NBC Sports, via Clear Channel online, reports that Gene Upshaw, Executive Director of the NFL Players' Association, has passed away at the age of 63.  Upshaw has apparently lost a battle with pancreatic cancer, a disease which is only now becoming public knowledge.

NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported this morning on Sirius NFL Radio that neither the NFL nor the Players' Association was aware of Upshaw's battle with cancer.

The Hall of Fame offensive lineman was an 11-time All-Pro selection during his illustrious career as a guard for the Oakland Raiders.  He presided over the Players' Association for 25 years (since June of 1983) and was responsible for huge gains made for players during his time as the union boss.  He also was responsible for some strife, including a players' strike in 1987 and, most recently, a Collective Bargaining agreement that was opted out of two years early.

Upshaw had planned to stay in office until negotiations had ended on a restructured Collective Bargaining Agreement, which needs to be in place by the 2010 season.  His death leaves the leadership of the NFLPA, as well as said negotiations, in serious limbo.  Clark Gaines appears poised to assume Upshaw's role in the negotiations.

Upshaw is survived by his wife, Terri, and three sons.

  Peters misses all 26 days of Bills camp (Photo Source)

2008 Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College came to a close today, and the Bills were without perhaps their two most valuable offensive players.  Jason Peters failed to report for the final day of camp - it's still unclear if (not when) Peters plans to report at all - and quarterback Trent Edwards, nursing a deep thigh bruise, sat out Wednesday's morning practice finale.

Peters missed all 26 days of Bills camp - accumulating nearly $400,000 in fines in the process - and all indications are that his holdout will continue as the Bills return to their headquarters in Orchard Park tomorrow.  The Bills still have, and are expected to exercise, their right to fine Peters up to $15,000 per day during his unexcused absence.  While some Bills players, including OG Derrick Dockery, are hopeful that Peters will report soon, it's pretty safe to say that the fan base is not.

Edwards, who injured his knee during Tuesday night's practice in a collision with RB Marshawn Lynch on a simple run play, watched the day's practice in sweatpants from the sideline.  His injury is not considered serious, but he is day to day at this point, and it's still unclear whether or not Edwards will suit up for Buffalo's third pre-season game in Indianapolis this Sunday.  Lynch, meanwhile, experienced only minor swelling and pain in his knee and was able to practice in full on Wednesday.

Besides Edwards, also missing practice Wednesday were WR James Hardy (hamstring), WR Roscoe Parrish (knee), TE Derek Schouman (knee), OT Matt Murphy (shoulder), LB John DiGiorgio (calf) and LB Jon Banks (hamstring).

Rather than going through the usual practice reports (located here and here), we'll instead take a quick look back at training camp as a whole by doing the whole cliched and overdone "Stock Report" thing.  Here's who helped themselves and hurt themselves during 2008 Bills Training Camp:

+ Bullish: CB Ashton Youboty Left for dead after the signing of Will James and the drafting of Leodis McKelvin and Reggie Corner, no cornerback has been more impressive to date than Youboty.  He's given up some big plays, but he's also flashed outstanding tackling ability and solid ball skills.  He's fought hard for a roster spot, and deserves to make the team's final roster.  Time will tell whether his work has paid off.

- Bearish: RB Dwayne Wright He's come down with a serious case of fumble-itis this pre-season (including one in each pre-season game) and it's costing him.  Xavier Omon has started to steal reps ahead of him, and the second-year pro is in danger of losing his #3 RB role to the rookie out of Division II NW Missouri State.

+ Bullish: OT Demetrius Bell He only started playing football in 2005, but Bell has been impressive to date.  He's very green and shouldn't be much more than a depth player, but Bell has big-time potential.  He's gotten a lot of opportunities with Peters holding out and with Murphy and Patrick Estes injured, and he hasn't disappointed.

- Bearish: LB Keith Ellison Routinely out of position on passing downs, Ellison has been responsible (though not the sole LB responsible) for surrendering some large chunks of yardage through the air this pre-season.  The Bills are experimenting with John DiGiorgio at outside linebacker, and DiGiorgio could wind up being the primary backup at an outside spot in place of the sliding - but still important - Ellison.

