Buffalo Bills

Deskchair quarterback – Bills vs. Raiders

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David Nelson was an undrafted afterthought at training camp last summer. He ended the season with 31 catches, 353 yards and 3 touchdowns. His performance through two games this season has been anything but an afterthought.

Nelson torched Oakland for 83 yards on 10 catches and the game-winning touchdown with just 18 seconds remaining. His biggest catch of the day capped Buffalo’s final comeback drive as the fourth quarter wound down. While it took one final interception on an Oakland hail mary to actually seal the game, it is obvious that the Buffalo offense is running on all cylinders.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, while he struggled through the first half, was deadly in the third and fourth quarters. He led the Bills on touchdown drives on each second half possession (s/t to TBN) and marched Buffalo down the field with ease on the final two scoring drives. Stevie Johnson and Nelson were the recipients of most of Fitzpatrick’s targets as he went off for just under 100 yards and a TD. While Nelson is best suited to run out of the slot, it is obvious that he has become the second target in the Buffalo offense. He is an ideal weapon for the Bills as his size makes him a mismatch for just about anyone, but he is much faster than a tight-end, ruling out the option of covering him with a linebacker in a three or four-wide set.
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Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Chiefs

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There isn’t too much to say about the Buffalo Bills’ 41-7 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills dominated every facet of the game on their way to the most convincing Bills win since the 2003 opener.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was efficient under center and made some serious throws on his way to a four touchdown performance. Just think, he is 26 touchdowns away from Jerry Sullivan strolling down Hertel in his underwear.

Scott Chandler looked like Pete Metzelaars while hauling in a pair of TDs. For the first time it looks as if the Bills have a valuable target at TE since Jay Riemersma left for Pittsburgh. The receiving corps didn’t miss Lee Evans as David Nelson proved to be an excellent slot compliment to Steve Johnson. Nelson’s size creates mismatch problems all over the field, I see him continuing to grow and sharing a similar skillset to Aaron Hernandez in New England. Continue reading →

Hangartner, Corner headline Bills cuts

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Geoff Hangartner, Reggie Corner and Naaman Roosevelt headlined the cuts made by the Billstoday in order to reach the 53-man roster limit.

Jon Corto was one of the surprising cuts made by the Bills today.

Here are the 27 players who have been cut: QB Levi Brown, FB Jehuu Caulcrick, WR Naaman Roosevelt, WR Kamar Aiken, TE Mike Caussin, OT Ed Wang, OT Jason Watkins, C Michael Switzer, DE Lionel Dotson, DE T.J. Langley, NT Michael Jasper, OLB Antonio Coleman, OLB Jammie Kirlew, ILB Brandon Hicks, CB Doyle Miller, S Sidney Glover, S Josh Nesbitt, LS Danny Aiken, WR Buster Davis, WR Felton Huggins, TE Shawn Nelson, OT Cordaro Howard, OG Mansfield Wrotto, C Geoff Hangartner, CB Reggie Corner, S Jon Corto.

Hangartner, Corner, Roosevelt and Jon Corto are probably the most surprising names that appear on this list. Ed Wang and Antonio Coleman and Mansfield Wrotto are also cuts from last year’s roster.

Of the players that made the team who are surprises, Colin Brown, Ruvell Martin and Robert Eddins. Now, Eddins was strong throughout camp and the preseason, but I thought he would be a practice squad player before making the active roster, particularly over Antonio Coleman. As for Brown, this may be the biggest surprise simply because he didn’t do much during his audition, perhaps that is a good thing for a lineman. Continue reading →

Bills roster projection: the final 53

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I have been scribbling, replacing and crossing out names on my depth chart throughout the preseason. After watching the preseason games and seeing the coverage that is available, I have a good idea who the Bills will keep this season.

I went with an even 25/25/3 split to make things easy. Surely Chan Gailey will have some variations in mind as he chisels away cuts. By going with 25 on each side of the ball I allowed myself to be somewhat conservative with my choices. Reason being, there aren’t many guys you want to take a chance on. Continue reading →

Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Lions

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I can officially proclaim that the NFL Preseason is the biggest racket going. The Bills, and NFL, go of and charge full price for two home games so fans can watch players they never heard of perform poorly in hopes of making an NFL roster.

I understand that this is out of the Bills’ control. However it is embarrassing that these games aren’t priced at $10 a ticket. It isn’t fair to chars such steep prices and the poor turnout last night showed that.

As for the game. There isn’t too much to write about. The starting offense didn’t do much, but it didn’t look like they were trying either. Shawne Merriman looks like his old self, just pray he stays healthy.

This game was all about the reserves. Players on the bubble needed to prove their worth and many did. Antonio Coleman was active and likely saved his bacon despite another strong showing from Robert Eddins. Eddins is destined for the practice squad and a potential call up depending on injuries.

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Roster watch: Bubble Battles

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Some football seasons are different than others. Some years there are undrafted rookies and late round picks usurping established veterans for roles on the final roster.

The 2011 NFL season is not one of those years. The abbreviated offseason that was good of OTAs and mini-camp has taken valuable time away from fringe players drafted in the late rounds and signed as UDFAs.

There are a few battles being waged for starter and reserve spots on the Bills roster. Demetrius Bell, Andy and Chad Rinehart make up a triangle of dispute on the left side of the line. However, all three are locks to make the team.

