Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! Let's get back into some Bills discussion this morning by taking a look at some of the news surrounding the team from the past few days:
The Bills have signed four young free agents from the now-defunct NFL Europa this past week. Three players signed last Friday were wideouts Felton Huggins and Justin Jenkins and cornerback Chris Thompson. The team then added K/P D.J. Fitzpatrick to the fold as a backup kicker for the pre-season.
I am very intrigued by the signing of Chris Thompson. This is a guy who is a former fifth-round draft pick, played under Perry Fewell for a year in Chicago and has great size (6'0", 190) for this defensive scheme. I'd love to see him push a guy like Jabari Greer for a roster spot, as I think his skills are far better suited to be a reserve in this defense.
It appears that our friend Connor Byrne is not a fan of Melvin Fowler. Byrne lists center and right guard as problem area's on Buffalo's "seemingly fortified" offensive line, and he also takes a jab at Langston Walker:
Well, it also doesn't help that he was blocking for Andrew Walter, a quarterback with Drew Bledsoe's quicks and Billy Joe Hobert's smarts. I've got faith that Walker will dramatically cut down his sacks allowed and be a force on this offensive line, especially in the run game.
As for Fowler, I have a bit more optimistic view than Byrne, who claims that Fowler's starting job isn't secure. I always viewed Fowler more as an intelligent technician than a center that will overpower defensive tackles, and that's exactly what he is. Byrne mentions that he has a good relationship with J.P. Losman, and that's exactly why he'll get the starting nod this season.
Anthony Bialy likes our cornerbacks. It's nice to see an article that lists something I've been saying for quite some time - the Cover-2 defense masks most deficiences of poor cornerbacks (not that Buffalo has any to begin with). He also speaks highly of Ashton Youboty.
We'll be back later on today with more Bills talk - that is, after all, our specialty. Stay tuned!