Tag: Baylon Spector

A takeaway from each Bills position group following preseason opener vs. Colts

A takeaway from each #Bills position group following preseason opener vs. #Colts:

While it might “just be the preseason,” a lot is on the line during the NFL’s exhibition season every August. A lot is riding on it for players and teams alike.

With that, here is one takeaway from each position group on the Buffalo Bills roster following their 23-19 win vs. the Indianapolis Colts:

Madden 24 ratings for every Buffalo Bills linebacker

Matt Milano much higher rated:

EA Sports is going position-by-position and releasing player ratings for their upcoming NFL video game, Madden 24.

This year’s game will feature Bills quarterback Josh Allen on the cover and we now know how the game rates linebackers in the NFL.

Here are the Madden 24 ratings for every Bills linebacker set to feature in the game:

WATCH: Get to know Bills LB Baylon Spector

WATCH: Get to know #Bills LB Baylon Spector:

Bills linebacker Baylon Spector sat down with his team’s video department and pulled the curtain back a bit on his personal life during a recent interview. Spector also discussed life with the Bills, post-Tremaine Edmunds.

See the attached YouTube player above for five-questions sit down he took part in.

[lawrence-related id=119367,119362,119355]

Bills plan for competition to replace Tremaine Edmunds

How the summer will look for the #Bills, post-Tremaine Edmunds:

The Buffalo Bills left the 2023 NFL draft with Dorian Williams as the player selected to replace Tremaine Edmunds’ spot in the linebacker room.

But it’s not as cut and dry as that. Williams might take Edmunds’ chair during meetings, but not his spot on the field.

The third-round rookie is more likely to begin his career in the NFL learning the position Matt Milano plays. That will be the case according to general manager Brandon Beane, who said Williams could line up “outside” early in his Bills tenure,

… So now what?

Status quo from before the draft is back on in Buffalo. The Bills will hold an open competition between the players already in-house.

“There are going to be mistakes. They aren’t going to be Tremaine. He had five years at that spot. He made his mistakes early on too,” Beane said via video conference. “We believe in these guys, and we are going to give them a chance.”

“You have guys on your roster who are backups — until they aren’t,”Beane added.

Of the options the Bills have, there’s up to four that are viable candidates.

At the top are Terrel Bernard and Tyrel Dodson. Bernard was a third-round selection by Buffalo in 2022. Dodson, who has more experience, re-signed via a one-year deal with the Bills this offseason after Edmunds’ departure.

Players with more of an outside chance at the job are Baylon Spector and AJ Klein.

Spector was also drafted last year by the Bills, but in the seventh round. Klein returned to Buffalo once again, re-signing again this offseason like Dodson. He has the most experience of the bunch having appeared in 144 games with 82 starts in his career, but the Bills haven’t always been keen to keep him around.

Once spring workouts and training camp begins to unfold, we’ll start to see a clearer and clearer picture as to who will take that first snap in place of Edmunds in 2023. As of now, it could be anyone’s guess.

[lawrence-related id=116939,116891,116914]

3 ways the Bills can replace Tremaine Edmunds

3 ways the #Bills can replace Tremaine Edmunds (via @jdiloro):

The Buffalo Bills need to fill a massive hole on their defense, as Tremaine Edmunds officially left the team at the start of the free agency period. Edmunds, who started 74 games in five seasons in Buffalo, was a central figure for the Bills defense.

Edmunds, who signed with the Chicago Bears, improved quite a bit since the Bills drafted him in the first round of the 2018 draft. There were some growing pains as Edmunds, one of the youngest players in the league to take the field during his rookie season, developed into a defensive stalwart.

Edmunds did a little bit of everything well on defense for the Bills. He turned his progress as a young star into a four-year, $72 million contract from the Bears.

Now, Buffalo faces a challenge that they have not had to worry about during the Sean McDermott era: Replace a central figure whom the team developed. Edmunds’ athleticism and ability to read opponents will be missed.

The Bills can move in several different directions with how to fill this void on the defense. Here’s breaking down three of those:

Grading the Buffalo Bills 2022 draft class

Grading the #Bills 2022 draft class (via @jdiloro):

The 2023 NFL Draft is coming up quickly, with teams making their selections in just over a month. The dizzying amount of mock drafts has given fans an opportunity to see the numerous possibilities for their team’s draft slot.

Before we dive into some draft evaluations for this upcoming year, it’s essential to see how teams did with their 2022 selections. The Bills had some success with their 2022 draft class, as a few players contributed to Buffalo’s 13-3 season.

Here’s how Bills Wire grades the 2022 class on their rookie contributions in 2022:

Carter on defense: ‘No one needs to be the superhero’

Clemson’s latest and lone loss of the season at Notre Dame has many wondering just what has transpired since the beginning of the season to now. With the Tigers coming into the season with one of the most highly touted defensive units in the …

Clemson’s latest and lone loss of the season at Notre Dame has many wondering just what has transpired since the beginning of the season to now. With the Tigers coming into the season with one of the most highly touted defensive units in the country, Saturday’s performance came as a shock not just to outsiders, but also to linebacker Barrett Carter and his teammates, who chalk up the loss to a lack of discipline on their end.

