Longshot Makes the Bills Roster
Jon Corto’s journey to make the Buffalo Bills squad has finally come to an end. The good news came on Saturday when Corto made the final 53 man roster for the Buffalo Bills. This comes a year after the undrafted linebacker was on the Bills practice squad. When Corto first joined the team during training camp of the 2007 season, he was moved to safety, where he wasn’t quite comfortable. The Bills coaching staff decided to make the move with him because of his size. He stands at 6’1’’ and 195 lbs. He was viewed as being too small of a player to play the physically demanding linebacker position. At the safety position, Corto blended in with the rest of the Bills secondary, not really standing out. Obviously he was cut from the team but was signed on the practice squad for the season.
Halfway through the 2008 training camp, Corto was asked by Bills coach Dick Jauron if he wanted to move back to his natural position. Of course he jumped on to the idea. He was a Division I-AA All American linebacker at his college of Sacred Heart. Of course he excelled during the preseason, back at his old spot. In the last preseason game he was even given the starting spot at linebacker, on a Thursday night game in front of the Bills home crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Now you might be saying to yourselves, “So What?”. Well it just happens that Corto was born and raised in Orchard Park, New York. He went to Orchard Park High School, where he earned All Western New York honors in both football and lacrosse.
Corto is now entering his second year in the NFL, and is one of 6 Bills linebackers on the squad.
It is unclear what role Jon will have on the team. It looks like he will play special teams and will add some depth to the linebacker position. He is currently behind Kawika Mitchell on the depth chart at the weak-side linebacker position.
The kid has heart too. During the last Bills preseason game against the Detroit Lions, Corto suffered a concussion during the game but no one knew until after it was all over. Jon ended the preseason with 8 tackles.
Now the young linebacker can return home and play in front of his family and friends. I know we will all be rooting for the hometown kid.
Hello Bills fans. As the roster was trimmed to 53 players, there were a few suprises that made the team. The first was converted safety to linebacker Jon Corto. I thought linebacker Blake Costanzo would make it over Corto because he was a great special teams player. The coaches must feel they can develop Corto and help him make the transition just like they did for Coy Wire. Corto did look good in the preseason games and was around the ball constantly. Corto needs to add a little size but will be mostly used on the special teams units. A suprise cut was cornerback Will James. I thought James would add experience to our secondary and win the nickel position battle. Ashton Youboty had a tremendous preseason with a couple of interceptions and was named the starting nickel back by the Bills today. The team decided to go with rookie cornerback Reggie Corner instead of James as a backup. Another suprise to me was that the team only kept three tight ends. Robert Royal is the starter but second year man Derek Schouman and rookie Derek Fine are injured. Schouman is scheduled to be ready for opening day but Fine will be out for a while due to thumb surgery he had last week. Lets hope Royal and Schouman can stay healthy and we dont have to worry about finding a tight end mid-season. Check out the complete 2008 roster on 
