: Bigger starters; younger, faster reserves.

As always, your thoughts and opinions on this analysis are welcome in the comments section.  Hope everyone has enjoyed/is enjoying their holiday weekend.

Mitchell adds size, versatility to LB corps (Photo Source)

Last season, despite a rash of injuries, rookies at quarterback and running back, and incredibly long odds, the Buffalo Bills were playing for their playoff lives in Week 15.  In that game, which took place in Cleveland, the Bills were shut out in a winter storm.  That day, the rather large Browns pushed the Bills around the field of play like blocking sleds.

The following week, history repeated itself.  After taking a 14-0 lead on the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, the aptly named champions used their size and toughness to overpower the Bills after heavy rains and wind infiltrated Ralph Wilson Stadium.  Take away those 14 points - which were scored before the harsh weather hit Buffalo that day - and in two successive weeks, the tiny Bills had been outscored 46-7 in weather that was supposed to be to their advantage, not their undoing.

Simply put, the Bills weren't big enough.  Playing a Cover 2 defense, the Bills for two years focused on bringing in small, quick athletes.  This off-season, that changed.  For two years, Buffalo watched opposing defensive coordinators blanket Lee Evans and dare one of the team's other sub-6'0" receivers to beat them.  This off-season, that changed.  The Bills have gotten bigger in five key areas this off-season:

WIDE RECEIVER
At no other position was it as important for the Bills to get bigger than it was at wideout.  Gone is veteran Peerless Price, whose 5'11" frame made no one consider him on game day.  Enter rookie James Hardy, an imposing 6'5" red zone threat whose mere presence will need to be game-planned for.  Seventh-round draft pick Steve Johnson (6'2") also has nice size, which could allow him to stick even considering his low draft status.

TIGHT END
Last season, the Bills' biggest tight end was current starter Robert Royal (6'4", 255).  Royal is very average-sized when it comes to NFL tight ends, and he's not an ideal red zone threat.  6'4", 245 pound Ryan Neufeld and 6'3", 277 pound Michael Gaines are gone; they've been replaced by two 6'6" giants in Courtney Anderson and Teyo Johnson.  Neither of the two imports are world-beaters as receivers, but they do give the Bills taller red zone options than they had last year.  They will be assets in the red zone if one or both makes the team.  Rookie TE Derek Fine (6'3", 255) will be the between-the-twenties receiving tight end.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Buffalo's biggest off-season addition - literally and figuratively - came at defensive tackle, where 6'6", 310-pound Marcus Stroud replaces Larry Tripplett, whose 6'2", 293-pound frame made him a great liability defending the run.  Buffalo's top three defensive tackles now average 308 pounds between them (as opposed to 302 last year), and the fact that Stroud is a much more stout defender that plays with outstanding leverage increases the effects of the size gain up front.

LINEBACKER
We'll set aside the fact that the Bills will be gaining 10 pounds at inside linebacker when Paul Posluszny re-takes his starting job from the very active John DiGiorgio.  The big change comes at weak side linebacker, where 6'1", 253-pound free agent signing Kawika Mitchell replaces the passive, 229-pound Keith Ellison.  Last season, Buffalo's starting linebackers weighed in at an average of 238 pounds.  They've added 7 to that number this off-season.  Weighing in at 245 across the board, Buffalo's linebackers are now much more equipped to shed blocks in this Cover 2 scheme.

CORNERBACK
After watching the New England Patriots score nine aerial touchdowns in just two meeting last year, the Bills needed bigger corners to match up with the likes of Randy Moss.  First-round draft pick Leodis McKelvin isn't huge, but at a shade under 5'11", he's already taller than Buffalo's two starting corners from last year.  Free agent addition William James gives the Bills a large, physical slot presence as well, as his 6'0", 200-pound frame is ideal for redirecting small slot receivers (like New England's Wes Welker) from their intended course.  These size changes are subtle, but should help.