"Bubble" Players Who Helped/Hurt themselves last night

[more cowbell]

Helped themselves:

Sam Aiken (nice special teams play, had a few good catches)
Jabari Greer (I don't care if it was Tyler Palko, the guy had 2 interceptions)
Mario Haggan (Looked like our best back up linebacker sadly)
Fred Jackson (Ran hard whenever he was in the game)

Hurt Themselves:

Riley Swanson (Got beat badly by Meachem for the TD)
Jason Webster (Looked lost against Colston)
Shaud Williams (No idea how this guy is still on the team)
Tim Anderson (The guy flat out sucks)
Peerless Price (1st team O was limited, but once again was invisible)
Trevor Hooper (Emarassed himself when he got bulldozed)
Eric Powell (Looked awful against the Saints 1st team)
Jim Leonhard (Was out of position almost every play)
Jon DiGiorgio (He is very fast to the ball, but missed a lot of tackles)

Thoughts?

[raphael120]

Helped themselves:

Sam Aiken (nice special teams play, had a few good catches)
Jabari Greer (I don't care if it was Tyler Palko, the guy had 2 interceptions)
Mario Haggan (Looked like our best back up linebacker sadly)
Fred Jackson (Ran hard whenever he was in the game)

Hurt Themselves:

Riley Swanson (Got beat badly by Meachem for the TD)
Jason Webster (Looked lost against Colston)
Shaud Williams (No idea how this guy is still on the team)
Tim Anderson (The guy flat out sucks)
Peerless Price (1st team O was limited, but once again was invisible)
Trevor Hooper (Emarassed himself when he got bulldozed)
Eric Powell (Looked awful against the Saints 1st team)
Jim Leonhard (Was out of position almost every play)
Jon DiGiorgio (He is very fast to the ball, but missed a lot of tackles)

Thoughts?

Pretty much agree with everything. I would add that all of our DT's sucked pretty bad. The only guy to get decent penetration was William, and he was never close to making a sack at all, he was good stopping the run. Triplett was getting blown off the ball consistantly. McGee looked horrid, was nowhere near the ball most of the time. Really scary CB situation so far.

There was one play when Henderson was on about a zone with 5 yard diameter of cushion. All three LB's were in the middle of the field covering NO ONE and biting way too hard on the fake handoff to Bush, and I have no idea where McGee was, but Ko Simpson was the only one to recognize it and even he was about 7 yards away. Just very poor pass coverage all around.

[hammerbillsfan]

Tim Anderson (The guy flat out sucks)

I don't think God himself could help Pancake Anderson.

[SquishDaFish]

I wouldnt say McGee sucked. And Cowbell I wouldnt say Hooper sucked just because he took a hard hit.

[B-DON]

Simpson had a nice hit in the endzone. just knocked the poor the wr out

[OpIv37]

Simpson had a nice hit in the endzone. just knocked the poor the wr out

he also had that sweet open field tackle on Bush.

But Simpson was out of position a few times. Nothing earth shattering, but he was making those mistakes last year and I was hoping the experience would help him overcome it. Apparently not.

[mikemac2001]

think hargrove hurt himself alot

[more cowbell]

think hargrove hurt himself alot

I actually thought Hargrove played good. But he is definetaly in danger of being cut now with the substance abuse added on to the other "incident" he was involved in last week.

[more cowbell]

Simpson had a nice hit in the endzone. just knocked the poor the wr out

I agree but Ko is a lock to make the team obviously since he is the starting FS. I was talking more or less about the guys who are in question of making the final roster/ps

[mikemac2001]

I actually thought Hargrove played good. But he is definetaly in danger of being cut now with the substance abuse added on to the other "incident" he was involved in last week.

ya wasnt referring to his play just his chances have been hurt

[OpIv37]

Helped themselves:

Sam Aiken (nice special teams play, had a few good catches)
Jabari Greer (I don't care if it was Tyler Palko, the guy had 2 interceptions)
Mario Haggan (Looked like our best back up linebacker sadly)
Fred Jackson (Ran hard whenever he was in the game)

Hurt Themselves:

Riley Swanson (Got beat badly by Meachem for the TD)
Jason Webster (Looked lost against Colston)
Shaud Williams (No idea how this guy is still on the team)
Tim Anderson (The guy flat out sucks)
Peerless Price (1st team O was limited, but once again was invisible)
Trevor Hooper (Emarassed himself when he got bulldozed)
Eric Powell (Looked awful against the Saints 1st team)
Jim Leonhard (Was out of position almost every play)
Jon DiGiorgio (He is very fast to the ball, but missed a lot of tackles)

Thoughts?

I agree with these assessments, but I disagree on the characterization of some of these guys as bubble players. Greer, DiGiorgio and Price will definitely make the team- it's just a matter of how far down the depth chart they'll be.

