BillsObserver

AdamSchefter Adam Schefter Former Patriots TE Lee Smith was claimed on waivers by Buffalo. Former Cowboys CB Josh Thomas claimed on waivers by Carolina. Just a few quotes on him: "Smith had a strong start to camp, and was ahead of Yeatman on the depth chart for the first preseason game. But Yeatman made his move in the second preseason game when he had a chance to play with the starters and seized the chance. " - http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4701750/te-smith-told-he-will-be-waived "Smith was a big, mature player who was selected for his ability to contribute right away. Instead, he struggled to get open and was knocked back blocking. Meanwhile, Yeatman, the former lacrosse player, impressed. He’s raw, but there is room to learn." -http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/rap_sheet/index.php/2011/09/03/patriots-cut-fifth-round-pick-te-lee-smith/

Completely agree with all of this. I didn't mean he should start right away but rather it's good Bell has someone behind him now. Bell will be the starting LT until he completely falters.

Interesting to hear his endorsement for Hairston. "And then number 75, Chris Hairston, he'll push at Left Tackle. He may at worst be our swing tackle." Not to dissect every word he says but right before he said "he'll push at Left Tackle" he kind of hesitated like he normally does when he wants to say more about the guy or situation he's discussing. Looks like Bell has some competition breathing down his neck. Because of no minicamps or OTA's, Hairston still has some catching up to do mentally but he's got the physical tools.

Steve Tasker interviewed Buddy Nix at halftime of the Bills v. Lions game. Here's a transcript: On the strange offseason (no OTA's or minicamps), how it has affected the team: BN: "You know, I kind of hate to let them know we can do 4 months of work in a week but that's about what we did. We were able to sign some undrafted free agents and we had one night to get it done and I think we got some pretty good players out of that group. It really, probably set back the young guys and the guys that you just brought in - it probably got them further behind. Our older guys - Fitz, they worked together, he knows the offense, he taught them the playbook - I think they are alright but you can tell with by looking at some of these guys when we throw them out there they aren't quite ready." On this year's draft class: BN: "Yeah you know, Steve, I'll tell ya, I think Marcell is going to be everything we thought he was. I think Aaron Williams is better than everybody thought he was. Our 2nd pick, he's in our top 3 or 4 corners and he's going to play. You saw Kelvin Sheppard. Sheppard got behind. He was a little late signing and then he's been hurt so he's missed out on some things. Our 2 fourth round guys - Searcy #25 has played really good, probably ahead of what we thought for the 225 pound safety. And then number 75, Chris Hairston, he'll push at Left Tackle. He may at worst be our swing tackle. And he's a big zone, tall guy, with good length and ya know, I think those guys are gonna work out good. Justin Rogers, our 7th round pick. We haven't see him yet - Mike Jasper - He'll play. I think, Chris White, I think we got him in the 6th and Johnny White in the 5th and both of those guys are playing good. We said it when we started - we are going to build through the draft and stay the course and stick to our guns." On the last cut from 80 to 53: BN: "Ya know, we gotta have them cut by 6 o clock. We probably won't get everybody's official cuts until 9 or 10 Saturday night. But if there's a guy that can compete for a position and give us competition or improve our team - no matter who it is, no matter who we have to let go, if they're not producing we're going to try to find somebody who will." On the difficulty of bringing in guys because of injuries and the chances of them making the team: BN: "Yeah, you know, I'm not so sure that sometimes that's not good. It makes coaches pull back a little bit on what they do. If they're not careful, everybody knows more than they teach so it might help a little. Kirk Morrison, I think, is getting caught up in a hurry. We are not where we were last year - last year we were, it was likely that we might bring somebody in every week. But hopefully we are better than that and we can stay away from injuries and play with what we got."

Just watched it on Gamepass. Packers DT Green, who is 350 lbs, flattened Cassel, who landed right on his shoulder and immediately left the game. Not too far after that I saw Cassel walking on the sidelines seemingly okay. Either way, they played Cassel deep into the 2nd quarter and that's the risk you take playing your starters.

There's no denying what Roscoe was on his way to doing last year under Gailey. They obviously feel he's capable of being a really productive player. Health is his biggest issue. But he landed on his wrist last year, it's not like he blew out his knee. As long as the deal isn't ridiculous, what's the problem? He could/should be a big part of our offense this year.

Joe_the_6_pack, everyone.

Right, because colleagues like Peter King and Mike Florio have totally negative takes on the Bills. It's not hard if you take a second and think..

This would require the Bills giving him a contract extension or a new contract. Right now, Stevie Johnson is up next. After that, the season begins. Not sure how that affects him. There were rumblings of Fitzy being one of the 3 guys being considered for contract extensions (K Williams, Stevie and Fitz) but I haven't heard anything about that in a while.

