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Mini-Camp Tidbits - Day Two

By Brian Galliford
Bills rookie RB Marshawn Lynch

The Bills' rookie mini-camp resumed today with day two of practices, and there were more events that were of particular interest to many Bills fans. CB has posted his Day 2 notes at the main site. The team wraps up the mini-camp tomorrow. On to the more interesting tidbits of the day:

On offense the running backs continued to get a heavy dose of catching passes out of the backfield. Fred Jackson, top pick Marshawn Lynch and fourth-round pick Dwayne Wright all looked fluid catching and turning upfield. It should be noted the drills were performed without any defenders.
In what CB described as a slow day, this was one of the more interesting points of emphasis to me. We all knew that offensive Steve Fairchild wanted a system in which our running backs were used as receivers; two days of using them split out wide has me very curious. It is likely that the coaching staff is merely using this camp as a way to look at the versatility of their backs, especially guys like Dwayne Wright and Fred Jackson. The receiving emphasis seems to me like they are trying to figure out exactly how much each of their backs can do; this has me anticipating a lot of screens, dump-offs and pass patterns designed specifically for Lynch during the season. Plays like that could lead to a lot of entertaining runs for our star rookie.

I think that the majority of this emphasis, however, is to get a look at Wright as a receiver. The team knows what they have in Anthony Thomas, and they have a very good idea of what they have in Lynch; what exactly does Wright bring to the table in terms of his skills and how they fit this system? They obviously know he has complementary skills to those of Lynch's; how much of this stuff can he do on his own? I'm excited about this kid; I think that the coaches are taking a long look at him in this camp to see if he can push the A-Train for the #2 role.

Mayle has made a few plays the first two days due mainly to the fact that defensive backs in this camp are already respecting his deep speed and are giving him a healthy amount of cushion. Mayle has been taking advantage of that underneath.

This Scott Mayle kid seems like an interesting prospect to me. He's not a very big guy (6'1", 175) but his speed makes him an intriguing kid. At a minimum, I can see him pushing guys like George Wilson; he has some competition even from his fellow UDFA's in Jemalle Cornelius, Johnny Quinn and Aaron Brown, however.

Rookie free agent CB Reggie Lewis missed the workout with the hamstring pull he suffered Saturday. Tryout player Joe Konrad also sat with a hamstring pull also suffered on day one.

This could be a setback for Lewis, an UDFA who many Bills fans feel can push for a roster spot. The team's neglect of the cornerback position in the draft could leave the door open for Lewis or fellow UDFA Duane Coleman to land a spot on the final roster; early injuries could hurt Lewis' chances. Hope he's able to practice tomorrow.

CB is doing a great job of covering this camp, per usual. The final practices are tomorrow; I'll have my thoughts on those notes when they're made available. Go Bills!

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