Inside The Bills

K Potter kicking too far

The Bills’ scouts said Potter’s leg was big and some of the rookie returners experienced that first hand Saturday.

Buffalo’s special teams coaches wanted to get their rookie return candidates some reps returning kickoffs at the end of practice, so they employed seventh-round pick John Potter to do the kicking off. Potter, who routinely kicked it through the uprights in college on kickoffs from the 30-yard line, correctly lined the ball up at the 35 knowing that’s the line of scrimmage in the NFL.

The problem is none of his kickoffs could be fielded because they were sailing over the heads of the return men, who were standing as deep as they could in the back of the end zone. Finally one of the special teams coaches had to tell Potter to back up because the returners weren’t getting any work.

“Kicking out here in practice I was kicking from the 35, but I had to back it up to the 30 so the returners could field some kicks,” said Potter.

Potter kicked in the fieldhouse Saturday, but is eager to get outdoors and deal with the famed wind conditions in Western New York, not that it’s a foreign concept having kicked his entire college career in the Great Lakes region in the Mid-American conference.

“I’m excited to get outside and kick into the wind because I know it’s a factor here on Sundays,” said Potter. “I’ve seen how rough it can get playing up north at Western (Michigan) so playing in the MAC conference I’m used to the wind. It’s not a worry for me.”

Tank was first to sign

Bills fifth-round pick Tank Carder was the first to sign on the dotted line after six of the nine draft choices agreed to terms late in the week. Buffalobills.com was there.

Here’s our one-on-one interview with Tank, and a shot of him signing his rookie contract.

Gailey on QB Tanney

As we profiled on Buffalobills.com this morning, tryout QB Alex Tanney was a lot more than a trick shot QB in college at Division III Monmouth. Here was Chan Gailey’s take on Tanney after the first day of practice.

“He did some good things,” said Gailey. ”First day for any quarterback is hard. I don’t care who you are, but he did some good things. I like his quick throwing motion. He seems to have a strong arm. He seemed to pick up things fairly well. We’ll see how the rest of the weekend goes.”

Belief in Young lies in QB tutors

There might be some NFL clubs out there that don’t harbor the same faith that the Bills do in Vince Young. There’s a good reason why.

A good number of NFL clubs don’t have the quarterback tutors that Buffalo possesses. The Bills have head coach Chan Gailey and QBs coach David Lee, two of the more renowned molders of quarterbacks. Both have a long track record of maximizing the talents of quarterbacks, and Young has an awful lot of talent.

GM Buddy Nix sounded convinced that their abilities as coaches will bring out the best, and minimize any flaws in Vince Young’s game.

“We’ve got two of the best quarterback coaches in the business, starting with Coach Gailey and then David Lee,” said Nix. ”Those guys are good teachers. I remember I saw Vince practice as a freshman at Texas. It goes way back. I’ve always admired his ability and the things he can do. I think our guys will get him more accurate and help him as far as not turning the ball over.”

Gailey has maximized the quarterback talents of players like Kordell Stewart and Jay Fiedler, and Ryan Fitzpatrick has been more successful under Gailey than any other coach in the NFL. Lee revived Chad Pennington’s career in Miami and has maximized the talent of a countless number of college quarterbacks. With that kind of tutelage guiding him, Young should be at his best in Buffalo.

Nix: Young won’t be a distraction

Bills GM Buddy Nix already knows that with a recognizable quarterback like Vince Young now on the roster in a backup capacity that the public perception is he could become a distraction. Nix made it clear right off the bat, that’s not going to take place.

“Let me just say this to start with, he won’t be a distraction here, and neither will anybody else,” said Nix. ”It may start out, but it won’t last — I can promise you. That’s not a problem. I think he is a guy that with our… we’ve got two of the best quarterback coaches in the business. Starting with Coach Gailey and then David Lee. Those guys are good teachers. They will do what he can do best and trust me, he’s a big, good athlete that can do a lot of things for you.”

Gailey on Young’s assets

Bills head coach Chan Gailey was asked about the acquisition of Vince Young at the close of rookie minicamp Friday.

