The Bills pretty much hosted a 4 way competition for the nickel cornerback job between Leodis McKelvin, Justin Rogers, Ron Brooks, and Terrence McGee. According to Head Coach Chan Gailey, the competition is officially over with McKelvin coming out as the victor. He will come in on 3-cornerback sets behind Stephon Gilmore and Aaron Williams. McKelvin, a bust as a 1st round pick in 2008, allowed 27 completions on 45 attempts (60.0%) for 455 yards (10.1 YPA), 3 touchdowns, and an interception, to go with 7 deflections and a penalty last season.
McKelvin started 6 games, was a backup for another 6 and missed 4 with injury. Maybe a move full time to the slot will be good for him and it’s encouraging that he beat out all those guys, but in limited action in his career, he’s allowed 10 of 12 for 90 yards and a touchdown on 90 career snaps on the slot. As for the other 3, only 2 will make the roster at most because teams almost never carry 6 cornerbacks.
Ron Brooks is likely save by virtue of his status as a 4th round pick rookie. Those guys are almost never cut before the season starts. Justin Rogers, meanwhile, will likely make the roster because he’s actually listed as the 1st first kick returner. The 2011 7th round pick, who had reportedly did have a good chance to win the slot job, averaged an impressive 28.7 yards per return with a long of 52 last season, albeit on jut 13 returns.
That leaves veteran Terrence McGee as the odd man out and, frankly, the writing has been on the wall for him for a while. He even recently expressed concern over his roster spot security, saying “I’m at the back of the line right now. There are guys way in front of me right now.” Heading into his age 32 season having missed 22 games in the last 3 seasons, McGee isn’t worth his 1.35 million dollar salary, even after restructuring earlier this offseason. The Bills will probably just eat their $350,000 signing bonus with him and make him a final cut.
If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2
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