There's plenty to be excited about in Buffalo with the Buffalo Bills off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1992.  Yet despite four straight wins to open the 2008 regular season, Bills fans seem increasingly negative about the team's play, specifically in the last two weeks.  I'm here to quell some of that pessimism - because what I saw in tape in reviewing the Bills' 31-14 victory over the Rams was quite encouraging.  The tape never lies.

Buffalo opened its season with a thrilling performance on special teams in a win over Seattle.  The ensuing two games were not as kind to Buffalo, however, as Jacksonville and especially Oakland outplayed the Bills' special teams in nearly every department.  That changed on Sunday, when Buffalo's special teams returned to dominance in a victory over St. Louis.

Units dominant once again
The Bills were excellent in all phases of special teams on Sunday.  Their performance wasn't highlighted by the big, game-changing plays as it was against Seattle, but it was nonetheless dominant.  Buffalo had outstanding field position all day thanks to some lengthy returns by Leodis McKelvin and Fred Jackson and outstanding punt coverage (McKelvin averaged 32 yards on kicks and 12 on punts; Jackson averaged 13 on punts).  Brian Moorman placed 5 of his 6 punts inside the 20 yard line.

Blake Costanzo, John Wendling, George Wilson and Justin Jenkins headlined a superb coverage effort against one of the game's quickest return men in Dante Hall.  Wendling leapt over the line on a missed 51-yard field goal by St. Louis' Josh Brown.  It wasn't the cause of the miss, but it's always fun to watch.  Literally nothing went wrong for these units on Sunday.  It was, quite literally, utter domination.

Punt return duo works
I miss watching Roscoe Parrish return punts, and it's only been a week.  The Bills replaced him with two pretty good athletes in McKelvin and Jackson, and still the drop-off is noticeable.  Parrish is simply the best in the business.  With that said, I actually loved how the combination of McKelvin and Jackson worked out.

At times, April had both of them back to return.  Jackson was more effective on the day - he doesn't have great agility, but if he gets a seam, he's tough to bring down because of his wiggle and just because he's a pretty big dude (bigger than most punt returners, at any rate).  McKelvin actually looks better returning kicks than punts; the rookie seems to be adamant about trying to break off a long run straight up the middle.  Had he used his superior quickness to turn some returns outside, he might have averaged 20 yards a return.  These guys work well in tandem because of their complementary skills, but I'd still like to see McKelvin earn a few more returns in this department.

But I still want Roscoe back.  Get well soon.

George Wilson
This guy deserves kudos, because he's pretty quickly replaced the leadership void on these units when guys like Sam Aiken and Mario Haggan departed the team.  Wilson's been called the ultimate teammate, and it shows on the field - he's one of the most animated guys on the team.  Wilson made the tackle on each of Hall's first three kick returns; he's difficult to block on both kick and punt coverage.  His leadership and his abilities have quickly made him Buffalo's best special teams ace.  Guess his teammates knew what they were doing when they voted him a team captain.

He'd better relish his role of "best special teams ace", however, because John Wendling, Justin Jenkins and even Blake Costanzo are coming on fast.  Costanzo in particular is fun to watch; he plays the role of "wedge-buster", launching himself into the wedge on kick returns, and he blew up a lot of wedges on Sunday.  He's the ultimate special teamer: a good athlete with nothing to lose, he lays it all on the line.

That's all she wrote for this week's film sessions.  If there's anything else you'd like to see me address in these reviews, please feel free to let me know - I'm open to suggestion.

  Has Ashton Youboty outjumped the competition? (Photo Source)

As the pre-season begins to wind down, some of the Buffalo Bills' fringe players have one game left to show their stuff.  So the question becomes: what spots on the roster are most up for grabs and who's fighting for these final spots?  Besides the positions that have been discussed previously (Backup TE, Backup LT, Starting CB, Returners, Starting DT), there are some strong battles being waged between players of different positions fighting to make the final roster.

How many spots are available?
To start off, I'd like to point out the positions I feel we are comfortable enough to say who and how many players will make it.  I left a few positions up for grabs as one of those guys is likely to grab the final spot.

