Bills top cornerback Stephon Gilmore will be appearing on the Howard Simon show Tuesday morning at 7:30.

Bills receiver T.J. Graham will be on The Fan 1270 AM Tuesday at 1:30 pm

CBSSports.com’s Pete Prisco ranked the top sub-23-year olds in the NFL and Stephon Gilmore ranked seventh overall. Here’s what was written about the Bills top cornerback.

7. Stephon Gilmore, CB, Buffalo Bills – He started 16 games as a rookie and showed some nice coverage skills, even if he had some moments where he struggled. Gilmore is a big corner who has good speed. He lined up on the other team’s top receivers a lot, and did a nice job.

Not exactly glowing, but a very good ranking for Gilmore, who should be noticeably improved this season with a year of NFL experience under his belt.

Only one cornerback under the age of 23 was ranked higher than Gilmore. It was Arizona’s Patrick Peterson, who ranked number one overall.

Gilmore is in town this week for the Bills veterans voluntary offseason conditioning program.  And he says although he’ll miss Safety George Wilson and Cornerback Terrence McGee, life goes on.

“ I talked to George and Terrence the other day,” Gilmore says.  “They told me to just keep doing what I’m doing, working hard, and the sky’s the limit.  I learned a lot from Terrence from him being here a long time, and being the player that he was.  And George, being as smart as he is, he helped me out a lot of the field.”

Gilmore, Buffalo’s 1st round draft pick last season, has had his initial meetings with the new Bills coaching staff.  And he’s already picked up on a new, positive attitude.

“I think this new coaching staff is very excited about being here,” he says.  “They bring a different vibe—being more excited, and us being more excited than they are.”

“ Just the excitement, everybody  happy to be here.  It’s one thing coming in being the coach, but it’s another thing coming in and being excited, and telling the players we’re ready to roll.”

Monday’s Bills Bracketology matchup was a battle of David and Goliath, and Goliath won.

In our madness kickoff game, the No. 1 seed, ‘Stevie’s alley-oop catch vs. Seattle,’ bullied the No. 16 seed, ‘Stephon Gilmore’s ‘diaper dandy’ interception,’ to an 83% to 17% landslide victory.

As Dick Vitale might say, “The diaper dandy was no match for that Yeevie, baby!”

With that win, Stevie’s catch will move into next week’s second round of Bills Bracketology madness, and will play the winner of today’s 8-seed vs. 9-seed matchup. Anything could happen in this battle of equals, so vote NOW for your pick between the 8^th seeded play, ‘Spiller crosses up the Arizona D for the TD’ and the 9^th seeded play, ‘Leodis takes it coast-to-coast vs. Kansas City.’

VOTE NOW: Bills Bracketology

Gilmore encouraged Sanders to work hard with a tweet to his former college teammate.

S/o to my homie@acesanders1 going pro, another gamecock going to make his dream come true. Good luck bro work hard. #respect

— Stephon Gilmore (@BumpNrunGilm0re) January 16, 2013

Sanders became the 75th underclassman to declare for the 2013 NFL draft. It’s the highest number of underclassmen ever in a draft pool. At 5’8″ and 175 his size will push him down the draft board, but with players like Jacquizz Rodgers and Trindon Holliday able to find a niche in the league, it’s expected that Sanders will as well.

Kiper had Stephon Gilmore on his All-Rookie roster. Here’s what he wrote about the talented cornerback.

Stephon Gilmore, Bills:
Much was expected of Gilmore after Buffalo took him with the No. 10 pick, but I think he fulfilled expectations this season. In terms of simply being able to cover, he was the best corner the Bills had this season. I think he needs to improve but will continue to and will live up to the spot where he was taken. I had Gilmore just ahead of Morris Claiborne, who was very good this season, as well as the emerging Alfonzo Dennard. Josh Norman was also in the mix.

It’s turned into a great debut season for the Bills 1st round draft pick.

