yet ANOTHER rookie to start Sunday

[patmoran2006]

My sources (a rich friend) tells me that should Takeo Spikes be unable to play Sunday, which is almost a certainty, that the Bills will move Angelo Crowell over to Spikes' spot and start rookie LB Keith Ellison on the other side, ahead of Mario Haggan.

For those keeping score, thats THREE rookie starters on defense Sunday at Miami, NOT including McCargo and Kyle Williams, who will see plenty of time on the DL.

[L.A. Playa]

good you pay them to play

[gil]

what's your point?

[patmoran2006]

hahahh It's getting homeristic in here.

My point was what it said.> Thats THREE rookie starters on DEFENSE, in week two.. with two more ROOKIES getting PLENTY of playing time on defense as well.

For the future, this is going to work out great.. I love these guys.. FOR THIS SEASON.. You might want to lower your expectations.. 8 or more wins is CRAZY wishful thinking for this year.

4-12, with the rookies learning on the fly......with a top five pick in the draft next year.. I'm liking it already.

[L.A. Playa]

hey Pat where you entertained last week by the game ???

[patmoran2006]

hey Pat where you entertained last week by the game ???

Very much so.. if your trying to accuse me of hoping this team loses or openly saying they suck... Yer barking up the wrong tree.

I absolutely LOVE this team right now.. more than I have in the past six years.. marv is doing the right thing. In 1-2 years this defense should be UNBELIEVABLE..

BUT.. they dont know how to win now, and they're gonna lose a ton of close games this year while they learn..

[L.A. Playa]

Very much so.. if your trying to accuse me of hoping this team loses or openly saying they suck... Yer barking up the wrong tree.

I absolutely LOVE this team right now.. more than I have in the past six years.. marv is doing the right thing. In 1-2 years this defense should be UNBELIEVABLE..

BUT.. they dont know how to win now, and they're gonna lose a ton of close games this year while they learn..

not at all, all anyone can really hope for is to be entertained, a team could have a team full of all pros and not get the bounces and be 4-12 or a team full of nobodies could get all the bounces and finish 12-4 no one really knows what will happend for sure but as long as you are entertained for 3 hours + that is all that really matters in the end because you have no control over anything anyway

[Devin]

The difference between Haggan and Ellison is likely minimal imo. Who cares.

[Goobylal]

My sources (a rich friend) tells me that should Takeo Spikes be unable to play Sunday, which is almost a certainty, that the Bills will move Angelo Crowell over to Spikes' spot and start rookie LB Keith Ellison on the other side, ahead of Mario Haggan.

For those keeping score, thats THREE rookie starters on defense Sunday at Miami, NOT including McCargo and Kyle Williams, who will see plenty of time on the DL.
Uh Pat, what do you THINK the Bills did last weekend after Spikes went down early in the 1st quarter? Yep, exactly what you describe above, i.e. Ellison starting at WLB and Crowell moving to Spikes' spot. That is, after Haggan played a little and proved to be useless.

And what's even MORE impressive than the 5 rookies (Whitner, Ellison, Simpson, Williams and McCargo) playing a lot last weekend, and playing well, was Ellison and Simpson coming off the bench, i.e. without a week's worth of starter's reps in practice. I don't know whether Whitner got more snaps than Wire, but the way they all played was impressive for rookies, and again especially for the guys off the bench.

[Meathead]

look, nobody was more impressed by the rooks on sunday them i was. i ferverantly pray it continues

but i can think of many instances where a particular rookie looked great only to falter badly as time went on. we just have to wait and see if it continues. imagine the cruel joke if most of these guys just caught lightning in a bottle at the same time

i admit its fun to :drool: and they sure looked great didnt they

[LifetimeBillsFan]

The difference between Haggan and Ellison is likely minimal imo. Who cares.

Ellison is already better than Haggan, that's why he's starting this week if Spikes can't go, and he's gonig to be even better once he gets some experience under his belt.

You heard it here first, just like I said that Ellison would be the guy to replace Spikes in the lineup 2-3 weeks ago when someone raised the question of who would play if Spikes couldn't.

Ellison was a guy that a lot of scouting services/draft gurus liked as an OLB for a Cover 2 defense, with comparisons being made between him and Gary Brackett of Indy. The reason that Ellison slid down into the 6th round was because, at 220, he was considered to be not quite fast enough to be a safety and still a bit too light to play OLB. I don't know how heavy he showed up at camp or what the Bills have him listed at, but the reports on Ellison that I read right after the draft, when the Bills picked him, said that he needed to get a little stronger and put on 10 lbs before he would be ready to step in and start, but that, in the meantime, he would be a good special teams player. One site that I saw said that he would should be ready to see significant playing time by mid-season. Well, mid-season just arrived a little early for him and the Bills. But, when I read those reports, I realized that the Bills did not draft him with the idea of having him sit on the bench if he put on the weight, did the weight-room work, and put his mind to work. Now, I don't know if he will become the player that those sites projected him to be, being a former safety, you'd have to think that he'd have to be better in coverage and a better all around fit in the Bills' new defense than Haggan.