+ Bullish: SS Bryan Scott Donte Whitner has been nicked up a bit, and while the defense has missed him, Scott's play has been excellent.  He's continued to show a knack for stopping the run when up in the box, and he hasn't been a liability in coverage.  He's involved with nearly every special teams coverage unit as well.  You're going to be hearing Scott's name a lot in 2008.

- Bearish: DT John McCargo Once expected to start next to Marcus Stroud at defensive tackle, McCargo started out as the fourth tackle in camp and hasn't earned his way up the depth chart.  Currently, Kyle Williams and Spencer Johnson are battling to start next to Stroud, and McCargo doesn't seem to be a large part of the equation.  He'll play a lot, but he is decidedly fourth in Buffalo's stellar four-man rotation.  That's not great news for the former first-round pick.

  Jauron's Bills pushing for post-season (Photo Source)

Any fan of the Buffalo Bills is uncomfortably aware of the shuffling that has gone on at quarterback since the retirement of the face of the franchise, Jim Kelly.  No quarterback has gotten more than three years on the job since Kelly's retirement, and the lack of a consistent presence at the position is a big reason that the Bills haven't made the playoffs for close to a decade.

Not as many Bills fans are as quick to point out, however, that the Bills have the same problem at head coach.  Marv Levy - yet another "best of" when it comes to the Bills franchise - retired in 1997, and since then, the Bills have cycled through head coaches nearly as quickly as quarterbacks.  Wade Phillips coached for three seasons, from '98 to 2000; Gregg Williams got three more from 2001-2003; Mike Mularkey quit after two seasons, '04 and '05; and Dick Jauron has guided the franchise for the past two years, entering his third as the team's newest head coach.

Finding stability at the head coach position has been a problem equal to - if not greater - than the problem at quarterback.  With Jauron on board, however, the team's front office and coaching staff seem to have found stability for the first time in recent memory.  Jauron's teams have produced back-to-back 7-9 records, which when boiled right down to the elemental level, exceeded most fans' expectations considering the woeful lack of talent on those two teams.  Now the team is better.  Is Jauron on the hot seat if the 2008 Bills don't make significant improvement?  Probably not.  Here's why.

Heat from fan base unwarranted?
We all know what Jauron is and what he isn't.  He's a calm, intelligent leader that gets the most out of his players because he's a great teacher.  He's not had a lot of success at the NFL level, which can be attributed to many things - not just his coaching style.  He's taken risks when it comes to his coaching staff (most recently his hiring of Turk Schonert as offensive coordinator), and a good number of them have not paid off.

Jauron seems to take a lot of flack from Buffalo's fan base simply because he's boring.  Jauron is not entertaining.  He's low-key, doesn't get animated, and isn't very thrilling to watch prowl a sideline.  Bills fans are a different breed of fan - this fan base is far more "balls to the wall", for lack of a better descriptive term, than most NFL fan bases.  Jauron's style doesn't mesh with the generally preferred style of the Bills fan base.  It's led to a large amount of unpopularity for the Bills' head coach.

The most important thing that Jauron has done in his nearly three years on the job - amidst all of the (mostly warranted) controversy he's made on the field, including juggling quarterbacks in '07 and poor late-game strategy on a few occasions - is give the franchise direction.  He, along with the front office he fits in with so snugly (more on that momentarily), have built this team the right way - with youth and vast amounts of potential.  If things go well, the Bills should begin to reap the benefits of that strategy in Jauron's third season as coach.

The real reason Jauron isn't going anywhere
What most fans don't take into account when forming their internal opinion on whether Jauron is on the hot seat in 2008 is this: Jauron is a very intricate part of Buffalo's newly re-shuffled front office.  The new regime took over this past January, and while they've faced some hardships (J.P. Losman and Jason Peters the chief instigators), they haven't made a poor decision to date.  Russ Brandon, John Guy and Tom Modrak are the big names, but Jauron is the fourth (or fifth, if you count Ralph Wilson) piece of that puzzle.  He's as much responsible for the direction of this franchise as Marv Levy or the current front office triumvirate.  That's where Jauron has made his mark.

