Buffalo Bills Training Camp: Linebacker Experimentation Underway

Among the many intriguing positional battles ongoing at Buffalo Bills training camp, one that has been a bit under the radar in our conversations here is the linebacker position. Per WGR 550's Joe Buscaglia, aside from shoo-in starters Nick Barnett and Kelvin Sheppard, three more players saw first-team reps in some capacity: veterans Kirk Morrison and Arthur Moats, as well as rookie fourth-round pick Nigel Bradham.

Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News reports that each player saw first-unit reps based on very specific packages. Morrison is the strong-side linebacker in the base defense, and Moats is seeing time as an additional pass rusher in certain nickel packages. Bradham, perhaps the second-best athlete at linebacker behind Barnett on the roster, may be getting reps because of his ability in coverage, though that's just speculation on my part.

Add in the fact that converted safety Bryan Scott is already an oft-used sub-package linebacker, the Bills may be headed toward a situation where they use three or four different linebackers in small quantities alongside Barnett and, to an extent, Sheppard.