My expert analysis for Saturday!

[jamze132]

We don't need to draft a CB at #11 and be forced to pay him accordingly. We don't need a "top" CB in our defense, all we need to do is shore up the D-line which we have have kind of done to an extent with releasing Tripplett, and getting some guy named Stroud.

Even if we don't go WR at #11, which I still say we take Malcom Kelly, we had better not go with a damn CB. I would be happier with DE but am still holding out hope for Malcom Kelly.

If we do trade down, I am still hesitant to go CB in RD1, unless we get two first rounders. Even then, I still don't see CB as that big of a need considering some other glaring holes on the team. We need to concentrate on the offense since we completely neglected it during FA. Trent will never develop if he doesn't have weapons around him. We need a big #2 WR and a nice TE, not another CB.

If we stay at #11, I say we pick the best WR available, according to our board. If we trade down, I still say we pick the best available WR, according to our board. If we try to get cute and trade down thinking we can still get that #1 reciever on our board, we take a big risk of not getting him. If he is available when we pick, we don't need to take any chances, we just need to draft him to ensure we get him. I would only trade down if we get an offer we can't refuse or if Phily offers Lito to swap picks.

I am not 100% opposed to a very good CB coming to the Bills, I am just opposed to drafting one in the 1st round when we have so many other holes that can be filled.

[FlyingDutchman]

You dont consider 29th in passing yards allowed a glaring hole? If the cornerbacks get medicore quickly after the first 5, but WR is so deep, but just with no stand outs why does it not make sense to draft a corner in the first, but makes sense to draft a WR?

Im with you though, I want Kelly out of all of them

[ddaryl]

29th in passnig yards is a reflection of the DL and pass rush.

No CB in this league can cover a WR for 5 minutes while the QB takes his time and waits for the open WR.

[Mahdi]

You dont consider 29th in passing yards allowed a glaring hole? If the cornerbacks get medicore quickly after the first 5, but WR is so deep, but just with no stand outs why does it not make sense to draft a corner in the first, but makes sense to draft a WR?

Im with you though, I want Kelly out of all of them
Because the secondary wasnt the reason we were 29th in pass D last year it was the pass rush. When your starting DEs combine for 8 sacks yer going to struggle against the pass. Kelsay and Schobel did nothing last year and it hurt us big time.

[FlyingDutchman]

I understand that arugement but how are we supposed to blitz or bring any heat when we dont have a capable CB of covering man on man for more than a second. We have no faith in or CBs, and for good reason. People gotta stop blaming strictly our DL for bad coverage. Im glad everyone is confident in our terrible corners and the injury prone guy we brought in to save the day, but im not.

[raphael120]

I think CB is the LAST of our worries and not warrented of our number 1 pick.

Sure we need depth, we signed some FA's to our CB corps and I think Greer, Youboty and McGee are good enough, and I think bringing in a later round CB is all we need. Our offense is in more dire straights than our CB corps. Namely WR position. I think we can get by with the talent we have at CB.

From an impact standpoint I think us drafting a top WR will do more than us getting a CB...I mean, does anyone really know how well our CBs are anyways? All I know is they played pretty damn well against the likes of TO and Chad Johnson and thats WITH a sad excuse of depleted LB corps and D-line...

Does anyone really not like the combination of Greer/McGee/James so bad that we need to draft one with our first pick?

I dont think so.

[yordad]

Well, in your expert analysis, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

[FlyingDutchman]

Does anyone really not like the combination of Greer/McGee/James so bad that we need to draft one with our first pick?

I dont think so.

Um yes, me, as well as many other people. When did James become such a good player in everyones eyes....? The day the Bills signed him?

[Mahdi]

Um yes, me, as well as many other people. When did James become such a good player in everyones eyes....? The day the Bills signed him?
James was a solid CB before injuries slowed him down. He's also big and physical. Obviously he is healthy now or they wouldnt have signed him so he should be able to win the job from Greer.

[FlyingDutchman]

Why is it obvious that hes healthy now?