QB: 2 (Edwards, Losman)

RB: 3 (Lynch, Jackson, Omon(or Wright I suppose))

FB: 1 (Barnes)

TE: 3 (Royal, Fine, Schouman)

WR: 5 (Evans, Reed, Parrish, Hardy, Jenkins)

OL: 9 (Peters, Dockery, Fowler, Butler, Walker, Chambers, Whittle, Preston, Bell)

DE: 4 (Schobel, Kelsay, Denney, Ellis)

DT: 4 (Stroud, Williams, McCargo, Johnson)

LB: 6 (Posluzny, Mitchell, Crowell, DiGiorgio, Ellison, Spragan for now)

CB: 5 (McGee, Greer, McKelvin, Corner, Youboty/James)

S: 5 (Whitner, Scott, Simpson, Wilson, Wendling)

ST: 3 (Moorman, Lindell, Neill)

That gives us a rough total of 50 roster spots that should be pretty set at this point, at least numbers wise.  Again, the battle for the 5^th WR, backup C and 5^th CB are all debatable by many, but we will definitely be keeping someone for those spots.  That leaves us with roughly 3 open spots to be filled by any number of individuals from various positions: 3^rd QB, 4^th RB, 4^th TE, 6^th WR, 10^th OL, 9^th DL, 7^th LB or 6^th CB.  There should be some heated competition for these final roster spots and it should come down to a number of deciding factors, which we'll discuss after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Whitner returns to practice, may play Thursday (Photo Source)

The Buffalo Bills held their final public practice prior to Thursday's pre-season matchup with Pittsburgh this afternoon, and the big news of the day was the fact that right guard Brad Butler was getting reps at right tackle.  This is not a permanent move; it is merely a precaution, as the Bills will very likely face Pittsburgh with three healthy tackles on the roster.  Butler practiced with the third team on the right side, and if things go well Thursday, he likely won't see much - if any - time at right tackle.

Strong safety Donte Whitner returned to practice today; his ankle is healthy and he participated in all individual and team activities.  It's still unclear as to whether he'll play Thursday night, but it looks promising that he'll at least suit up.  CB Terrence McGee also returned to practice Thursday.

Neither of Buffalo's two injured offensive tackles - Patrick Estes and Matt Murphy - are expected to play Thursday.  Missing Tuesday's practice were wideouts Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish and Scott Mayle, tight end Tim Massaquoi, and linebackers Blake Costanzo and Marcus Buggs.

Hark! More Offense!
The Bills had yet another productive day offensively; offensive coordinator Turk Schonert reportedly installed more four-wide spread formations today, with the result that the Bills had some impressive passing plays for the second straight practice session.  James Hardy and Lee Evans were two of many beneficiaries:

Trent Edwards found James Hardy on an early 7-on-7 play for first down yardage. That was followed up by a couple of nice receptions by Lee Evans including a touchdown catch that drew cheers from the crowd.

I'll repeat what I said this morning - this type of production on the practice field remains a disappointment until it's translated to the playing field.  Hopefully, we'll see much more than we did from the offense this past Saturday.  I'm not concerned, but boy, would I like a pick-me-up.

John Wendling is Awesome
This is one of the coolest and most amusing things I've read about a Bills player in quite some time:

Leading up to the draft the Wyoming product was known by most for his YouTube video that showed him leaping over a 66-inch high bar from a standing position.

Special teams coordinator Bobby April has allowed Wendling to try leaping over the entire field goal formation including the opposing line to see if he's capable of blocking a field goal attempt.

Brownie reports that Wendling has cleared both lines on more than one occasion; while it hasn't led to a field goal block, says Brown, "at the very least it's entertaining to watch".  I'll say.  And since John Wendling is in fact so awesome, let's post that YouTube video in question for yet another view:

The Bills have a closed practice Wednesday, and Thursday they hit the field at the Rogers Centre at 7:30 PM ET for their first game in Canada.  Be sure to stop by Thursday night if you can for the Buffalo Rumblings Open Thread - we hope to have more folks join the nine of us who chatted live last weekend!

Loss of Murphy cripples depth at LT (Photo Source)

Quick Note: We're still making a valiant attempt to get everyone signed up for Buffalo Rumblings Fantasy Football.  If you haven't checked out the announcement yet and it's relevant to you, please do so ASAP!

