Each Tuesday this season, we here at Buffalo Rumblings will review the week's Buffalo Bills game on film (i.e. good old fashioned DVR) to get a little more in-depth perspective on how the Bills are performing.  This week, in honor of their spectacular opening day performance, we'll start our film reviews with an analysis of the special teams.

Clearly, the Buffalo Bills have the best special teams unit on the whole in the NFL.  "Experts" may talk about other team's players (namely Chicago's Devin Hester), but they also know that when they want to talk about all-around special teams play, Buffalo is the mecca.  What we may not realize, however, is that the Bills' special teams - while explosive and dominant on Sunday - weren't perfect, and it was largely due to personnel turnover.

Kick Returns
Terrence McGee only got one shot to return a kick, and it was this close to being a big play.  On the opening kick of the game, McGee had a rather large cutback lane and was headed for it, but a Seahawk got enough of his ankle to slow him up, and Seattle avoided early disaster.  Not much to report here, because Seattle's other two kickoffs were touchbacks.

Punt Returns
What else is there to say about Roscoe Parrish?  He takes a lot of chances when he returns punts - mainly because he can - and clearly, he blew up on Sunday to the tune of 6 returns for 120 yards and his poetic 63-yard touchdown return.  Don't expect Parrish to ever get six punt return chances in a game ever again after this performance; I'm still not quite sure why Seattle kept kicking to the guy.  He can be a bit boom-or-bust, but when he booms, it's sonic.

Parrish is so good because he's incredibly adept at making the first guy miss; from there on out, it's 10-on-10 blocking, in essence.  Buffalo's punt coverage was very good Sunday, in particular on the touchdown return; John DiGiorgio, Jon Corto (twice), Bryan Scott, Justin Jenkins and Copeland Bryan all had key blocks on that play.  Bobby April knows exactly the type of player to use on his units - the guys who never, ever quit - and that's why the Bills are so solid in all facets.  I could watch the Parrish TD over and over and over...

Kick Coverage/Kickoffs
Rian Lindell wasn't awful on his kickoffs, but there's definitely room for improvement.  The weather played a part in this one, as windy conditions forced Ashton Youboty to hold for Lindell on kickoffs on more than one occasion.  He had one touchback, and his kicks were high and deep.

Buffalo's kick coverage wasn't spectacular.  Seattle's Josh Wilson ended up averaging 26 yards per return on four returns, including a 39-yarder that helped set up Seattle's lone touchdown of the game.  Of course, some of this can be forgiven when the same unit forces a fumble and the kicker recovers it later in the game; Corto's strip and the ensuing touchdown put the game completely out of reach before the third quarter ended.

Punt Coverage/Punts
Brian Moorman showed off some more inconsistency punting, shanking a couple, and booming a few more.  Again, the weather factored in slightly, but we can't blame any of it on the long snapping - Ryan Neill was impeccable.  Moorman's a veteran, and if Buffalo's offense has stretches like they did early in this game, he'll have his opportunities to iron out his issues.

Moorman did out-kick his coverage a couple of times, which was the biggest reason that Seattle's Nate Burleson averaged 18 yards per return and routinely was able to turn the corner.  Once Moorman gets his kicks higher, Buffalo's punt coverage - the clear strength of the unit last year outside of punt returns - will return to normal.  The team's gunners, Jenkins and John Wendling, were excellent as usual Sunday.

General Observations
- The touchdown pass from Moorman to Ryan Denney in the third quarter was a work of genius by April.  Perfect design with a dash of luck.  Not much to report from the film, other than the fact that it's hilarious to watch.  Yes... the Bills' special teams are so good that it's literally funny.

- It's important to realize that some of the coverage woes came at the hands of new personnel.  Buffalo's undergoing a serious facelift (dare I say youth movement?) on all of their coverage units in particular, and some of the longer runs the team gave up yesterday may have simply been growing pains.  Those guys work hard, however, so they should only get better the more they play.

- In general, an outstanding performance.  Nearly flawless, though it would be nice to see them tighten up coverages and become a bit more effective with their kicks.  Definitely not much to complain about, however.  These units were the clear difference in Buffalo's opening day win.

  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.

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LB Crowell returns to practice (Photo Source)

After nine days of practices, the Buffalo Bills had Sunday off and returned to the practice field yesterday afternoon for their eleventh day of training camp.  While OT Jason Peters continued his holdout, the Bills did get some good news in the form of veteran LB Angelo Crowell returning to the field of play.  Crowell missed the majority of last week's practices with a left knee injury.

Joining Crowell on the field were newly signed LB Donnie Spragan as well as UDFA rookie WR C.J. Hawthorne, a Hawaii product that the Bills added yesterday.  Hawthorne takes the roster spot of one Jason Peters, and was signed to reduce the number of reps that Buffalo's depleted receiving corps was taking.

Strong safety Donte Whitner missed practice with an ankle injury that required an MRI, but the injury is not considered serious.  WR Josh Reed was also held out of practice Monday as the team looked to reduce his work load and rest his surgically repaired lower back; he's not expected to miss much action either.  DE Copeland Bryan (hamstring) and CB Will James (groin) also missed practice Monday.  WR James Hardy (hamstring) participated on a limited basis in individual drills.