It's so embarrassing hearing Clayton on the radio with Schopp & Bulldog. He is often wrong and misses important details of games. Definitely a pay check appearance to him. I just remember him saying some ridiculous stuff where the 2 idiots were groaning while he was talking. He would often get stats wrong like 'strength of schedule' and schopp would have to correct him after he was done. Clayton is a joke. Fitzy will prove him wrong this year. But that's not hard to do..

Roscoe is going to have a really good year. Just stay healthy, #11.

He likes the letter X. Xtremely questionable website.

It's part that and part Chan Gailey having an ego the size of Texas. For better or worse, he believes in his ability to turn any QB into a productive QB. I like that quality but too bad he didn't take a closer look at the footage of Trent from the previous year because nothing changed since then. He tried the experiment and it failed. Anyone looking further into it than that is wrong. And by the way, I watched Trent's performance against the Saints. For the same reason I'd watch JP if he was on a roster. I think I even watched a game of JP in the UFL. Yikes. Trent didn't do well. He also didn't have ANY time whatsoever but when he did, he checked down consistently. Same old story. With Boller getting reps with the #2's, I can't see Trent making the team.

Some old timers will take offense to this but I'd really like to only consider the past decade or 2. I just think it's so incredibly different now for GM's, who have to deal with media and social media, where literally everyone has a voice and any mistake is compounded by twitter and message boards like this. And they also have access to tremendous amounts of resources. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like it was easier to be wrong about a guy back in the 70's and 80's. Rex Grossman has a shot of being that success. I can't think of anyone else besides Benson. But Benson wasn't dismissed because he didn't have the talent. I'd love to pick out guys who were dismissed because they were completely given up on, like Maybin.

Shawn Nelson. Hangartner. Wang. Hardly surprises but that's the best I can do. They aren't cutting Moats. They aren't cutting McGee. There's no chance in hell they are cutting Roscoe. Gailey even said there's a reason they didn't try forcing someone in his role during his absence. OK I got 1 more possibility but I don't believe it's going to happen. If the Bills are truly trying to save money, they'll cut our "expensive" backup, Spencer Johnson. I think that would be incredibly stupid because Johnson has been really good this preseason.

Good point.

