Future looks bright at corner

[justasportsfan]

Catavolos will be entrusted with bringing a quartet of very young, but talented cornerbacks up to speed very quickly as they are likely to step into some very prominent roles. Aaron Williams is already lining up at the starting left cornerback position in preparation for OTAs in a week and a half and top draft choice Stephon Gilmore played the entire weekend of rookie minicamp at right cornerback.

At this stage of preparation for the regular season coaches often harbor questions about what their players can and cannot do. Catavolos however, sounds very confident about what both Williams, Gilmore and some of his other young cornerback talent is capable of.

“I’m real excited to be working with the talent we have,” Catavolos told Buffalobills.com. “They’re good athletes and good people. They’ve just got to get a lot of work in camp and a lot of work in the preseason. They’ll be fine once the season starts.”



http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Future-looks-bright-at-corner/dcd35760-ca74-4804-a0dd-905759c30a86

[ZAZusmc03]

I'm pumped about the young talent we have in the secondary. I thought Williams looked promising, Rogers showed some flashes, Gilmore will be a stud, Brooks could come in and contribute, and I love Byrd at FS. Looks good for our secondary in the future.

[justasportsfan]

I'm pumped about the young talent we have in the secondary. I thought Williams looked promising, Rogers showed some flashes, Gilmore will be a stud, Brooks could come in and contribute, and I love Byrd at FS. Looks good for our secondary in the future.


I'm as excited to see this years D as much as I was excited to watch the offense during the Kelly era.

[Skooby]

Our best years involved having the best D.

[ZAZusmc03]

I'm as excited to see this years D as much as I was excited to watch the offense during the Kelly era.

I agree. The signing of Mario and Anderson were great, we have a ton of talented young guys. and Dareus and healthy K Wil in the middle gets me all warm and fuzzy inside....GO BILLS.

[Raptor]

Im still not 100% sold on A.Williams being a starting CB. He had some good moments but he also had moments where he got straight abused

[Night Train]

Im still not 100% sold on A.Williams being a starting CB. He had some good moments but he also had moments where he got straight abused
To me he seems ideal for the slot ( 4.5 speed, big & physical ), while Gilmore & Brooks have the blazing speed to be our future on the outside. Rogers showed he could play.

They'll draft a couple more next year to replace McGee & McKelvin. I do think this unit has vastly improved.

[stuckincincy]

I agree. The signing of Mario and Anderson were great, we have a ton of talented young guys. and Dareus and healthy K Wil in the middle gets me all warm and fuzzy inside....GO BILLS.


TBD.

But I assume the club is confident. CBs are hot items, but I was surprised that they selected Gilmore at #10 when DT prospect Cox was still on the board. KW enters his 7th season. His high tackle numbers, assists, always were curious to me. AFAIK, teams are free to assign those numbers (see Patrick Willis).

[OpIv37]

On one hand, the youth could hurt us. McGee was the sole weak link in the D his rookie year.

On the other hand, the enhanced pass rush should help the DB's and make their jobs a little easier.

I do like the youth and think the DB's could be in good shape but I do think we will experience some growing pains.

[better days]

I'm pumped about the young talent we have in the secondary. I thought Williams looked promising, Rogers showed some flashes, Gilmore will be a stud, Brooks could come in and contribute, and I love Byrd at FS. Looks good for our secondary in the future.

The defense was the biggest weakness on the team last year. Nix has turned it into a strength this offseason.

Warren Sapp said on NFL Network last night that this Bills defense will be something SPECIAL.

[Mr. Miyagi]

I'm surprised that we've all forgotten/given up on McKelvin already. By no means did he totally suck last season. If nothing else he's good depth I think.

[bosshogg21]

I'm most excited about Rogers to be honest. That kid made more plays in his limited time than anyone. What a steal he would be.

[OpIv37]

I'm surprised that we've all forgotten/given up on McKelvin already. By no means did he totally suck last season. If nothing else he's good depth I think.

I'd rather talk about the youth.

Even if he's decent depth, it's frustrating that he's yet another guy who never lived up to his draft status.

[Raptor]

To me he seems ideal for the slot ( 4.5 speed, big & physical ), while Gilmore & Brooks have the blazing speed to be our future on the outside. Rogers showed he could play.

They'll draft a couple more next year to replace McGee & McKelvin. I do think this unit has vastly improved.


Depends on the WR in the slot I guess. If its a shifty WR with great agility Williams is going to have problems.

AW has good straight line speed but he is real tight in the hips and has limited agility. I like him against the bigger WR's like say Plax but guys like Welker will eat him alive

[k-oneputt]

Depends on the WR in the slot I guess. If its a shifty WR with great agility Williams is going to have problems.

AW has good straight line speed but he is real tight in the hips and has limited agility. I like him against the bigger WR's like say Plax but guys like Welker will eat him alive

That's why Williams is outside with his size, he not a slot corner.

williams, gilmore - outside
brooks is going to be our slot cb.