In an appearance Wednesday night on The John Murphy Show, Gilmore talked about his rookie campaign in the league, and about the difference between the NFL season and what he was used to in college.

“It’s a long NFL season compared to what I’m used to, but I just keep pushing on,” Gilmore said.  “I don’t think I actually hit a wall, but my legs did feel a little heavy about three weeks ago.  I think I got over that hump, and now I’m OK.”

Gilmore has made his mark on defense for the Bills.  He’s been credited with 16 pass breakups, good for 7th in the NFL.

“It’s a good accomplishment,” he said.  “I wish I had more interceptions.  You can’t really go on stats, they’re good sometimes.  As long as you’re playing good football, consistent football, I think you’re having a good year.”

“They’re definitely going to throw my way, at least a couple of times a game. I just got to be in position to make a play.”

Gilmore told host John Murphy his game continues to evolve and improve, and he’s looking for more improvement in the final two games of the season.

“I definitely feel like I improved a lot from the first game until now, I feel like I’m still getting better as we talk,” he said.  “I just feel like I’m guarding the best receiver every game, that’s an accomplishment this year. And I’ve played physical with everyone I’ve gone up against.”

The John Murphy Show airs weeknights from 7pm-9pm on the flagship station of the Bills, WGR Sports Radio 550.

Janet and Nick – Kiss 98.5
Stephon Gilmore – 8:00 AM

Wayne operates primarily out of the slot now where he’ll be put in a stack formation to help him gain separation off the line. As well as Gilmore has played of late I get the sense that they don’t want to move Gilmore inside now to line up in the slot and ask him to play in a role he has not played to this point in a game in his pro career.

I’d expect to see Gilmore lined up opposite Wayne when he lines up outside, but inside Justin Rogers is expected to be the slot corner on Wayne.

Gilmore was rated 10th best rookie performer through the first half of the 2012 regular season. Here were his thoughts.

10) Stephon Gilmore, CB, Buffalo Bills
Gilmore might be overlooked in Buffalo, but he’s been a standout defender for the Bills. He’s been targeted by opposing offenses 39 times, but has allowed just 18 catches, a 46.1 percent success rate. He also has 11 passes defensed, 34 tackles and one forced fumble.

One year after injuring his other knee, Lattimore suffered a dislocated knee and damaged knee ligaments in the second quarter of USC’s game against Tennessee.  And Bills rookie CB Stephon Gilmore was there on the sidelines to see it in person.

Gilmore, the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft last April, was a guest on The John Murphy Show Monday night.    He watched the South Carolina-Tennessee game at his alma mater, taking advantage of the Bills four day break for the bye week to return home.

The Bills CB is a former teammate of Lattimore and kept in touch with him via text since Gilmore arrived in Buffalo this past year.  And he talked to us about watching the injury in person.

“It was a bad experience.  He’s a good kid, he works hard,” Gilmore said on the radio show.  “And it happened back to back years, this one was the other leg.  I went to see him after the game in the hospital, and told him to keep his head up, and keep working hard and pray about it, and if he needs anything he can call me and talk to him.”

We were very close in college,” Gilmore continued, “and I texted him a lot during the season.  We definitely stayed in touch.  He’s a good kid, and I told him if he needs anything, to call me.”

Bills DE Mario Williams was back in the building and working out in the weight room.  He says he’ll definitely play against the Texans this weekend, as he recovers from an arthroscopic procedure on his wrist last Tuesday.  We’ll hear the entire Mario Williams session with the media today in our first segment at 7pm.

At 7:20pm, rookie CB Stephon Gilmore joins us in studio to review his first seven games, and look ahead to the rest of his rookie campaign.  Gilmore is just back from a weekend visit to his old school, South Carolina, where he watched former Gamecock teammate Marcus Lattimore go down with a serious knee injury.  We’ll ask Gilmore about that.

Our man Chris Brown from Buffalo Bills.com will check in a couple of times from Buffalo Wild Wings, his usual Monday night appearance there.