That's the reason Jauron isn't going anywhere any time soon, folks.  He's part of a much bigger picture than what you're seeing on the field.  He's part of the direction of the franchise - and that direction is still a positive one.  There is undoubtedly pressure on Jauron this season to improve record-wise and push for the playoffs - the same pressure resides on the front office, the players, and everyone else right down to the drink vendors on game day.  But don't make the mistake of believing that a disappointing season will spell the end of Jauron's tenure in Buffalo.  Overall, he has been a positive and stabilizing force on this franchise.

This front office is too smart to fall back into poor habits - i.e., shuffling head coaches - simply because of one disappointing season.  The fan base may not like it, but it's the case.  Jauron's tenure in Buffalo will last past 2008, regardless of this year's outcome - and that's a good thing for this franchise.

  Bills second-year QB Trent Edwards (Photo Source)

They say that no schedule in the NFL is an easy schedule.  That holds especially true when a given football team is young and inexperienced at key positions - most notably quarterback.  Even with an easy schedule, that youth may not be able to capitalize on their opponent advantage.

The 2008 Buffalo Bills, however, are hoping that their young team - led by second-year quarterback Trent Edwards - can do just that in making the post-season for the first time since 1999.  In an ultra-talented conference packed with several Super Bowl contenders, these Bills can use any advantage they can muster.

Just how "easy" is Buffalo's schedule?  Let's examine...

Meet the Playoff Contenders
It is first necessary to select which teams from the AFC will be the Bills' main competition for the six coveted playoff spots.  Unfortunately, due to outstanding depth in the conference, there are ten AFC teams with realistic visions of the playoffs dancing in their brains.  Those teams are: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston, New England, the Jets, San Diego and our Bills.

Yes - the entire AFC South is included in that list, because all four teams have traits that could land them in the post-season.  Ten teams vying for six playoff spots.  And, not surprisingly, these teams play each other.  A lot.

In the NFC, the teams on the whole are not as impressive, but the overall number of playoff contenders is larger.  Eleven teams - Green Bay, Minnesota, New Orleans, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Philadelphia, the Giants, Washington, Seattle and Arizona - are considered playoff contenders for this exercise.

SOS based on contender matchups
Which AFC team, then, has the easiest road to the playoffs?  The answer to that, of course, involves just how good each of these teams turns out to be - this experiment isn't meant to be an end-all to the playoff discussion.  The Bills are going to need to prove a lot on the field in order to make the playoffs, and in the end, the schedule might not make a bit of difference.  But on the surface of it - that is, the schedule - the Bills may not have as easy a road to the post-season as many of us believe.

Ranked below: the ten AFC playoff contenders' schedules from easiest to hardest, based on number of games against playoff contenders on their schedule, which we'll adjust for other factors (explained after the jump):

Continue reading this post »

Evans extension could be completed soon (Photo Source)

After over three weeks of training camp practices, the Buffalo Bills are just two sessions shy of wrapping up 2008 Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College.  Unbelievable, right?  With camp closing after Wednesday's practice concludes, several story lines are becoming prevalent again; and, of course, the Bills continue to make stories on the practice field as well.  Here's what we should be talking about as training camp comes to a close...

Peters Watch: Decision Time?
In case you took a holiday to Mars in March and are only just now returning to this glorious planet, Bills LT Jason Peters hasn't reported to Buffalo since taking a physical in early January.  Holding out for more money, the break of training camp seems a logical place to get a further reading on Peters' intentions for the 2008 season.  Will he report with camp over, or will he continue his holdout?  If he continues to stay away, it's likely that he'll be sitting out at least a portion of the regular season.

