Buffalo’s secondary could shine for years

By Connor Byrne  |   Tuesday, May 02, 2006  |  Comments( 6 )

Buffalo Bills
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!
In this past weekend’s NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills’ brain trust, led by GM Marv Levy, assistant GM Tom Modrak and head coach Dick Jauron made upgrading the defensive secondary their most important issue. They ended up drafting a grand total of three defensive backs, all of which were taken in the first four rounds.

With the eighth overall selection in the first round, the Bills chose former Ohio State safety Donte Whitner. Although it was and still is my opinion that the Bills should have taken ex-USC QB Matt Leinart with the pick, by no means am I taking anything away from Whitner. He was a fantastic player at Ohio State, and look for him to continue his torrid pace in a Bills uniform. Bills veteran middle linebacker London Fletcher highly recommended Whitner to the Bills’ brass, and they certainly listened to the 30-year-old, one of the team‘s most prominent defensive leaders.

Last year, the 5’10”, 203-pound Whitner accumulated 73 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions en route to First Team All-Big 10 defensive honors. He can play every position in the secondary, but will likely be the Bills’ starting strong safety, replacing departed veteran Lawyer Milloy. One of Whitner’s best traits is the ability to play up near the line of scrimmage and blitz the opposing quarterback a la Troy Polamalu in Pittsburgh or Roy Williams in Dallas. Perhaps even more importantly, Whitner is a defensive leader and great character player, which is exactly what Levy and Jauron want on their team.

In the third round of the draft, the Bills came up with one of the weekend’s biggest heists, grabbing Whitner’s former Buckeyes defense backfield mate, cornerback Ashton Youboty. Projected by most as a surefire late first-round pick, Youboty fell all the way to pick No. 70 for mainly trivial reasons. At 6’0”, Youboty has tremendous size for a cornerback, and joins Antoine Winfield from the 1999 draft class and Nate Clements from the 2001 class as the most recent well-known Buckeyes cornerbacks to be selected. Coincidentally, both Winfield and Clements were first-round selections for the Bills, and both have turned into terrific players. Of course, Winfield is now starring for the Minnesota Vikings, while Clements has been the Bills’ No. 1 corner for the last two years.

The likely reason Youboty fell into the Bills’ laps late on Day One lies within the fact that he regressed somewhat last season, even though he made First Team All-Big 10 honors at his position. His 56 tackles, one sack and one interception paled in comparison to his 2004 season, when he had 61 tackles and four picks. Still, Youboty has limitless upside and shouldn’t take much time to develop. He’ll likely make an impact as a nickel corner next season, and be one of the Bills’ starting cornerbacks by the time the 2007 season rolls around.

To lead off the second day of the draft, the Buffalo Bills’ front-office selected Ko Simpson, a former standout free safety from the University of South Carolina. Much like Youboty, Simpson, the 105th overall pick in the fourth round, appears to be a major steal for the Bills. He was projected as a second-round pick by most draft gurus entering the weekend, so he certainly has unlimited value for where he was picked. The main knock on the 23-year-old Simpson is that he entered the draft as a third-year sophomore, meaning he still possesses the rawness of a younger player, since he was only under the tutelage of college coaches for two seasons.

In 2004, Simpson started all 11 of the Gamecocks’ contests, tying for the SEC lead with six interceptions. Last season, Simpson regressed in the interception department with only one, but he still led his team with a whopping 103 tackles in 12 games. At 6’1”, 209 pounds, Simpson has good size for the free safety position, where he is expected to play in Buffalo. The Bills will either have him sit behind veteran Troy Vincent next season, or release Vincent during the summer months and throw the rookie into the fire. Quite frankly, the best move would be to have him learn behind Vincent for a year, since the 34-year-old has been one of the NFL’s best defensive backs for 14 seasons.

Going along with the Bills’ three new additions, they already have Clements, Vincent and stud fourth-year starting cornerback Terrence McGee. Unfortunately for the Bills, Clements, the team’s $7.2 million franchise player, hasn’t signed his franchise tag tender this offseason. He’s stated that a holdout could be imminent, unless the Bills give him a long-term contract. However, an incredibly lucrative deal for the 26-year-old isn‘t likely, since Levy and company clearly prepared for his departure this past weekend with the Youboty pick.

With or without Clements, the Bills’ secondary should be among the elite in football for years to come. The Bills’ starting corners and safeties should give the Chicago Bears’ collection of youthful stars in the defensive backfield a big-time run for their money.

--Connor Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans! (6)

About Connor Byrne

Sorry, Connor Byrne's bio is currently not available. Please check back soon!
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report