Buffalo Bills Rookie WR Da'Rick Rogers A Favorite To Make The Bills Roster

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By Josh Sanchez - Jul 27th, 2013 at 10:28 am

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Da’Rick Rogers was a very talented wide receiver prospect in the 2013 NFL Draft class, but he fell undrafted due to some serious character issues. After the seven rounds wrapped up, the Bills and head coach Doug Marrone reached out to the 22-year-old receiver to give him one shot at showing what he can offer.
So far, so good.
According to WGR 550 Buffalo, Rogers is a “clear cut favorite” to land on the team’s 53-man roster.
That could be bad news for veteran Brad Smith and others like Chris Hogan and Marcus Easley who will be competing for the final two wide receiver spots on the roster along with Rogers.
If you had to guess who would land the final spot, you would have to give the advantage to Smith.
It is unlikely that Easley will find a home with Buffalo once the regular season rolls around, but Hogan is a candidate to make the practice squad if he were to clear waivers.
This is all part of the fun of camp battles and football being back, so let’s all relax and enjoy the competition.

Buffalo Bills 2013 Training Camp Preview

After plenty of changes in the offseason, the Buffalo Bills will take the field for the first time in training camp on Sunday. The Bills are the last team to practice this year in the AFC East.

Buffalo is a major team in transition in 2013. The Bills have a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator and a new quarterback. Therefore, there is plenty of work to be done.

Here are three things to watch in camp:

No. 1: QBs Kevin Kolb vs. EJ Manuel

Analysis: All eyes will be on the quarterbacks in Buffalo. The Bills are entering training camp with a high-profile competition between veteran quarterback Kevin Kolb and rookie first-round pick EJ Manuel. Kolb has been a bust in his two previous stops with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. This third opportunity in Buffalo is probably Kolb’s final chance to prove that he can be a franchise starter. Manuel was a surprise first-round pick but has a lot of tools, such as size, a good arm and mobility. But Manuel remains raw and will have to make immediate strides in order to win the starting job in Week 1.

No. 2: Mike Pettine’s defense

Analysis: Buffalo's defense had talent last year but grossly underperformed. Former defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt got most of the blame, and he was fired after the season. Enter former New York Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. He was hired new Bills head coach Doug Marrone to liven up Buffalo's defense. Pettine usually got the most out of his defensive players in New York, and that will be the goal in Buffalo. Players like Mario Williams, Stephon Gilmore, Kyle Williams and Jairus Byrd (whenever he signs his franchise tag) provides a good foundation on defense. But it's Pettine’s job in training camp to get everyone on the same page.

No. 3: Competition at WR

Analysis: For years, the Bills have been looking for another legit receiving threat opposite Steve Johnson. That search continues this season with an entirely new cast of receivers, many of which are rookies. The Bills drafted second-round pick Robert Woods, third-round pick Marquise Goodwin and signed top rookie free agent Da'Rick Rogers in an effort to boost depth behind Johnson. Woods, a former USC star, has been the most polished receiver thus far. He's the favorite to win the No. 2 job but must earn it in training camp. Goodwin has plenty of speed and could add a deep element to Buffalo, and Rogers also has potential to contribute if he stays out of trouble. Rogers was passed over by every team in the draft due to various off-the-field concerns

Buffalo Bills Mario Williams Talked To Holdout Safety Jairus Byrd

Mario Williams talked to Holdout Jairus Byrd

Posted by Chris Brown on July 26, 2013 – 3:09 pm

Bills DE Mario Williams checked in voluntarily at training camp today and commented on the anticipated absence of Jairus Byrd.
“He’s a great player and we definitely want to have him back as soon as possible,” said Williams. “Hopefully it works out. We still keep in touch and have communication and hopefully he comes back sooner than later.”
When asked what he discussed with Byrd, Williams said it’s Byrd’s preference to play with the Bills.
“He definitely wants to be here with us,” said Williams. “That’s a given. But as far as matters and how things are structured we don’t bring that up.”
Williams also believes that Byrd has some insight on the defense having talked to teammates this offsea

Buffalo Bills 13 Year Playoff Drought Has Destroyed Enthusiasm Of Bills Fans. Bills Will Make The Palyoffs