[justasportsfan]

I'm surprised that we've all forgotten/given up on McKelvin already. By no means did he totally suck last season. If nothing else he's good depth I think.

He will be playing for a new contract. I doubt he will sign here at depth salary if he loses his job to either Williams and Gilmore.

[BillsOverDolphins]

I'd rather talk about the youth.

Even if he's decent depth, it's frustrating that he's yet another guy who never lived up to his draft status.

This. McKelvin's not going to all of a sudden turn into the first round pick we all hoped he would be when the Bills inexplicably drafted him.

I do kinda like the idea one poster had a month back though--about him being FS depth. He's decent with the game in front of him...as soon as he turns his back to the QB he's as useful as me out there.

[JCBills]

TBD.

But I assume the club is confident. CBs are hot items, but I was surprised that they selected Gilmore at #10 when DT prospect Cox was still on the board. KW enters his 7th season. His high tackle numbers, assists, always were curious to me. AFAIK, teams are free to assign those numbers (see Patrick Willis).

What?

[JCBills]

I'm surprised that we've all forgotten/given up on McKelvin already. By no means did he totally suck last season. If nothing else he's good depth I think.

He was the best CB last season. Finally started to get it, though he hasn't had ideal support while learning the NFL game.

He hasn't had a pass rush since coming to the NFL. He can run step for step with just about anyone, but that has to get VERY tough when it gets to 8 or 10 seconds still trying to blanket a guy. He just needs to work on making a play when he sees the WR react to a pass.

He should get a lot of help with this pass rush, something so many top corners have. I think if he plays well enough they could extend him. Then you have young, gifted corners that are only 26 (McKelvin) 24 (Rogers) 23 (Brooks) 22 (Williams) and 21 (Gilmore).

[Crisis]

McKelvin was awful last year. Am I reading this thread right??

He lost his starting spot and was benched because he was so abysmal.

http://footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2012/worst-cornerback-charting-stats-2011

2nd last in the league in yards/pass.

[JCBills]

McKelvin was awful last year. Am I reading this thread right??

He lost his starting spot and was benched because he was so abysmal.

http://footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2012/worst-cornerback-charting-stats-2011

2nd last in the league in yards/pass.
That is a single statistic. If you read what they say it was a low sample size for targets.

Top 50 overall rated CBs by PFF.com for 2011:

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1109/top50cb.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/849/top50cb.png/)

McKelvin has gotten better every year, and PFF's ratings display the trend as well:

2008: -9.6 Grade on 477 Snaps
2009: -2.8 Grade on 135 Snaps
2010: -0.4 Grade on 881 Snaps
2011: +2.1 Grade on 514 Snaps

He did hit a rough part with the Cincy game and got benched after the next game, then played as a reserve and got injured vs NYJ. Put on a strong showing against TEN and started vs SD the next week. They let McGee try to come back mid-season, and Williams started week 16 and 17.

[TigerJ]

Im still not 100% sold on A.Williams being a starting CB. He had some good moments but he also had moments where he got straight abusedIt's true that he got abused at times, but he was a rookie. He definitely showed improvement as the season went on. I think the Bills will need to be a bit careful about matchups. He may not be a great choice to match up with the other team's #1 receiver, but I think he can stay with a lot of #2 WRs.

[bigbub2352]

size and speed of our secondary and youth is something to be excited about

Williams byrd searcy and gilmore is a nice starting four and depth with mcgee wilson scott rodgers and brooks and maybe ****bag mckelvin..or a young kid beats him out

Like it

[mysticsoto]

TBD.

But I assume the club is confident. CBs are hot items, but I was surprised that they selected Gilmore at #10 when DT prospect Cox was still on the board. KW enters his 7th season. His high tackle numbers, assists, always were curious to me. AFAIK, teams are free to assign those numbers (see Patrick Willis).

I'm not sure why you're surprised. McKelvin never lived up to his potential as many of us predicted and the rest of our CB corps are aging, some not being able to stave off injury each year. It made much more sense than taking a DT at a position where we are currently strong in with Kyle and Dareus.

[jamze132]

I'm as excited to see this years D as much as I was excited to watch the offense during the Kelly era.
For me, I'm as excited to watch this defense as much as the ones from a few years ago when we were consistently in the top 5.

[justasportsfan]

For me, I'm as excited to watch this defense as much as the ones from a few years ago when we were consistently in the top 5.
that D folded like a cheap tent in december. Remember how they got owned by Parker and the other 2nd-3rd stingers of pitts?

[jamze132]

that D folded like a cheap tent in december. Remember how they got owned by Parker and the other 2nd-3rd stingers of pitts?
That was coaching.

[YardRat]

People are going to **** a brick if McKelvin earns one of the starting spots.

[JCBills]

People are going to **** a brick if McKelvin earns one of the starting spots.

They shouldn't if he earns it.

[JCBills]

Here's Buffalo's 2011 CB grades per PFF:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6995/buffcb.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/buffcb.png/)