[BillsNick]

******ed Thread.

[HAMMER]

******ed Thread.

Very

[TigerJ]

Ellison needs to start over Hagan because Hagan is too slow for the Tampa Cover 2. The team would rather deal with some rookie mistakes than have Hagan constantly a couple steps behind the play. They don't have a lot of choice in the matter.

[Night Train]

Ellison can flat out run and really showed he was the ideal Cover 2 LB at camp. He also has this great habit of being around the ball.

Stamer and Haggan can only dream of having that speed.

[YardRat]

Ellison's listed at 6'0", 228 lbs.

[X-Era]

My sources (a rich friend) tells me that should Takeo Spikes be unable to play Sunday, which is almost a certainty, that the Bills will move Angelo Crowell over to Spikes' spot and start rookie LB Keith Ellison on the other side, ahead of Mario Haggan.

For those keeping score, thats THREE rookie starters on defense Sunday at Miami, NOT including McCargo and Kyle Williams, who will see plenty of time on the DL.

All I can say is OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!

Thats EXACTLY what a rebuilding team should be doing. No one would start any rookie over Crowell OR Spikes. But over Vincent? many would argue we should have done that from day one. I r ealize a long offseason can mend some painful memeories, but Vincent flat out SUCKED last year. Ko Simpson looked pretty damn good for a youngster on Sunday. Whitner is a MUCH better option than Bowen, we spent a 1st rounder on him because his physical talent is worth it. Guess what, Bowens isnt. Start Whitner, I like it.
o thats Simpson and Whitner starting when they probably ought to be or at least wont have much drop off.

OK, Ellison starts due to injury to TKO. Well, it sucks but thats fine too. It does nothing but build quality depth.

On a team that sint competing for the Superbowl, playing youth and developing them or seeing what you have is EXACTLY the right thing to do.

[Jan Reimers]

Playing your rookies is the best way to get your rebuilding on track. Just don't tell TKO - even though his injury is contributing to the influx of rookie starters.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Yes not optomistic about this week but it is great Exp.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Not having TKO will hurt big time!

[RedEyE]

Is this your source?

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/BUF/9660336

[mysticsoto]

I think Ellison getting play time is great. When you think about it, we gave up having Wendell Hunter on our team or even Liam Ezekiel who were on their own - very good prospects. That must mean Ellison is pretty good too. From the little I saw of him in preseason, he was always around the ball. What better thing to do than give him experience now - in a year where we are rebuilding (which is why I feel we should move Peters over to LT now - but that's another story). What better time is there for Ellison to play and gain experience. Fletcher is on his last legs, and we need to make sure we have LBs with good experience that fit our system. Ellison appears to fit the mold and may become just as outstanding as Crowell has with the experience he got.

Let's give him a chance to see what he can do before we start crying about him being a rookie.

[Typ0]

either Daunte is going to have a big week...or he's going to have a crappy first half and Harrington is going to have a great 2nd half.

[SABURZFAN]

My sources (a rich friend) tells me that should Takeo Spikes be unable to play Sunday, which is almost a certainty, that the Bills will move Angelo Crowell over to Spikes' spot and start rookie LB Keith Ellison on the other side, ahead of Mario Haggan.



i'll go to a more reliable source.anybody talk with the chef yet?

[Goobylal]

Take a look at last year when the Bills played the Dols IN Miami. TKO was out (and had been for 10 weeks by that time) and the Bills were STILL crushing them until Mularkey's idiotic play-calling ni the 4th quarter allowed Miami back in the game.

The Bills are better and the Dols are worse than they were in that game. If for no other reason than Mularkey is now on THEIR coaching staff.

[jamze132]

Win or lose, Fletcher is going to have his hands full trying to keep an eye on all the kids out there. It's like taking a litter of humans to Chucky Cheese's.

[HHURRICANE]

hahahh It's getting homeristic in here.

My point was what it said.> Thats THREE rookie starters on DEFENSE, in week two.. with two more ROOKIES getting PLENTY of playing time on defense as well.

For the future, this is going to work out great.. I love these guys.. FOR THIS SEASON.. You might want to lower your expectations.. 8 or more wins is CRAZY wishful thinking for this year.

4-12, with the rookies learning on the fly......with a top five pick in the draft next year.. I'm liking it already.

My $1,000 bet is still open that we win 7 games with all of my winnings going to a local charity!!