Logic

I just can't imagine a world where Vosean Joseph doesn't make this roster. This staff is not one to give up on a 5th round pick in his first year. I think Joseph will be just like last year's 5th round pick, Siran Neal: He'll make the roster even though he doesn't play on defense because he contributes on special teams. Then, with a full offseason to bulk up and learn the nuances of the game better, he'll be ready to contribute on defense NEXT season. Johnson, on the other hand, is more of an open question. I'd like to think that if it's a "tie" between him and Love, they'd go with Johnson, simply based on youth and upside.

I'd be willing to be there will be at least one player on the final 53 that is not currently on the roster.

The thing about preseason is that YES, it's true: the games don't matter. HOWEVER... All things being equal, wouldn't you rather that the team look great in preseason than not? So they came out defensively and absolutely throttled a team with no Andrew Luck or TY Hilton (nevermind the fact that Buffalo had no Hughes, Hyde, or Alexander), you're saying "so what?" Well, imagine if they looked really BAD against a Colts team with no Andrew Luck. Looked like they were all giving top effort, but got absolutely smoked by a team without their starting QB. How would you feel THEN? It could be like the Lions-Pats game, where the Lions got outgained in yardage 459 to 93, and outscored 31-3. How would you feel THEN? All things being equal, I'll take the outcome that features the Bills defense executing their scheme well, filling gaps, form tackling, dominating the opposition, and winning most of their individual positional matchups. Final score doesn't matter in the preseason, it's true, but performance on the field is what you want to see, and that's what we saw against Indy.

There are some players that just don't practice well, but show up big when it counts. McKenzie seems to be one of those guys. I'm hoping Foster turns out to be that way, too, because he sure doesn't seem to be impressing on the practice field this offseason.

McKenzie ran a 4.47, but I get your point.

I'm just curious...are you basing this on anything in particular, or is it pure conjecture on your part?

To be honest with you, I'm warming up to the idea of trading Zay away for something useful. I wouldn't have thought it was a reasonable idea before, but there seems to be a good 3-way competition going between McKenzie, Ray-Ray, and Phillips. If they can get a useful depth piece or 4th round pick for Zay, they ought to consider it.

The fact that he was drawing double teams in his very first NFL game caught my attention. The thing about the Bills' d-line is that it's a "pick your poison" situation. If you double Ed, Star and Hughes get 1-and-1s, and both men will usually win those. If you devote more attention to Jerry or double Star, you leave Ed 1-on-1, and you have to like your odds in that situation if you're Buffalo. Kid's gonna be just fine. By the way, I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned yet that former 5x All-Pro guard Willie Anderson weighed on on Twitter, as well:

Opinions can't usually be wrong. This is the exception.

Right on. I used to get offers to smoke alllll the time when I was driving delivery. I took the first few people up on their offers, but I quickly realized I couldn't possibly get through a shift if I kept it up. In addition to driving, I also ran the deep fryer, so anything that required frying (mozz sticks, chicken fingers, wings, etc) was up to me. My favorite "trick" used to be to intentionally include extra of whatever wings or mozzarella sticks or fries I was putting in the container for a delivery run. If they ordered six mozz sticks, I'd put eight in the container, etc. Then, on the delivery run, I would very caaareeeffully reach into the container and take out the extra goodies I had included and eat them. I mean..I made sure not to touch the other food items. I'm not a monster. It was still a dick move on my part, though. Sure paired well with the frequent smoke-outs, though! ?

Wow. That is legendary ***** right there.

I think this season will be the Shady/Gore farewell tour, at least in Buffalo. Next season, I believe we see Devin Singletary as the lead back. As far as his backups? More draftees, free agents, or perhaps a Christian Wade who has had a season to marinate on the practice squad.

Except, of course, for the fact that they began running at during the regular season LAST year, as well.