Additionally, Marcus Easley is inching closer to a starting position at wide receiver by means of an injury to Donal Jones. Would this be a battle had Jones’ cappa been detated from his body? Maybe not yet, but Easley’s raw talent would have eventually earned him playing time.

I am still not sold on Donald Jones. He is a great special teams contributor and he blocks well. However he doesn’t always catch a ton of passes. Unfortunately that is the main duty of a wide receiver. I think he, Naaman Roosevelt and Buster Davis are all close for the two final WR spots on the roster. Easley, Stevie Johnson, David Nelson and Roscoe Parrish are all locks and I see the Bills keeping six players at WR. That leaves two spots to be fought over between four players (if Kamar Aiken is a real possibility). Continue reading →

Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Jaguars

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I’m fairly certain that 75% of the fans who bemoaned the Bills’ poor performance against the Broncos have changed their opinion on the possibility of an 0-16 season for the Bills.

The only thing that matters to me is the 17-0 lead the Bills starters opened up in the first half against the Jaguars starters. Buffalo’s offense was in high gear, the offensive line kept Ryan Fitzpatrick upright and the defense was strong without Shawne Merriman in the lineup.

It seems as if Demetrius Bell responded well to the possibility of losing his job. He got the start and held up quite well against the Jaguars pass rush. Of course Jacksonville was without their best pass rusher, Aaron Kampman, but I’m going to try to stay positive. Andy Levitre was equally impressive when he bumped to tackle, however I still wonder if he will struggle long-term at that position considering his size. On the bright side, if the Bills deem Kraig Urbik unfit for the RG spot, Chad Rinehart is more than capable of stepping in to fill his role. I feel like that switch will be inevitable once the regular season starts but the coaching staff is waiting to weed out the best players for the left side first. Continue reading →

Bills make the right move with Morrison

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News broke on Wednesday evening that the Bills had come to terms with inside linebacker Kirk Morrison. It is reportedly a one-year deal for the man who was replaced by Paul Pozluszny in Jacksonville.

Morrison is no slouch, he has amassed over 100 tackles in five of his six pro seasons. The only year he failed to eclipse 100 was last season with the Jaguars. While Morrison’s main experience has come in a 4-3 look, I don’t expect him to struggle much with the Bills.

Most of the reports out cite Reggie Torbor’s uncertain injury status as the reason for signing Morrison. I would like the cite the fact that Torbor has looked incredibly slow in the preseason and seemed unable to cover in space, an issue Bills’ linebackers had last year as well. Morrison should help in that regard while adding some serious experience to the depth chart at inside linebacker. Continue reading →

Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Broncos

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Collectively the 86 players on the Buffalo Bills roster got lumped up by the Denver Broncos tonight. However, the 24-10 score is largely irrelevant to me considering this was just an exhibition game.

Terrence McGee had a nice pick to close the first half.

The most concerning issue is that the starting offense failed to score a touchdown for the second-straight week in a row. I can’t find the stats to back me up, but I’m fairly certain that is a streak that dates back to 2010. Again, it is just the preseason so it is all meaningless. Still, the fact that the starting offense is so pathetic is somewhat concerning.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has looked very much like a seventh-round draft pick in his limited time. Most of that can be attributed to the fact that Demetrius Bell is the worst tackle in football. Even on the plays that he didn’t get run by or pushed into the backfield, Bell was very average. Kraig Urbik still looked bad, particularly on that screen to C.J. Spiller in the first quarter. Chad Rinehart looked good, as did Andy Levitre. Both players will be adequate for the Bills’ needs inside. Unfortunately it appears as if the offensive line, as a whole, will prevent the offense from being successful or even mediocre. Continue reading →

Next steps for the Bills

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With the two most recent roster moves by the Buffalo Bills, there are a few spots remaining under the current roster limit of 90. Chris Brown of Buffalobills.com points out that the roster can stay at 90 players until August 30.

I would assume the roster will not stay at 90 (or 87 in this case) up until that date. The staff will need to pare down the roster to only include the players they really want to keep a keen eye on for the final regular season games. I fully expect to see more players released in the next few days, probably after the game against Denver.

That being said, the Bills have the opportunity to sign some help for their offensive line. Right now the group of five that is atop the depth chart stinks. They flat-out stink. Eric Wood and Andy Levitre are the only two quality players they have out there. The jury is still out on Erik Pears, but he can’t support Craig Urbik – neither can Wood. Same goes for Demetrius Bell on the left side. He is a turnstile over there. In the bright side there is help out there if the Bills are willing to sign the players.

Among the remaining free agents; Leonard Davis, Nick Kaczur, Bryant McKinnie, Max Starks and Jon Stinchcomb are all relatively attractive options. Starks reminds me too much of Cornell Green ann Davis is way past his prime. I would rule out those two. Stinchcomb has some injury issues and I feel like McKinnie could be a total flake (being from The U and all). Kaczur and McKinnie would be the two tackles I would consider. Both are capable NFL tackles who have seen plenty of success. They would bring much more stability to the Bills’ line and offer Ryan Fitzpatrick much more pass protection. They wouldn’t help in shoring up the perceived weakest spot, right guard, but I feel like Chad Rinehart or Geoff Hangartner offer better skill argue position. Not to mention a more stable tackle on the right or left side makes the entire line better.

The unfortunate part of this situation is the likelihood of the Bills to stand pat. They will sing a chorus of how happy they are with their prospects and about their ability to develop. Sadly, all that will result in are sacks and a poor running game.