The Buffalo Bills returned to the practice field Monday night following their pre-season opening 17-14 loss in Washington, and before the night was out had been dealt a crippling blow to their depth at offensive tackle.  With Jason Peters still MIA amidst a contract holdout, two more tackles - Matt Murphy and Patrick Estes - suffered injuries and left practice early.  The Bills finished practice with just three healthy tackles: Langston Walker, Kirk Chambers and rookie Demetrius Bell.  The seriousness of the two injuries are not yet known, but neither is likely to play in Thursday's pre-season matchup with the Steelers in Toronto.

The loss of Murphy - who performed admirably Saturday night - is especially concerning, as he was working with the second team as the left tackle.  Estes was working with the third team at the same position.  With just three healthy tackles on the roster, the team might have to experiment with players such as Jason Whittle, Robert Felton or Nevin McCaskill at tackle; they could also make a roster move soon.  Jason Peters' holdout has never looked more desperate than it does today.

In other injury news, SS Donte Whitner returned to practice, was subsequently dinged, left, and did not return - again.  It wouldn't be shocking to see him sit out Thursday's game.  LB Blake Costanzo also left early with a minor head injury.  Not participating were wideouts Josh Reed, Scott Mayle and Roscoe Parrish, tight end Tim Massaquoi and linebacker Marcus Buggs.  LB Angelo Crowell participated fully, and DE Copeland Bryan also returned.

Surprise! Offense Goes Deep
The Bills took some serious heat in the press for their incredibly vanilla offensive performance Sunday.  But hark!  Monday night was a smorgasboard of deep passes for Buffalo's offense.  Should we be surprised?

The first beneficiary of the deep passing game was rookie wideout James Hardy. On the third snap in team work Trent Edwards aired out a 50-yard bomb to Hardy on a deep post as he got between Terrence McGee and Ko Simpson, made the catch and completed the 70-yard scoring play.

Show me some of that during actual pre-season action - as well as increased playing time for Trent Edwards - and I'll get excited about this.  For now, it's merely something that sounds good from the practice setting that hasn't translated the field, a.k.a. a disappointment.

Question of the day: Is there seriously a good reason for the Bills to take Edwards and most of the first unit offense off of the field before halftime on Thursday?

The Bills practice at 1PM today, have a closed practice Wednesday, and hit the turf at the Rogers Centre for the first time Thursday.

McKelvin, cornerbacks solid in pre-season debut (Photo Source)

As promised, I've reviewed Saturday night's broadcast of the Buffalo Bills' pre-season opening 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins.  And, as promised, I took plenty of notes and hit the rewind button often in an attempt to get more nitty gritty details on Buffalo's personnel lineups and overall play Saturday night.

I've only had time to rifle through the first half thus far; rest assured that we'll talk about the scrubs either tomorrow or Wednesday.  For now, here's what I noticed re-watching the Redskins game in our first ever Buffalo Rumblings Film Session:

Quarterbacks: Now is definitely not the time to freak out about Trent Edwards' poor performance.  He just needs to play more.  Trent did make some bad reads while he played - both throws to Schouman, for example, were forced balls - but he's still doing the one thing that Dick Jauron wants him to do: getting the ball out quickly and, for the most part, accurately.  It's high time that Jauron sacrifice some of J.P. Losman's pre-season playing time to get Edwards some more experience reading defenses; it's quite clear that Losman doesn't need a ton of time after his strong performance Saturday.  Losman was, quite simply, in the zone.  He had one poor throw (the slant to Roscoe Parrish on third and goal); the rest was excellent work upon further review.

Running Backs: Not much to report here.  Fred Jackson got most of the work in the first half, and he played as advertised.  He looked good, but didn't stand out in any way.  Jauron did the right thing by limiting Marshawn Lynch to three carries - he doesn't need to work this early.

Fullbacks/Tight Ends: I thought Derek Schouman played poorly.  He doesn't play as fast in games as he does on the practice field; it is clear, however, that Edwards likes throwing his way.  Derek Fine looked smoother than anticipated; he did, however, whiff badly on a blitz pickup, which led to a Losman sack.  I am glad, however, that Darian Barnes is part of this team - I didn't realize how much I missed a good old fashioned lead blocker until I saw Barnes popping linebackers in the hole.  He looks like a good acquisition.

Wide Receivers: If you want a scapegoat for Buffalo's first-team offense issues, blame James Hardy.  He was routinely lined up out of position, missed some pre-snap motions, and was responsible for a false start, a near-false start, and a timeout.  He also misread the Redskins' defense on third and goal with Edwards under center.  Washington was blitzing from Hardy's side; Hardy should have read that blitz and cut his route off.  That's exactly where Edwards threw it, but Hardy wasn't home.  He's got a long way to go before he's an every-down receiver.