“He’s done some great things,” Gailey said. ”(Buddy) thought that was a great guy for us to bring in because we’ve talked all along about wanting to continually try to bring in guys who can compete for jobs. And he can compete for a job. I’m looking forward to working with him.

“He’s got a great arm. When he worked out here, he threw it very well. Everybody knows his mobility. He brings you that, and he’s won football games in the NFL. That’s another positive.”

Fred on addition of Young

Bills RB Fred Jackson offered his thoughts on the team’s acquisition of free agent QB Vince Young Friday.

“He’s coming in to compete for the backup job, so he’s another playmaker for us and they’ll find ways to get him in there to compete. He’s another good signing for us so we’ll see what happens,” said Jackson. “I’m sure he can still play. He’s a playmaker and made plays all the time when he had the opportunity. I’m sure he’ll compete with Brad (Smith) and Tyler (Thigpen). We know Fitz is our starting quarterback and he’ll come in and compete for the backup job.”

Is Young a wildcat option?

Vince Young is now on board after agreeing to terms with the Bills Friday. By most accounts his workout was impressive in terms of his passing accuracy and touch with receivers he had not worked with prior. But the comment by GM Buddy Nix leads one to believe that this addition could be more about Young’s legs.

Nix made the following comment when it was announced that Young had agreed to terms.

“He brings with him some unique physical abilities that most are aware of and that will make the competition interesting,” said Nix.

Both Tyler Thigpen and Brad Smith are mobile quarterbacks with Smith being the team’s wildcat option quarterback. Could Young offer wildcat potential as well? He certainly seems athletic enough to be worthy of consideration.

Head coach Chan Gailey does value mobility in his quarterbacks, but who earns wildcat duty might prove to be the most interesting part of the quarterback competition behind Ryan Fitzpatrick on the depth chart.

Rookie minicamp participants

Here’s a rundown of who is participating in this weekend’s rookie minicamp.

We’ll have you covered on the happenings this weekend on Buffalobills.com. First-year players are listed at the top, followed by the rookies (draft picks and undrafted signings). The players with red jerseys (R) are tryout players here for the weekend as they make an effort to earn a spot on the offseason roster.

1st year players
87 – Kevin Brock – TE – 2011 practice squad
93 - Jay Ross – DT – 2011 practice squad
62 – Jake Vermiglio – G – 2011 practice squad
68 – Keith Williams – G – 2011 practice squad
69 – Mike Jasper – G – 2011 practice squad

Draft choices and undrafteds
3 - John Potter - K - Western Michigan 
6 - Shawn Powell - P - Florida State 
7 - Aaron Corp - QB - Richmond 
11 - T.J. Graham - WR - NC State 
27 - Stephon Gilmore - CB - South Carolina 
33 - Ron Brooks - CB - LSU
35 - Chris Douglas - RB - Missouri State 
36 - Delano Howell - DB - Stanford 
39 - Cris Hill - DB - Virginia Tech 
40 - Garrick Williams – LB - Texas A&M 
41 - Nick Sukay - DB - Penn State 
42 - Ian Wild - DB - Mercyhurst 
45 - Tank Carder - LB - TCU 
53 - Nigel Bradham - LB - Florida State 
61 - David Snow - C - Texas
63 - Mark Asper - OL - Oregon 
66 - Zebrie Sanders - OT - Florida State 
73 - Paul Madsen - OL - Colorado State 
77 - Cordy Glenn - OT - Georgia 

Tryout players (wearing red jerseys – R)
1R Taylor Boggs - C - Humboldt State 
2R Zach Brown - RB - Pittsburgh 
3R Vince Browne - DE - Northwestern 
4R Derek Buttles - TE - Maine 
5R Roddell Carter - WR - Alabama-Birmingham 
6R Nick Clark – LB - Alfred
7R Dominic Cook - DB - Buffalo 
8R Gino Crump - WR - Arizona 
9R Dorin Dickerson - FB - Pittsburgh 
10R Sean Ferguson - DE - Mississippi State 
11R Kevin Fitzpatrick – WR - Marist 
12R Corey Hart - DE - Alabama A&M 
13R Johnny Hollins - DT - Texas Southern 
14R Brian Smith – LB – Notre Dame 
15R Byron Mulkey - DB - Buffalo 
16R Nick Saenz - S - Houston 
17R Derek Session - WR - Maine 
18R Bernard Smith - DE - Louisiana-Lafayette 
19R Alex Tanney - QB - Monmouth College 
20R Jeff Thomas - LB - Indiana
21R Logan Walls - DT - Georgia Tech