“I think it was really more on us,” Carter said. “We’ve got to be more disciplined with our gaps. No one needs to be a superhero; I’m not talking about anyone in general, just do your job and the plays will make themselves. We’ve just got to be more disciplined as a defense, stay in our gaps and then we’ll stop them, and we weren’t doing that, so we just got to move on.”

Moving full steam ahead, Carter hopes to draw from the immense experience and knowledge that was set before him.

During his freshman campaign in 2021, the Peach State native had the opportunity to learn from some of Clemson’s best in guys like James Skalski and Baylon Spector, both of whom brought a level of precision to the game that Carter hopes to emulate both in the linebacker room and in the defensive backfield this season.

“Having them, they made things so much easier,” the sophomore said. “They were students of the game, so when I was coming in, they helped me a lot with that. I think we are just trying to sort of pick up where they left off, just being students of the game like that and kind of knowing what’s happening before it even happens.

“Of course, we’re still working every day to get better and strive to keep being students of the game, keep learning what offenses are gonna do so we kinda know what to expect, just like Skalski and Baylon would. They taught us a lot, so we’re just trying to learn from them and pick up where they left off, especially being students of the game like them.”

Despite the sting that comes with the loss, there is no time for Carter and the Tigers’ defense to lose faith. With three more matchups on deck at Memorial Stadium as well as an ACC Championship performance right around the corner, now’s the time to lock in and keep fighting for what the linebacker hopes is another College Football Playoff berth.

“Of course, and we’re never losing faith,” Carter said. “We know what our goals are as a team, so that’s always going to be the end goal. This loss that we just took, there’s no demoralization throughout the team. We’re still focused, we know what all we can accomplish, all of our goals are still on the table, and you never know what can happen throughout all of college football. We’re just going to go to work and whatever happens, happens, but we’re going to keep fighting as a team and just finish as strong as we can.”

What They Are Saying: Tigers in the NFL, Week 5

There was plenty of buzz on Twitter about former Clemson stars in Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season. Check out what they are saying about some Tigers in the league: DEX BRINGS HIM DOWN : @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/BePkuvNKhs – New York Giants (@Giants) …

There was plenty of buzz on Twitter about former Clemson stars in Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season.

Check out what they are saying about some Tigers in the league:

–Photo for this article courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

 

Former Clemson LB excited, ‘very grateful’ to make Bills 53-man roster

After being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of April’s NFL Draft, Baylon Spector did the best he could possibly do in the preseason to earn a spot on the team’s roster entering the 2022 campaign. So, at peace knowing that he did …

After being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of April’s NFL Draft, Baylon Spector did the best he could possibly do in the preseason to earn a spot on the team’s roster entering the 2022 campaign.

So, at peace knowing that he did everything in his power on the field, the former Clemson linebacker says he wasn’t too nervous in the days and hours leading up to Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline as he awaited word on whether or not he would make the team.

“I just felt like I had put my best foot forward during training camp and preseason,” Spector told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “So at the end of the day I felt like doing that, that’s all I could do. So, I wasn’t too anxious. I was a little excited just to figure out what would happen, just knowing that I put my best foot forward.”

Spector’s hard work paid off, and he was certainly excited when he found out Tuesday that he made the 53-man roster for the Bills following a strong preseason in which he racked up 24 total tackles – tied for the second most among all NFL players in preseason action.

“It’s exciting. That’s what you work for your whole life,” Spector said. “You put the work in, you go through camp like the unexpected, you just take it day-by-day and finally here it comes. So, it’s exciting. Very grateful.”

Spector knows plenty of other players weren’t as fortunate as him, and seeing others get cut keeps him grounded and provides additional motivation for the former Tiger team captain.

“You see other decisions, like wow, it truly is a business,” Spector said. “As a rookie, you see other guys leave, other guys get cut and you’re like, it is a business. It’s part of it, and that’s where you learn. As a rookie, you see that part and it kind of keeps you humbled and keeps you working.”

A two-year starter at weakside linebacker in 2020-21 after spending several seasons as a key reserve, Spector concluded his Clemson career (2017-21) credited with 210 career tackles (22.0 for loss), 9.0 sacks, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, three pass breakups and an interception over 53 games (21 starts).

Last season, the Calhoun, Ga., native ranked second on the team with 85 tackles, recording 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, a pass breakup, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 11 games (10 starts).

Spector and his Bills squad will travel to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the two teams’ season opener at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. on Thursday, Sept. 8 (8:20 p.m., NBC).

–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

Time for Clemson fans to make sure the Tigers are competitive with South Carolina in NIL for baseball.

Come out to support Clemson baseball at Dear Old Clemson’s event on September 30 at the Madren Conference Center.  New head coach Erik Bakich will speak and most of next year’s team will be on hand.  Get your tickets today or sign up for the Orange level or higher of the Tiger Club to get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events. Dear Old Clemson.