I really liked what I saw out of Roscoe Parrish; he might be ready for a break-out season of sorts.  I hope to see more of Justin Jenkins as well - he looks smooth operating out of the slot and is a bit bulkier than Buffalo's top two slot options, Parrish and Josh Reed.  Jenkins is a virtual lock to make the final roster.

Offensive Line: For a first-team analysis, see Ron from NM's FanPost.  I saw nothing different than he did re-watching the first half.  The second team line was comprised of Matt Murphy (LT), Christian Gaddis (LG), Duke Preston (C), Jason Whittle (RG) and Kirk Chambers (RT; also started).  I was particularly impressed with Murphy - he looked great in pass protection against a very good Redskins DE in Chris Wilson.  He's still raw at the position, however, so don't expect an immediate contribution.  Preston also fared well; he was the man responsible for blowing open a huge hole on Fred Jackson's 11-yard screen pass.  Gaddis was disappointing; he missed his assignment badly on a stunt on the Losman-to-Parrish deep throw.  Gaddis was the reason Losman had to throw that off his back foot.

Offense General: Clearly, Buffalo's offense could have played better.  But don't blame the short throws the Bills employed on Turk Schonert - he's done a great job giving Edwards options.  On two poor reads by Edwards, Schonert had layered his receivers' routes so that, within the same throwing lane, there was a short and deep option for Edwards.  Both times, the deeper route was open for Trent, and both times, he forced it to Schouman underneath.  Edwards telegraphs his passes in an obvious way; Schonert may have built in an offense wrinkle to hide that weakness.

Defensive Line: Buffalo's starting defensive line got one series, and I thought they looked great.  Marcus Stroud looks great, and the Redskins threw double teams at him quite often (he did get dominated by two 'Skins linemen once, but otherwise was a force up front).  I also thought the defensive ends looked disruptive, though clearly, they didn't play much.  Stroud and Aaron Schobel were pulled after the first series.  (By the way - there's no reason to knock Buffalo's pass rush after this game, either.  Washington threw so many balls off of three-step drops that there was no chance for the Bills to get any pass rush going.  Buffalo's blitz, however, did look weak.)

That's when things got interesting.  Spencer Johnson replaced Stroud inside and played all right; when Chris Kelsay left the game for good, however, Johnson slid out to defensive end for early downs (Chris Ellis replaced him on later downs).  Speaking of Ellis, I thought he looked good - he's quick and a bit more powerful than I imagined he would be.  He wasn't a liability in the run game, either.  He played a lot, which is good for him.  (Now Jauron just needs to employ the same philosophy with his starting quarterback.)

One last D-Line note: Jason Jefferson is terrible, whether he's lined up at tackle or end.  He's worse at end.  The guy defines the word "mediocre", and he's routinely five yards up field and out of position.  This guy can't get off our roster fast enough.

Linebackers: Buffalo's defense gave up some plays in the passing game, but don't blame the corners - the Bills' linebackers are currently pretty bad in coverage.  Both Paul Posluszny and John DiGiorgio are consistently a yard or two too deep or a step slow getting to the receiver.  Kawika Mitchell displayed a similar trait (while also looking great defending the run).  Buffalo's corners took some heat for some slant routes being completed, but the corners, in reality, were blanketing their receivers - the linebackers were just a bit off with their responsibilities.  Right now, the linebackers are the weakness of the defense, but their play isn't far off from being good.

Cornerbacks: In short, these guys looked great.  Five corners saw action in the first half (Terrence McGee sat this one out), but the best performer of them all was, of course, Ashton Youboty.  Youboty showed a physicality we haven't seen from him to date - he's an excellent tackler.  He also did very well in coverage and didn't make any mistakes.  His INT was a gift, however - Todd Collins should never have thrown that ball.  What got me most excited about Youboty was seeing him talk some smack with Redskins WR Santana Moss; I don't think I've seen that type of confidence out of Youboty before.  He looked great; I wouldn't be shocked if he pushed Jabari Greer (whose play was solid as well) for a starting spot.

