Inside The Bills

Kick return candidates

Here during OTAs there are a few kick return candidates on the roster and special teams coordinator Danny Crossman is not short on talent.

Taking reps on kick return in OTAs this week were Marquise Goodwin, T.J. Graham, Brad Smith and Tashard Choice. Leodis McKelvin has been mentioned as an option as well, but he’s been limited to just individual position drill work in practices coming off his groin surgery earlier this offseason.

Nevertheless the speed quota is more than filled in the return game for Buffalo.

No. 1 overall seed hot in Bills Bracketology

Stevie Johnson’s alley-oop grab was ranked No. 1 for a reason. Bills fans are coming out strong in support of the play, helping the catch cruise to a victory yesterday in the 1st battle of the quarterfinals of Bills Bracketology. He came away with 74% of the vote as Leodis McKelvin’s coast-to-coast touchdown took the remaining 26%.

Second round action continues today as a Donald Jones TD picks a fight with the higher seeded McKelvin punt return during Thursday Night Football at the Ralph. It should be a close game, so cast your VOTE NOW!

Bills Bracketology “Marches” into 2nd round

With yesterday’s win over the 15th seeded Bryan Scott pick-and-roll to the endzone, C.J. Spiller’s dynamic 3rd seeded touchdown run against the New York Jets becomes the last team to move into the 2nd round of Bills Bracketology. Spiller won handily with 86% of the vote.

Today’s first quarterfinal battle between the No. 1 and No. 9 seeds reads like an easy win for Stevie Johnson, but it’s March, and there’s always potential for a sprinkle of madness!

“As the coach of the overall number one seed in the NCAA tournament I understand the pressure Stevie feels to perform, but we’re both ballers, so I’m confident we’ve got this,” Louisville Coach Rick Pitino might have said about this matchup. (Read which current Bills player is supporting Pitino and his Cardinals in their tournament run.)

While you’re filling out your brackets in the next few days, make sure you stay tuned to buffalobills.com for close battles between some of the best plays of the 2012 season. VOTE NOW for your first quarterfinal favorite!

McKelvin with repeat wins in Bills Bracketology

Yesterday’s 4- vs. 13-seed game was the most exciting first-round game yet. A late push from Leodis McKelvin’s punt return for a touchdown in our Thursday night home game finished off Jairus Byrd’s 2^nd interception of the day in Arizona. The final score was 59% for McKelvin’s return to Byrd’s 41%.

It’s safe to say McKelvin came to play in this year’s Bills Bracketology; this marks his second win in just four games played so far.

Byrd is back for revenge today after yesterday’s loss to take on C.J. Spiller’s 49-yard run against the Jets. WATCH the plays and VOTE now in today’s matchup!

Upset City in yesterday’s Bills Bracketology

Bills Bracketology took a trip to Upset City yesterday when the 9^th seeded Leodis McKelvin kick return came away with a clean victory over a highly touted C.J. Spiller 8^th seed.

McKelvin surged early, perhaps due to his recent contract extension with the Bills, and finished with 77% of the vote, leaving C.J.’s impressive cross of the Cardinals defense with 23%.

With that win, the coast-to-coast return will move on to next week’s second round and will face the No. 1 overall seed and can’t-miss play of the year, Stevie Johnson’s alley-oop catch vs. Seattle.

Today’s matchup pits the 5^th seeded Donald Jones TD catch against  Chris Kelsay’s  12^th seeded game-changing safety in Arizona. Will newly-retired Kelsay have the juice to beat Jones? Watch the plays and cast your vote now!

Marrone confirms McKelvin up for LCB job

In the wake of Leodis McKelvin officially re-signing with the Bills Monday head coach Doug Marrone confirmed McKelvin will be part of the competition for the starting left cornerback role.

“We’re excited that Leodis remains on our roster,” said Bills head coach Doug Marrone in a team statement. “Obviously, he is one of the most exciting kick returners in the game today, but we’re also counting on him to be very competitive for the starting corner position opposite Stephon Gilmore. We feel he could play an important role in our defense moving forward.”

Marrone also confirmed that Stephon Gilmore is the starting RCB.

