Four Buckeyes on the brink for Buffalo Bills
Published: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 4:23 PM CDT
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A column by By ALEX RASKIN /Daily Reporter
ORCHARD PARK - The Horseshoe it isn't; but as summer renovations get under way at Ralph Wilson Stadium, it appears as though the Buffalo Bills have had a scarlet and gray makeover on defense. With the addition of Donte Whitner and Ashton Youboty to the secondary, the Bills now have a defense four Buckeye's deep. What's more intriguing is that every member of the Bills/Buckeye fraternity - cornerback Nate Clements and
defensive tackle Tim Anderson are the other two - is headed into a pivotal season in their respective careers.
Marv Levy and Dick Jauron weren't the only men at the Ralph on Tuesday who may become immersed in a college football dispute come fall. The man upstairs (Harvard Crimson) and the man on the field (Yale Bulldogs) sat and watched as the newly acquired former Michigan Wolverine, Anthony Thomas, breaks through Anderson and a pack of Bills linebackers on a run up the middle. For a former national champion at OSU, the chance to tackle someone who once wore the maze and blue is too good to pass up.
Anderson's return after the mixed bag that was his 2005 season was eagerly anticipated by a team that shed some pounds in the offseason.
Rather than collectively getting fit, the Bills just let 350 pounds walk out the door when Sam Adams and his (ahem) mass signed in Cincinnati.
Adams's removal should be regarded as a positive. He no longer is the player he once was - he's rumored to have eaten that player - and so it's Anderson and first round draft pick John McCargo who are left to fill Adams's spot in the buffet line.
“I'm going to be a full time nose this year,” said Anderson before he left the practice field on Tuesday. “Other than that, you'll have to ask coach. I'll just be trying to get better and stronger and work against the run.”
Seeing as only the terminally challenged Texans allowed more rushing yards last season, anything would be considered an improvement for Buffalo. But can Anderson really answer the call up front against the likes of Miami and New England?
While many were critical of Anderson's propensity towards penalties and his disappearing act in all but four games last year; the arrival of Jauron could be a change for the better. Nobody should have been happier that Levy hired the “genius” behind the 2005 Lions defense than Anderson. The third round pick out of Columbus in the 2003 draft happens to be a perfect fit for Jauron's one-gap system that emphasizes speed and maneuverability over pure strength and... whatever else it was that Adams supposedly brought to the table.
Making matters more complicated is the arrival of former Colt, Larry Tripplett. If Anderson can duplicate the seven tackle performances he had in the last two home games for the Bills last season, then Tripplett can be relegated to bench duty. Until he gets a chance to do that, Anderson still has another day to chase around Thomas before camp breaks.
Getting the chance to tackle a Michigan alum was just one joy of mini-camp for Anderson. While he seeps into his new defensive playbook, he's also happy to have the company of two new Buckeyes.
“They're starting to realize where all the talent is coming from,” laughed Anderson. “It's in Columbus. Finally it's not just me and Nate.”
While Youboty and Whitner may be the new OSU boys on the scene, Clements could be saying his farewells. The gritty corner signed an offer sheet as a franchise defensive back in May. While that does net Clements over $7 million, it also clipped his wings for the 2006 season. Thanks to an honest yet utterly shortsighted agreement by the Bills, Clements is as good as gone in ‘07.
Buffalo signed the former Buckeye on the condition that they do not slap the franchise tag on him when he becomes a 27-year-old unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. In the meantime, what's a future uber-millionaire to do in a brand new system?
“I still have the same approach,” explained Clements. “I'm just going to work harder and be even better. The thing about our system is that we can get used to the best of our attributes. I can play zone or I can play man to man. It doesn't matter.”
So how did Clements react to his possible replacement being drafted from his alma matter. He took it like a man who doesn't expect to be arround to view the final result.
“That's always a good thing to see,” said Clements about the arrivals of Youboty and Whitner. “It's nice having some people come from your school.”
Others were more excited to have some teammates with a common background.
“It's a great thing,” the lanky Youboty said after he practiced with the second teammers on Tuesday. “I played with Whitner there. I played my freshman season with Tim Anderson. I'm really looking forward to it. Of course, you can't just stick around with the guys you know. You have to play with everybody.”
While Youboty looked solid in coverage - much of which occurred in the slot - on Tuesday, he was one of three new additions to the secondary. Whitner and South Carolina alum Ko Simpson are the new kids on the block. Whitner has already taken former Bills safety Lawyer Milloy's number and Simpson is poised to play special teams for what will likely be free safety Troy Vincent's last season.
While Levy may be clearing spots for the three new arrivals to assume over the next few years, that does not mean there won't be any growing pains.
“It's the NFL,” added Youboty. “It's more complicated. It seems like our system is easiest to learn than others across the league though. You get it progressively. I know I can get it.”
After all, it's not like anyone on the Bills played in Jauron's system last year.
“A lot of guys here need to learn the same things as us,” said Whitner. “I studied the play book 40 minutes each day (during spring semester at OSU) so I think I'm a little ahead.”
Of course, the play book is not the only thing a young secondary can learn. Thankfully the young Bills have a mentor in the former corner, Vincent.
“I'm not sure I'm an influence or not,” said the former Dolphin and Eagle. “They're rookies. Some are good and some are bad. Some listen and some don't. I'm not their coach. I'm just a teammate but I always like to share my experiences and mistakes so they don't have to make them.”
Going up against the Bills receivers - particularly Nance Martin out of Miami (OH), another Buckeye State product who happened to make several nice grabs over the middle of the field on Tuesday - is a dramatic difference from chasing guys in the Big Ten. None of them had it as tough as Vincent did as a rookie however.
“My first day of camp in Miami,” Vincent explained. “I lined up across Mark Clayton with Dan Marino under center. They played with me like a toy. I was like Marino's ATM card. He was just using me whenever he wanted to. I knew at that point I was chasing a ghost. They moved me from Clayton to Mark Duper to Tony Martin. All of them made me look foolish.”
While Vincent's beginnings were humble, he did become a perennial Pro-Bowler, which is something Whitner and Youboty can aspire to. As for now, they will just try and learn the ins and outs of the NFL with a few familiar faces from Columbus.