DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Daven Holly Suffers Knee Injury

Sounds to me like Youboty is on his way out anyway... wouldn't give up anything more than a 6th rounder...

After the Buffalo Bills signed cornerback Will James earlier in the offseason, it became apparent that two-year veteran Ashton Youboty was in jeopardy of making the roster in 2008. Sadly for the 2006 third-round pick, things only got worse last weekend.

That's because during the two-day NFL draft, the Bills selected a whopping three cornerbacks with their 10 picks. In the first round, the Bills chose former Troy University star Leodis McKelvin, then followed that up by grabbing the aptly named Reggie Corner (Round 4, Akron) and Kennard Cox (Round 7, Pittsburgh). When you add those three to a corps that already included incumbent starters Terrence McGee and Jabari Greer as well as James -- a six-year veteran -- and Dustin Fox, something's gotta give.

That something could very well be Youboty, whose short NFL tenure has fallen well short of expectations for myriad reasons. You might say the 23-year-old's time in the pros was a disaster before it even began. After a stellar career at Ohio State, the Liberian-born Youboty was projected by many draftniks as a first-round pick in 2006. However, he dropped all the way down to pick No. 70, where Buffalo scooped him up. During that summer's training camp, his first as an NFLer, Youboty's mother died. Because of the long-term grieving process he required, Youboty fell too far behind from Day 1 and didn't glean an understanding of coordinator Perry Fewell's defense until late in the regular season. He ultimately appeared in just three games, notching a trio of tackles. Followers of the Bills rightly gave Youboty a break for his first season because of the off-field factors surrounding it, but his failure to impress as a pro sophomore put him on the hot seat. Sure, Youboty had an athletic interception of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb during the regular-season finale, but he only appeared in 11 games and was barely noticeable until that particular play.

Before the draft, then, it was common knowledge Youboty would need a solid summer in order to earn a spot on Buffalo's 53-man roster for 2008. But things have now gotten a lot more difficult.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound McKelvin (the 11th overall selection) was obviously the grand prize of the organization's draft, which means he's guaranteed a place in the Bills' top three at the cornerback position.

Meanwhile, there's Corner. At 5-9, 175 pounds, the diminutive Corner doesn't have the size Youboty (5-11, 189) does, but the Bills thought quite highly of him as a second-day, relatively unknown draft gem. Back in 2003, the Bills used a fourth-rounder on McGee (5-9, 198), who at the time was an anonymous ballhawk from an unheard-of institution (Northwestern State) where he happened to play football. Five seasons later, McGee is a respected starter across the league with 17 career interceptions. Coming from the MAC conference and a more relevant football school, there's no reason Corner --- who had 15 interceptions in four years for Akron -- can't turn out like McGee.

Then there's Cox, a 6-0, 198-pounder whose average-at-best speed (4.58 in the 40-yard dash) might force him to try safety in the NFL. If not, it could very well be Cox who battles the likes of Youboty, James and Fox for Buffalo's last corner spot (or spots) during the summer months.

Regardless, the Bills now have seven other cornerbacks than Youboty, which means one thing: He's on notice. Youboty can either have a standout summer or say goodbye to the Bills, whom he's never been able to find a niche with.

http://www.realfootball365.com/index.php/articles/bills/11099

Sometimes it doesn't matter what the circumstances are for some teams..but in our case I'd make a run at the kid..