McKelvin post-surgery update

Leodis McKelvin missed the last three games of the 2012 season and wound up on injured reserve to end the year due to a groin injury that required surgery. Here’s where McKelvin stands in his recovery from his procedure.

McKelvin had surgery on Jan. 10th and has approximately a three to four month timetable for recovery.

“For right now I’m still rehabbing, getting back and getting stronger,” McKelvin told Buffalobills.com. ”I don’t know what the timetable is, but I’m getting better and better every day and I will be out there.”  

It’s likely that McKelvin will not be ready to participate in the team’s first veteran voluntary minicamp from April 16th-18th, but he should stand a good chance to be ready for OTAs beginning in mid-May.

Family part of McKelvin’s decision to re-sign

Leodis McKelvin had his reasons for wanting to re-sign with the Bills. As much as he feels the Bills organization has become his extended family, it was his own family that played a role in his decision to re-up with Buffalo.

“I’ve got my nephews and my brothers up here staying with me (in Buffalo so that was a key situation as for me staying here,” McKelvin told Buffalobills.com. ”My family and the Bills, the guys coming back that are my family. I’ve grown relationships with them and I love them. I just left from Houston where I was at Da’Norris Searcy’s wedding over the weekend. I just enjoy being around them.”

McKelvin will now try to be a leader in Buffalo’s secondary as he’s currently the oldest member of the defensive backfield at age 27. He’ll turn 28 September 1st, right before the start of the regular season.

Report: Bills re-sign McKelvin

According to FOXSports.com the Bills have re-signed impending free agent CB Leodis McKelvin.

McKelvin led the league in punt return average last season.

http://msn.foxsports.com/topics/device/mobile/t/71907695/source-bills-re-sign-mckelvin.htm?m_n=true

Nix on McKelvin: We’d like to keep him

Bills GM Buddy Nix shared his thoughts on the team’s own free agents while out at the NFL Combine. Though Jairus Byrd and Andy Levitre are likely high priorities, in a perfect world he’d like to re-sign them all.

In a morning appearance on WGR Sportsradio 550, Nix stated a desire to keep all of their free agents including CB Leodis McKelvin.

“Leodis is a guy we’d like to keep,” said Nix. 

And while re-signing all of their unrestricted free agents would be fine with Nix, he also realizes that may not happen.

“We’d like to keep all our guys. There does come a time when you can’t keep everybody and it just doesn’t fit,” Nix said. ”If somebody else see their value as a lot more than we do then good luck to them and good luck to the player.”

McKelvin makes USA Today All-Joe team

Leodis McKelvin, who led the league in punt return average in 2012, has made another postseason honor team.

McKelvin was named to the USA Today All-Joe team.

Here’s what was written about McKelvin. The All-Joe team was started in 1992 by USA Today’s Larry Weisman to recognize the unsung players on teams naming a full 53-man roster.

Returner — Leodis McKelvin (Bills): His 18.7-yard average on punt returns was the second-best since the 1970 merger, and he brought two back for TDs; he also averaged 28.3 yards on kickoffs.

Polian lists Byrd, Levitre among his top FAs

ESPN NFL analyst and former NFL GM Bill Polian put together his list of top free agent talent set to hit the market in mid-March and two Bills appear near the top of his list.

Polian graded pending free agents with A, B and C grades. Here’s how he valued those grades in terms of investment.

A Players: Worth paying big, starter-caliber money.
B Players: Guys I would sign but only if the value made sense.
C Players: Guys I’d sign for low-salary, short-term (one or two years) value, with low bonuses.

Appearing on his ‘A’ list for offense was Bills free agent G Andy Levitre, who was listed 8th overall on the offensive side. Here’s Polian’s assessment.

Andy Levitre
Player Analysis: Levitre is a very solid, professional, strong, offensive guard. While he has the talent, his position might limit the money he’ll see.

Appearing on his ‘A’ list for defense was Bills free agent S Jairus Byrd, who ranked 12th on the defensive list.

Jairus Byrd
Player Analysis: Timed speed is a question mark, but instincts, toughness and production are not.

The only other Bills that appeared on Polian’s free agent list were Leodis McKelvin (B grade – but injury concerns) and Tashard Choice (C grade).