Corning, N.Y. —

The inner optimist in me yearns to be genuinely stoked about the 2013 NFL season.
Although it is still July, when the pigskin isn’t yet on everyone’s radar, I do recall a time when the start of training camp was reason enough to ramp up excitement for the upcoming season.
No doubt countless number of fans still do get geeked up during the dog days of July as teams prepare to open training camp.
I used to be one of them.
But as a longtime follower of the Buffalo Bills, 13 seasons of playoff-less football and one winning season during that same span has greatly sapped my enthusiasm as a fan.
Add a few significant life changes in that time (wife, two kids, house) to the mix and new responsibilities that come with, and as you may expect, my passion for everything One Bills Drive has certainly been tempered in recent years.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not, nor would I ever jump ship as a fan, at least for as long as the team remains in Western New York.
Instead, I remain a relatively despondent fan, numb to the organization’s many failures and conditioned to expect the worst, no matter how promising things may appear.
This Sunday, the Bills open training camp at St. John Fisher College, just outside of Rochester.
And yet another new chapter for the team is about to commence with new faces eager to take over in numerous key roles throughout the organization.
Russ Brandon is hardly a new face, serving as the team’s CEO since 2008 and in his 16th season overall with the organization. But Brandon will try on a notable new hat as the Bills’ president, a title that owner Ralph Wilson relinquished in January.
Although Brandon’s efforts to better expand the Bills’ regional appeal in both Rochester and Toronto have proven quite successful, how he fares as both the team’s president and CEO remains anyone’s guess. Considering Wilson didn’t exactly set the bar high as president (or owner), Brandon appears to be an improvement, if only by default. But that’s not to suggest things will change for the significantly better any time soon, if at all, under Brandon.
After Buddy Nix stepped down as general manager in the spring, Doug Whaley was appointed the new GM after serving as the Bills assistant GM/director of pro personnel since 2010. Prior to joining the Bills, Whaley worked for the Pittsburgh Steelers as the team’s pro scouting coordinator from 1999-2009.
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During that time, Whaley helped build a Pittsburgh team that won two Super Bowls. While Whaley was not calling the shots with the Steelers, you’d like to think he benefited spending a decade with one of the top organizations in pro football. But as much as I’d like to be optimistic about Whaley, Tom Donahoe’s stint in Buffalo – much ballyhooed at the time – provides a cautionary tale.
At head coach, former Syracuse boss Doug Marrone and an entire new staff will try to break the cycle – for the better – of a new coach every three years in Buffalo. Although Marrone was a surprise pick as head coach, his track record turning around a moribund program at Syracuse sold the Bills’ brain trust on the idea he could do the same in Buffalo. If nothing else, Marrone’s hire was at least a refreshing think-outside-the-box approach not seen with uninspiring retread hires like Dick Jauron and Chan Gailey. Conversely, though, the Bills also once thought they had diamonds in the rough in Mike Mularkey and Gregg Williams, but both proved to be duds like so many others.
Perhaps most fatiguing is starting anew once again at quarterback. Free-agent Kevin Kolb and first-round pick EJ Manuel will battle to become the Bills’ next starting quarterback. Obviously, the hope is that Manuel develops into the Bills’ first true franchise QB since Jim Kelly, while Kolb remains as a dependable, veteran backup. But even with some underappreciated talent at the skill positions – C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson – Buffalo’s quarterbacking situation in 2013 figures to be an exercise in patience.
Even in my perpetual overall pessimism to everything Bills, it’s probably safe to assume I’m among a super-majority who expects Buffalo’s streak of playoff futility to extend at least one more season.
There’s simply too much newness and inexperience in key spots throughout the operation – among other shortcomings – to expect an instant turnaround.
And while the hope is that the Whaley-Marrone-Manuel regime will turn things around over the long haul or at the very least, end the NFL’s longest current playoff drought, the organization has done little to inspire such blind optimism.

Buffalo Bills Training Camp 2013 "Plenty Of Starting Defensive Jobs Open For Rookies"

Jay Skurski - Buffalo Bills rookie Kiko Alonso (50) has a chance to be an every-down linebacker in the team's new defensive scheme. 