[Mahdi]

Why is it obvious that hes healthy now?
Because the Bills wouldnt sign him to a 2 year contract unless he was healthy.

[jamze132]

Because the Bills wouldnt sign him to a 2 year contract unless he was healthy.
I agree.

We have at least added more competition and depth to the secondary this offseason. We don't need to wast any day 1 picks on CB.

[jamze132]

Well, in your expert analysis, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Genetic material does not change during an animal’s life. Therefore, the first bird that evolved into what we would call a chicken, probably in prehistoric times, must first have existed as an embryo inside an egg.

[FlyingDutchman]

How did Jason Webster work out for us

[FlyingDutchman]

I agree.

We have at least added more competition and depth to the secondary this offseason. We don't need to wast any day 1 picks on CB.

More competition of mediocore CBs. Nobody thinks we could use just one above average CB with as bad as we were last year? maybe im panicking over nothing, but our CB situation just does not sit well with me

[yordad]

Genetic material does not change during an animal’s life. Therefore, the first bird that evolved into what we would call a chicken, probably in prehistoric times, must first have existed as an embryo inside an egg.Was the first bird egg laid by a lizard?

[Night Train]

How did Jason Webster work out for us

The Pats signed him & Aiken, so obviously it's a brilliant move !


James is no star but is replacing Webster for depth. We still need a couple more, according to Jauron. The draft depth is great so a couple mid-late round guys may be fine.

I don't mind WR,OL, DL early.

[jamze132]

Was the first bird egg laid by a lizard?
Quite possibly. :poop:

[jamze132]

More competition of mediocore CBs. Nobody thinks we could use just one above average CB with as bad as we were last year? maybe im panicking over nothing, but our CB situation just does not sit well with me
I don't think you need to worry about or CBs as much as you are. You will see a big difference this year if the D-line plays better than last year, which they will. If William James is healthy, he instantly replaces either McGee or Greer, relagating them to the nickle spot.

[Night Train]

I would only trade down if we get an offer we can't refuse or if Phily offers Lito to swap picks.


Maybe we can use him as " trade bite " . ;)

[Captain gameboy]

Whether we need new/better cornerbacks or different techniques or coaching, I'm not sure.
But there is one thing that drives me crazy about the way our CB's play.

I was watching a repeat of the Raven game the other night on the NFL channel and saw the classic Bills pass defense "play."

Critical part of a close game. Bills get two nice stops on 1st and 2nd down, setting up a 3rd and 8.
If we stop them, we get the Ball in Roscoe's hands on a punt return, and good field position.

Ravens come to the line. McGee is covering a WR on the offenses right side.
He is about 3 yards off, seemingly going to jam or press the WR.

A second and a half before the snap, McGee starts backpedaling.
At the snap, he is seven yards away and still backpedaling.
The receiver runs at him, closing the separation.

As soon as McGee rotates his hips to the inside, the receiver breaks off the route to the outside, just as every single receiver is tought to do from day one, as there is no way for the corner to recover that fast once the hips are pointing in the wrong direction.

The ball is in the air at McGee's hip rotation, because the QB knows exactly where the receiver is going to go, simply by reading McGee.

10 yd gain. 1st down. More clock.
Pray for another stop.

I have seen these gains a million times against us, and it makes me sick.
We simply fail way too many times on 3rd down pass D, so we have to pray for a penalty or turnover.

Bend-bend-bend-bend.
I hate it, and there is no way a Dline can get to the QB that fast.

In the Seior Bowl, DRC is in the exact situation.
He doesn't get his hips fully rotated. He anticipates the cut.
He explodes to the inside of the pass and darn near picks it off.
End of problem.

God....I'd love to see that here.

[FlyingDutchman]

I don't think you need to worry about or CBs as much as you are. You will see a big difference this year if the D-line plays better than last year, which they will. If William James is healthy, he instantly replaces either McGee or Greer, relagating them to the nickle spot.

I hope youre right my friend!

[LifetimeBillsFan]

With all of the teams running 4 WR sets, using 5 receivers in the patterns, you need to have a minimum of 6 CBs on the roster and at least 4 who won't embarrass themselves in coverage, just to have a decent rotation and spell your starters occasionally.