BDC 5/11: Rookies to Tour Buffalo & Niagara Falls on Monday

DAILY REPORT
–Bills Captain and S George Wilson will be interacting with students at Holy Family Catholic School in Bowmanville, Ontario today at 9:30a.m. as part of the NFL’s ‘Take a Player to School’ program. Twelve-year old Joshuwa Cappe-Moore will be taking a limo ride to school with Wilson and will join him on stage for a special assembly with topics including healthy lifestyle and anti-bullying.

–The Buffalo Bills will host a tour of the city of Buffalo and Niagara Falls for 18 members of the 2012 rookie class on Monday, May 14th.The tour is designed to give the 2012 Buffalo Bills newest members a brief overview of what the city of Buffalo and the Niagara Falls region has to offer.  Buffalo area leaders JoAnne Hudecki and Danielle Shainbrown (both of the McGuire Development Company) will guide the tour.

The tour will stop at the following locations – Naval Park (downtown Buffalo), Niagara Falls – Prospect Point, New Era Cap Company on Delaware Ave., the Edward A. Saunders Community Center and Chef’s Restaurant.

–The Buffalo Bills announced yesterday that fourth-round draft selection (105^th overall) LB Nigel Bradham, fourth-round draft selection (124^th overall) CB Ron Brooks, fifth-round draft selection (144^th overall) T Zebrie Sanders, fifth-round draft selection (147^th overall) LB Tank Carder, sixth-round draft selection (178^th overall) OL Mark Asper and seventh-round draft selection (251^st overall) K John Potter have agreed to terms. In accordance with team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

TODAY’S INTERVIEWS
5:00 pm – LB Tank Carder – WGR 550

THIS DAY IN BILLS HISTORY
May 11, 1987 — JOHN BUTLER HIRED AS BILLS’ PLAYER PERSONNEL DIRECTOR
Former San Diego Chargers scout John Butler was hired as the Bills’ new director of player personnel and college scouting, replacing Norm Pollom, who left the team after the draft.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Rookie LB Tank Carder
On coming to contract terms with the team shortly after arriving to Buffalo for Rookie Mini-Camp:
“It feels good. Now I can focus on football and going to rookie camp knowing I’ve got that done and don’t have to worry about it and get to know my teammates.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Bills first round draft pick DB Stephon Gilmore arrived in Buffalo yesterday along with his fellow rookie class for this weekend’s Rookie Mini-camp. Above, Gilmore is prepping for his first NFL headshot.

Bills Offensive Line Coach Joe D’Alessandris greets second round draft choice OT Cordy Glenn as he arrived to One Bills Drive.

DAILY LINKS
Buffalo News – Mulkey at a career crossroad

Buffalo News – Bills agree to terms with six rookies

Associated Press – Buffalo Bills reach deals with 6 of 9 draft picks

BuffaloBills.com – Bills agree to terms with six draft choices

Audio/Video/Photo Clips
BuffaloBills.com
A Special Mother’s Day Message
Bills Focus: Inside Buffalo’s Draft Room

WKBW
Bills “still an option” for Vince Young

WGRZ
Bills Sign Six Draft Picks

YNN
Free agents head to Bills Mini-Camp

Additional Clips
Inside the Bills Blog
Fred on ESPN2, CJ’s day vs. Miami ranked #1, Draft choice jersey numbers, Bills chose not to move up in Rd 2, The trade up for Graham, Nix on how Glenn pick came to be, Inside the Bills draft room

Buffalo Rumblings
Buffalo Bills Have (Unproven) Physical Specimens At Wide Receiver
How The 2012 Buffalo Bills Were Built
Buffalo Bills Sign Six Draft Choices

Buffalowdown
Buffalo Bills Battles: Cleveland Browns
Buffalo Bills Rookies Choose Uniform Numbers; Stephon Gilmore #27, Cordy Glenn #77
Run It Back: Stevie Johnson’s Song with The Game

Pro Football Talk
Bills announce deals with six draft picks

AFC East Daily
Bills have all but first three 2012 draft picks signed

Fred on ESPN2

Bills RB Fred Jackson is scheduled to appear on ESPN2 at 4:30 this afternoon (Friday).

