SB Nation User Blog: labill

Pro Day Performances

labill — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:50:59 -0000

Pro Day Performances

Thought we should identify pro day performances of players the Bills might be interested in. Here is Beckum's day: Beckum Shines at Wisconsin Pro Day Unable to workout at the NFL Combine after still recovering from the broken leg that sidelined him throughout much of his senior season, tight end Travis Beckum helped his stock Wednesday with an impressive performance at the Wisconsin Pro Day. Beckum, who measured in at 6-2 3/4 and 239 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash twice, clocking in between 4.58-4.63 seconds. He also posted a 41" vertical jump and caught the ball well during drills, only dropping one pass. Beckum elected not to lift Wednesday, but he didn't have to after leading all tight ends with 28 reps of 225 pounds at the Combine -- the only drill the Badger standout performed for scouts in Indianapolis. The surprise of the day did not come from Beckum, however, but from junior running back P.J. Hill, who has dropped about 20 pounds since the end of the season and impressed scouts with his new build. At 5-10 1/8 and 218 pounds, Hill was clocked in the mid 4.6s. Unlike Beckum, however, Hill struggled a bit in pass-catching drills. Linebackers Jonathan Casillas and DeAndre Levy did not workout. Each is coming off of a knee injury and is expected to workout for scouts April 2nd.Reports had between 25-28 teams attending the Pro Day, with the Bengals, Broncos, Bucs, Chargers, Dolphins, Falcons, Giants, Jaguars, Lions, Packers, Patriots, Lions, Redskins, Saints, Seahawks, Texans and Vikings among them.

Questions and Concerns

labill — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:26:40 -0000

I am just an avid fan -- and I really appreciate the others on this board who know much more (and can see/analyze more) than I can when watching a game. I have a few random questions and concerns that I appreciate your guys' thoughts on:

(1) I did not see Kelsey make one play. Did I miss it? Maybe when Schobel gets back, we put Denney on the other side. I guess Ellis is just a complete dud since he sees virtually no action even when there is a shortage of DEs.
(2) Is Stroud fading each week? He really shined in the first few weeks and now seem very ordinary. Is he missing Schobel that badly? Johnson also seems to have lost his energy when he comes in.
(3) Schobel really is missed -- I guess he really is the only Pro Bowler on the defense (I never thought I would say this because I thought he was overrated).
(4) Poz seems to be blocked easily. He now can't shed a tackle and they go right at him. Is this something the offenses are figuring out?

(5) Where are the blitzes? Veek or Scott seem to be very effective, but against an 'ol Farve and an ('ol Pennington; also, an 'ol Warner), I didn't think they blitzed much at all -- and oddly the short passes still worked wonders for them. Poz seemed like a poor blitzer, and Veek performs better when he is asked to do special things and not just stay back.
(6) Whitner just seems a bit lost -- does he have too many responsibilities he is shouldering (no pun intended)?

(7) Should the Bills just cut McIntyre?

(8) Why don't we do any reverses with Parrish? I would think he would be the one guy in the league who is ideal for that (especially since he appears to be a below average receiver).

(9) We need to go long on offense a few times -- isn't that what gives opportunities for the short passes? Did the Jets basically cheat-up the safeties because we have fallen in love with the short-accurate passes of Edwards? Even our "long" runs (did we have any?) were fairly short because of this.

Fine tuning this great team

labill — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:06:19 -0000

A few player personnel moves for thought (not about actual play calling, since I defer to others who are much more knowledgable). I say these half in jest, but this team is very special and such a team should always think about fine tuning:

1. Activate Chris Ellis and give him some time by subing out Schobel. Kelsey and Denny are doing their part. Schobel has disappeared. I don't recall any plays that Schobel made -- and I don't recall Schobel anywhere near my tv when Steven Jackson was running. Ellis is apparently good at putting the pressure on the QB. We get more pressure from the LBs (Poz, Veek), DTs (Williams, Johnson) and DBs (Youboty, Whitner, Scott) then Schobel. Love to get a Ron From NM type of play by play analysis of Schobel (is he being double teamed a lot -- I frankly didn't see too many of that).

2. Bench Peters until after the bye (I guess that means only the Arizona game). Pretty obvious to me -- if we lost any/all the last 3 games, he would have been the main goat in each one of them. Also, that will put him in his place for pulling the hold out stunt. Move Walker back to LT and Chambers to RT until the bye -- work on Peters' fundamentals.

3. Play Jackson along with Marshawn for half the plays; the other half, play one back. Forget the FB for most plays. Instead of opening holes, they just seem to clog and crowd the running lanes. I think Oman should be considered to be deactivated. Didn't Lynch look injured (or just slow to get up) in every play? We have got to preserve him a little.