Will James saw the most time in the slot, and while his play was generally good (his coverage was better than good), he did miss a tackle pretty badly on a screen pass.  Reggie Corner was the dime back (again, with McGee out of the lineup), and while he made some alignment mistakes and gave up some throws, he also showed pretty good instincts.  I like his future as the nickel back.

Leodis McKelvin made one big error - ducking inside a block rather than engaging it - and it led to a touchdown.  Other than that, he looked good in coverage (and great on kick/punt returns), but his body doesn't look NFL-ready to me.  He's really quite small.  I still think he's a starter by season's end, but he's probably fourth on the depth chart - at best - right now.

In all, I liked what I saw out of all five of Buffalo's corners - but if I had to pick a guy most likely to be released, I'm going with James.

Safeties: Not good, folks.  Ko Simpson was terrible, both on the blitz and in run support.  He was in the box a lot more than expected, with Bryan Scott playing deep.  Look for opponents to try to exploit that this season.  John Wendling, in my opinion, should be playing linebacker - he's OK by the line of srimmage, but a nightmare deep.  He hits hard.  He did, however, miss Ladell Betts badly on a draw play that led to big yardage.  He's quite green, and shouldn't see the field as a defender this season.

Special Teams: Monitored this closely for personnel.  Kick and punt coverage starting lineups listed below; these are a good indicator as to who Bobby April likes on his units, and who, therefore, stands a good shot at making the roster as of today:

Kick Coverage: Blake Costanzo, Justin Jenkins, Will James, John DiGiorgio, Keith Ellison, Derek Schouman, John Wendling, Donnie Spragan, Bryan Scott, Dustin Fox

Punt Coverage: John Wendling, Justin Jenkins (gunners); Ryan Neill (long snapper); George Wilson, Derek Fine, Blake Costanzo, Bryan Scott, John DiGiorgio, Keith Ellison, Donnie Spragan

Dwayne Wright, Duke Preston, Kirk Chambers, Kyle Williams, Marcus Buggs and Darian Barnes all saw coverage or blocking responsibilities in the first half as well.  Blake Costanzo surprised me; he was on the field for nearly every special teams play in the first half and played very well.  Is it possible he's a lock to make the roster?

Feel free to discuss/ask questions/leave your thoughts in the comments section.

The return of Posluszny solidifies starting LB corps (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've been attempting to answer for the past week or so, and will continue to do so.

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

Paul Posluszny: If Trent Edwards is the big question mark of the offense, then his fellow second-year starter, Paul Posluszny, is the big defensive question mark.  Posluszny racked up 25 tackles in 10 quarters (two and a half games) of play last season before an arm injury landed him on IR; at that pace, he would have finished '07 with 160 total stops.  However, the Bills are placing a lot of responsibility on a player who has very little starting experience at the NFL level.  John DiGiorgio may be nipping far more closely at Posluszny's heels than most Bills fans realize.

John DiGiorgio: For a second-year former undrafted free agent out of Saginaw Valley State, DiGiorgio enjoyed a pretty darned successful 2007 campaign.  After taking over starting inside duties from Posluszny, DiGiorgio tallied 112 stops, two sacks, an interception and two fumble recoveries.  He's not an overwhelming athlete, but he's a gamer that plays hard (and with surprisingly good leverage) and seems to be around the ball a majority of the time.  In an ideal role, DiGiorgio would serve as the team's backup and could also be a special teams captain.  He's got long-term potential on this roster.

Blake Costanzo: Another former undrafted free agent, Costanzo is entering his third year in the league.  Costanzo was signed to Buffalo's practice squad this past October, promoted to the active roster in December, and tallied seven special teams tackles in the final three games of the season.  Costanzo has a very legitimate chance at sticking on the roster because of his special teams ability, but he's not as athletic as some of the younger outside linebackers on Buffalo's roster.  He's definitely a guy to keep an eye on during the pre-season.

The Additions: None.

The Subtractions: None.

Pre-Season Outlook: Not much has changed here.  The Bills still have good depth at the inside linebacker position, but it's also very inexperienced depth.  Posluszny appears to be the main horse, and he'll start the 2008 season, but don't be shocked to see DiGiorgio heavily involved in certain defensive packages as well.  Both linebackers have proved to be highly productive when on the field in their short careers, so not only will this be an intense and intriguing training camp battle to watch, but it will be interesting to see how each players is utilized in training camp as well.

Change: None.

As always, your thoughts and opinions on this analysis are welcome in the comments section.