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There will be ample opportunities for young players to make a name for themselves on defense for the Buffalo Bills in the 2013 season.
When the team jettisoned veterans Nick Barnett, Kelvin Sheppard, George Wilson and Terrence McGee in the offseason, it lost its three leading tacklers from last season, along with 385 combined games of NFL experience.
If the inexperience of those taking their place is a concern among the team’s fans, it doesn’t seem to be one shared by new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. At least not publicly.
“It is a lot, and that was on purpose,” Pettine said of the workload he gave his players in spring practices. “I think as a coaching staff, we’re very optimistic with how this group learns. We’ve been able to handle a lot.
“What proves it even more is the up tempo. When an offense goes no-huddle, you don’t have those 15, 20 seconds in between plays to process and recall ‘what’s my job? What are my main coaching points here?’ You’ve got to know it, and I think our guys have really taken that to heart. I’m very pleased with where we are mentally.”
Rookie second-round draft pick Kiko Alonso has the inside track heading into training camp on replacing Barnett, who led the Bills with 112 tackles last season and played about 92 percent of the defensive snaps. Both Pettine and coach Doug Marrone have been pleased with Alonso’s development.
“I think Kiko has done an outstanding job, he really has,” Marrone said. “There’s been a little bit of ups and downs, but that’s not a knock on him. That’s what happens with young players. I’m extremely excited to see him perform when the pads come on.”
Assuming Alonso fills the role of an every-down linebacker, the question will be who joins him when the Bills go to a nickel (five defensive backs) formation, which Pettine has hinted could essentially serve as the Bills’ base defense.
The two favorites are second-year man Nigel Bradham and veteran Bryan Scott.
“Nigel can run. That’s the one thing we’re going to take advantage of,” Pettine said. “He’s explosive, so there are times if he’s a little slow to diagnose, he can make up for it with his speed. We’ve been real pleased with that. He’s been real coachable. It’s not often he makes the same mistake a second time.”
Scott, 32, is on a one-year contract. His playing time last season – about 54 percent of the snaps – illustrates why Pettine expects the Bills to be in nickel quite a bit.
Two players to watch in camp who could push Bradham and Scott for playing time are Marcus Dowtin – who has experience in Pettine’s system from his time spent with the Jets last season – and Keith Pough, an undrafted free agent out of Howard University who is a tackling machine.
“I feel good. That’s a solid room,” Pettine said of his linebacker depth. “We’re pleased with where that group is.”
At outside linebacker, the Bills added veteran Manny Lawson as a free agent. He missed most of the voluntary spring practices after his wife gave birth, but is expected to challenge for a starting role opposite Mario Williams. The biggest question behind those two is how the staff uses veteran Mark Anderson – who’s returning from a knee injury – and former Colts first-round draft pick Jerry Hughes, who was acquired in a trade for Sheppard.
Free agent Jamie Blatnick, who spent time last season on Denver’s practice squad, will push both Anderson and Hughes for practice reps.
Behind the linebackers, there are several positions up for grabs at camp. The biggest unknown is the status of Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd. If he reports on time, he can be written into the starting lineup in pen. But if Byrd, who has yet to sign his franchise tag tender, stays away, that means both safety jobs will be contested.
Wilson’s departure opens a spot in the lineup for Da’Norris Searcy, who split time at strong safety last season, playing about 25 percent of the defensive snaps. Searcy, though, figures to be pushed by fourth-round draft pick Duke Williams. True to their word when they drafted him, the Bills used Williams in a number of different roles in the spring, including at both safety spots and cornerback.
Without Byrd, the starting free safety spot would likely come down to converted cornerback Aaron Williams, a third-year player, or rookie Jonathan Meeks.
“I’d say he’s ahead of schedule. It’s a lot to take in,” Pettine said of Williams. “It is apples and oranges. Being a safety is such a different world from being a corner. There are a lot of plays where he ends up locked on a guy where his corner instincts can take over, but for the most part, it is a lot of learning and a lot of communication. He’s ahead of schedule of where we thought he would be.”
Also in the secondary, the battle for the nickel cornerback job should be close. The three primary candidates are second-year man Ron Brooks, third-year player Justin Rogers and undrafted free agent sleeper Nickell Robey out of Southern California.
Robey, who has the right name for the job, was impressive in spring practices, but will have to answer questions about his size (5-foot-8, 165 pounds) with the pads on. It’s clear, however, that he’s made an early impression, as General Manager Doug Whaley brought him up as a candidate for the job in an interview with the team’s official website.
Rogers, 5-11, 185, held the nickel job in the first half of 2012, but was eventually replaced in the lineup when Brooks returned from a broken foot.
Brooks is the biggest and fastest of the players competing for the spot, listed at 5-11, 188 pounds and timed in the 40-yard dash at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine in 4.37 seconds. In his rookie season, he played in nine games, making two starts and finishing with four passes defensed.
Up front, the Bills added Alan Branch to a defensive line mix that includes Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Alex Carrington in traditional 3-4 looks.
The Bills rotated Dareus with Jay Ross at times during spring practices. That’s a move that has all the signs of a motivational ploy for the former third overall pick in the 2011 draft.
The list of players looking to make a favorable impression on the new coaching staff starts with Torell Troup, a former second-round draft pick who missed all of last season on injured reserve after back surgery. This is likely his last chance to make it with the Bills.
Ross will compete with Jarron Gilbert and Corbin Bryant for reserve roles along the line. Bryant, a 330-pounder, got plenty of second-team practice reps in the spring.