4. Bench Fowler and see what Duke has. Fowler is a center who always gets pushed back, while the FB eats up valuable open space has made the middle impossible to get through. I think he is handicapping the rest of the OL -- he just can't handle the big DTs, or the fast DTs, or the blitzing LBs. He backs up so quickly that he tackles our own QB. I don't recall too many plays where our RBs got through the middle -- I do recall many plays where our RBs first go to the middle, then has the smarts to decide to better break outside. By the way, Butler always seemed to me to be a candidate for Center -- just an impression I have. Duke just seems so much better than last year. And he is a lot bigger than Fowler. In any event, I think both are in their last year of contract.

5. Bring in a veteran LB. I am really concerned about Corto and Costanzo being the backups (to Ellison!). What happens if Poz or Veek get injured? Our team should not be in the fate of DiGiorgio.

I said before that great teams win games they should lose. They win games they struggle in. They win games through luck and bad luck. They also win by getting better and not being complacent. The opponents see a weakness and they exploit it more and more.

Available Tackles

labill — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:52:57 -0000

My quick look at available, experienced OTs (perhaps some of them have been picked up):

Wayne Gandy (Atl), Fred Miller (Chi), Tom Ashworth (Seattle/NE), Stockar McDougle (Jacksonville), Nat Dorsey (Cleveland), Kyle Turley (KC/StL), Todd Steussie. They are all old timers -- perhaps the immediate short term plug we need. I think NE actually picked up 2 veteran OTs in the past few weeks.

I doubt that waiver wires will present much other FAs at this point in the preseason, and we need bodies right now, I guess.

Teyo Johnson or Courtney Anderson

labill — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:54:13 -0000

The more I think of it, the more I am getting excited over finding a catching TE from one of Teyo Johnson and Courtney Anderson. They are actually the same player -- same height, (6 foot 6 inches!!!), weight (260-70), catching ability, age (27), Oakland-tradition. Even their performances over the years are about the same (really, lack of opportunity -- perhaps with good reasons). I gather, given the draft and FA acquisitions, that the Bills will choose one of the two to be our receiving TE -- and both these guys are taller, bigger and better catchers than most TEs (its the other stuff they are so flawed at). Johnson has a better bloodline resume (Stanford, 2nd round pick, WR background) and Anderson has better performance in the pros (was he the reason Teyo was benched in Oakland -- but not by much). It will be interesting who comes out as the "extra" wide receiver we have been looking for. My bet is on Teyo Johnson, but I presume the early money is on Courtney Anderson.

New Trade Valuation

labill — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:43:33 -0000

I generally agree with MARV's comment that there won't be a lot of trade partners in the early draft. But the new trade charts re-value the picks based on the rediculous contracts of the first 10 picks, so the adjustments in expectation may help.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/04/15/new-draft-trade-chart/

Also, one area of the draft that has more appeal for a trade up (by another team) is that second level in the 1st round (to get the 2nd best player at a position, for a relatively cheap price (you don't pay top 5 or top 10 money, and the difference between late teens and 11th pick is not so great considering you get the guy you want) -- apparently, a mixture of OT (Albert, Clady, Otah, Williams), RB (Mendenhall, Stewart) and DE/LB (Harvey, Rivers), and CB (any of the top 4) happens to be the very same focus for each of Denver, Carolina, Chicago, Detroit, Arizona, Minnesota and Houston. So, moving down a few spots can be the difference between getting the number 1 guy you want and losing him to the team ahead of you.

Possibly more importantly, as the "new" chart would have it, there is a perfect match as to trade values (those teams can give their 1st and 3rd for our pick), that will faciliate the trade. It values the 11th pick at 1,320 points and makes a mid-1st and 3rd rounder a perfect match in points.

As examples, Detroit (looking at say, OT or Mendellhall) and Minnesota (OT or Harvey) are two very good possibilities -- the chart tells us that if we move down about 4 spots in the 1st round with Detroit, we could get their 1st (15 pick) and 3rd (76 pick) -- and the points favors the Bills only a tiny bit (only by 30 points); move down 6 picks with Minnesota, at get their 1st (17 pick) and 3rd (they have two -- 73 pick) -- that favors Minnesota by a tiny bit(only by 25 points).

So, a 3rd round pick is what we could get if we move down a few spots (I think, in the old system, it may have been a 2nd rounder) -- I think we let those teams salivate at (and think of losing) Harvey (move ahead of Denver to "steal" him), Clady/Albert (Carolina might grab him) and Mendenhall, trade down and grab Devin Thomas (we have no choice but grab the best WR we can).