WGR 550 mentioned on this morning's "Howard Simon Show" that Bills LG Derrick Dockery - the only Bills player to have communicated with Peters (via text message) that we know of - mentioned that he believes Peters will be reporting for team duties "soon".  Whether this manifests into truth remains to be seen, but that - coupled with the fact that the Bills made no attempt to sign a replacement tackle after the injury to Matt Murphy - are encouraging signs for fans who'd like to see Peters report ASAP.  Stay tuned - we should be hearing much more on this throughout the rest of the week.

New Deal for Evans Imminent?
Rumors have been circulating ever since this past Thursday's pre-season win over Pittsburgh that WR Lee Evans and the Bills are coming closer to agreeing on a long-term contract extension.  COO Russ Brandon, who mentioned that he'd like to see Evans in a Bills uniform for the rest of his career, and Evans both confirmed that talks were moving in the right direction late last week.

Evans' deal is expected to be huge, and should it happen quickly, it will really solidify Buffalo's receiving corps for the foreseeable future.  This one seems to be much closer than any return by Peters, and it's expected that the ink will be dry on a new contract for Evans by the start of the regular season.

On/Off the Field
The Bills held a night practice Sunday evening and followed it up with an afternoon practice yesterday.  The Bills are steadily getting healthier, highlighted by the return of WR Josh Reed to the practice field.  Reed's lower back had kept him out of several practices and both pre-season games, but his back is now fine - though he's not completely out of the woods yet.  Reed has re-assumed his role of "Trent Edwards' favorite underneath target" immediately since his return; Edwards has spoken glowingly of Reed all week.

“I’m very, very happy with the progress that Josh has made this offseason,” said Edwards. “I was happy with the way he practiced during OTAs and minicamps and he’s progressed a ton since last year, so I’m excited for him this year.”

OT Patrick Estes, injured last week, also returned to the practice field.  Missing practice time over the past two days were TE Derek Schouman (who could miss several weeks), WR Scott Mayle, WR Roscoe Parrish (minor knee), WR James Hardy (resting hamstring), CB Kennard Cox and SS Donte Whitner (excused - family).

Position Battles Still Heated
Several position battles are still making headlines over the last few practices of training camp.  Let's review:

- RB Xavier Omon took second-team reps yesterday ahead of second-year pro Dwayne Wright, indicating that the rookie has snuck ahead of Wright in the battle for the team's #3 RB role.  Wright's fumbles appear to be the culprit.

- Receivers James Hardy and Josh Reed appear to be neck-and-neck for the starting role opposite Lee Evans.  Both are expected to be heavily involved in Buffalo's offense.

- With Derek Schouman ailing, rookie TE Derek Fine's solid performances could lead to him staying on the field ahead of Schouman when the latter returns from his knee injury.  Courtney Anderson's chances at making the final roster have improved as well.

- Both Kyle Williams and Spencer Johnson - as well as John McCargo to an extent - are vying for the starting DT role next to Marcus Stroud.  All three are expected to factor in heavily, but it appears that Williams and Johnson in particular are making strong cases to see the bulk of playing time between the three bigs.

- Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer are entrenched as the starting corners, but the battle for the nickel job is heating up.  Will James is the likely starter at this point, but rookie Leodis McKelvin - as well as fellow rookie Reggie Corner - are making a late push for the role.  It's expected that James will man the nickel spot to start the season (with McKelvin taking dime work), but the first-round pick should take over the third slot well before the end of the season.

The Bills have their final night practice tonight, and follow it up with an afternoon practice Wednesday to close out their three-week stay at St. John Fisher.  We'll discuss the events of those two practices - as well as events tied in with the end of camp - as it happens.

Evans (83), wideouts impressive in victory (Photo Source)

The Buffalo Bills are back on the practice field and in the film room, and just like the Bills, we'll be breaking down a little film today.  I found some time this weekend to re-watch the first half of Buffalo's pre-season win over Pittsburgh, and trust me - it was as enjoyable to watch them "on film" as it was to watch the game live Thursday night.

