BillsFanForever19

I disagree with a number of things about your 45. I think there's people on this list that aren't likely to make it and people off of it who are somewhere between a lock or very close to it: - I don't think Mike White is anything close to locked in as QB2. I've said this before, there's no guaranteed money with White and there is with Trubisky. So for White to win, he has to so clearly be the better option that they're willing to pay about 2m in Dead Money for Trubisky and the 1.3m that isn't guaranteed for White on top of it. I think if it's even remotely close (which it is), they're going to go with Trubisky bc that's the cheaper option. I also think that him being friends with Josh also plays a role. - I don't think Elijah Moore is a lock either. I know we all got enamored with his off-season videos and his speed. But reportedly, he hasn't been very impressive in Camp. Meanwhile, Tyrell Shavers has been undeniable. I think on my list I'll be keeping both. But if I were locking in 5 like your list, it would be Shavers in and Moore out. - Forrest... Forrest to me is everyone's "I don't want Damar Hamlin here and Forrest is the competition, so he's in". I haven't heard anything about him impressing and he's not running above Hamlin in practice or the games. He's really shown or done nothing to say he should be on the 53 besides he isn't Damar Hamlin. I've said it once, I'll say it a million times, I don't think there's a bigger disconnect in player evaluation than with Hamlin. To the fans, he's terrible and he shouldn't be here. To the brass, he's a guy that they keep bringing him back and putting him in big roles. I'll honestly believe it when I see it that they feel like he can't even be a Backup for this team given his role last year. - And obviously, Deone Walker is making this team. I'm assuming you just brain farted leaving him off the list. We've never outright cut even a 5th Rounder the same year we Drafted them - let alone a 4th Rounder like Walker. All that said, here's my feeling on the roster as of today: QB: Josh Allen #17 Mitch Trubusky #11 RB: James Cook III #4 Ray Davis #22 Ty Johnson #26 - Reggie Gilliam #41 WR: Khalil Shakir #10 Joshua Palmer #5 Keon Coleman #0 Curtis Samuel #1 Elijah Moore #18 Tyrell Shavers #80 TE: Dalton Kincaid #86 Dawson Knox #88 Jackson Hawes #85 OL: Dion Dawkins #73 David Edwards #76 Connor McGovern #66 O'Cyrus Torrence #64 Spencer Brown #79 - Tylan Grable #68 Ryan Van Demark #74 Alec Anderson #70 Chase Lundt #77 DE: Joey Bosa #97 Greg Rousseau #50 AJ Epenesa #57 Landon Jackson #94 Javon Solomon #56 DT: Ed Oliver #91 Daquan Jones #92 T.J. Sanders #98 Dewayne Carter #90 Deone Walker #96 LB: Matt Milano #58 Terrel Bernard #8 Dorian Williams #42 Shaq Thompson #45 Joe Andreessen #44 CB: Christian Benford #47 Maxwell Hairston #31 Taron Johnson #7 (Nickel) Tre'Davious White #27 Dorian Strong #43 Brandon Codrington #29 (KR/PR) S: Taylor Rapp #9 Cole Bishop #24 Damar Hamlin #3 Jordan Hancock #37 (Nickel/Safety) Cam Lewis #39 (Nickel/Safety) ST: Tyler Bass #2 Reid Ferguson #69 Brad Robbins #40 Roster Exempt: DE Michael Hoecht #55 (Suspended) DT Larry Ogunjobi #99 (Suspended) C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger #62 (PUP)

You're both cutting Deone Walker? 😮

Thank you. I couldn't recall if we went without McGovern last season and who started for the last game. I suppose your scenario could work. It'd be a lot on the plate of Alec Anderson and Tylan Grable. Anderson 6th OL on the field in certain packages, 1st guy up at all 3 interior spots. Tylan Grable being the first guy up at Tackle and having to also play Guard if two go down on the Interior. I must have missed SVPG being on PUP with all the injuries announced. Last update being McDermott saying it's unlikely he'll make the Pre-Season finale. If that's the case, i'd expect them to keep him on PUP or maybe even IR him. But I don't think they're going to outright cut him. Spending a Top 7 Pick in Round 5 on him last season is no minor investment, like a Late 6th or 7th. I don't think they wash their hands on his development after his Rookie year and an injured off-season.

Who's the Backup at Center then? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing any Center experience for David Edwards, O'Cyrus Torrence, Alec Anderson, Tylan Grable, Ryan Van Demark, or Chase Lundt. It is possible they keep a 10th OL. But like I said, the problem I see there is there's a myriad of positions where an argument is being made to keep an extra from last season. And you can't do it all. WR with Moore and Shavers, OL with Lundt, LB with Thompson, Olofoshio, and Joe, CB with Strong and Ingram (or Jackson), S with Hamlin, Hancock, and Lewis. There's going to be some difficult cuts with how deep we are.

I still maintain he'd have to unseat Van Demark. I suppose there's a chance they could keep an extra OL over what they had last year. But that also seems to be something discussed for a lot of different positions this season.

