Bills cuts to get to 53 [final info in the OP]

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

Spatial awareness, that "GPS" to find the football like they say with Rousseau, is an important attribute for a gunner and it is not off the charts with Taiwan Jones. I'm guessing he plays physical and combined with his speed that's why they like him. The ball skills aren't great.

 

Hmm. He seems to end up around the ball plenty for someone who needs their GPS fixing. 

[aceman_16]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Its really just proof of how few fans actually pay attention to anything other than following the football. 
 

 

Used to be worse for me when there were cheerleaders.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, JoPoy88 said:

It is just…fantastic and sad that some people just can’t STILL see the guy’s worth. After he makes the team year after year….

 

What happens every single offseason is fans fall in love with certain fringe roster players. It happens every year with guys who are going to be the 5th, 6th, hell even 7th option at a particular spot. Then they try and fit them onto the 53 they have in their heads and in order to make them fit the special teams guy is the "easy" cut. 

 

There are a lot of posters I respect whose takes I am generally pretty aligned with who think Jake Kumerow likely has more impact as the 6th receiver on this team than Taiwan Jones does as a starting gunner. That is crazy to me. If you look at the two receivers who spent time on this roster last year as their 6th and 7th choice guys - Kumerow and Andre Roberts - they were targeted a combined 6 times over the course of the season. 6 targets. The year before they carried 6 receivers all year with Roberts as the 6th and he was targeted 7 times the entire year. I just can't buy that a guy in that spot on the depth chart is giving you more than a starting gunner.

 

None of which is to say I didn't want Kumerow and Stevenson on this team. I had them both making it and Jones making it and that is how it transpired. But the next thing will be outcry when Taiwan Jones is active week 1 and Stevenson plus either Kumerow or Breida is not. To me Jones is a starter. I consider certain positions on special teams - the two gunner spots, the personal protector on punt team and the return man (or men if you have separate kick and punt returners) - as starters. I'm not giving up my starter in any of those spots for a depth player somewhere else. Now of course you should always be trying to find guys for those spots (and for your wedge positions on punt return and for your wing protectors on punts etc) who can also give you valuable depth on offense and defense. But the Bills have done a really good job at that. Jones is the only guy on this roster (aside from the 3 specialists once Reid is restored) who is there without offering that depth elsewhere. You can't keep 4 or 5 guys like that, I agree. But you can keep 1 when he is as effective as Jones. 

[YoloinOhio]

3 hours ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

Spatial awareness, that "GPS" to find the football like they say with Rousseau, is an important attribute for a gunner and it is not off the charts with Taiwan Jones. I'm guessing he plays physical and combined with his speed that's why they like him. The ball skills aren't great.

One of the only guys who actually made a play in the AFCCG.  

[Rochesterfan]

5 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

One of the only guys who actually made a play in the AFCCG.  

 

I mean come on look - his GPS was busted on that play.  A good gunner with spacial awareness would have been 3 mm closer and actually impacted the play 🤦‍♂️.

[Charles Romes]

10 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

Why not IR him again?  

[LyndonvilleBill]

12 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

 

I mean come on look - his GPS was busted on that play.  A good gunner with spacial awareness would have been 3 mm closer and actually impacted the play 🤦‍♂️.

I don't know. I thought Neal was exactly where he needed to be...😁

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

 

 

 

[Rochesterfan]

15 minutes ago, Charles Romes said:

Why not IR him again?  

 

IR him before the 53 man roster?  They don’t want to do that because then he is done for the season (can’t practice or get called up) and since his “injury” allowed him to practice before the packers game - the player and agent could seek an injury settlement and the Bills would lose him.

 

IR him on the 53 - then they would of had to cut another player and hope they will not sign and give them an option to come back and that made little sense for a guy that because of injury will most likely clear waivers and be available for the PS.

 

IR was the least likely option once he made it back to practice last week - in my opinion.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Rochesterfan

[BarleyNY]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

His job. And he does it better than most other gunners in the NFL. 

It’s almost like you have an affinity for gunners or something 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

32 minutes ago, Charles Romes said:

Why not IR him again?  

 

If they IR him, he can't practice with the team.  The man needs reps if he's gonna develop as an NFL WR

[Bob in STL]

13 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I was 51/53 on the initial 53-man. I had them keeping Hollister, not Sweeney, and obviously I didn't see the temporary Ferguson cut coming.

But, did you pick Taiwan Jones? 

[Bob in STL]

11 hours ago, Philo said:

I'd be utterly disappointed if Wildgoose doesn't make it to the PS. That's a name I want to yell and root for in the future. 

His play did not standout while playing against 3-4 string players.  He  should get a spot on the practice squad but he really showed little in the preseason 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Bob in STL

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

6 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

Didn't we go thru a deal with McD saying Gilliam was a TE, don’t call him a FB?  Now he’s a FB?  Weird.

 

Then he ran the ball a bunch in that game when all the running backs were hurt.  So now he's a running back.  😆

[SECRET SQUIRREL]

15 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

"Almost lost me a $400 dollar hand cart!"

[Philo]

21 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

His play did not standout while playing against 3-4 string player.  He  Ishtar get a spot on the practice squad but he really showed little in the preseason 

 

I thought he performed poorly against Detroit, but showed some improvement against Chicago and GB. Not enough improvement to warrant a spot on the 53 - I agree with McBean on that . Though I think he's worth a PS spot to try and develop.

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

56 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

But, did you pick Taiwan Jones? 

Of course. He was a rested starter during the preseason and Beane referred to him as "elite"

[Ethan in Cleveland]

8 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

So once Harry and McKenzie (?) are given the IR designation and Ferguson/Hollister (?) are signed back to the roster, who do the Bills cut once the IR designees are able to return?

Phillips might not come back. I had him making the roster and not Zimmer. But Phillips just has not been good. My guess is they injury settlement him in a few weeks.

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Phillips might not come back. I had him making the roster and not Zimmer. But Phillips just has not been good. My guess is they injury settlement him in a few weeks.

 

I disagree actually. I am not the biggest Harrison Phillips guy but I thought he looked good in pre-season before getting hurt. He seemed to have a bit more burst than before. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

His job. And he does it better than most other gunners in the NFL. 

He had 7 special team tackles last season. That tied him for 69th in special teams tackles.  

I would have kept an extra CB or safety over Jones. But honestly none of the DBs they cut deserve to make the team either.

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I disagree actually. I am not the biggest Harrison Phillips guy but I thought he looked good in pre-season before getting hurt. He seemed to have a bit more burst than before. 

Hope so. Zimmer seems like a coach favorite so that would only leave Butler as the odd man out at DT. But like others said, just give it time and see who gets dinged up in the first few weeks