Here are some general observations that I made - and hope you find useful - from Thursday's win:

Quarterbacks: What else can you say about Trent Edwards' performance (9/11, 104 yards, 2 TD)?  Unlike in Washington, where I saw Edwards make a few bad reads, I didn't see a single poor decision from Edwards Thursday night.  What made him click was the rhythm to the offense - Trent is at his absolute best when he's in sync with his receivers (which goes for any NFL quarterback), and his rhythm was perfect Thursday night.  Edwards may not have the strongest arm in the world, but he's clearly got enough zip on his throws to squeeze a pass between three defenders in the end zone.  That's strong enough for me.  If Edwards can play consistently near the level he displayed Thursday night (asking him to play at that level might be pushing it), this is a playoff team.

Running Backs: Marshawn Lynch looked quick, explosive and powerful.  He also had a superb blitz pickup on Edwards' first score of the evening, and did a nice impression of run blocking for Edwards on his 22-yard scramble.  Fred Jackson was Fred Jackson - more powerful than he looks (with great balance - see his screen reception) and one heck of a receiver.  I think it's pretty clear that rookie sixth-round pick Xavier Omon has leapfrogged Dwayne Wright on the depth chart - Omon is still better in pass protection and doesn't seem to have quite the fumbling issue that Wright does.  It's a pity, too - Wright ran the ball really well on Thursday night (not that Omon didn't), and his fumble really negated all of the excellent things he put together.

Wide Receivers: I thought Buffalo's wideouts were superb.  Few NFL receivers can run a route like Lee Evans when he's on his game.  He's so dangerous as a deep threat that he can get 18-20 yards downfield, stop on a dime, and be wide open.  If Edwards has the time to throw that he did on Thursday throughout this season, Evans is going to have a big year.  He might have a big year otherwise.  Roscoe Parrish looked good in my estimation, too - he needs to learn to run after the catch more like Evans in certain situations (like getting out of bounds in the two-minute drill), but it's clear that Turk Schonert is concentrating hard on getting him the ball this season.  I also like what I've seen out of Felton Huggins - he's a bit more well-rounded at this point than Steve Johnson, and I actually feel that if the Bills were to keep six receivers, Huggins might edge the rookie out.

Tight Ends/Fullbacks: Well, Robert Royal was the star (and by the way - this guy blocks like an offensive tackle when he wants to), but I still think I'm most impressed by Derek Fine.  Royal looked better than I've ever seen him catching the ball; maybe this is the season in which he's not a total liability as a pass-catcher for the offense.  Fine is a smooth athlete - he's not the fastest guy in the world (not even close), but he looks good running routes and especially in motion and working out of the slot.  He looks far more natural than any of his tight end peers; if things go well, I'm going to say he's the team's starter at tight end in 2009.

Offensive Line: I don't have much to add to Ron from NM, our resident O-Line guru; I will say that I was impressed once again by Demetrius Bell.  I wasn't sure how he'd hold up against a 3-4 defense (the toughest to pass protect against by far), but he showed that he's athletic enough to handle the speed rush at the NFL level.  He had a lot of help from tight end Courtney Anderson at times, but in all, it was an impressive performance for a guy who's only been playing football since 2005.  He's got a future.

Defensive Line: I dedicated most of my work on the defensive line to watching Marcus Stroud, and more specifically, how the Steelers dealt with him.  Stroud was on the field for 12 defensive plays - 8 passes and 4 runs.  On the eight passes (one a screen pass), Stroud was double-teamed twice.  Of the six pass plays he was single-teamed, he was able to create significant pressure on Ben Roethlisberger twice.  He was also tripped/blatantly held once as well.  Of the four run plays, he was double-teamed three times; the one time he wasn't, he crashed the line and made the tackle.  He is, quite simply, a force to be reckoned with - and while he can be handled by one blocker on occasion, that's usually not the case.  It's quite fun to watch that man play football.

