The Final 53 and other musings

[gdabillsfan]

I got a phone call today from an old friend, who is also a big Bills fan (in both girth and exuberance), and we talked for about 2 hours about this year's team. We put our heads together and I thought I would post our conclusions

BTW when two old bald guys put their heads together it forms a perfect

)(

but I digress.

First of all,

He is as stoked as I am about the Bills chances this year, so we covered all the topics from the final 53, game to game predictions, the expectations for individual players, and even the future of the Bills (new stadium)in Buffalo.

 so here's what we came up with for our final 53 roster and thoughts on each position.

 

Offense (25)

QB:

Allen, Trubisky

The Bills keep 2, with Mitch being a major upgrade from Barkley, and either Fromm or Webb on the PS.

 

WR:

Diggs, Beasley, Sanders, Davis, McKenzie, Kumerow. 

We keep 6, it was a tough choice to cut Stevenson, as he has shown promise in the preseason, he'll be on the PS if he can clear waivers as will Hodgkin's, and possibly Powell and/or Gentry.

 

RB:

Singletary, Moss, Breida, Taiwan Jones (HE gets cut initially to stash someone on the IR and then resigned)

We keep 4, 5 if you count Gilliam here, I have him in the TE group though so 4.

Williams to the PS.

TE:

Knox, Hollister, Sweeney, Gilliam

We have major upgrades here over last year, gaining Hollister, and losing Kroft and L. Smith, and getting Sweeney back from his heart issue.

We keep 3/4 depending on how you count Gilliam with him being the 4th.

*Interesting tidbit, my friend is from out of town, so he watched yesterday's game on the NFL channel, who had the Chicago announcers. So, I told him what Tasker said about tackling Gilliam "it's like trying to catch a fire hydrant thrown from the back of a moving pick up truck" and he spit out his coffee. 😆

OL:

Dawkins, Feliciano, Morse, Ford, Williams as the starters, and Brown, Boettger(sp), Bates as reserves. We will also keep another tackle maybe a vet that's cut or Doyle for a total of 9. A couple of the rest (maybe Andersen or Lamp) for the PS

 

Defense (25)

DT:

Starr,(can't spell his last name) Oliver, Phillips, Zimmer

We keep 4 with Butler as the odd man out. A better group from last year, just because well have a true 1 tech this year, instead of playing 3's there.Possibly Butler to PS if no one signs him.

DE:

Addison, Hughes, Epeneza, Rousseau, Basham, Johnson. 

We keep 6, Obada is the odd man out if we stay with Addison, which is a shame because someone will probably sign him. It would be nice to be able to stash him somehow, of all our cuts I am most worried about him not making it to the PS. Johnson stays for his prowess on ST, and he seems to be improving with his defensive snaps as well. Big improvement this year with this group with our losses being only Murphy and Jefferson who were just ok at best.

LB:

Edmunds, Milano, Klein, Matakevich, Smith, Dodson

We keep these 6 with Giles_Harris,and maybe Lee to the PS

CB:

White, Wallace, T. Johnson, Jackson, Neal.

We keep 5 like last year,  the only loss was Norman, who I thought should of been cut early last year anyway (too old and slow). Wildgoose, Lewis and either Griffen or McCloud to the PS

S:

Hyde, Poyer, J. Johnson, Thomas or Hamlin with which ever is cut to the PS. We keep 4. 

*I liked Marlowe last year, but don't consider his loss a net loss, because Hamlin and Thomas both show potential, and have younger legs.

ST:

Bass, Haack, Ferguson 

Interestingly we swapped our left footed punter, for another lefty. I think Haack might have a bit more finesse to his game to pin our opponents, but Bojo  sure could punt the hell out of the ball. Bass I'm sure is happy for a holder who knows which way the laces go, Bass o matic.

Other Musings and prognostications

We disagreed on wins and losses on the year, with my friend predicting a 14-3 campaign, and losses to KC, TB, and NE (at Foxboro)

I think we start out 4 and 2, with losses to KC and Tenn. going into the bye. We rebound well but suffer a last minute loss at TB .The loss sucks but we never lose again going 14-3 on the regular season

We both agreed:

The Bills will make a deal with EC and NYS to build a new open air stadium in OP with the state and county putting up 1 billion towards the totl cost of 1.6 billion. I know PSE predicts the total cost at 1.4 B, but nothing gets built in NY without some kind of cost over run.☹️

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Good job

With Phillips injury he goes to IR for sure which allows Zimmer to stay on the roster.  Obada should make it over Johnson though I am not certain McD will see it that way.  

