The Bills defense was second in the league in interceptions with 23, but lost safeties Jairus Byrd and Jim Leonhard and corner Justin Rogers, who combined for eight interceptions. Factor in the ACL injury for linebacker Kiko Alonso, who tallied four picks, and 13 of those 23 interceptions are from players who won’t contribute to Buffalo this season.
The secondary players for the Bills are extremely young, with the oldest player in the secondary being Leodis McKelvin at 28, and then Da’Norris Searcy being the elder statesmen at safety at the age of 25. That is not to say that there isn’t any talent at the position, as Aaron Williams had four interceptions last season after moving to strong safety last season. Also, second-year safety Johnathan Meeks, a 2013 fifth-round pick, is competing with Searcy for the free safety position, while 2013 fourth-round selection Duke Williams is currently the backup to Williams.
While a starting safety and a backup at each position may have been enough for teams to have in the past, the NFL is now a passing league with spread offense aspects. This requires secondary players at both corner and safety that can blitz and cover skill players like running backs, flex tight ends, and slot receivers. The lack of depth and experience at the safety position for the Bills was a main reason why a pair of undrafted free agent safeties chose to come to Buffalo. Those two players are Kenny Ladler from Vanderbilt and Deon Broomfield from Iowa State.
Ladler was looked at as a potential pick in the fifth-round (via CBSSports.com), but was not even among the 256 picks in the draft. Ladler said he received a call from Buffalo after the draft, and they talked to him about “coming in and contributing to the team”.
“I just took that offer and I felt like it was a good decision for me to make and a good opportunity for them to have me come in and compete to make this team,” said Ladler.
Broomfield had six teams call him with free agent offers, but felt the connections he had with the team made the Bills the right destination. “My agent was real familiar with the guys upstairs in the office, and they (Buffalo) seemed to give me the best deal,” said Broomfield. “I felt I was going to have the best opportunity to find a way to make the final roster.” Ladler came into the draft process with a lot of momentum with a dominant senior season that included intercepting five passes and forcing five fumbles, a single-season school-record. That performance was in large part to Ladler reaching out to former Pro Bowl safety Corey Chavous, who also played at Vanderbilt (via Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News):
Creating more turnovers was the goal of Buffalo Bills rookie safety Kenny Ladler entering his senior year at Vanderbilt University last fall. On the advice of Vanderbilt alumnus and former NFL safety Corey Chavous, Ladler spent last summer watching video of Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman. He’s the NFL’s active leader for forced fumbles among defensive backs. “I just took that info and started watching him on film,” Ladler said. “I noticed every time he was around the ball, he was punching at the offensive player. That’s kind of how he has made his name.” The studying worked. Ladler forced a school-record five fumbles and added five interceptions as a senior to earn first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors.
Ladler told me the study helped his game, aiding him in “making more flash plays” and “creating more turnovers”. “It really helped take my game to another level my senior year,” said Ladler. “I think that turnovers come in bunches, so once you start creating a lot of turnovers, they start coming. I felt like it just showed my last year how each game i started getting more turnovers. It was just something I worked on.”
Broomfield was a full-time starter for the first time as a senior in 2013, garnering 57 tackles, six pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and three interceptions. Broomfield feels that he can make the team and an impact because the Bills “didn’t have that many guys back from the safety position”.
“I think they lost two or three safeties from last year,” said Broomfield. “And they have some young guys that I feel like I can compete with for a safety jobs, and try and find a way on special teams.”
Ladler also believes he has an opportunity to make the squad, and is ready to make those that didn’t pick him pay. The former Vanderbilt Commodore only ran a 4.67 40 yard dash at the combine, and a 4.62 at his pro day, but doesn’t think that matters at the pro level.
“I definitely felt overlooked,” said Lalder. “Throughout the draft process they emphasize 40, it’s big, and it wasn’t one of my best measurables. But on that football field, you’re not out there running and jumping, you have to play football. That’s how I see it. I’m a good football player. Once I’m out there, I make plays.”
Both Ladler and Broomfield were complimentary of their positions coaches, defensive backs coach Donnie Henderson and assistant defensive backs coach Samson Brown. Henderson has more than ten years coaching in the NFL, and was the defensive backs coach at Syracuse University in 2012 with Doug Marrone, while Brown is a third-year NFL coach who is in his first year as a position coach.
“The coaches are very smart,” said Broomfield. “When I first met with coach Donnie (Henderson), he showed me the game in a whole different view that I had really never seen coming from college. Samson (Brown) is there every step of the way helping you keep up with Donnie. It’s been very, very helpful.”
