Posted by johnmurphyshow on July 23, 2014 – 10:20 pm

It was another morning practice for the team on Wednesday. We went over all the highlights from this morning, which of course included a few reel-worthy plays by Sammy Watkins. With that said, we asked the listeners…Watkins could be the best wide receiver since whom? A lot of Andre Reed mentions along with Eric Moulds and Lee Evans.

Joining us in our on-site camp studio was Bills Cornerback Leodis McKelvin. McKelvin is coming back to form after an injury suffered last season and said his goal is to remain healthy and continue to make plays. He has been mixed in along with Stephon Gilmore on covering Sammy Watkins. He discussed the physical battle throughout the first four days.

“We just want to give him a little taste on how things are going to be further down the road when he plays against other guys that is in this league. They are going to do what they need to do, grab, tug, playing physical. We’re just trying to give him a good look at what he’s going to see later on down the line.”

McKelvin did say that the rookie receiver is “explosive.” He also touched on the other wide-outs on the roster and what he likes from the new players in the defensive backfield, including Corey Graham who he joked is the “uncle” on the team.

At the top of the hour we got a Hall of Fame preview from Bills Hall of Fame great James Lofton. Lofton was a teammate of Andre Reed, who will be enshrined next weekend.

“I think it’s a well-deserved honor. It’s agonizing when somebody that you’re close to, a friend, you see them have to wait. He was kind of clumped in there with Cris Carter and with Tim Brown. You kind of waited every year to see which one of them was going to win. A couple of years none of the three went in and you’re thinking well Andre was a finalist a number of times and Cris Carter leap frogs over him. I think all of the people that follow the Buffalo Bills realize what a great player Andre was and this is an acknowledgement of that greatness.”

Lofton also reflected on his playing time in Buffalo, describing them as “the best four years” of his career. He also tells a great story about how he was almost a Philadelphia Eagle just before joining the Bills.

Finally, we were joined by Donny Moore, the EA Sport’s ratings czar for the upcoming Madden NFL 15. In their ratings release earlier this week, Sammy Watkins was placed in the top five in this year’s video game. Moore explained the rating process.

“We try to base it on real world data. We try to use 40-yard dashes. We try to use vertical jumps for things like jump ratings. We also use a lot of different opinions from either scouts or different NFL pundits. We try to cumulate all of that into one data point and that’s in Madden NFL 15.”



The game is due in stores on August 26th.

To hear the complete John Murphy Show from Wednesday, click below.

Posted in Inside the Bills