Can we stop with the CB and DE talk

labill — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:41:36 -0000

I just want to vent. I agree that CB or Harvey might present the best value over WR. But we really don't have a choice anymore. Can the Bills start spending a little bit of money, picks and attention on our lousy Offense? I will be upset if we use our 1st rounder on a CB or DE -- they may present better value (even much better), but, unfortunately, we have no choice but to get a WR with the 1st pick because our team has absolutely ignored the Offensive side of the ball this post season. First, to start out with, our defense was much better than our offense last year. Secondly, based on the majority of the season, we have already added for this new season, in addition to Stroud, Johnson, Mitchell and James (why does everyone forget we added a starting caliber CB who was sought after by many teams?), the return of Denny, Simpson, Poz from injuries (pretty much missing the entire year), plus a more experienced McCargo, Youboty, Wilson, Wendling -- and we really haven't lost anyone on defense! Harvey, Carson, DMC, McKelvin, Rivers, etc. may all be great, and we SHOULD have been in a position to draft one of these (much) better value guys, but we chose to get cute with our negotiations with the Panda (I know I will get some grief over this statement, since many are now claiming that we actually were not interested in him (but I seem to recall during those 10 days of his free agency, we were all holding our breath, getting a day-to-day status report checking all the internet reports on whether the Panda was signing with the Bills). Frankly, can you imagine how much we would have loved our draft strategy today had the Bills signed the Panda? Given where we are, what about spending the top picks on the offense (where we had not lost anyone to injuries last year (and was still lousy), where we have not added a single decent body in free agency? Not only do we desperately need a WR, we actually have lost Price (our No.2!) and Aiken without replacing them! I realize that we could "steal" a WR in the 2nd round because, in hindsight, say Hardy or someone falls to us (or Jordy Nelson is really a 1st round quality that only the Bills know about and we grab him in the 3rd round) -- my point is that we don't have that luxury anymore (I wish we did). We can't risk not getting a WR who will help us this year. I say that if we don't love a particular WR at 11, move down to the teens (every team from 12 to 17 are looking desperately at either the 2nd rated OT or RB or Harvey or CB), and draft that WR (Thomas or Sweed) with the number one pick. We have no choice. Oh yeah, by the way, we have Evans signed only for this year! We then have to get a TE by the 3rd round. Sorry for my rambling, but I am getting very concerned (because the Bills do odd things) that OBD might be listening to our Carson/Harvey talk. P.S., I actually love Josh Reed.

I Am Excited About FB

labill — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:34:11 -0000

I am excited about the FB position. This board hasn't really discussed it much as a need or relating to the draft. I want to see a smashing, path-clearing FB who can catch a bit of the dump offs; we should not look for a hybrid guy who can run with the ball. I would have to think that we will draft a FB, and, with one of the 2 4th round picks, we should use it to draft the best FB (can't imagine a FB going before that) -- not wait until 5th or later. Is Owen Schmitt that guy? I hear that Patrick Hillis, and I know Jacob Hester, are more of a ball carrying FB. Is there anyone else? Frankly, we should grab the best one (not settle for less) and not worry about picking too early -- this is a chance to make a dramatic improvement to our run-blocking and short passes.

Panda Oddity

labill — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:13:58 -0000

I realize this is now a dead topic, but I just wanted to vent for the last time on the Panda issue. The news that Bryant Johnson signed a 1-year $2 million contract with SF instead of Buffalo is an odd one, if reports are to be believed that Johnson really preferred to sign with the Bills for a 1-year deal. All reports are that Buffalo was offering a long-term deal instead (maybe 5-years, $16 million?). Johnson's agent must have offered a 1-year deal similar to that of SF that Buffalo rejected. How could the Bills reject this? Usually, it is the player that wants a long-term deal (I recognize that he wanted a bigger contract and is hoping for one after this 1-year tryout). Buffalo, even if it preferred a long-term deal, obviously wanted Johnson (enough to offer a long-term deal) and should have been ok with a 1-year deal ($2 million, instead of a $4-$5 million long-term average). A 1-year deal would have allowed for the Bills to draft a WR in round 1 or 2 and develop him for a year, while trying out Johnson -- and with minimal money committed on Johnson ($2 million is really low for a No.2 WR), the Bills could easily extend Evans and draft a WR. Frankly, a 1-year deal at $2 million (other than the notion of locking a WR we really like for cheap) would have worked out great for the Bills. It certainly would not have made a dent in our cash-to-cap, nor the salary cap (even if you divide the salary cap by the number of players, it is greater than $2 million).

McGahee -- one of the greats

labill — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:56:53 -0000

McGahee may be one of the great Bills of all time if we get Stroud for a 3rd Round Pick. He already gave us Trent Edwards with the 2007 pick. Now, possibly Marcus Stroud (or Rogers?). Plus, he allowed us to draft M. Lynch. No current Bill has made such a contribution. We owe him a lot! He also would have led the move to Toronto. Imagine the Toronto home game if he were with the Bills -- they would give him a standing ovation, and the move would be sealed.