1st and 10 (Jags) Jags lined up in I formation. Run play to Jennings who was met at the line by Andra Davis. Kyle Williams got a tremendous jump on the play was blew up a few guys, allowing Davis to get the tackle. 2nd and 10 Completion to WR Thomas. A pick up of 12, more than enough for a first down. Wilson came in on a blitz. Byrd and Davis were in on the tackle. 1st and 10 Jennings shook a few tackles before being brought down by Davis and Kyle Williams. Flag down. Holding on offense. Barnett missed on a tackle in this play. 1st and 20 Short completion to WR Thomas. Spencer Johnson brought good pressure and was in Garrard's face. 2nd and 12 Spencer Johnson batted down a pass attempt by Garrard. Good back to back plays by Spencer. 3rd and 12 Incompletion. Jennings was hit right away by Florence. Garrard had a decent amount of time. Tasker thought it was a fumble and fumble recovery by the Jags but he was wrong. Ref called it an incompletion. 4th and 12 Punt. Almost blocked by Corto. Searcy muffed the punt and the Jags recovered the ball but there's a flag on the play. Illegal man down the field. Big penalty. 4th and 17 Punt. Searcy with the fair catch. I'm not thrilled with Searcy as a punt returner or kick returner so far. I doubt he'll be in this role when the season starts. 1st and 10 (Bills) 7 yard completion to Scott Chandler. Flag down. Illegal contact by POZ. Automatic first down. 1st and 10 Short run to the right by Fred Jackson who may have lost a yard on the play. 2nd and 11 Fitz completes one to Stevie on a quick slant. CJ Spiller checked in as a receiver. Bell had a little trouble here but held up long enough. 3rd and 5 Blitz coming but Fitz completes it to David Nelson for the first down. Fred Jackson threw a nice chip block eliminating a blitzer. 1st and 10 Run to Fred Jackson who was met at the line but bounced off to the left and made something out of nothing. Fitz even threw a block for Fred. Typical Fred Jackson. 2nd and 5 Incompletion to Easley who ran a hitch route. Easley should have caught this one. Flag came in late. 15 yard penalty against the Bills. 2nd and 20 Completion to Mike Caussin on the outside who picked up about 8. 3rd and 13 Whistles blow before the play began. Offsides, Jaguars. 3rd and 8 Empty backfield. BIG completion to Fred Jackson who smoked Poz on this play. Picked up about 33 yards. Line gave Fitz plenty of time here. Bell and Levitre were really good here. Beautiful throw by Fitz. 1st and 10 Brad Smith in. He made something out of nothing. Gained about 7. He shrugged off a linebacker right at the line of scrimmage. 2nd and 4 Run right up the middle by CJ Spiller. Looks like it's close. Levitre with another solid block. Wood was good too. 3rd and 1 Quarterback sneak. Easy first down. 1st and Goal Brad Smith in. Smith found a hole and fought his way down to the 2 yard line. 2nd and Goal Run by Fred Jackson right up the middle but didn't get in. Looks like he got to the 1 yard line. 3rd and Goal McIntyre in motion. Run to the left. Fred was stuffed by Poz here. 4th and Goal Field goal kick is good by Rian Lindell. 1st and 10 (Jags) Garrard had nowhere to go and took off scrambling but Carrington got him just at the line of scrimmage. Close to a sack. Good play by Carrington. 2nd and 9 Run to RB Owens who went left for a pick up of a few. Dwan Edwards brought him down. 3rd and 6 Incompletion. Overthrown by Garrard. He had all the time in the world here. 4th and 6 Punt. Searcy returned it for just a few yards. 1st and 10 (Bills) Run play to the right by Fred Jackson. Pears was pushed back here. Wood held up well. 2nd and 7 Completion to Easley. Fitz somehow fit this one in with a lot of traffic. The line held up well here and gave Fitz time. Fred did a good job picking up a would-be blitzer. 1st and 10 Run play to the left by Jackson who went outside and then cut back in to pick up about 13. Urbik pulled from his right guard spot and did a good job with a kick out block . Fred fumbled at the end of the play but McIntyre fell on it. 1st and 10 Run play to the right by Jackson. Short pick up of about 3. 2nd and 7 Completion to Easley. Play-action pass to Easley who was riding the sideline. Nice first down pick up. Easley did a good job getting his toes in before going out of bounds. 1st and 10 Completion to Easley. Fitz right went back to Easley who picked up 4. Nice read by Fitz who saw a corner blitz coming in quickly. 2nd and 7 Reverse run play to Brad Smith who picked up a few. Fans always get excited when he touches the ball. 3rd and 1 Completion to Stevie Johnson. Hitch route by #13. Enough for the first down. Bell didn't do well here. Good thing Fitz released it quickly. 1st and 10 Run to the right by Jackson. Urbik did a good job leading his guy to the outside. 2nd and 6 Run by Jackson who picked up the first down. 9th carry for Fred. 1st and 10 TOUCHDOWN. Completion to Easley. Fitz threw it high enough where Easley could only get it. The defender tried breaking on the throw but couldn't get to it. Nice throw and catch. Bills 10-0 1st and 10 (Jags) Incompletion. Lots of pressure from the D. Antonio Coleman broke through and almost got to Garrard who had to get rid of it on a designed screen play. 2nd and 10 Incompletion. Deep ball to WR Hill. Hill should have caught it. Might have heard footsteps. McGee and Byrd were in on coverage. 3rd and 10 SACK by Kyle Williams and Danny Batten. Big blitz by the Bills. Batten was impressive here, doing all sorts of spin moves to shed his man. Williams was extra impressive breaking through a wall of guys. 4th and a mile Punt. 1st and 10 (Bills) TOUCHDOWN. 52 yard homerun ball to Stevie Johnson. Stevie worked Mathis hard to the inside and gave him a stick move to the post. Perfectly thrown ball. An even better route by Stevie. That's the first time I've seen Fitz celebrate like that in a while. He did a quasi-Aaron Rogers belt thrust. Fitz is 10 for 10. Bills 17-0 1st and 10 (Jags) Toss play to RB Owens. Nowhere to go for him. George Wilson brought him down. Bryan Scott forced him inside. 2nd and 11 Owens found a big hole here and ran for about 9. Florence in on the stop. 3rd and 3 Run to the outside by Owens who picked up enough for the first down. Flag down. Personal foul on Bryan Scott with an alleged horse collar take down. Close call, in my opinion. 1st and 10 Incompletion. Intended for Mercedes Lewis. Not even close. 2nd and 10 Incompletion. Play-action screen play to Shorts who dropped it. Could have been a big, big play. 3rd and 10 Completion to Lewis. Bryan Scott was in on coverage. Took a long time to develop. Garrard had JUST enough time. 1st and 10 Run up the middle by the fullback. Really good play by Carrington who was outside and realized the play was going inside and made the quick adjustment. 2nd and 7 Short run play by Bolen. Dareus tripped him up. 3rd and 4 Incompletion. Flag down. Pass interference on Florence. Deep pass to the left sideline. Definitely a questionable call. Fans did not like this one. 1st and Goal Run up the middle by Bolen who picked up a few. 2nd and Goal TOUCHDOWN. Garrard escaped many would-be tacklers and scrambled for a touchdown. Spencer Johnson was so obviously held on this play. Garrard went head to head with Dwan Edwards who looked foolish on the play because Garrard bounced off him and ran for the touchdown. Not to dwell on it but the pass interference call was a big play for the Jags. Bills 17 Jags 7 1st and 10 (Bills) Flag down. False start on Rinehart. 1st and 15 Levitre is at Left Tackle. Nice run by Spiller. Couldve had more but slipped. Rinehart was really good here. 2nd and 8 Run by Spiller who made a nice cut and picked up 7. 3rd and 1 Completion to Stevie Johnson. First down pick up. Flag down. Personal foul on defense. Horse collar. Questionable call. 1st and 10 Incompletion. Fitz's first incompletion of the night. Intended target was Easley. Spiller picked up the linebacker and did a good job. 2nd and 10 Run up the middle by Spiller who picked up a few. 3rd and 7 Flag down. Offsides, Jags. 3rd and 2 Brad Smith in. Incompletion. Stevie was open but Brad threw it a bit high, a bit late. 4th and 2 Punt. 1st and 10 (Jags) Completion. Out route to #87. Gain of 9. 2nd and 1 Completion. Quick slant to Jason Hill who picked up a bunch. 1st and 10 Completion to Thomas. Florence delivered a good hit here. 2nd and 5 Short completion to Hill. Florence missed on a tackle which led to a decent gain. 1st and 10 Incompletion. Corner blitz from Florence. Scott came in as well. Intended target was M. Lewis. 2nd and 10 Short completion over the middle to M. Lewis. Byrd made the tackle. 3 man rush gave Garrard all the time he wanted. 3rd and 3 Incompletion. Garrard threw it away as Dwan Edwards was quickly making ground on him. 4th and 3 Field goal by Scobee. Bills 17 Jags 10 1st and 10 (Bills) Kneel down. Half time.