“I like being coached up by Donnie (Henderson) and Samson (Brown),” said Ladler. “They’re some of best coaches I’ve ever had as far as just taking in the talents you have and developing it, and giving you that mindset to play and win every down. It’s just something that they bring out in you.”
Ladler and Broomfield have the perfect example of making it in the league from the undrafted ranks in second-year cornerback Nickell Robey. Robey entered last training camp as a 5’7”, 165 pound undrafted free-agent who was competing for a spot in a young and deep cornerback group.
Robey not only made the team, but finished with 39 tackles, three sacks, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller ranked Robey as the No. 28 cornerback in the NFL in his list of the t0p 100 corners in the league in April. Broomfield has not only seen Robey’s talents on full display this off-season, but also his tenacity and attitude.
Of Robey, Broomfield said “he just goes hard on everything”.
“He’s a playmaker,” said Broomfield. “When we first got here during OTAs and minicamp, he’s a guy that stood out. He’s a competitive guy and it shows in his game play. That’s the biggest thing I took from him, definitely just being competitive every snap you get.”
Ladler said that Robey was one of the first guys he talked to when he came to Buffalo. Robey gave him valid advice, according to Ladler.
“He had told me that he was undrafted just like me,” said Ladler. “He was like “it’s time to go to work, show them what you can do out there, make plays”. that’s what he said, “that’s what it’s all about. You make plays, you’ll be out there.”
While both Broomfield and Ladler want to jump start their NFL career in this camp, both have developed skills and passions outside the game. Broomfield spent some of his month off before training camp returning to his home county of Brevard, Florida to help former Florida Gator Joe Cohen at his Elite Football Camp.
Broomfield helped Cohen teach 150 kids the game of football, with the Brevard resident feel good about giving “back to the community” he was raised in.
“That’s my home county, so it’s always good to see those kids and try to teach them football and show them a positive side of what football can give you,” said Broomfield. “It’s bigger than football, we talk about academics and everything. It felt good to give back to the community.”
Cohen, a defensive tackle at Florida who played three seasons in the NFL (2007-2009), and one year with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, was a teammate of Bills linebacker Brandon Spikes in 2006 while the two were playing for Urban Meyer’s Gators, winning a national title. Broomfield has gotten to know Spikes through the connection with Cohen, and has developed a “pretty cool” relationship with a player with Super Bowl and National Championship experience the Bills brought in this off-season to help out at linebacker.
“I just talk with him, not even about really football but on a personal level getting to know each other,” said Broomfield. “He asks me how I’m doing sometimes and just kind of fitting well into the locker room.”
Ladler graduated from Vanderbilt with a degree in human organization development, and interned the summer of his senior year at the Martin O’Bryan center in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s mission, through Christian faith, is to empower “children, youth, and adults in poverty to transform their lives through work, education, employment and fellowship”, according to its website.
Ladler said the degree and internship were about going into organizations and figuring out how to improve them, and are experiences that he may use after he’s done playing football.
“It’s something I think I can do after,” said Ladler. “Maybe starting my own non-profit or just give back to my community, and do something similar like that.”
Broomfield graduated from Iowa State with a liberal arts degree, and joined the coaching staff at Ohio Wesleyan university as a defensive backs coach, where he spent a month and a half before being signed. Upon Broomfield signing with Buffalo, Ohio Wesleyan head coach Tom Watts spoke glowingly of the former Iowa State Cyclone, despite having him for a short period of time (via battlingbishops.com):
“In a short amount of time, Deon has made a huge impact on our current student-athletes as a coach,” said Ohio Wesleyan head football coach Tom Watts. “We’re very excited for him and we’ll be rooting for him.”
Broomfield was able to coach and still train every day, something that “fit in perfect” for him. Broomfield was “really grateful” for Ohio Wesleyan helping him start his coaching career. Ladler’s Twitter profile (@kennyladlo) states “Faith. Family. Football”.
He said his faith is “strong” and what comes first in his life. As for his family, Ladler has a “close” family, as his dad came up to watch practices and see how he was doing.
Football is the third priority for Ladler, but he still calls it “my love”.
“I love playing football, said Ladler. “I love the game. I love just being out there. I’ve been doing it all my life, possibly I might coach after I’m done playing. It’s just something that I truly and strongly feel.”
Both Ladler and Broomfield will have the opportunity to prove their way onto the Bills roster. Whatever happens this training camp for either, however, they have the skills and character to do good things in other professions.
Follow ProPlayerInsiders (@PlayerInsiders) and Robin Lalisse (@RobinLalisse) on Twitter