And Joe Buscaglia from WGR 550 will join us at 8pm for his take on Mario Williams return, and the Bills final nine games of the season.

We’ll make time for phone calls from Bills fans as well.

The John Murphy Show airs weeknights from 7pm-9pm on the flagship station of the Buffalo Bills, WGR Sports Radio 550.

1 - Hey Chris,

I really want to like our CB’s, but can you explain why they are both getting burned on numerous plays, and at times they look like they’re not sure where they are supposed to be on the field? Specifically I have seen Stephon Gilmore on TD passes nowhere near the receiver. 

Thank you,
Worried Bills D-Fan
Don
Norwalk, CT

CB: I think what you’re seeing are growing pains with the two young cornerbacks. They’re learning on the job. I think the defensive staff also felt going into the season that the pass rush would be more consistent week to week thereby helping the young corners on the back end by hurrying the passer.

Gilmore and Williams have both been fooled more than once this season, but coaches have to have faith that their play will improve as the year moves along. Gilmore had a good outing against Larry Fitzgerald. As we pointed out in our Tuesday feature, in the five times he was matched up on Fitzgerald in last week’s game he gave up one reception for 14 yards.

I think the second half of the schedule you’ll begin to see more consistent play from both of them, and if that’s not the case some changes are likely to be in order.

2 - Hi  Chris

Please advise when we can expect Cordy Glenn, Spencer Johnson, & Kraig Urbik

to return to the lineup? 

Thanks and regards
From
Richard
Boca Raton, FL

CB: Right now Spencer Johnson is expected to play on Sunday against the Titans coming off his ankle injury. The hope is that Kraig Urbik and Cordy Glenn will be ready for the Week 9 game at Houston following the bye week.

3 – Chris,

Do you really understand the frustration from the fans? It’s been 12 years since we sniffed the playoffs. I wonder when they will replace the GM and HC position. Also, this team is not difficult to pick apart. We have no deep threat receiver so we dink and dunk down the field. It’s just a matter of time before we throw a pick because of timed offense. All the defense has to do is slow our run game and have Fitz hold onto the ball because it’s a matter of time before Fitz makes a mistake. Just watching the games it’s like Buffalo is a step or two behind on mentality, confidence, and being aggressive. I still think Buffalo is maybe 3-5 years from becoming great again but I’m not holding my breath.

CB: I do understand your frustration. I’ve been on hand for every one of those games the last 12 years, so I get it. What you can’t deny is Buddy Nix and his personnel staff have improved the talent of this roster and its depth. I know having patience is something that’s difficult to preach, but if you want to blow up the front office again you re-start the process  of building the team because each GM has a different way of doing things when it comes to building a team.

The Bills did admittedly struggle with their mental toughness in the second half of the New England and San Francisco games, but I don’t know of a game where their mental toughness was challenged more often than the Arizona game and they persevered. We’ll if they can build on that moving forward.

Every NFL club has strengths and weaknesses. The collective records in the AFC with seven teams sporting 3-3 records is strong indication of that, one of which is the Bills.

No one is asking you to hold your breath and again the disappointment is understood. But this team has an opportunity this year and we’re about at the midway point of the season. Let’s let it play out.

4 - Is there a chance that we are bringing back lights out for our SLB position that has been rotated by players who couldn’t lock down the job?

Thanks CB!
Dan Figueroa from CA

CB: No, Merriman will re-assume defensive end duties for the Bills. Merriman needs to be up on the line of scrimmage to be at his most effective.

5 - Hey Chris,

I was wondering, do the bills players receive mail from fans and reply to them?  I was wondering because after last year’s win against the Patriots, Byrd threw his gloves into the stands and I was lucky enough to catch one of them.  I took it to training camp this year but was not able to get to him.  Is there any other way I might be able to get his signature?  I have a few pieces of memorabilia that I have been able to get signed and really would like to add this piece to my collection. 
Thanks for all you and your team do for us Bills fans!
Anthony

CB: The best course of action there is to send them by regular mail to One Bills Drive addressed to the player’s attention along with a self-addressed stamped envelope for return postage. The best time is during the regular season when you know they’re here in town.

Here’s the address

One Bills Drive
Orchard Park, NY 14127

“They’ve become a more aggressive group,” said head coach Chan Gailey. ”To me, that’s one of the things that’s been a bright spot, they’ve played more aggressively the last two weeks. I thought they were kind of on their heels in the first game and since that they’ve started to come and play a lot more aggressively. That’s been something we needed.”

Gilmore was beat for a touchdown last Sunday against Cleveland when he got turned around on what looked like a post-corner route, but over the past two games Gilmore and Williams have combined for 13 tackles and 6 pass breakups. They’ll face a much stiffer test this week against New England. Playing more press coverage has been part of the reason for the improvement as we pointed out earlier this week.

Thanks to the film reviewers and stat crunchers at ProFootballFocus, Buffalo’s two starting cornerbacks rank in the top 5 in the NFL in terms of cornerbacks that are in press coverage the most. Here’s the PFF chart.

The only reason Williams numbers are lesser than those of Gilmore is because Williams has rotated in and out of the lineup through the course of games with Terrence McGee. But with an improved pass rush, Buffalo knows opponents will try to get the ball out fast. Putting their corners in press coverage can take away the quick underneath routes and force opposing QBs to hold the ball just a bit longer thereby providing a better chance for the pass rushers to get home.

With respect to Leodis McKelvin, who surrendered three third down conversions and a pair of touchdowns was asked if McKelvin had reverted back to 2011 form.

“It looked like his leverage got out of whack,” said Gailey. ”He played his leverage right almost every snap of the preseason, but he lost his leverage yesterday. I don’t know if the speed of the game got him or what got him during the course of the game. But he lost leverage on about three or four coverages and let the guy outrun him for the touchdown.”

On Stephon Gilmore, Gailey explained how initially in the preseason Gilmore played tentative and then turned it up and played more like himself in the preseason finale with his trademark aggressiveness. But it didn’t show up Sunday as Gailey saw it.

“A little soft. He played a little tentative,” said Gailey. ”He got off balance and played a little tentative yesterday. He has shown to be a much more physical and much more dominant force than he did yesterday. I think he’ll learn from this. He’s got all the tools.”

Brooks suffered a foot injury according to head coach Chan Gailey, who said Brooks got stepped on in practice. He did leave Tuesday’s practice early. With Terrence McGee also not making the trip for this game, Buffalo is shorthanded at cornerback with only five dressing for tonight’s game and Aaron Williams and Stephon Gilmore only expected to play 10 plays.

Gilmore suffered from a muscle cramp in his right calf. Since his night of playing time was over at the half he did not return.

“Yeah just a cramp,” said Gilmore. “I am good. I am 100 percent.”

Gilmore had three tackles in the loss to Pittsburgh.

“Yes it is time,” said Stephon Gilmore. “I am ready to go against other teams because we have been going against each other and have been wanting to hit each other so it is going to be a good feeling getting hit by other teams and trying to get wins.”

The Bills second preseason game is Friday at 8 pm at the Metrodome.

1 - Chris,
I was wondering if you could help me with a question I’ve had regarding the 3 or 4 WR sets that Bills have run a lot in the past.  Previously, we’ve had a lot of guys that worked primarily out of the slot, with Stevie and Donald Jones as the outside receivers.  However, this year it appears that Donald Jones has started to win the 2nd receiver spot, but also works out of the slot a lot.  I’ve assumed that David Nelson would be the 3rd receiver.  However, if Donald Jones moves into the slot, the 3rd receiver would then be an outside WR, instead of the primary slot receiver you normally see on other teams.  David Nelson has done a great job out of the slot, but he and Donald can’t both work out of the slot.  Do one of those two get pushed to the outside spot?  Do you see someone else winning that outside spot and relegating David to the 4th WR or lower, and only comes on for 4 and 5 WR formations?
-Chris, Penn State

CB: This is what I envision happening. I believe if Donald Jones wins the #2 WR job he will line up outside and David Nelson will fill the primary slot role in 3-wide sets. When the team goes 4-wide however, I believe Nelson and Jones will both line up inside with a fourth receiver coming on in the form of Derek Hagan, Marcus Easley, T.J. Graham or someone else to line up outside opposite Stevie.

If Donald Jones doesn’t win the #2 WR job then he’ll in essence be the team’s 4th wideout. So when the team again goes to 4-wide, he’ll come on the field and work out of the slot as well.

2 - If Stephon Gilmore locks in a one the two spots at corner is it safe to believe that either McGee or McKelvin are going to be released. I would say with the drafting of Brooks and the improvement of 2nd year player Rogers that it is kind of pointless wasting another year on either one. This could be a roster spot used on another MLB or one of the developmental TE’s we have. Thanks for all your great reporting on BuffaloBills.com!

PS. Have Buddy thought of adding another Pass rushing DT if Troup can’t get healthy?
CB: With respect to the secondary I think with the proliferation of spread formations across the league you need at least five corners on your active roster and one or two on your practice squad or six on the roster and one on the practice squad.

You may as well mark Gilmore down in pen at the right cornerback spot unless he struggles in the preseason games, but I don’t see it happening. Terrence McGee is a player that is not 100 percent back yet. It’s going to take some time, but barring a major setback I think he’ll remain on the roster. McKelvin has been worked as the primary slot corner so he’ll be on board.

The truth is you only have Gilmore, A. Williams, McGee, McKelvin, Rogers and Brooks and that’s six right there. Prince Miller, who was on the practice squad last year and still has eligibility, has had a nice camp too.

I don’t see McGee or McKelvin getting clipped unless McGee can’t recover from patellar tendon surgery.

Concerning the DT position, the Bills have plenty of depth there with the depth chart shaking out like this right now – Dareus, Williams – Sp. Johnson, Edwards – Carrington, Heard (recovering from injuries) – Gilbert, Ross. There already is respectable depth there so even if Troup can’t recover they have enough capable players.

3 - SutterDrew Aug 2,  via Twitter

@ChrisBrownBills hey Chris how long before Leonhard can go full out if he was to sign.

CB: The feedback I was able to get concerning his workout with the Bills Friday morning is that he’s not all the way back yet from his surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon. The situation is much the same with Terrence McGee, who if you’ve been out to practice have seen him laboring through drills at times.

Leonhard is about three to four weeks behind McGee in recovery. So signing him really isn’t an option right now.

I myself was wondering if the Bills doctors felt his knee would be ready in a month, could the Bills sign him now and place him on Active/PUP. That unfortunately is not allowed under league rules. Only a player that was already on the roster, but did not report to camp on time could be placed on Active/PUP once training camp has already begun.

4 – DennisBoyev Aug 2, via Twitter

@ChrisBrownBills – How is Kevin Brock doing so far?

CB: Unfortunately the young tight end is not getting many reps in the team portions of the practice setting. There’s no debating he’s athletic, but there’s another prospect that the coaching staff might be more interested in. Fendi Onobun, who much like Brock came in late last season, is every bit as athletic. He has seen more reps than Brock thus far and has made some plays.

It’s early and they haven’t played a preseason game, so I believe there are still many turns in the road at that position behind the top two TEs on the roster in Scott Chandler and Lee Smith.

5 - Chris,

We don’t hear much about him in the cornerback role? Has he slipped that far down the depth chart?

CB: Leodis has been the primary slot cornerback in camp. They’ve put him there in part because it reduces the risk of him getting beat deep, which was a problem in his game last season. He had a decent day Thursday registering a couple of pass breakups. He’s a fantastic athlete, but there are more things one has to be ready for covering the slot where receivers have two-ways gos, so it’ll bear watching in the preseason to see how he fares.