Matt in KC

Isn't this just like what we said about our team going into this year...? The silver lining here is that the backup referees are gaining invaluable experience. With how physical the game is, you can't expect the starting refs to make it through a full season each year. Now we'll have backups coming off the bench that have real experience. This preseason is making us deeper at referee.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-27/sports/ct-spt-0828-haugh-column--20120828_1_nflra-nfl-referees-association-nfl-fans

Not only that, but Fitz has no preseason INTs; Rodgers has 2. I wonder if they'd go for a simple 1 for 1 trade. I just see something in that Rodgers kid, despite what the facts say....

Ryan Fitzpatrick is 21 of 42 (50.8%) for 208 yards Jay Cutler is 16 of 34 (47.1 %) for 218 yards Cam Newton is 16 of 31 (51.6%) for 196 yards Aaron Rodgers is 20 of 41 (48.8%) for 229 yards Tony Romo is 21 of 32 (65.6%) for 303 yards Mark Sanchez is 24 of 35 for (68.6%) for 203 yards Ryan Tannehill is 36 of 71(50.7%) for 379 yards Jake Locker is 22 of 44 (50%) for 235 yards Chase Daniel (NO) is 46 of 64 (71.9%) for 538 yards <-- I think I found our QB of the future. Now how many 1st round picks do we give for him? No price is too high for a franchise QB!

Right. Sorry, I'm multi-tasking and -screening. You covered it, but Kyle deserves his own call out IMO.

How can Kyle Williams not be on your list??

[From the other, non-poll WR thread:] And with that, I update my PS vote to add Easley and outright release Aiken.

Excellent. Thanks for posting this. I have seen conflicting write ups of the practice squad rules. The one that most clearly indicates Easley would not be eligible is Wikipedia, which I've held a degree of scepticism toward, for obvious reasons.

That sounds like a swipe at Graham, who seems to be doing very well, especially for this being his first year, and not just with his speed (which is a given). So who do you want or expect to be kept on the Bills? (vote here: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/149101-which-wrs-make-the-team-practice-squad/)

Aiken was only active two games last season, so he should still be PS-eligible. I think the bigger question for him is if the Bills have seen enough from him to bring him back to the PS one more year. Wow, so someone thought TJ Graham wouldn't make the team, perhaps the same person who voted him to the PS (dummy!). Someone else thought Donald Jones wouldn't make it. That would be a surprise. I'm glad to see the vote favoring Naaman over Martin (15 to 6), but personally think the Bills keep 5 and cut both. I'd guess Roosevelt would get the call in case of injury, even if at home for month to start the season, rather than Aiken getting called up from the PS.

No, that probably just means the Steelers aren't very good this year or weren't trying very hard. (It couldn't mean anything positive about the Bills.)

I was torn between making this a "who will make the team poll" vs. "who should make the team."

It's unclear if the Bills will keep 5 or 6 (or 7!?) WRs on the roster this year. Vote for whichever WRs you think will make the team and Practice Squad. There's good discussion out there already on who will or should make the team, including here: http://forums.twobil...y/#entry2539291 I'm interested in taking a poll to get a tally of the board's opinion.

I agree with this and would guess we keep 5, not 6. The roster is tight and there are other players that can catch for us (Smith, TEs, RB/HB/FB). Like the OP I'd guess Stevie, Donald Jones, David Nelson, TJ Graham, and Derek Hagan. But, if Hagan is slumping, I could see Martin or Roosevelt in his place. This article from two weeks ago seems to be hitting all the same points we are in this thread: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article989881.ece

Roosevelt looks to be a better contributer to our passing game than Martin and seems to have good chemistry with Fitzpatrick. It looked like Hagan had a spot wrapped up, but I haven't seen any support for this in the last couple weeks (and who knows with the closed practices). If he's regressing, he could be on the bubble. I think the last PS games are very important to all of these guys, fighting for 1 or 2 open positions. I continue to think the coaches like Martin more than Roosevelt, but can't figure out why. I'd be disappointed if he makes it over Naaman, and upset if he's kept over NR and Hagan. I had very high hopes for Aiken and Easley coming into the year, but see no evidence either is close to being kept. I predict they try to keep Aiken on the PS and simply part ways with Easley.