Parrish Stepping Up in Reed's Absence
Not surprisingly, Roscoe Parrish - the other veteran wideout on the team not named Lee Evans - saw an increased workload with Reed on the sidelines.  Buffalo's diminutive return star was making some plays in the receiving game, always a nice thing to hear; he was also, however, showing that he can be physical despite his small frame:

After taking a hard hit from Jabari Greer on a short out route to the sideline that left him on the ground for a minute, Parrish came back with some of his own hitting as he cracked Ashton Youboty on a run play.

Donte Whitner shouted from the sidelines, "I see that Roscoe. You want to hit like that?"

To which Parrish responded, "I'll hit like that all day!"

Parrish isn't the only one with the bug; thing seem to have become a bit more physical as the team gears up for its first pre-season game of the year, this coming Saturday in Washington.  Justin Jenkins also received some first-team reps at wideout in Reed's absence.

Cornerback Competition Update
With Will James sidelined with his groin injury, we've gotten a pretty good look at exactly how Buffalo's depth chart currently shakes out at cornerback.  James - currently the first team nickel back on the depth chart - has been replaced at that position by rookie fourth-round pick Reggie Corner (with Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer holding down the starting slots, as usual).  Ashton Youboty and Leodis McKelvin have manned the outside slots for the second unit.  McKelvin has been taking reps at the nickel spot for both units as well.

Clearly, the Bills are mixing and matching their personnel inside for now to see which players fit best at which positions.  What may be most surprising, however, is the fact that Reggie Corner's role seems to be solidified, while McKelvin's has not.  It seems, for now, that the Bills are working on ways to get their first-round pick onto the field, because at this point, it seems pretty obvious that he won't start right away.

Who's Making Plays
Crowell looked good in his return to the lineup, making several plays in the passing game.  Parrish routinely beat defenders running routes, and has proven to be quite as difficult to cover as Lee Evans has in man coverage.  CB Jabari Greer blocked a field goal yesterday.  Buffalo Rumblings' second-favorite linebacker, Jon Banks, tipped a pass that was intercepted by safety Jon Corto.

You have to love hearing this, as well.  Looking forward to big things from #23 this year.

Marshawn Lynch ran under a reception deep down the far sideline for a big gain.

The Bills will hit the practice field for another night practice today, which runs from 7PM until just after 9.  We'll discuss the developments from tonight's practice tomorrow morning.

Can Wilson challenge for starting FS role again? (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 free safeties.  To view our previous discussions on Buffalo's FS situation (pre-off-season), bang it here.

Ko Simpson: As it stands right now, Simpson is clearly the biggest question mark in Buffalo's entire secondary.  The third-year pro started 15 of 16 games in his rookie season and played fairly well; his second season, however, ended rather abruptly with a season-ending ankle injury in the opening day loss to Denver.  During this past week's OTAs, Simpson has been one of the more prominent playmakers, routinely intercepting tipped balls.  He looks healthy, acts healthy, and seems to be playing healthy.  If that's the case - and it continues to be the case through training camp - Simpson should be the opening day starter once again at free safety.

George Wilson: Clearly, Simpson is not a lock to be the starter at this point, which makes Wilson - the converted wide receiver who himself made a few plays in '07 before landing on IR - Simpson's main competition.  Wilson's experience as a receiver give him ball skills that are superior to Simpson's, but that's about all he has in terms of advantages.  Simpson is more experienced at the position, is a much more sound tackler, and is more talented.  Don't ever count Wilson out, however - he's just a straight up good football player, and he'll push Simpson hard throughout training camp and the pre-season.

Jon Corto: Corto, a native of Orchard Park, stuck with his home-town pro team on the practice squad for much of last season.  With no significant additions being brought in at the safety position (the team actually has one less safety on the roster than they did in January), Corto has a very good chance at sticking on the practice squad once again.

The Additions: None.

The Subtractions: Jim Leonhard
I was a bit surprised when the team neglected to re-sign Leonhard, a former undrafted free agent that had played admirably - if ineffectively - in his short Bills career.  He was also a solid contributor on special teams.  What makes it more surprising is the fact that the team has not yet replaced Leonhard in terms of depth - unless you're willing to count Corto in that capacity.  Leonhard was signed by the Baltimore Ravens.

Pre-Season Outlook: The free safety position is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing positional battles heading into training camp - it is one of very few (in fact, it may be the only) battles in which a starter will be decided.  What's important to realize here is that while both Simpson and Wilson have proven that they can make plays and limit mistakes, both are injury-prone and inexperienced at the NFL level.  Whoever the winner of this battle is, their play is going to need to elevate far beyond anything either of them has provided on Sundays.  I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again - Donte Whitner should be playing this position.

Change: None.

As always, your thoughts and opinions are welcome and encouraged in the comments section.  We'll wrap up our State of the Roster series very soon, with only looks at the strong safeties and the specialists remaining.