Jackson is making an appearance on the Dan LeBatard show ‘Highly Questionable.’ The Bills tailback just signed a multi-year contract extension with the club earlier this week.

C.J.’s day vs. Miami ranked #1

Bills RB C.J. Spiller ranked at the top of the ProFootballFocus list for best single-game running back performances in 2011 with his big Week 16 outing against Miami last season.

The film reviewers and stat lovers at PFF reviewed every carry, pass protection and receiving of every back in the league in 2011 and Spiller’s two-touchdown, 167 yards from scrimmage effort against Miami was tops in the NFL.

1. C.J. Spiller, Buffalo Bills: Week 15 vs. Miami (+6.6)

This may surprise a few, but in a game where Spiller averaged 7.6 yards per carry, added 78 yards in the air and totaled two touchdowns … well, you’ll struggle to find a running back make as significant an impact per snap they’re on the field. What made this so good was that he wasn’t assisted by great blocking, but simply made Miami pay over and over again. Nothing summed his day up like his touchdown with 5:01 to go in Q1.

If you want to watch some of the better plays by Spiller in that game and why he was so successful just check out our film review with offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins in that game as Spiller made our Top 10 Performances of 2011 as well.

Draft choice jersey numbers

Here is the list of jersey numbers to be worn by Buffalo’s 2012 draft class this weekend at rookie minicamp.

CB Stephon Gilmore – 27
OT Cordy Glenn - 77
WR T.J. Graham - 11
LB Nigel Bradham - 53
CB Ron Brooks - 33
OT Zebrie Sanders - 66
LB Tank Carder - 45
C/G Mark Asper - 63
K John Potter - 3

Here also is the list of jersey numbers to be worn by the undrafted rookies that were signed by the club.

QB Aaron Corp - 7
RB Chris Douglas - 35
CB Cris Hill - 39
S Delano Howell - 36
OT Paul Madsen - 73W
P Shawn Powell - 6
C David Snow - 61
S Nick Sukay - 41
S Ian Wild - 42
LB Garrick Williams - 40

Bills chose not to move up in Rd 2

In our exclusive interview with Bills GM Buddy Nix and head coach Chan Gailey about what unfolded in the Bills draft room on the first two days of the draft there were a few items that wound up on the cutting room floor. Here’s one of them.

I asked Buddy if there were more trade offers on day two of the draft than day one, and he said there were. More offers were to have Buffalo move up the board. Ultimately, the Bills decided not to move up in round 2 feeling they stood a good chance to get the guy they wanted staying where they were.

“There was only one team that called for us to move back that wanted to move up to our spot,” said Nix. ”And it was way back and we wouldn’t consider it. It was too far back. We wouldn’t  have probably considered it anyway because we felt like we were going to get one of the targeted guys. The other people were the same people wanting to move back and have you move up. Again we didn’t panic and move up and give up some spots and it worked out good.”

Buffalo sat right where they were and still got Cordy Glenn, an offensive tackle they considered taking in round one.

The trade up for Graham

Here’s a peek at what went down in Buffalo’s draft room on draft weekend when they decided to trade up for WR T.J. Graham in round 3.

In an exclusive interview with Buffalobills.com, head coach Chan Gailey explains what went down and why the decision was made to move up to secure the speed receiver.

“For what you gained at that point in time for what you had to give up it wasn’t that big of a decision for us,” said Gailey. ”To me I think Buddy said, ‘Hey we’re this close, why not guarantee ourselves the pick, just to give up a seventh rounder in this draft.’ We already had another seventh rounder so it wasn’t like that was a huge leap of faith or anything. It was just trying to insure that we got one of those fast guys.”

Nix said that Buffalo liked four of the speed receivers that they felt were worthy of coming off the board at that time in round 3, but three of them were already gone and it was still a few picks away from when the Bills would be on the clock.

Be sure to watch the Inside the Draft Room special as there are many other behind the scenes events that went down in assembling this year’s draft class.

