So far, Bills’ Youboty hasn’t lived up to hype

By Connor Byrne  |   Tuesday, August 07, 2007  |  Comments( 36 )

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When the Buffalo Bills selected Ashton Youboty in the third round of the 2006 draft, many fans believed he'd become their next great cornerback. Youboty, like ex-Bills Antoine Winfield and Nate Clements (two successful NFL corners), was coming off a decorated career at Ohio State University, where he was named first-team All-Big 10 as a junior in '05.

Unfortunately for the Bills, Youboty's short professional career has been far different than the illustrious one he had with the Buckeyes. The 23-year-old missed most of training camp last year because of his mother's death, then was never able to earn much regular-season playing time thereafter. Youboty, a Liberia native, made three tackles as a rookie, all of which came in a Week 14 win over the New York Jets.

After actually getting an offseason to further study the Bills' defensive playbook and work with his teammates, the hope in Buffalo was that Youboty would earn a starting job as a pro sophomore and make fans forget about the departed Clements, who bolted to San Francisco for an eight-year, $80 million contract back in March. He might then justify being chosen 70th overall. Right now, though, it doesn't look as if that will happen.

At this point in camp, the 5-foot-11, 189-pound Youboty has stood out. Not in a good way, however. He was getting second-team reps behind seven-year veteran Jason Webster at the left corner position in the beginning of camp, then the latter went down with a hamstring injury; after, Youboty was still playing in a reserve role, this time behind former undrafted free agent Jabari Greer, a fourth-year man.

Now that Webster is healthy again, Youboty's uphill climb has become even more difficult. And when Youboty, whom many pegged as a first-round talent entering last year's draft, is struggling to jump over someone like Greer, who no team believed was worthy of any selection, there's an obvious problem.

Youboty's first real chance to impress on a big stage will be the Bills' preseason opener on Friday night in New Orleans. If he actually steps up and makes some plays during the four-game exhibition schedule, there's a decent chance Youboty could win the nickel corner spot and actually earn a good amount of playing time. If not, though, he could end up as Buffalo's fourth or fifth CB or a surprise cut as the team's Sept. 9 regular-season opener nears.

For the Bills, who spent a quality pick on Youboty just over a year ago, that would be a major letdown.

E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com.

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CommentsComments: 36  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
andy j		08:47 AM
08/07/2007
Greer has been playing pretty good lately and knows the D a hell of alot better than Youboty. Some people also thought that K...
No.2
VAsteve		09:15 AM
08/07/2007
Youboty needs to wake up or have someone do it for him. Please Coach or really anybody "Shake Youboty".
No.3
thejpmovement		09:21 AM
08/07/2007
Im a little worried with ashton but the fact is he was a thrid rounder for a reason. I really dont see how he could have all this...
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