Tag: Baylon Spector

Five former Clemson players hoping to reach Super Bowl

A look at the five former Clemson stars who can still win a Super Bowl ring entering Championship Sunday in the NFL.

Whether or not you’re a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles or Washington Commanders, five former Clemson football players will be looking to reach Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Championship Weekend in the NFL Sunday.

The NFC Championship Game between Washington and Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field features three former Tiger stars on active rosters, including two rookies. The Eagles boast rookie running back/receiver/kickoff specialist Will Shipley and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Washington features defensive end Clelin Ferrell.

Ferrell played in 14 regular-season games for the Commanders, totaling 26 tackles, 3.5 sacks, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He played in Washington’s 23-20 win over Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round and their 45-31 upset of the Detroit Lions in the divisional round. For the postseason, Ferrell has three tackles and a pass breakup.

Trotter, a fifth-round pick by the Eagles in the 2024 NFL Draft, recovered a fumble in Philadelphia’s 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round and had two tackles in the team’s 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday. In the regular season, Trotter had 25 tackles and 0.5 sacks in 17 games.

Shipley, a fourth-round pick in 2024, had 30 carries for 82 yards and four catches for 35 yards in 16 games for the Eagles in the regular season.

Kickoff for the NFC Championship Game is at 3 p.m. ET in Philadelphia. The game can be seen on Fox.

In the AFC Championship Game, former Clemson star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will be looking to reach his first Super Bowl in a remarkable 12-year NFL career when Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs host Josh Allen and the Bills at Arrowhead Stadium.

Hopkins began the year with the Tennessee Titans before the Chiefs acquired him in a midseason trade. Between the Titans and Chiefs, Hopkins had 56 catches for 610 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games.

While he’s not on the Bills’ active roster, former Clemson linebacker Baylon Spector is hoping to work his way back from a calf injury. Spector saw the most snaps of his career in 2024, with a career-high 40 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery in 11 games.

Kickoff for the AFC Championship Game is at 6:30 p.m. ET in Kansas City. The game can be seen on CBS.

Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions. 

Causes for concern as the Bills take on the Patriots in Week 16

Causes for concern as the Bills take on the Patriots in Week 16

The Buffalo Bills will host the New England Patriots in Week 16 at Highmark Stadium.

The Bills (11-3) and Patriots (3-11) have trended in different directions this season. The Bills have won eight of their last nine games while the Patriots have lost five of their last six.

Even though Buffalo is favored to win the game, there are always a few things that make winning difficult each week. The Bills will need to be wary of them.

Here are three causes for concern for the Bills against the Patriots in Week 16:

Question marks in the secondary

Getty Images

What would make Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s day a bit easier on Sunday would be if the Bills are down members of their secondary. Safeties Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp, along with cornerback Rasul Douglas, all missed Week 15’s win over the Detroit Lions.

Although the Bills won last week, they allowed almost 494 passing yards from Lions QB Jared Goff to go along with five touchdowns.

Douglas, Hamlin, and Rapp all are listed as questionable heading into Week 16. Buffalo’s linebackers are banged up a bit, too. Matt Milano, Dorian Williams, and Baylon Spector all are carrying the same designation.

Containing QB Drake Maye

USA Today Sports

The Bills have yet to face the rookie quarterback out of the University of North Carolina. Maye has been a bright spot on an otherwise dim Patriots season. He has shown poise and instincts as a young signal caller and he can beat you with both his arm and legs.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott has had success going against rookie quarterbacks in his career with an 8-3 record. Maye is one of the more challenging ones. We’ll see how the Bills game plan for him.

Overlooking an opponent

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The Bills are coming off a win over the Lions, whom many consider to be the best team in the NFL. Combine that with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this year and the Bills have proven they can beat anyone.

What’s difficult is bringing the same intensity for a Week 16 matchup with the Patriots as you did in a “Super Bowl preview” type of game. The Bills’ discipline and execution will be tested by a division rival looking to play spoiler.

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PFF: Lowest-graded Bills players on defense vs. the Seahawks

PFF: Lowest-graded Bills players on defense vs. the Seahawks

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Seattle Seahawks on the road in Week 8, 31-10.

Statistics might help determine who played well or not, and so may the eye test. But, let’s take it a step further with some help from the analytics folks at Pro Football Focus.

Using PFF grades from Week 8, here are the five lowest-graded players from the Bills (6-2) defense against the Seahawks (4-4).

PFF grade: 60.9.

PFF grade: 57.7.

PFF grade: 53.8.

PFF grade: 46.4.

PFF grade: 28.6.

Bills vs. Jaguars: 3 key matchups to watch in Week 3

Bills vs. Jaguars: 3 key matchups to watch in Week 3

The Buffalo Bills host the Jacksonville Jaguars in their upcoming Week 3 matchup.

Even with it being an important AFC clash, it will still be the games, within the game, that will make all the difference.

Here are three key matchups to watch during Monday’s Bills-Jaguars contest:

OL Dion Dawkins vs. Josh-Hines Allen

(Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

While Hines-Allen only has recorded one sack so far in 2024, he’s still doing pretty well in for a good overall defensive front in Jacksonville. Pro Football Focus grades him as the NFL’s sixth-best edge defender through two weeks. Considering he is watching Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s blindside, Dawkins has to play well.

WR Keon Coleman vs. S Andre Cisco

(Photo by Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)

Each week it seems like a new player is stepping up in the passing game for the Bills which has complemented the rushing efforts of James Cook very well. This might be a good time to show why Coleman is a deep threat.

