(Photo by: Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
As the Bills kick off their training camp July 25, there will be a few position battles to keep a close eye on.
Perhaps the most heated competition will take place at strong side linebacker where incumbent Keith Ellison, second-year man Alvin Bowen and rookie Nic Harris will battle for the starting job.
Ellison has the most experience and the inside track but either Bowen or Harris has a chance to unseat him with a strong camp and preseason.
Here is a closer look at the three leading candidates for Buffalo’s starting strong side linebacker job this season:
Keith Ellison: Ellison found himself as the strong side starter last year when Angelo Crowell went on injured reserve just before the start of the season and the Bills needed someone to step up. Ellison proved to be the guy.
Ellison is your classic overachiever. The former sixth-round draft pick out of Oregon State moved over from his weak side linebacker spot and started 14 games in place of Crowell for Buffalo in 2008.
Like many of the Bills’ defensive players from a year ago, Ellison was steady but not spectacular. He recorded 73 tackles but there were no sacks, interceptions or forced fumbles.
The Bills’ defense had a terrible time getting off the field and creating turnovers in 2008 and Ellison certainly didn’t help in that department. Again, steady but unspectacular.
The Bills want to win now and it’s no secret that head coach Dick Jauron’s job is on the line this season. This is another advantage in Ellison’s corner.
Even though Bowen and Harris both could have more upside than Ellison, the veteran will probably be viewed as the safer bet to start the season. Jauron may not want to deal with the growing pains of a younger player in such a pivotal season.
Jauron has always put a premium on players who have familiarity with his system, so going by history it would appear the strong side linebacker job is Ellison’s to lose heading into training camp.
Alvin Bowen: When I worked for Patriots.com we would get scouting videos of the draft prospects coming out so we could evaluate them ourselves. It was kind of our opportunity to be amateur scouts.
Bowen was a guy that really jumped out at me as a possible sleeper when we watched him on tape. He played on a bad Iowa State team but Bowen made plays all over the field.
I was excited when Buffalo drafted him because I thought Bowen’s size and style of play was a good fit for the Bills’ defensive scheme.
To me, Bowen is the wild card in this battle. Ellison is the favorite but he is kind of ripe for the picking. Harris has the biggest upside but is making the transition from safety and most likely won’t be ready to start in 2009.
That leaves Bowen as the guy who could come up and take control of the starting job with an impressive camp.
Two things that really stuck out at me when watching Bowen play in college were his tenacity and quickness to the ball. Not only did Bowen get to the ball carrier quickly but he made him pay once he got there.
Bowen is a big-time hitter. A player like that can help create more turnovers, an area the Bills need to improve in dramatically from a season ago.
Of course, Bowen is coming off knee surgery from an ACL injury that cost him his entire rookie season, so we don’t know how much of that speed, if any, he lost.
I’m not on the Bills’ medical or coaching staff, so I don’t know for sure how Bowen’s knee is holding up but reports are he is doing great.
If that’s the case, Bowen possesses all the other qualities Jauron, Perry Fewell, and the rest of Buffalo’s defensive coaches look for in an outside linebacker.
As long as Bowen is 100 percent healthy, expect him to make a strong push for the starting strong side linebacker job in training camp.
Nic Harris: I am what you call a college football junkie. One player that I have been intrigued by and have followed a lot over the last couple of years is Harris, so I know a great deal about him and what he brings to the table.
I can tell you that I thought he was playing out of position at Oklahoma and when I saw that the Bills drafted him, the first thing I thought was “strong side linebacker.”
Anyone who follows the college game closely knows the Big 12 is all about passing offenses and Harris was one of the worst coverage safeties in the country.
The quick receivers on teams like Texas, Texas Tech, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma State abused Harris. To put it bluntly, Harris is terrible when it com
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