It's not only not highly unlikely he makes the roster - it's highly unlikely he *doesn't* make the roster. Dorian Strong isn't like most 6th Round Picks that we take at the bottom of the Round or as a Supplemental Pick. He was the 1st Pick overall in Round 6. For example, Dorian Strong was taken with the 177th Pick in the Draft. Our 6th Round Pick last year, Daequan Hardy, was taken with the 219th Pick in the Draft. Technically, the same Round. But they were effectively taken almost a full Round and a Half from each other. Jordan Hancock (Pick 170), Jackson Hawes (Pick 173), and Dorian Strong (Pick 177) were all taken within 7 Picks of each other. It cracks me up when posters look at Hancock and Hawes as almost locks and Strong as a longshot bc he was taken in Round 6. Especially considering Strong was considered a steal where he was taken. Even if Hairston didn't get hurt, I still would have liked Strong's chances. Hancock is a Nickel/Safety Hybrid who isn't competing for the same roster spot. We'll keep 4 Boundary CB's. Benford, Hairston, and Tre are givens. The last spot comes down to Strong, Ja'Marcus Ingram, or Dane Jackson (who almost certainly will be cut for the Practice Squad). With Hairston hurt, they may choose to keep a 5th Boundary guy. And with Strong looking great in Camp in his stead - I would be very surprised if he didn't make it. We'd much easier get back Dane Jackson or Ja'Marcus Ingram on the Practice Squad than we would Dorian Strong.

But what he doesn't have is the accolades of All-Pro that McDuffie and Gonzalez have. Or the long term fame of Jalen Ramsey. Or the kind of attention that Pick 6'ing Mahomes in a Super Bowl victory brought Cooper DeJean. This isn't a PFF strictly performance based list. This is a player voted Top 100 of 1,696 players (53 man roster x 32 teams) popularity contest. We know Benford's great. But you'd be hard pressed to find anyone outside of Bills fans and analytics nerds (and again, this isn't that kind of list) that would put Benford in the Top 100. It also doesn't help that he went down with Concussions on the biggest stages for us last year. Maybe if that didn't happen and he made big time plays then, things would have been different for both the team and his chances to make the list.

Benford isn't flashy enough to make this kind of list. He's a Zone Corner that doesn't get many picks. Great cover guy, but being a great cover guy isn't going to make a list like this. This is a part performance based, part big plays, part popularity list. We know as Bills fans Benford is great at what he does. But he just doesn't get enough attention for what he does because he doesn't get picks, pick 6's, and doesn't play man to man. The second that both 2nd Team All Pro CB's in Trent McDuffie and Christian Gonzalez came in at #81 and #84 respectively - I knew there was no way Benford was going to show up on the list above them. Agent 47 will continue to be an under the radar, unsung hero until he strings together flash highlights. And honestly, I kind of like that he flies under the radar.

For Practice Squad, sure. Maybe an outside chance that Lundt unseats Van Demark as the 4th OT. But RVD is very well liked by the brass and the guys in the locker room, so I'd be surprised. And there's no shot he beats out Grable with his performance this off-season. We didn't lose anyone on the OL from last season to this year. So it's unlikely that anyone from last season is cut to make room. Especially at IOL, in Bayer's case. He'd have to take one of SVPG or Alec Anderson's spots and I really don't see either being released.

I'll give you the Practice Squad. But it's not every year that a UDFA makes the 53 like Buffalo Joe. It tends to only happen when we're not particularly deep at a position (like we were at LB last season). This year, we're much deeper pretty much across the board than we were last season. So I don't see any UDFA or camp invite making the 53. I think the closest you'll see to this is there's a good chance that after 2 seasons of being cut and then put on the Practice Squad, Tyrell Shavers has a really good shot at making the 53 this year.

What veteran? The Free Agent RB market has been completely picked through. There's nothing of value left: Jamaal Williams (30) Zack Moss (28) Gus Edwards (30) Jeff Wilson (30) Ameer Abdullah (32) Chase Edmonds (29) JaMychal Hasty (29) D'Onta Foreman (29) Mike Boone (30) Josh Kelly (29) Chris Evans (28) Owen Wright (26) Let Cook do what he wants. He isn't going to hold out games or not be at camp and take the fines that would cost six figures per. He "likes his money" too much for that. Let him throw a hissy fit for a bit. If he wants a team to pay him, he's going to have to produce. He knows it. The team knows it. Davis and Johnson are nice roleplayers. Davis for tough yardage and change of pace. Johnson for blocking and receiving. But to rely on them on 1st and 2nd down to move the chains, or any from that murderers row list above, would be a massive downgrade to our offense this season. And if they don't want to pay 15m per for Cook, I question whether they want to pay around 30m per for 29 year old McLaurin. I know WR is a different animal than RB. But it's still a much larger ticket.