Linebackers: Overall, this unit performed better than they did in Washington, but I still wasn't all that impressed.  Granted, the unit has been without Angelo Crowell for two games, so they're bound to improve when he returns to the lineup.  Kawika Mitchell was impressive against the run, and Paul Posluszny was solid as usual.  My problem is with Keith Ellison.  He just isn't physical enough to be good against the run; he can mop up when a running back is channeled to him, but what linebacker can't?  He's also consistently out of position dropping back into coverage, though that isn't specific just to Ellison.  Buffalo's defense struggles mightily with slant routes and the skinny post, and it's because the linebackers struggle moving backwards and the corners don't jam often.  I'm starting to think that the Bills concentrate on linebacker early in next year's draft, but the unit is scrappy and talented enough to be getting on with for now.

Defensive Backs: They weren't great.  Ko Simpson made an excellent play on a Roethlisberger pass that was eventually picked off by Donte Whitner; Whitner and the rest of his safety-mates looked good in run support as well.  Whitner in particular made a nice play at the line of scrimmage, an encouraging sign to be certain.  The pass coverage, in general, was weak; when there was no pass rush to be had, the Bills got gouged pretty badly (again, not a huge surprise).  I was particularly disappointed by Will James' performance - he tackled very poorly, took poor angles, and allowed a tight reception to Hines Ward on an excellent sideline throw under duress by Roethlisberger.  He'll need to pick his play up to hang on to the nickel job.

Leodis McKelvin and Ashton Youboty were the second-team corners (behind starters Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer), and the duo took their lumps, Youboty in particular.  Obviously, Youboty and free safety George Wilson gave up a long touchdown throw to Santonio Holmes; it was called a blown coverage on the broadcast, but it looked more like a disguised Cover 3 to me.  The Bills lined up in a Cover 2 look, but prior to the snap, SS Bryan Scott crept up to the line of scrimmage.  Buffalo's two corners and Wilson were to man the deep portion of the field in a three-man zone shell, but it didn't look like Youboty got as deep as he should have - he may have been peeking into the offensive backfield.  The result was that Holmes burned Youboty, and Wilson just missed making up for the gaffe.  (This was different than my viewpoint in the Open Game Thread, so I wanted to rectify my error here.)

Special Teams: Obviously, McKelvin's 95-yard touchdown kickoff return was the highlight and was an excellent individual play.  Outside of that return, however, the Bills' return game was rather pedestrian - Pittsburgh's punters did a nice job stalemating the punt return game, and the kickoffs never really got going outside of the touchdown play.  There's work to be done in that department.  McKelvin needs to learn to trust his wedge more often, and the wedge blockers themselves need to be more... well... wedge-y.

There was one change in terms of the starting kick coverage unit - Youboty replaced Will James, who was among that unit in Washington, and Youboty made a nice tackle on the second kickoff of the game.  Clearly, the Bills are sliding him up the depth chart in an attempt to find a way to keep him on the roster; he performed poorly defensively, but outside of McGee, he's the best tackler in Buffalo's secondary.  When Derek Schouman went down with his knee injury, fullback Darian Barnes took his spot on the kick coverage units.

Rookies Steve Johnson and Kennard Cox were the second-team punt gunners, and Johnson looked pretty good in this role.  If he's going to make the team, however, he'll need to show more than Huggins has in this role - and comparing notes from last pre-season, Huggins is still better in this role.

We'll discuss the second half of this game in our Second Half Film Session tomorrow afternoon.

Bills rookie CB Reggie Corner (Photo Source)

Note: Apologies for the lateness of this entry, folks.  The Bills' quick turnaround between pre-season games prevented me from getting to this until yesterday; rest assured that we'll go over the Bills/Steelers game ASAP, with the first half Film Session post coming tomorrow morning.

Yes, the Bills have already played another pre-season game, but that doesn't mean that our Film Session review of the second half of their first pre-season game won't come without valuable tidbits.  I've already broken down some of the Bills' win over the Steelers, but for the sake of chronology, we'll cover the second half of their loss to the 'Skins first.  Rather than making general observations about each position, I'll point out some things I noticed about individual players (this will be specific to pre-season games only).  Enjoy...