I'll be honest, I'm not so sure they cut Wyatt Teller. He played quite well against the Colts, and he acquitted himself decently last year when starting games that mattered, too. I don't think Beane/McDermott are the types to give up on 5th round picks so soon. Would they dare keep THREE interior backup players?

Anything is possible, of course, but I really don't think Foster is getting cut. Did anyone read the recent article from The Athletic, where Beane said he thinks Foster is an ascending player, and where the thesis of the article was that Foster stayed in Buffalo all offseason, that his work ethic has continued unabated, and that he's still doing everything "the right way"? Stranger things have happened, but unless he absolutely bombs the rest of the preseason, I expect him to be on the opening day 53.

People still buy beer in the stadium?! Weirdos.

Agreed. He had two bad throws all night: The overthrow on the Zay deep pass and the underthrow to Zay where he put it in the dirt. On the other hand, Zay also dropped what would have been a sure touchdown, which would have had Allen at 63% completion for the night with a TD. So long as our defense finishes top 5, like it should, the Bills have the talent -- and Allen is playing well enough, it would seem -- to win 10 games.

Nope. He's the 4th WR on the depth chart. He's making the team.

Agreed. You can't truly judge an NFL draft class for a few seasons, but early returns on this one are HIGHLY encouraging. For that matter, I thought he killed LAST YEAR'S draft, too. Allen and Edmunds will be the offensive and defensive cornerstones of this team for years to come.

Only thing is, I don't expect Bodine to make the final 53. It's clear he's not the coaching staff's preferred option at backup center. The guy who DID start the game in place of Morse last night -- John Feliciano -- acquitted himself reasonably well. Between he and Spencer Long, I'm not as worried about backup center as I once was.

This is absolutely going to be a thing for Buffalo. Now, more often, when they come out in empty sets, I expect it to be 21 or 22 personnel. Like the Pats, the Bills want to force the defense to come out in base, then spread the field and make things difficult on the linebackers. HOWEVER, they DID run a lot of full on 10 personnel toward the end of last season, and it often allowed Allen to do a lot of damage. If the defense plays zone, Allen likes those odds. If they play man, it likely gives him a great opportunity to run the football, as all the defenders have their backs turned to him. Brian Daboll is an excellent playcaller and uses tons of modern concepts and personnel groupings. As much as anyone in the league, I'd say. He may not have been known as a very cutting-edge guy in his previous stops, but his second stint with New England and his time with 'Bama appears to have done him a world of good. I'm so, so happy we have him.

I feel differently, too. What I saw was an offensive line that opened absolutely NO holes for Shady. I then saw McCoy try to press and overcompensate by always trying to make something out of nothing. Admittedly, that part's on him. Still, I'd put it at 90% o-line being awful and 10% Shady not hitting the few holes that WERE there with authority. Like others have said, there are NO excuses this year. If he's anything other than a top end starter, you get rid of him for whatever you can, because Singletary is the feature back of the future, and Gore/Yeldon would be perfectly adequate backups/mentors for the youngster.

I bet Joseph's career goes just like Siran Neal's: Year one: Real quiet, gets some special teams snaps throughout the season but not much else, is a total afterthought on defense. Year two: Has a great training camp. Staff entrusts him with more responsibility and playing time. He becomes a contributor on defense Also, he may eventually be the heir apparent to Lorenzo Alexander, but before THAT can happen, Corey Thompson (another second year youngster) has a thing or two to say.

I read recently that he is most often deployed in the slot. When the Bills are in three-wide, it's been Brown, Beasley, and Roberts. When they go to four-wide (which they have apparently done quite a bit this spring and summer), Zay comes in as the second slot receiver. Myself and some others have been shouting since he was drafted that Zay's best spot is in the slot. Perhaps the Bills are finally realizing this.

I did not read through all five pages of this thread, so maybe this has already been said, but... Couldn't literally EVERY SINGLE NFL TEAM say "what if our backup QB gets injured"? I mean...if both your starting QB AND your backup QB get injured and you're down to your third string guy, your season's going nowhere fast.