I don't see any way at all Troupe could be kept, or Johnson or Edwards cut, unless it's a salary-based decision (which I really doubt). The others are a bit trickier. Heard got hurt in TC, but came back and played through the pain and did well from what I've read. A nice addition to this thread would be to list the PS-eligibility: only Eddins and Gilbert, right? Given how tight the roster is and what's been said recently I'd think one of these guys lands on our Practice Squad.

Yeah, but Audie seems to have a knack in the NFL. He only played like 5 minutes at the end of the game; image if he played the whole game. That projects out to hundreds of interceptions per season! If the Vikings let him go for some reason, expect some crazy offers for his services.

Bring back Rusty Jones!

Audie Cole? I hear he's way down on the Vikings depth chart but shows a lot of promise....

Interesting. It seems like they should apply subsequent fouls to the result of the kickoff. (Ending up with perhaps 3/4 of the way to the goal, if two fouls?) If always moving the spot of the kick, at some point the kicking team should automatically be considering an onsides kick. If kicking from your 45 trying to get posession at the opponents 45 or beyond, it seems like a very reasonable risk given the possible reward. With all the touchbacks it doesn't seem like much of a penalty to move the kick closer to midfield as the rules stand today.

I just looked him up. He has a good voice, seems like an upgrade to the usual crews.

Yeah, I made sense of it (except the 0 catches for 16 receiving yards). I just never really lost faith that he was a playmaker during that period, which in retrospect is a bit of a headscratcher.

I know it's off topic, but biglukes' post made me look up Roscoe's stats. 2009: 3 receptions for 34 yards... and 5 fumbles. That has to be a mistake, right? http://www.nfl.com/player/roscoeparrish/2506394/profile Looking further, the Cleveland game seems to be contributing: 0 receptions for 16 yards (?) with 2 fumbles. I really did like Roscoe, but wow....

It looks to me like you're right. I didn't go back and look at any of his sacks from last year. I heard he had a variety of rush moves, and that he was much better against the run lat year than earlier in his career. His rush moves so far look like trying whatever comes to mind. It looks like he's moved around fairly easily, off balance much of the time. I suspect he'd still be relatively easy to block and move to open a run lane. He looks much bigger and stronger than Maybin to me. Has he held the POA in the first two PS games? I may well have missed it. (Not trying to be sarcastic or whatever.)

Helped themselves - Good showings Kyle Williams - not that he needs "help', but for the second game in a row he looks like a monster out there: fast and strong, a real powerhouse, even when being doubleteamed, which seems to be every play. Dareus - I love our DTs! Glenn - I think he's been solid the first two games. I forgive him for the penalties (so long as he settles down). I was one who worried about him playing tackle, but that is now forgotten. Graham - He has really earned playing time and looks like he's working hard to keep getting better. I thought WRs were supposed to take awhile to contribute. He's gone from a head-scratcher (little guy taken too high) to a very pleasant surprise who looks ready to get on the field in the opening game. Howell - Covered well in other threads. He's now on my radar. Brooks - He seems to have good instincts and is playing better than I think he should for his draft position. I wish he'd actually look for the ball instead of just breaking up the passes. Maybe when he gets more comfortable... (did he have many INTs in college?) Dickerson - He looks like a weapon we could use. i liked what I saw. Vince Young - He looked pretty good to me, much bettr than he's been, and definitely our #2 QB now Hurt themselves Byrd - I saw several poor tackles. I'm not down on Byrd, but I think he had a bad game. Barnett - He looks a bit lost out there, not at all the LB we've seen recently Hagan - not sure it was his fault, but where was he? Easley - He slipped to "lucky to make the PS" status IMO Other Anderson - He looks to be a bit out of control, a disruptor for sure, but all over the place, often far from where he started or the ball