[Night Train]

I agree with all except Powell, who always shows me something..

[OpIv37]

I agree with all except Powell, who always shows me something..

At the very least, Powell didn't do any worse than Kelsay going up against the same OL.

I don't know if Kelsay sucks or if he just wasn't trying because it's pre season, but he was very disappointing yesterday.

[PECKERWOOD]

Helped themselves:

Sam Aiken (nice special teams play, had a few good catches)
Jabari Greer (I don't care if it was Tyler Palko, the guy had 2 interceptions)
Mario Haggan (Looked like our best back up linebacker sadly)
Fred Jackson (Ran hard whenever he was in the game)

Hurt Themselves:

Riley Swanson (Got beat badly by Meachem for the TD)
Jason Webster (Looked lost against Colston)
Shaud Williams (No idea how this guy is still on the team)
Tim Anderson (The guy flat out sucks)
Peerless Price (1st team O was limited, but once again was invisible)
Trevor Hooper (Emarassed himself when he got bulldozed)
Eric Powell (Looked awful against the Saints 1st team)
Jim Leonhard (Was out of position almost every play)
Jon DiGiorgio (He is very fast to the ball, but missed a lot of tackles)

Thoughts?

I thought DiGorgio looked good at times. Say what you want about the guy but he is apparently good enough to the Bills staff that they aren't rushing Posluszny right off the bat. You noticed how they eased Poz into the game last night. Granted, Posluszny will most likely be starting in next weeks game but that doesn't mean that DiGorgio isn't good. He looked SO, SO at times but I think this just pays tribute to his work ethic and hard play. There is no doubt, behind Ellison, Posluszny and Crowell, he is our 4th best LB. I think he will provide decent depth and he will help push Posluszny along. Afterall, it's not delivery, it's DiGorgio.

[TigerJ]

Simpson had a nice hit in the endzone. just knocked the poor the wr out

I don't think it was intentional, but it was helmet to helmet. That's why the Saints receiver was woozy.

[mysticsoto]

I agree with most of that list. I think the worst player overall was Leonard. I know he's supposed to have a high "football IQ", but he was frequently out of position, and too slow to get back once he realized what the play was. In almost every play the Saints did, Leonard was beaten in one way or another. Why the hell did they have him in with the 1st stringers? In fact, they didn't seem to have Ko and Dante together much. They seemed to be rotating alot of people with the 1st stringers to see how they'd do with top competition.

Langston Walker looked decent last night in blocking. And nice ST block by him also!!!

[Elminster]

I agree with most of that list. I think the worst player overall was Leonard. I know he's supposed to have a high "football IQ", but he was frequently out of position, and too slow to get back once he realized what the play was. In almost every play the Saints did, Leonard was beaten in one way or another. Why the hell did they have him in with the 1st stringers? In fact, they didn't seem to have Ko and Dante together much. They seemed to be rotating alot of people with the 1st stringers to see how they'd do with top competition.

Langston Walker looked decent last night in blocking. And nice ST block by him also!!!
I think that's actually fairly smart. After all, in the regular season, your back-ups have to play against the other team's first-string....and Leonhard has reminded me even more of how important Ko and Dante are. I'm sure we'll see alot of the starters over the next two games, and we'll see how we do then. Plenty of time left for these guys to pick themselves up...

[Meathead]

http://thehogblogger.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/bubble_boy.jpg

[Wys Guy]

LOL at the pic.

[Wys Guy]

I thought DiGorgio looked good at times. Say what you want about the guy but he is apparently good enough to the Bills staff that they aren't rushing Posluszny right off the bat. You noticed how they eased Poz into the game last night. Granted, Posluszny will most likely be starting in next weeks game but that doesn't mean that DiGorgio isn't good. He looked SO, SO at times but I think this just pays tribute to his work ethic and hard play. There is no doubt, behind Ellison, Posluszny and Crowell, he is our 4th best LB. I think he will provide decent depth and he will help push Posluszny along. Afterall, it's not delivery, it's DiGorgio.

I don't think that DiG is good, but he does play well with the assets that he has. He's not the biggest or tallest LB which is a detriment. Either way, he's not going to be any kind of impact player likely, he strikes me more as the type to stick around purely due to "trying hard" while at the same time never really being able to crack the ranks of the mediocre. That's a best case scenario as he is still below average as NFL LBs go now.

But to his credit, he does more with what he has, he just isn't blessed with a Ray Lewis physique and skills, that's all.