PFF is not the end all, be all, but let’s be frank: It’s never good when the football analytics outlet ranks you as the worst player at your position in the entire NFL. That’s what Cisco currently is. Get Coleman on his side of the field and send him deep.

LB Baylon Spector vs. RB Travis Etienne Jr.

(Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Spector has the confidence of his team. He is going to make his first start since the postseason in 2023 against the Kansas City Chiefs as Terrel Bernard (pectoral) is expected to miss a few weeks.

Even so, Etienne is a good playmaker. There’s a reason why Buffalo wanted to draft him years ago. Spector is not solely going to be tasked with stopped him, but when he has his shots at the running back Spector has to stop him.

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PFF: 5 worst-graded Bills players on defense in Wild Card

PFF: 5 worst-graded #Bills players on defense in Wild Card vs. the #Steelers:

The Buffalo Bills won their Wild Card matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 31-17 final.

The Bills (11-6) had a few players that stood out above the rest. On defense, the Bills were led by an attacking defensive front the Steelers could not handle.

In terms of the players who helped them pull out the win, Buffalo will hope such efforts improve from some players throughout the rest of the 2023 playoffs as they aim for the Super Bowl.

According to Pro Football Focus, they’ll need these players to step it up moving forward.

Here are the five worst-graded Bills players on defense Steelers in the Wild Card round:

5 takeaways from the Bills’ 31-17 postseason win over the Steelers

5 takeaways from the #Bills’ 31-17 win over the #Steelers:

The Buffalo Bills are moving on in the NFL playoffs.

The Bills topped the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31-17 in the NFL’s Wild-Card round.

Here are five takeaways from the Bills’ playoff win over the Steelers at Highmark Stadium:

Bills’ Baylon Spector questionable to return vs. Steelers

#Bills’ Baylon Spector questionable to return vs. #Steelers:

The Buffalo Bills’ depth at linebacker is being tested in a big way against the Pittsburgh Steelers in their NFL Wild-Card matchup.

The Bills are now without Baylon Spector. He was starting in place of Tyrel Dodson (shoulder) who did not play.

And that’s Dodson, who has started most of the year because of Matt Milano’s season-ending injury of his own.

Spector was labeled as questionable to return and headed to Buffalo’s locker room early. He sustained a back injury.

Reportedly Spector was injured trying to recover a fumble:

Without Spector, AJ Klein is on the field for the Bills defense.

Bills Wire will provide updates when information is made available.

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Bills snap counts: Depth chart breakdown vs. Dolphins

Injuries made the #Bills defensive snaps interesting:

The Buffalo Bills got after it against the Miami Dolphins and ended up taking a close win, 21-14, on Sunday evening in Week 18.

But who exactly were the ones on the field for the Bills (11-6) doing all the dirty work against the Dolphins (11-6)?

More often than not, taking a look in between the lines at snap count totals for Buffalo’s players can give us some insight as to what went down in between the lines on the gridiron.

There is always plenty to discover when looking at these finer details.

With that, here’s how the Bills depth chart broke down via snap counts in their latest win against the Dolphins:

Bills add Baylon Spector to 53-man roster, elevate Ja’Marcus Ingram

#Bills add Baylon Spector to 53-man roster, elevate Ja’Marcus Ingram:

The Buffalo Bills have made two players eligible to play in their upcoming Week 6 contest against the New York Giants.

Linebacker Baylon Spector (hamstring) was added to the team’s 53-man roster. Earlier this week, he was designated to return from injured reserve and now is back on the team’s roster.

The Bills (3-2) had a roster space open after placing linebacker Matt Milano (leg) and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (pectoral) on injured reserve. Upon doing so, the team only signed AJ Klein to the 53-man roster and left one spot open which is now filled by Spector.

Ingram is potentially a more interesting addition.

The former UDFA can now play against the Giants after being called up from the practice squad. The team did the same with him last week and he ended up replacing former first-round pick Kaiir Elam at cornerback late in the 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It remains to be seen if Elam get another start or is even inactive on game day again. This week cornerback Dane Jackson (foot) was on Buffalo’s injury report and is listed as questionable to play. Ingram being elevated might be sign Jackson will be out.

The Bills and Giants (1-4) will faceoff on Sunday Night Football.

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Bills designate Baylon Spector to return from injured reserve

#Bills designate Baylon Spector to return from injured reserve:

Buffalo Bills linebacker Baylon Spector has been designated to return from the team’s injured reserve list.

Spector had sustained a hamstring injury in the Bills’ preseason finale.

At the end of the summer, Spector was placed on Buffalo’s injured reserve list alongside fifth-round rookie receiver Justin Shorter (hamstring).

Prior to that, pass rusher Von Miller had already been on the Bills’ PUP list. All three players fell under the same umbrella at the start of the 2023 season with their respective designations, having to miss the first four games of the season.

Spector was eligible to return when Miller did in Week 5 against the Jaguars, but remained on IR. With linebacker Matt Milano (knee) being added to the injured reserve list this week, Spector essentially now inches closer to returning.

Spector is not on Buffalo’s 53-man roster. His new designation only opens a 21-day window which allows him to practice with the team.

If the Bills do not add him to the roster by the end of that window, Buffalo must return Miller to injury designation and he’s required to stay there for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Bills Wire will provide updates when further information is made available.

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