Nix on how Glenn pick came to be

As part of our Inside the draft room special on Buffalobills.com, GM Buddy Nix and head coach Chan Gailey walk us through what happened in the draft room through the course of the team’s first three choices, and what teams were interested in making possible moves with Buffalo.

After taking Stephon Gilmore in round one, the Bills zeroed in on Cordy Glenn with their second-round pick. But with only two offensive tackles coming off the board in round one there was concern that the run on tackles could start before Buffalo’s ninth pick in round 2.

“We were concerned,” said Nix. ”The thing we felt good about was we had four guys at that pick (that we liked) and we thought one of the four would be there. We didn’t know if it would be a tackle or not. As it turned out it was, but one of the four would’ve been there.”

Knowing there were eight picks before Buffalo’s and they had four players they liked at 41, I followed up by asking Buddy if they were sweating just a bit.

“Obviously you sweat it. You can’t help but have your favorites,” he said. ”We kind of knew what five of the picks were going to be and we knew our guys were going to be there.”

Be sure to watch our exclusive Inside the Draft Room piece in its entirety. It’s stuff you won’t find anywhere else.

Inside the Bills draft room

Just wanted to make everyone aware that our much anticipated Inside the Bills Draft room special is now available at the media center of Buffalobills.com. Here’s a small snippet of what Bills GM Buddy Nix revealed to us regarding trade talk and their top pick at 10th overall.

There were a couple of teams in frequent contact with the Bills and it wasn’t to have the Bills move down, but rather up higher in the top 10.

“They were both in the top 10,” said Nix. ”They both made calls before the draft and then made them before their pick. Same two to move to the same spots. Again we usually let it come to us and that’s what we did again.”

When I asked if the price to move up was too steep Nix said it wasn’t.

“It wasn’t a high price,” he said. ”It was very reasonable. We could’ve moved easily, but I look at the guy we got and the pick they wanted for us to move up and it wouldn’t have been worth it.”

Check out what else Nix and head coach Chan Gailey had to say about how each of the team’s first three picks came down.

BDC 5/10: Bills AFL RB to be inducted tonight

DAILY REPORT
–Former Buffalo Bills RB Wray Carlton will be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame tonight. Carlton, who attended Duke University, played for the Bills for eight seasons (1960-1967) and was part of the AFL Championship team. Per StatsPass.com, Carlton was the Buffalo Bills’ all-time leading rusher during the AFL years with 3,368 yards on 819 carries and 29 touchdowns. He still resides in Orchard Park, N.Y. with his wife Susan.

–Bills Captain and S George Wilson will be interacting with students at Holy Family Catholic School in Bowmanville, Ontario tomorrow, May 11^th at 9:30a.m., as part of the NFL’s ‘Take a Player to School’ program. Twelve-year old Joshuwa Cappe-Moore will be taking a limo ride to school with Wilson and will join him on stage for a special assembly with topics including healthy lifestyle and anti-bullying.

THIS DAY IN NFL HISTORY
May 10, 1970 — THREE NFL TEAMS JOIN AFC
Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced that the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers would join the 10 original AFL teams to form the AFC. Starting in 1970, there would be 13 teams in the American Football Conference and 13 teams in the National Football Conference in the new National Football League.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
DE Shawne Merriman
On the off-season additions to the defense especially DE Mario Williams:
“Mario is not an impactful player, he is dominant, and he’s proven that. Just seeing him walk around you can tell by the guy’s physique, that he’s not something that is just not ordinary walking around here. His football play speaks for itself. Just having him, Kyle (Williams), Marcell (Dareus), Nick (Barnett), and Kirk (Morrison) back, and the secondary guys who are quiet leaders on the team that people do not give a lot of credit to like George Wilson. Just the overall attitude of guys walking around in this building is great.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Bills QB/WR Brad Smith participated in the 18^th Annual North Shore Animal League America Pet Adoptathon in Port Washington last weekend. Smith is holding a puppy named Ricco.