Crossman on McKelvin

It’s hard for a special teams coordinator to not like a dynamic return talent like Leodis McKelvin, especially when he leads the league in punt return average (18.7). Of course Bills new special teams coordinator Danny Crossman also realizes that with McKelvin an unrestricted free agent, he’s not guaranteed the opportunity to work with him.

“When you mention a player like Leodis McKelvin who is naturally gifted and has had a very good career, there are those in both the NFL and college who just have the innate ability to make big plays,” said Crossman in a team statement. ”Some guys are blessed with it and some are not. It is exciting to look at a guy with that caliber and possibly have the opportunity to work with as well as the other positions of the unit here.”

McKelvin made it clear that his first choice would be to re-sign with the Bills.

“I would love to stay here,” said McKelvin. “This team gave me my chance to live my dream as an NFL player.”

Leodis makes another All-NFL list

Leodis McKelvin’s league-leading punt return average in 2012 has landed him on yet another All-NFL list.

Pro Football Weekly named McKelvin to their All-NFL team as their punt returner. McKelvin led the league with an 18.7 punt return average and was one of only two players with two punt returns for touchdowns in 2012. Here’s PFW’s All-NFL squad.

Offense
QB Peyton Manning / Broncos
RB Adrian Peterson / Vikings
RB Marshawn Lynch / Seahawks
WR Calvin Johnson / Lions
WR Brandon Marshall / Bears
TE Rob Gronkowski / Patriots
C John Sullivan / Vikings
OG Mike Iupati / 49ers
OG Marshal Yanda / Ravens
OT Duane Brown / Texans
OT Ryan Clady / Broncos
 
Defense
DE J.J. Watt / Texans
DE Cameron Wake / Dolphins
DT Geno Atkins / Bengals
DT Vince Wilfork / Patriots
OLB Von Miller / Broncos
OLB Aldon Smith / 49ers
MLB Patrick Willis / 49ers
CB Richard Sherman / Seahawks
CB Charles Tillman / Bears
S Earl Thomas / Seahawks
S Eric Weddle / Chargers
 
Specialists
PK Blair Walsh / Vikings
P Andy Lee / 49ers
KR Jacoby Jones / Ravens
PR Leodis McKelvin / Bills
ST Matthew Slater / Patriots

Handful of Bills on PFF all-AFC East team

There are a handful of Bills players that were selected for the ProFootballFocus all AFC East team.

Their choices were the ones most would expect. Here’s who appeared on their squad and what PFF wrote about them.

Running Back: C.J. Spiller (BUF)
It wasn’t his fault he received only 207 carries. However, he can take full responsibility for making the most of those carries, ending the year with a league leading 94.6 Elusive Rating after forcing 66 missed tackles from his 250 touches of the ball.

Wide Receivers: Wes Welker (NE), Brian Hartline (MIA) and Stevie Johnson (BUF)
We wanted to put a fullback in here, but there really wasn’t one in this division that either played enough, or played well enough. That made life a lot easier for us, going with Hartline and Johnson, with Welker working from the slot. All three ranked in our Top 30 for receiving grades by wide outs, and each of them put in a 1,000 yard season.

Guards: Andy Levitre (BUF) and Brandon Moore (NYJ)
There was a legitimate case for both Richie Incognito and Logan Mankins here. As good as Levitre was in pass protection (and he was very good), he really failed to consistently get much movement in the run game. In the end though, his competition just didn’t do enough to oust him. At right guard, Moore finished the season playing as well as any lineman, ending the year our third ranked right guard.

Defensive Tackle: Kyle Williams (BUF) and Muhammed Wilkerson (NYJ)
A controversial decision here with Vince Wilfork missing out. While he was dominant at times, there weren’t many games Williams or Wilkerson didn’t have their way with interior linemen. The more complete player of the two is the Bill, whose relentless play results in plenty of pressure (45 quarterback disruptions, ranking third among all defensive tackles). Wilkerson plays as a defensive end for the Jets in their 3-4 alignment, but the way he can get off interior blocks is something to behold. He had 46 defensive stops in the run game, second among all defensive linemen.