At present, the Bills have McGee (who would actually be better on the inside covering the slot receiver), Greer (ditto), James (who is big enough to play guys like Moss, but is an injury concern), Youboty (who still has to prove himself) and Dustin Fox (or should I say, "Dust-bin" Fox--who is ok for STs, but scary in coverage).

The Bills need to add at least one more CB, probably two. Because this a a deep draft class at the position, they could wait until the middle rounds and hope there isn't a run on the position. But, the last time there was a deep CB draft class like this one (the year Oakland took F.Washington and Asamougha), there was a huge run on CBs early in that draft--I think there were something like 17 CBs taken in the first 2 rounds.

Indications are--at least from what they have implied in press conferences and from C.Brown's comments--that the Bills' "braintrust" is very concerned that there will be just such a "run" on the position in this draft and that they are worried that, if they don't take a CB early, they will be "left out in the cold" and won't be able to get a good one by the time they pick in Round 2.

Now, that could be a "smoke-screen", but, based on past draft history (the year Kelsay was taken was a deep draft for D-line and by the time the Bills picked at # 22, only Kelsay and Joseph were still left on the board), there is reason to be concerned about a "run" on a position happening in this draft.

But, will it be at CB or WR? There are a lot of teams: Pittsburgh, Washington, Philly, Dallas, Miami (2nd Round), Atlanta, KC, NY Jets, possibly Cincy, etc. that need WRs and may look to jump on one early if a "run" on the top WRs starts in the middle of the 1st Round.

The trick for the Bills' "braintrust" is going to be to figure out which of those two positions there will be a "run" on first so that they can use their first pick to grab a quality player at that position before the quality level drops too severely.

Whether it is CB or WR, it doesn't matter. But, if the Bills want a top talent at both of those positions, they will probably have to trade down a bit out of the 11th pick in order to have enough, in terms of draft picks, to trade back up into the first round--because it is very possible that all of the top CBs and the big WRs (everyone wants a big WR now!) could all be gone by the time the Bills are on the clock in the second round (Doucet is a nice receiver, but he isn't the kind of big WR that Kelly, Hardy, Sweed and Thomas are).

[HHURRICANE]

The Bills had Spikes, Clements, Fletcher, Adams, Milloy, Vincent....and we had to constantly blitz to have any chance at getting to the QB!! Remember??

Maybe our outside pass rushers just aren't that good.

It seems like we keep looking for the solution in other places. It seems like the only position that hasn't changed in the last 7 years our are 2 starting DEs.

Just a thought.

[Mahdi]

I understand that arugement but how are we supposed to blitz or bring any heat when we dont have a capable CB of covering man on man for more than a second. We have no faith in or CBs, and for good reason. People gotta stop blaming strictly our DL for bad coverage. Im glad everyone is confident in our terrible corners and the injury prone guy we brought in to save the day, but im not.
The idea witht he cover 2 is that you get pressure on the QB early either with your front 4 or with a blitz. If you can generate early pressure then your CBs stay in the short zones to make plays on any quick throws and the safeties cover both deep halves of the field to ensure nothing gets passed them deep. The CBs arent playing man to man or rarelly are anyways. Now if you dont get that pressure then the QB has time to get the ball over the CB and in front of the safety which is the weakness of a Cover 2, or they throw deep and exploit 1 on 1 coverage with the safety and WR.


IF you get the pressure like you are supposed to though you dont have to worry about those deep throws since the QB and receiver dont have the time or the pocket to make it.


Thats exactly why you dont see cover 2 teams paying CBs big contracts. They dont have to have the speed or talent to stay on the hips of WRs and make plays. You see those contracts going to DEs primarily and safeties second since you have to A) get pressure consistently and B) have a solid safety that can make plays deep and also in the run game. IE. Bob Sanders getting paid while Jason David and Harper are let go.

[jamze132]

Maybe we can use him as " trade bite " . ;)
yeah... "trade bite" WTF???

[jamze132]

We don't need to draft a CB on Day 1.