Where does the legend of Tommy Sweeney come from? He can't block and he has no speed.  I would prefer they go with Knox, Hollister, Gilliam, and and keep an extra OT.

Doyle is just going to be cut - he is terrible

I'm not sure Breida  or Jones should make this roster. I don't think either are any good. That said I would keep Breida and let Jones go.  Letting Jones go let's them keep 7 WR with Stevenson the 7th guy. 

I don't have a good feel for who the back-up safeties will be.  

As for ST's the only guy I would keep is Matakevich.  For the other core guys, there is a better player on the roster worth keeping.  Obada is better than Johnson, Brieda and Williams are both better than Jones, and I would rather keep Kumerow and Stevenson.  Kumerow, Breida, Stevenson, Sweeney, and a new DB or LB can be the core ST's guys.  

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Agree with most of it except I'd keep Obada over Johnson.  If he were on the Bills last year, he'd have led the team in sacks.  Or maybe keep both and go with one less LB.  Do we really need six LB's when they rarely even play with three on the field other than 1st down?  Obada also is playing ST.

 

I'd also be fine with letting T Jones go.

 

Just feel overall they can't keep so many ST aces when they don't contribute to other phases of the game too and expect to improve the roster overall

[Rc2catch]

Zero chance Obada would make it to the practice squad. Somebody would sign him up just based on his flexibility and athleticism. I think that’s the toughest position group to gauge cause we all basically want the same guy gone to keep the others, but they’re probably keeping him. 

[MAJBobby]

Agree with most of this. Except 

 

Cut Jones (sorry 4RB to much) and keep Stevenson (yes Kumerow forces to carry 7 WRs this year. 
 

I think keep obedo and move on from Addison. 
 

surprise Cut IMO will be Brieda have not been impressed one bit. 
 

also I really think it is either Phillips OR Zimmer. Both should not make the team same type of player. So if availability matters go with Zimmer 

Edited August 23, 2021 by MAJBobby

[Rc2catch]

2 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Agree with most of this. Except 

 

Cut Jones (sorry 4RB to much) and keep Stevenson (yes Kumerow forces to carry 7 WRs this year. 
 

I think keep obedo and move on from Addison. 
 

surprise Cut IMO will be Brieda have not been impressed one bit. 

Killing me here.. 

Brieda and Obada were my two favorites to get on the team this year. You and the OP are cutting both lol 

[MAJBobby]

1 minute ago, Rc2catch said:

Killing me here.. 

Brieda and Obada were my two favorites to get on the team this year. You and the OP are cutting both lol 

actually I am not. I am only cutting Brieda. And I am keeping Obada over Addison. 
 

I can get at least out of Obada what Addison brought last year. Now another year older. Just move on. 
 

Brieda I was hopeful. But I think his speed is gone and that was his game 

Edited August 23, 2021 by MAJBobby

[John from Riverside]

We aren’t cutting Stevenson

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

RBs - I think with the flexible PS rules, i can probably roll with 3 RBs and 1 or 2 on PS.  The 3rd one should be a special teamer for the most part, so I'd assume Jones.  I also really don't think that teams are lining up to snag matt breida and antonio williams.  So you can probably get one to the PS and activate on a game day if someone is banged up.  I also think you can find guys like breida and williams throughout the season and get them up to speed with the playbook if a more interesting player comes available.  

 

WRs - With the top 5 WR's pretty set for the season I put the 6th as the guy i least want to lose - I don't feel the need to carry 7 when 2 will hopefully rarely dress.  Ideally 6+2 on PS.  My guess is stevenson for active roster, and kumerow/hodgins/lenoir/williams to the PS.  They'll probably lose one or 2... but they can also add players they were interested in that are cut from other teams.  

 

OL - Carrying 9.  Your 8 plus one more.  I feel like you have to at least have 9 even with PS rules.  

 

TE's - I'd probably just roll with 3 initially, pushing sweeney to PS.  I'd also look at roster cuts for a possible 4th.  

 

DTs - depending on philips injury, i could go either way with him or butler.  Early season availability is key here.

DE's - I'd assume Johnson gets cut, and those ST snaps go to obada who offers more as a pass rusher.  Hell - with 6, and dressing 5 you can probably put anyone you want out there on STs.

 

 

 

 

[gdabillsfan]

13 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Good job

With Phillips injury he goes to IR for sure which allows Zimmer to stay on the roster.  Obada should make it over Johnson though I am not certain McD will see it that way.  