[tampabay25690]

Helped themselves:

Sam Aiken (nice special teams play, had a few good catches)
Jabari Greer (I don't care if it was Tyler Palko, the guy had 2 interceptions)
Mario Haggan (Looked like our best back up linebacker sadly)
Fred Jackson (Ran hard whenever he was in the game)

Hurt Themselves:

Riley Swanson (Got beat badly by Meachem for the TD)
Jason Webster (Looked lost against Colston)
Shaud Williams (No idea how this guy is still on the team)
Tim Anderson (The guy flat out sucks)
Peerless Price (1st team O was limited, but once again was invisible)
Trevor Hooper (Emarassed himself when he got bulldozed)
Eric Powell (Looked awful against the Saints 1st team)
Jim Leonhard (Was out of position almost every play)
Jon DiGiorgio (He is very fast to the ball, but missed a lot of tackles)

Thoughts?


I agree with alot you said as well. Hargrove looked good as well but will never be with the Bills after this suspension (I DONT THINK)...That last joint he probably smoked just did it for him.....

[Goobylal]

Depends on what he got busted for. Some speculate it was because of the bar incident, because he was drinking (but not driving).

[BILLSROCK1212]

Helped themselves:

Sam Aiken- now we know why he is still a Buffalo Bill
Jabari Greer- I hope he continues to play like he did Friday because if so, we may have found ourselves a new starting CB
Mario Haggan- great back up/ special teamer
Fred Jackson- minus Shaud Williams we have 4 pretty good RBs (not including Josh Scobey)

Hurt Themselves:

Riley Swanson-was an UFA which means he has a long way to go but i just hope its not going to be with the Bills, at least for now
Jason Webster- is short and under no circumstances should he ever start for an NFL team again
Shaud Williams- what's the use having him on the roster when we have 4 or maybe 5 RBs better than him
Tim Anderson-he's still on the team? why?
Peerless Price- decent WR, not starter material
Trevor Hooper- NEXT!
Eric Powell- he's a backup for a reason
Jim Leonhard- I'm fine with him as long as he continues to produce on ST and remains a back up
Jon DiGiorgio- pretty much the same as above but has more potential

Thoughts?

[PECKERWOOD]

Good post.

[Oaf]

When Hooper got smashed and starting wobbling around the field and shaking his head made it too hard to stifle a laugh.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Was Stamer even on the field during the game on defense? If he was, he was invisible. I know he's been a big ST guy in the past, but was replaced last year when he got hurt, so he's going to have to show something to claim a roster spot.

Haggan made some plays on defense, but also got caught out of position and was badly burned a couple of times, too. He probably makes the team on his ST contributions, but it may come down to him or Stamer for a roster spot.

IMHO Bassey really hurt his chances of making the team when he didn't stay in his lane on the last Bills' KO and allowed the Saints' KR to get around him to the outside for a big return. The one thing that the outside man absolutely cannot do on a KR is allow himself to get beat to the outside and ST play will be a big factor in determining which of the young DBs will end up staying (even on the practice squad) and which are likely to get cut. Bassey also got beat pretty badly in coverage on a play that ended up with an incompletion. I expected more from him, but he looks like a very physically gifted guy who just may not have a feel for the game or for where he is when he is out in space.

Wendling didn't help himself either, IMHO. It looked like he was so eager to come up in run support that he got himself out of position. From what I saw, he looked pretty lost out there in coverage. This could be a problem for him in competing for a roster spot at safety, where Leonard, despite his bad game, is likely to get one back-up spot and G.Wilson is pushing hard for the other.

I thought Wilson had some ups and downs in the game which may or may not help him. Overall, I think he may have helped himself a bit, but only just a bit. I think Wendling's athleticism is attractive to the Bills and gives him an edge over Wilson if all things are otherwise equal or close to equal, but Wendling didn't show much in this game, while Wilson, despite his mistakes, did do some positive things. But, was it enough? After seeing Eric Weddle play for SD on Sunday night, both Wilson and Wendling still have a long way to go before the end of the preseason....

Swanson got beat by Meacham for the TD and made some other mistakes, but I can definitely see him making the practice squad as one of "the best of the rest" at CB.

Pennington had a bad whiff on one pass play and missed another block on a run play, but I still think he has the inside track on the 3rd OT spot, but he won't be able to afford to have too many games where he makes those kinds of bad plays in the preseason if he wants to get any playing time once the games start to count.

IMHO Stith should probably start packing his bags now. If he doesn't play a lot better in the next preseason game, I can't see him even being kept around on the practice squad. He wasn't very good in pass protection and was miserable in his run blocking. With Pennington and Butler likely to claim roster spots and Gaddis getting playing time in Merz' absence, Stith needs to pick it up big time if he hopes to even get a practice squad paycheck this season.

Finally, in addition to Greer, I also think that Youboty helped himself as well in this game. Both will make the roster, but I can definitely see the two of them pushing K.Thomas and Webster for playing time as the season nears and goes on.

Well, those are my observations about some of the borderline and not-so-borderline players who caught my eye during the portion of the game that I was able to watch.

[mysticsoto]

IMHO Stith should probably start packing his bags now.

:bf1: