Is Buffalo Bills’ Ellis Lankster A Diamond in The Rough?

In 2007 Ellis Lankster the JUCO transfer from Whistler, Alabama didn’t even know if he would be playing for the Mountaineers because he was suspended from the team for having possession of a stolen laptop computer, needless to say, he had to work his way back into Rich Rodriguez’ good graces. 

In high school, as a senior Lankster had 24 TD’s, 19 rushing and five receiving scores, while also picking off nine passes on defense.  Over the course of his junior and senior season Lankster intercepted 22 passes.

Lankster then went on to play for Jones County Junior College where he intercepted five passes as a true freshman.  In 2006 he verbally committed to play for Mississippi State before changing his mind due to WVMU promising early playing time and exposure.

The negative exposure Lankster got didn’t help him.  He didn’t find the field extensively until 2008, but when he did find the field he made a good impression.

He made second team All Big East despite his first year starting, recording three interceptions and 68 tackles.  Not bad for a JUCO transfer.

Fast forward to now, with the 220th overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft the Buffalo Bills select Ellis Lankster.  All indications are that the Bills are impressed with what they are seeing, considering where he was picked.

He has found a way onto getting some first team nickel reps, granted most of the starters are resting injury ailments, but Cary Harris the DB picked in the sixth round is having trouble staying on the field due to injuries and Lankster is taking advantage of every opportunity he gets.

He may not play corner right away, but he could contribute on special teams, returning kicks or playing gunner.  Either way if Lankster continues to practice the way he has been, he should find a home with Buffalo.

Lankster has been proving he can play at a higher level every time he made the transition.  He just has to prove it one more time.

What Can Jairus Byrd Do for the Buffalo Bills?

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Anybody remember last season’s NFL Divisional Playoffs?

What did all four teams have in common? 

The Cardinals, Eagles, Ravens, and Steelers all had great safeties on their rosters.

We are talking guys that make big plays and single-handedly shifted the game’s momentum to their team’s favor.

Good safeties are usually found on great defenses. 

Whether it’s delivering the big hit or snatching the ball out of the air, safeties are the most important defensive backs on the field on any given play, which is why the Buffalo Bills decided to make Jairus Byrd the 42nd overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft.

While playing for Oregon the past three years, Byrd has managed to intercept 17 passes, defend 55 passes, and rack up 203 tackles—143 solo.

Not bad for the son of Gill Byrd, a two-time Pro-Bowler for the Chargers.

Compare those numbers to Ed Reed when he played for Miami and there is reason to get excited. Of course, you have to temper your expectations—the pros is a whole different level of football.

It certainly helps that his mentor is long-time standout, DB Aeneas Williams. If Byrd could come close to matching what Williams did for the Rams, the Bills have something special on their squad.

What helps Byrd’s overall game and his projected position switch is that he takes good angles to the ball and studies film, which makes him play faster than his timed speed. He is a solid technician and a quick learner, so making the transition from corner to safety shouldn’t be difficult.

The Bills are in desperate need of a guy with some ball-hawking skills, and outsiders and maybe even some fans were shocked with the selection, but let’s face it—the Bills had a grand total of 10 interceptions last year—they can use all the help they can get.

Just to put that number in perspective, Reed had nine interceptions last year. Clearly the Bills need somebody with that type of impact if they want to have a dominating defense.

The only question is, can Byrd be the guy to do it?

Come training camp, Byrd will be given every opportunity to win the starting free safety spot now occupied by Donte Whitner, but the feeling at One Bills Drive is they like Whitner better at the strong safety position.

Wherever Byrd fits, it should prove to be exciting to watch—that is if he dominates like he did while at Oregon.

Message to the Buffalo Bills: Shut Down the Circus

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It’s tough being a Buffalo Bills fan. The team gets no love, no respect. It seems like nowadays the Bills are the laughingstock of the NFL.

Ever since the Terrell Owens signing, there has been a frenzy of media attention. It’s like Bills quarterback Trent Edwards said in a recent interview with ESPN: If the Bills hadn’t signed T.O., you wouldn’t even be talking to me right now.

The Bills got the Monday night game solely because T.O. is news. He is arguably the greatest wide receiver to play the game, but I question what motivates him. It seems like he is going to bring a circus to town with his new reality TV show.

I mean, seriously, what are they going to cover? T.O. goes to organized team activity practice, T.O. goes to dinner with the team, T.O. goes to a Toronto strip club, etc.

While there is no denying he is a talented player and could bring some much needed swagger to this team, ultimately it just seems like a Jason Taylor-type deal.

Will his mind be on football come game day, or will he just be trying to set up his next career in acting/entertainment?

On top of all the T.O. commotion, Bills players seem to be getting arrested left and right. Marshawn Lynch is smoking pot and toting pistols around in a backpack, Donte Whitner is getting Tasered by the police outside of clubs, Ko Simpson is beating guys up in clubs, and Corey McIntyre is exposing himself to old ladies.

This is not the type of attention the Bills need. The team can’t afford to be known as the Cincinnati Bengals of the AFC East.

Guys who need to be on the field are jeopardizing their NFL careers. All teams have a problem child—it just seems like the Bills are stocking the stable with a problem family.

That’s why it’s ironic when general manager Russ Brandon says they are always looking for the utmost character from this football team.

I honestly don’t believe that these guys have bad intentions; I just question the crowd they hang around with.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone so harmful as an Adam “Pacman” Jones on the team just yet. It would really hurt the team if an impact player turned out to be like him, simply because the Bills are short on impact players to begin with. The Bills have a bunch of decent players, but nobody really seems to take over a game.

You could credit that to the fact that the team is relatively young and they are just now trying to figure out how to perfect their game in the pros, but make no mistake about it: These young players can’t afford to put more adversity on their plates.

The Bills could grow from all this commotion, and it might motivate players to prove the public’s perception of them to be incorrect.

Bills fans have to hope this is how it turns out because another 7-9 season would just prove that the circus is still running strong at One Bills Drive.

Ten Minutes with the Buffalo Bills’ John McCargo

First off, being a DT selected high in the 2006 NFL draft, how do you anticipate contributing to the Buffalo Bills defense this year? How do you plan to convince the coaching staff they should start you?

 

What have you done to prepare yourself for the upcoming 2009 season? What type of conditioning program have you gone through? What is your playing weight as of right now? Could you stand to get stronger?

 

What is Marcus Stroud like in the locker room? I know you haven’t had a chance to play with him, but do you think that he could help you with your game?

 

What was up with you and your defensive line coach, Bill Kollar? You guys didn’t seem to like each other. Does that play any part as to why you didn’t see the field? Are you glad to see him gone?

 

Were you shocked to see the Bills try to trade you to Indianapolis? What were your feelings after you failed the physical there? You came back to Buffalo, how were your teammates towards you? Were they receptive? How about your coaches?

 

Albert Haynesworth just hit the $100 million lottery? Does this motivate you? You seem to have the tools to perform, you just don’t seem to be consistent. Will this be the year you put it together?

 

Lastly, what is the realistic goal for the Buffalo Bills in the 2009 season?

The Bills and the 4-3/3-4 Hybrid

Since entering the 2009 offseason, the Buffalo Bills have done some intriguing things towards tweaking their defense. Already ranked 14^th in the league in total defense last year, they headed straight in that direction in the 2009 NFL draft even after trading Jason Peters their “Premier” LT.

Aaron Maybin is the best selection the Bills could have made, but the serious question is, does he fit the 4-3 as a DE? I don’t think so. Not yet anyway, so where does he go? 

I have him taking on a hybrid role. This guy is going to line up in a couple of spots to see where he fits best for the team. Standing at just under 6’4 and weighing in at 250 pounds, the kid looks like you prototype rush linebacker.

The guy has an ultra quick step, and guess what? He knows a guy on the team that conveniently plays a linebacker position in Paul Posluszny. Maybin could stand to really get to know how to play the linebacker position. I am not saying that he has to be a full time linebacker, but here’s something to think about:

You play him as a rush linebacker. The Bills have been drafting some intelligent players lately. Apparently they want guys that can play multi dimensional roles. Why would they want to do that unless they felt they could throw some defensive curveballs at opposing offensive coordinators?

Just think of it this way, The Bills can do a lot of different things right now. Maybin could line up next to Posluszny with Nic Harris playing an inside role as well.

Harris would be the perfect patrol man for the linebacker position. He can cover the middle of the field. You have him cover the weak zones in the field where a running back could be getting a dump pass. That pass is such a deadly asset in any teams offensive playbook, and defensive coordinators really need to look at shutting that particular part of a teams offense down.

With Kawika Mitchell having a stellar first season with the Bills at WLB, there is really no point of moving him away from what he does. I think he does good job covering the mid zones so he just needs to keep doing what he is doing.

Now, this is where it gets tricky. The Bills don’t have the big defensive ends to do something like this full time. Aaron Schobel only weighs in at 243 pounds. That just won’t get it done to play a 3-4. I mean, that means you got two big 300 pound guys knocking you on your back.

That would dramatically destroy any shot you had at shutting down the run. Yet, how about getting Marcus Stroud to get in there and play DE?

Marcus Stroud actually played DE last year. Standing at 6’6″, the guy is a pretty big dude. He could drop his weight to 295 and get substantially better at wrecking that line in that position.