Thanks for your response. All I've heard so far is that Phillips knee injury is not that serious, it sucks that it is the same knee he had surgery on, so maybe that plays out more through the season.

i would really like to find a way to keep Obada, but it's a numbers game, he offers a similar skill set to Basham, and can be used inside as a 3 tech on passing downs. The elephant in the room is Addison if he is traded (I doubt that) or cut , we keep Obada.

Where does the legend of Tommy Sweeney come from? 

sounds like a country song,lol.  

He has made some catches,and flashed in practice by some reports, but being at the bottom of the depth chart I doubt he is active much for any games unless someone gets hurt.

 

Doyle is just going to be cut - he is terrible

I agree he isnt anybody who knocks your socks off, other than being a mountain of a man, size wise, I haven't seen much from him yet. As I said above they should scour the cuts for a vet OT (or 2). I would give him a shot at the practice squad though, he was a 5th rd. pick I believe, so who knows

 

I'm not sure Breida  or Jones should make this roster. I don't think either are any good. That said I would keep Breida and let Jones go.  Letting Jones go let's them keep 7 WR with Stevenson the 7th guy. 

Breida is a guy I see inactive for most games unless there is an injury that will keep the starters out. He is there for insurance like T.J. Yeldon last year. Jones is coveted for his gunner role on ST and the coaches are always raving about his abilities there. I really would like to keep Stevenson only because I don't have total confidence in McKenzie as a PR/KR but 7 receivers is a lot to keep. I don't know if we cut him, he gets snatched up, or if he makes it to the PS. Every year we over value guys , and then no one ends up signing them away. Maybe in his case it will be different. The only way he stays is if they value him as a PR/KR, and yes he has skills as a reciever, but he would still be 6/7 on the depth charts on this team, and probably would not play unless a catastrophe happened to the other receivers. I say the same of Kumerow, he may have a roll on ST, but would rarely play at WR (maybe a red zone play if he was active)

 

I don't have a good feel for who the back-up safeties will be

Me either, but at least they're both young guys who might improve. Hamlin seems to have nose for the ball

 

[gdabillsfan]

13 hours ago, Rc2catch said:

Killing me here.. 

Brieda and Obada were my two favorites to get on the team this year. You and the OP are cutting both lol 

Obada was one of my cuts, (as some one said above, Addison should be cut in exchange for him), I agree with that, however McB, values him higher than than Obada ( I know they offer different skill sets). I never had Breida as a cut, he's insurance for Singletary and Moss.

[gdabillsfan]

2 hours ago, dneveu said:

RBs - I think with the flexible PS rules, i can probably roll with 3 RBs and 1 or 2 on PS.  The 3rd one should be a special teamer for the most part, so I'd assume Jones.  I also really don't think that teams are lining up to snag matt breida and antonio williams.  So you can probably get one to the PS and activate on a game day if someone is banged up.  I also think you can find guys like breida and williams throughout the season and get them up to speed with the playbook if a more interesting player comes available.  

Maybe Breida can make it to the PS, but if he doesn't, it's like betting your insurance policy on a not so sure bet. Yeah you could probably find another guy throughout the season but he's been here,knows the system, so there is some value there.

With the top 5 WR's pretty set for the season I put the 6th as the guy i least want to lose - I don't feel the need to carry 7 when 2 will hopefully rarely dress.  Ideally 6+2 on PS.  My guess is stevenson for active roster, and kumerow/hodgins/lenoir/williams to the PS.  They'll probably lose one or 2... but they can also add players they were interested in that are cut from other teams.  

The only guy I would worry about losing would be Kumerow, only because of what AR said about him, if you cut him I think GB will pounce.

OL - Carrying 9.  Your 8 plus one more.  I feel like you have to at least have 9 even with PS rules.  

Yeah, I had us at 9 there, but I don't know about Doyle, I would scour the cuts for a vet to keep there

TE's - I'd probably just roll with 3 initially, pushing sweeney to PS.  I'd also look at roster cuts for a possible 4th.  

I could see Sweeney on the practice squad, I don't think anybody would poach him from us, that would create another spot on the 53 for someone.

DTs - depending on philips injury, i could go either way with him or butler.  Early season availability is key here.

I agree
DE's - I'd assume Johnson gets cut, and those ST snaps go to obada who offers more as a pass rusher.  Hell - with 6, and dressing 5 you can probably put anyone you want out there on STs.

Yeah maybe, the ST coach really likes Johnson, if Obada can do as well or offer more on D I guess it's possible.

 

 

 

 

[gdabillsfan]

 I think it's great that our team is so deep this year that we are debating about guys to make the team that may be inactive game days, but could be coveted on other teams