DAILY LINKS
BuffaloBills.com – Asper, Sanders did scouting of their own

Buffalo News – Carlton headed to N.C. Hall

Durham Herald – Duke great Wray Carlton to be inducted into N.C. Hall Thursday

Evansville Courier & Press – Nothing is stronger than a mother’s pride

Audio/Video/Photo Clips
WGR 550
Bills Kyle Williams is progressing

Additional Clips
Inside the Bills Blog
4-3 ‘D’ will put D-line on attack

AFC East Blog (ESPN.com)
Poll: Second place in AFC East

Buffalo Rumblings
Fred Jackson Contract: How Does It Stack Up Against His Peers?
Buffalo Bills HC Chan Gailey Approval Poll: May 2012

Pro Football Weekly
Third-year AFC East players entering crucial offseason: Arthur Moats

Buffalowdown
Buffalo Bills Rookie Mini-Camp This Weekend – 21 Additional Players Invited to Try Out

Buffalo Wins
Improvements for Ralph Wilson Stadium

Bills AFL RB Carlton to be honored

Former Bills RB Wray Carlton is going to be honored tonight in his home state of North Carolina.

Carlton will be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame this evening (Thursday). The player who scored the first touchdown in Bills history was an All-ACC performer and honorable mention All-American at Duke and a heralded three-sport high school star.

Carlton still lives in Orchard Park long after his playing days came to an end in 1968.

BDC 5/9: Rookie Camp this weekend

ROOKIE MINI-CAMP WORKOUT SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, MAY 11
3:35 pm – 5:00 pm (Open to media; media availability following)

SATURDAY, MAY 12
10:15 am – 11:45 am (Closed to media; media availability following)
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm (Closed to media; media availability following)

SUNDAY, MAY 13
11:30 am – 1:00 pm (Closed to media; media availability following)

NUMBER OF THE DAY
–100,000: Following Draft weekend, the Bills Mobile App surpassed 100,000 downloads. You can download the Bills Mobile App here>>>

THIS DAY IN BILLS HISTORY
May 9, 1996 – LEVY INDUCTED TO WALL OF FAME
The Bills announced that Head Coach Marv Levy would become the tenth person to be inducted to the team’s Wall of Fame.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Former Bills Head Coach Marv Levy – May 1996
On being the tenth person to be inducted on the team’s Wall of Fame:
“I was very taken aback. It was totally unexpected and I mean it. I’m very honored. I was so surprised because I’m still active here.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Spokesmen Aaron Williams and George Wilson film the PSA for the American Red Cross Blood Drive being held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Paul Maguire Club on June 13^th. 

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Former Monmouth QB and Bills free agent tryout Alex Tanney has been a YouTube sensation with his video performing trick shots which has received over two million hits.

DAILY LINKS
Rochester D&C – Trick shot QB Alex Tanney earns Buffalo Bills tryout

BuffaloBills.com – K Potter could be big weapon

BuffaloBills.com – Bills Announce Tryout Players

BuffaloBills.com – Defensive incumbents pumped by possibilities

NFL.com – Cameron Wake, Fred Jackson enjoy offseason of the underdog

Wellsville Daily – Wilson deserves credit for Bills’ big offseason

Audio/Video/Photo Clips
BuffaloBills.com
Sports Night to Toast Bills Offensive Line
Bills Focus: Graham Bringing Deep Speed to Buffalo

Additional Clips
Inside the Bills Blog
Bills tryout QB a trick shot artist, Pair of UB DBs to try out, National optimism for Bills, O-line ranks pre-2012

AFC East Blog (ESPN.com)
What’s next for C.J. Spiller in Buffalo?
Ranking AFC East running backs

Buffalo Rumblings
Poll: Who Gets The Next Contract Extension From The Buffalo Bills?

AFC East Daily
AFC East full of interesting running back situations
Buddy Nix taking ‘man of his word’ to another level

Buffalowdown
Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller: Can They Compare To The Thurman Thomas/Kenneth Davis Duo Of 1990?
Reflecting on Jerry Sullivan’s Most Recent Buffalo Bills’ Column

CBSsports.com
Playoffs? These five 2011 also-rans have a good shot at getting there
Offseason Power Rankings (#18)

RotoWorld.com
2012 Offensive Line Rankings (#13)

Buffalo Rising
Buffalo Bills Extend Fred Jackson: Big 3 Secure