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Enthusiasm continues to resonate One Bills Drive, and voluntary veteran mini-camp lifted the excitement level to yet another new height. With a new coaching staff and fresh schemes on both sides of the ball, opportunities will present themselves for many players.
One player who appears poised to prosper from the changes is second-year linebacker Nigel Bradham. Drafted in the fourth-round, Bradham spent the 2012 season working out of the strong-side linebacker position in the 4-3 defense, including starts in the final 11 games.
While Bradham found success at the position, strong-side linebacker was not a spot he had previous experience with. During his tenure at Florida State University, Bradham played weak-side as a freshman and sophomore, and inside as a junior and senior.
“Last year they moved me over to the SAM,” said Bradham. “I started out at the weak-side and then moved over to the SAM. The transition was different for me. It was a different role because I had never played SAM before.”
With defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s installation of a hybrid 3-4 defensive system, Bradham is heading back to the weak-side, and the 23 year-old is excited to be back to the position where he is most comfortable.
“Oh yeah, it’s definitely nice to be back over there,” Bradham said of the switch. “The role I had last year, I fit the team well and the coaches felt like that was best so I went out and played it.”
From the weak-side, Bradham should be able to better utilize the speed and power that made him one of the most dependable linebackers at Florida State University, and earn time on the field as a rookie in Buffalo.
“I see myself fitting in well,” Bradham said of the new scheme. “I feel like the scheme is really good for me, as far as where I can use my speed, my ability to cover, and pretty much be able to get some big plays and big hits on some guys this season.”
Bills GM Buddy Nix himself believes Bradham is an excellent fit, and he foresees a solid season.
“I think he’s a great fit for what we’re doing because he can fly,” Nix said Tuesday at the draft luncheon. “He can run. He’s a guy that the closer he gets to the ball, the faster he gets. He likes to play. He was an excellent special teams guy. I would think he’ll have a good year.”
Nix did not hesitate when asked if Bradham could play all three downs this season.
“Absolutely,” said Nix. “That’s my opinion. Coaches may be different. Yeah, I think he can.”
Bradham was used as a nickel package linebacker in the team’s minicamp last week.
With the additions of Manny Lawson, who will take over the strong-side, and Marcus Dowtin, Nix believes the Bills linebacker corps is better than advertised.
Now I like Bradham very much, but Manny Lawson, Marcus Dowtin and a 2nd year 4th round draft pick are going to be "better than advertised?" Buddy Nix has to go.
With the group of LB's they have, expectations are not going to be very high, so being "better than advertised" is not going to take much. Myself, I think they'll do fine, it's more about the scheme that they'll be playing in. Also there are still players in FA that may be able to come in and help and I think after the draft we'll see Nix getting a couple more players.
It crazy how the Bills are promoting Marcus Dowtin like he is a major pick up. He's an undrafted, practice squad guy that Philly didn't even think was good enough to bring into training camp.
And does this give further fuel to the speculation that Kyle Williams is on the trade block ?
I suppose our front 3 could be Williams, Dareus, Williams but is that the style of defense Pettine runs? All three of those guys are attack upfield types.
It just seems strange to me that so much ink is being spilled trying to figure out where to fit Dowtin and Bradham but Mario Williams is kind of like "Eh, we'll just stick him somewhere and see what happens."
I like Bradham -- I think he's a young promising player and a good draft pick.
Unfortunately, I think Bradham, Sheppard, and Lawson are the only NFL caliber LBs we have on our entire roster. Lawson is a marginal starter in this league and Sheppard is more of a "back-up" than anything.
So we basically have 2 starters and 1 backup. If we cut the entire rest of our LB group, I doubt most or any of them could find a job in the NFL.
Again, I like Bradham - but he hasn't proven he's a full time NFL starter yet. Remember everybody that loved Moats and Batten too? How'd that work out. Sheppard too.
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