Good news and bad news this evening, Bills fans. The good news - with the conclusion of the mandatory mini-camp, we are one step closer to the stuff that really matters. The bad news - we have to wait a month to get to the next step. But let's worry about that after taking a look at the final mini-camp practice:
Head Coach Dick Jauron raves about this team's future:
"Defensively we lost some players that were leaders for us and we've added some players and I think they'll play at a high level. Our other players are more mature in our system. They know exactly how we play it. They know exactly how we expect them to play it. I think they'll play it better and faster."
I'm going to choose to believe you, Coach. Please prove to everyone else that you deserve to be believed in. This club has a ton of talent, but it's in the coaching staff to harness it and continue these youngsters down their current exciting path.
There was an interesting development on special teams, where we may have seen a glimpse of the punt coverage depth chart:
In my mind, with that news, Scobey just made the team. We'll keep four running backs, with Scobey rounding out the depth chart behind A-Train/Lynch/Dwayne Wright. Kurupt called this a while back, and it looks like he's going to be right - Scobey was brought in here to become a true special teams star. He'll stick on this roster.
It sounds like Steve Fairchild has an answer to Bills fans who think we still need a red zone threat in the receiving game:
In particular, I think Royal could score as many as 8 touchdowns this year. Everett may be a viable target down there as well, and I really like the potential of the H-Back position in the red zone as well. That's why we didn't sign another receiver - our secondary skill positions are deeper than deep.
Coming Tomorrow: the Bills will announce training camp dates for 2007; stay tuned to Buffalo Rumblings to hear which practices your humble host may or may not be attending.