Dick Jauron: Whoops.  Guess we'll start with Buffalo's head coach first.  I found this curious: Dick looked murderous after RB Dwayne Wright's second-half fumble; he clapped his hands encouragingly (while still looking pretty miffed) after RB Xavier Omon's fumble.  Just an interesting fact to add to the facts in the competition for the third RB job.

Gibran Hamdan: I wasn't all that impressed.  He made some nice throws underneath and looks like a smart enough guy.  His accuracy on deep balls isn't great, and he looks jittery from time to time in the pocket.  He's light years better than Matt Baker, but I still don't think Gibran is a mortal lock to make the final roster.

Xavier Omon: This kid looks good.  He's already as tough as Wright in the run game, but he's more physical picking up the blitz.  On two plays in Washington, Omon made thumping good hits to completely erase Redskins blitzers.  That was unexpected from Omon coming from Division II.  Quite the pleasant surprise.

Demetrius Bell: Bell has got a future.  His athleticism is great - he's got quick feet and quicker hands.  Not surprisingly, he still struggles a bit technique-wise and with more physical players; I saw him get knocked backwards more than once by a solid punch.  He looks a bit tentative at times as well - but don't mistake that for his being passive.  He looks like he could be counted on as a reserve this season.

Duke Preston: My stomach lurched a bit on one play, where Preston was blown five yards backwards into his own backfield, but otherwise, I didn't think he looked too bad.  Granted, he was playing second and third team linemen from Washington.  I think his versatility keeps him on this team for another year.

Matt Murphy: It's a pity Murphy got hurt, because I thought he looked pretty solid at both left and right tackle.  He'd have made a fine third tackle in the event that Jason Peters' holdout extends into the regular season.  Alas, the 2007 injury bug waited around for Murphy as well.

Derek Fine: Buffalo's rookie tight end is easily the team's most natural receiver at the position.  He just looks comfortable running routes and catching the football; I think by mid-season, he's playing a prominent second fiddle to Robert Royal.  Derek Schouman appears to be all hype at this point.

Steve Johnson: I liked what I saw out of Buffalo's other rookie receiver as a run blocker; he's a tough shed in the slot.  He flashed good hands as well.  I don't know if we've seen enough out of him on special teams, however, to say that he's got a shot at the final roster.  In fact, I'd say that Felton Huggins has a better shot at the final roster than Johnson at this point, because Huggins is a better deep threat.

Chris Ellis: One one running play, Ellis completely blew up the Redskins' entire blocking scheme with outstanding penetration; he was blatantly held on the play as a result.  I'm going to be honest - I thought Ellis was Buffalo's most impressive rookie in Washington.  He's still green and needs another pass rush move or two for his repertoire, but I think if things go well this season he could be starting next to Aaron Schobel in '09.

Marcus Buggs: UDFA LB Buggs is small, but packs a nice punch.  He was solid in the team's goal line stand in the fourth quarter.  He looks good on special teams as well.  He may just beat out Blake Costanzo for the final roster spot at LB if the team keeps a seventh.

Reggie Corner: He took some lumps, but he also made some great plays.  For a guy nobody knew about exiting the draft, he looks very natural - and very quick - on the field.  Another solid find by Buffalo's scouting department.

Leodis McKelvin: I'm not worried about McKelvin's cover skills; those are already solid, and they'll get much better.  I focused instead on his tackling - and it's not great.  McKelvin is physical and willing to risk his body to make a tough play, but his tackling from a technique standpoint is quite poor.  It's this fact that might prevent him from sneaking in nickel reps, at least initially, in the regular season - Buffalo's nickel back must be a good tackler in Perry Fewell's system.

I have some notes on some other players, but they're not necessarily worth posting here.  Saw some good things out of Buffalo's youngsters, though, in particular Bell, Omon, Ellis and Corner.  Again, we'll have more Film Session stuff to discuss tomorrow morning as we break down the first half of the Bills' victory over Pittsburgh.