You speak as if we're already winning the "salary cap award of the year". As it is, we're having to budget shop. You want a DK Metcalf or Terry McLaurin? Best we can do is Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore. You want us to swing for the fences on a DE that's on the market? Best we can do is Joey Bosa. Want to go get a stud CB? Best we can do is Tre White, Dane Jackson, and Draft Picks. Think DaQuan Jones is toast? All good, we'll get a 1T in Round 4. And through all of that and the economy moves to mid-tier moves, we're dead last in the league in Salary Cap - sitting at -750k. Next year, we sit at -2.93 million with at least 17 players who will make this roster needing to be re-signed or replaced. Including 4 of our to be rostered Offensive Lineman, 2 of which starters. We aren't remotely close to winning in the salary cap game right now. Haven't been in a good many years. We're in rough, rough shape. I don't believe the kind of contract that Micah Parsons will demand is feasible. And if it is, the amount of players in the coming years we'd have no choice to let walk would be staggering. Everyone likes to point to the Rams. It's no guarantee that going "all in" like the Rams did will guarantee the same result. And if you do that and not get to the promised land, we're putting Josh in even more hell for years to come and wasting more of his years.

So 2 1st's, a 3rd, Cook, Epenesa, and the new highest contract for an Edge Rusher - which would severely hamstring our cap even more going forward?

Yeah, I get what you're saying. I went last year and Josh did the same amount of work. I think it's like you said, if it wasn't a big event at the stadium with lots of fans, maybe he doesn't do anything beyond some throwing drills against air. But you gotta give the fans something.

Thanks for the jinx equilibrium. I'm honestly not all that superstitious. But I wince every time I see a post like OP's.

That logic tracks. But maybe they didn't want to give up picks this year given all they had to do and roster spots they had to fill. Especially a high pick this year. I tend to agree with you. But maybe adding a player like McLaurin while still being able to get Sanders and Jackson and pay for him with picks next year (and/or player(s)) might be more intriguing.

He didn't skip any mandatory OTA's, didn't skip any of Training Camp - no holdout period. He's talked about wanting to stay here. It baffles me that people still talk about something like this or hold ill will towards him bc of a couple tweets that simply said "I want to be paid".

Could be another reason they're doing it. They could be trying to coach those instincts out of him.

One thing I've noticed between going to camp and reading the reports - it seems to me that they're trying to force Keon Coleman to be more physical and deal with physicality better. When I was there and reading what people have been saying for all of the practices I haven't, the DB's seem to be WAY more physical with Keon than anyone else. To the point where it would draw a flag (on Monday for example, Josh made the flag motion on a route drill throw to him). Then the next set of WR's would come up and it would be standard coverage. Then Keon would come up again and again, hands all over him. I don't think this is coincidental. I think the coaches put an edict to make things difficult on him to toughen him up.

Incorrect. Dorian Strong is #43. Dane Jackson is #23.

You kind of said it yourself, "if he can play 1T". With how much we rotate, I don't think trading up in Round 2 means he has to start in Year 1 or Year 2. Especially given the plan being to move him around the interior line. Beane called him a 3T that can be slid over in certain situations (most likely obvious passing downs). That doesn't exactly scream to me the eventual full time replacement for Jones at 1T. And again, he doesn't have to be that to make an impact. If he's the first guy up shifting in for Oliver at 3T and he's occasionally coming in to blitz from the 1T on passing downs, replacing Jones or eventually Walker (who I see as the true heir apparent to Jones for 1st and 2nd downs) - he's going to potentially get as many snaps as one of the starters. And if he's as good as advertised, that's well worth the 41st pick in the Draft, even if he isn't technically a Starter. If he is to be a Starter one day, I think it's more likely he makes Oliver expendable in a couple years at 3T than it is he becomes the 1T Starter.

I remember telling posters when he was doing well in Indianapolis in Taylor's stead it was only because the Indianapolis O-Line was stacked for Run Blocking and the Offense was schemed towards the Running game. This solidifies that.

May not mean anything, but Hairston posted "Beyond blessed 🙏 Thank you God" a minute ago on his Instagram.

That's wishful thinking. There have been many instances where a guy is looked at on the field and walks off or is helped off without a cart that ended up being a Torn ACL. As I said before in the other post, Reggie Ragland tore his ACL as a Rookie. No cart even going to the Locker Room. They looked at Von Miller on the field and allowed him to walk to the sidelines. Torn ACL. And that's just off the top of my head relating to just this team. Do I think it's definitively a Torn ACL? No, I like everyone else am hoping for the best. But do I think the fact that they didn't immediately bring out a cart means it isn't? Absolutely not. I'm not taking much stock in that, given so many instances of that not happening and it still being a Torn ACL.

I definitely agree with you on that. Like I said, i've been very vocal that I think he's toast. But I think less of what I would do and more of what I think they would do in situations like these. And if Hairston is lost for the year and they decide they want more than what they have underneath Benford and Tre as the next guy up on the Outside, I see them turning to Douglas. Whether you, me, or anyone else would want someone else.