That still doesn’t answer the question “then who plays the nose?” Well, here is something maybe to look at. Kyle Williams has played admirably well for where he was selected in the 2006 NFL draft.

This guy could be their Tony Sirgusa. This guy can play nose and three technique. He could handle it especially if the Bills could use John McCargo as a sub to give each other breathers.

The secondary looks to be shaking out to look like serious competition. How does this figure into the plan by drafting Dairus Byrd in the second round? Well, Donte Whitner is the slotted starting FS on the depth chart, but with Bills recent draft history, they usually try to get their young guys on the field. It’s the philosophy that they have. So what happens here?

Well, here’s how things shake down. The Bills could use Whitner as a roaming safety like the Steelers use Polamalu. This guy can do so many things for your football team. He may not get the picks, but if you let him flow to the football he would amaze you.

Byrd will get some reps. He will possibly intermittently interchange with Ko Simpson and complete for playing time. It will be a real battle where it is all about producing. Whoever is playing better is going to see the field.

The Bills are such an interesting team to watch; they just seem to have the right elements to try running a hybrid defense. With every other team in the AFC East running the 3-4 the Bills need to not necessarily make the switch as well, but mix some elements around and running a Baltimore Ravens type defense.

Defending Donte Whitner

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It’s no easy task defending the eighth overall selection in the 2006 NFL Draft. Especially when there are so many naysayer’s out their saying the pick should have been Haloti Ngata. My only response is, do you think Ngata could have done what he has done in Baltimore here in Buffalo?

While Ngata is definitely shaping up to be a solid DT with 149 tackles, five sacks and three interceptions, those numbers aren’t exactly gaudy comparing him to other DT’s that were selected high in the draft.

For instance Sedrick Ellis last year as a rookie for the Saints put up a whopping 30 tackles and four sacks compared to Ngata’s 31 tackles, one sack, and one pick his rookie campaign.

Our very own John McCargo in 2007 when fully healthy got 29 tackles with 2.5 sacks. He wasn’t even a starter either. We all know he has struggled, but this isn’t about him.

In 2006 all Donte Whitner was asked to do was play safety. And play safety he did. Finishing with a whopping 104 tackles, one pick, and four passes defensed. In 2007 we saw his numbers go down a bit as he was used more in different aspects of the game.

He still finished the season with 89 tackles one pick, and only one pass defensed. With an injury ravaged defense and guys swapping in and out of line-up at FS, Whitner had to line up at FS at times and others he was a nickel corner. He even played the second cornerback on a few snaps.

The same thing happened in 2008. While his numbers went even further down, I credit that to the fact Posluszny was healthy and making all the tackles in the middle of the field. Whitner still managed to put up 61 tackles, have one pass defensed and get a one sack.

Not bad for the guy who was selected behind Michael Huff. Just to put things in perspective Huff has played about as good as Ko Simpson. Now that would have been a major reach.

On the field Donte Whitner is a hard hitting safety who always seems to be around the ball. He is a vocal leader and very passionate player. He is always willing to help younger players refine their game.

Last year he had Leodis McKelvin stay at his house and work with him to learn the play book and understand the fundamentals of the Bills defense. He was voted a team captain for the first time in his career this past year. It is no small feat to garner the respect of your teammates after only playing in the league for two years.

Off the field for the most part Donte Whitner has been nothing but a model citizen. He has held annual charity bowling events for cancer research.

He has also participated in turkey giveaways in Cleveland, Ohio and contributed to Play 60 an NFL sponsored program that helps kids stay active. This is a guy that many kids look up to in the community and he is a fine example of what a role model should be.

Sadly on April 11, 2009 in the wee hours of that Saturday morning a riot broke outside the House of Blues, a nightclub located in Cleveland, Ohio. Whitner was there attending a birthday bash for longtime friend Ted Ginn Jr.

Apparently Whitner’s cousin was also attending the bash and was involved in the ensuing riot outside. Whitner rushed to the door and tried to break free of police custody. The police had warned him to stay inside. Whitner responded by saying, “My cousin is out there, and they’ve got guns.”

Whitner was subsequently tasered and handcuffed outside the nightclub. While it is certainly heroic to want to help your cousin, Whitner later apologized for his behavior stating that “It’s not how I wish to conduct myself, and I apologize to all those involved.”

This shows me that he has owned up to his mistake and has learned from his poor decision.

Heading into the 2009 season Donte Whitner has a major chip on his shoulder. Bills fans constantly think in the back of their minds, “what if we got Ngata?”, “would this team be better?”

My answer to this question is “we’ll never know.” Embrace the player and team leader you do have and watch out because Whitner just might deliver the playoff goods this upcoming season.

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