Safeties: Jairus Byrd (BUF) and Reshad Jones (MIA)
Byrd is going to be paid a lot of money, and very soon. There aren’t many ballhawking safeties like the Bill, who has the kind of range that should scare quarterbacks for years to come. He had our highest coverage grade of all safeties and was ranked second overall this year. That’s one spot above Jones, who missed too many tackles in the second half of the year, but became a real playmaker for Miami.

Returner: Leodis McKelvin (BUF)
It could very easily have been Marcus Thigpen, with the two men one and two in our returner rankings.

Leodis makes King’s All-Pro team

SI.com’s Peter King published his 2012 All-Pro team and Leodis McKelvin made the squad.

King had McKelvin as his punt returner. McKelvin led the league in punt return average with a mark of 18.7 and was one of only two players with a pair of returns for touchdowns on punts. Here’s King’s entire All-Pro team.

Byrd, McKelvin, Spiller make All-Pro PFF team

The film reviewers and analytic stat crunchers at Pro Football Focus have put out their 2012 All-Pro team and three Bills make an appearance.

Jairus Byrd earned 1st team free safety honors, while Leodis McKelvin earned a second team nod as a return man and C.J. Spiller earned a second team naming at RB. Here’s what was written about all three Bills players.

Free Safety: Jairus Byrd (BUF)
There isn’t a better deep safety in football than Byrd who picked up five interceptions and only allowed 16 catches all year into his coverage. Byrd has rare range and ability and it’s always on display.

Returner: Second team – Leodis McKelvin (BUF)
While he was just picked over Marcus Thigpen here, before missing time, McKelvin had a very real shot at first team honors.

Running back: Second Team - C.J. Spiller (BUF)
In the end Spiller received the nod over Marshawn Lynch and Alfred Morris with the only negative being in how poorly he was used.

I-R won’t keep Leodis out of Pro Bowl

If Leodis McKelvin earns the nod from players and coaches to represent the AFC as their designated returner, his current injured reserve status would not keep him from being named to the team or from participating.

According to the NFL league office, McKelvin being placed on injured reserve does not rule him out for the Pro Bowl. If he is voted in he would have to pass a physical prior to the week of Pro Bowl to participate.

Now with the news that McKelvin is likely to have groin surgery, participating may not happen. McKelvin leads the NFL in punt return average with a mark of 18.7 and has two returns for touchdowns. He’s also among the league leaders in kick return average.

For those wondering why Fred Jackson wasn’t afforded this discretion last year, McKelvin was placed on injured reserve after the player/coach ballots were finalized. Jackson’s moved to injured reserve happened a month before that happened last year.

The Pro Bowl rosters are scheduled to be announced on Dec. 26th on NFL Network at 7 pm.

A. Williams steps closer to full workload

CB Aaron Williams returned to action last week against Seattle for the first time since suffering knee injury in Week 9. He played 36 snaps, but the coaching staff is still hesitant to play him for 50 or 60 snaps on defense after just one game back.

“No, I don’t think he would go do that,” said head coach Chan Gailey of Williams’ workload. ”He might have to (play that much) out of necessity, but we would rather not.”

With Leodis McKelvin now on injured reserve, Buffalo has just Stephon Gilmore, Justin Rogers and Williams as the only cornerbacks left from the beginning of the season still on the roster and healthy. Ron Brooks came aboard midseason with Crezdon Butler and T.J. Heath called up from the practice squad not long after.

McKelvin likely headed for surgery

Bills CB Leodis McKelvin, who went on injured reserve Thursday with a groin injury, apparently has a problem that will require repair through surgery.

That according to Bills head coach Chan Gailey.

“I think eventually he’s going to require some sort of procedure,” said Gailey. ”He’s going to need something done. So it was bad enough where we said, ‘Don’t play and let’s get that done.’”

For Buffalo’s return game it’s a blow to the unit. McKelvin is leading the league in punt return average (18.7) and is the only punt returner with a pair of returns for touchdowns this season.

“It was shaping up to be one of the better ones in a long, long time,” said Gailey of McKelvin’s season. ”You miss a guy like that, you really do.”