That would be admitting a mistake way too soon. In football, it just doesn't work like that (don't bring up Cornell Green, different circumstances). Gailey believes in Thigpen enough to keep him. Levi isn't much worse but the bottom line is, this coach and GM targeted Thigpen at the start of free agency and they won't be cutting him before the season stats.

They did keep 3 tight ends last year. RE: Wang, it's not looking good for him. Before the first game, Gailey said he was keeping a close eye on Maybin and Wang. We all know what happened to Maybin. But Wang is a draft pick of the Nix regime so it's possible they give him another shot. I personally don't see it happening. Also, I think Gailey is comfortable with Howard and Wrotto because of their Georgia Tech roots. Howard is JUST coming off an injury and they knew it would be a bit of a rough road for him. Wrotto is a joke. But I think Gailey knows what both men are capable of and there's a comfort zone there.

Very doubtful they put Levi on the practice squad, in my opinion. He'll be available if they need him.

Here's my 53 man roster. Pretty predictable but I believe the Bills won't make many surprising cuts. My biggest cuts are Geoff Hangartner and Shawn Nelson. Of those 2, Hangman has a better chance of making the roster as a backup Center but his price tag holds him back. I have a hard time believing they will only keep 2 tight ends but I had to narrow the roster down and Caussin was one of the final cuts. I'll put him on the PS. Also, Kellen Heard was a tough decision. I still don't see him making it... 3 Quarterbacks:Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tyler Thigpen, Brad Smith 3 Running Backs: Fred Jackson, C. J. Spiller, Johnny White 1 FB: Corey McIntyre FB 6 Wide Receivers: Stevie Johnson, Donald Jones, Roscoe Parrish, Naaman Roosevelt, David Nelson. Marcus Easley 2 Tight Ends: Scott Chandler, David Martin 10 Offensive Linemen: Demetrius Bell T, Chris Hairston T, Mansfield Wrotto T, Erik Pears T, Eric Wood C/G, Andy Levitre G, Chad Rinehart G, Kraig Urbik G, Cordaro Howard T, I'm reserving this spot for someone we pick up that gets cut on the final cut down day (September 3rd). If we don't go that route, it's going to be Ed Wang. 6 Defensive Linemen: Alex Carrington DE, Marcell Dareus DE, Dwan Edwards DE, Spencer Johnson DE, Kyle Williams NT, Torell Troup NT 9 Linebackers: Nick Barnett ILB, Andra Davis ILB, Kelvin Sheppard ILB, Kirk Morrison ILB, Shawne Merriman OLB, Danny Batten OLB, Arthur Moats OLB/DE, Antonio Coleman OLB, Chris Kelsay OLB 10 Defensive Backs: Jairus Byrd FS, Jon Corto FS, Bryan Scott SS, Da'Norris Searcy SS, George Wilson SS, Drayton Florence CB, Terrence McGee CB, Aaron Williams CB, Leodis McKelvin CB, Reggie Corner CB 3 Special Teams: Garrison Sanborn LS, Rian Lindell K, Brian Moorman P 8 Practice Squad Robert Eddins LB Mike Caussin TE Kamar Aiken WR Felton Huggins WR Michael Jasper NT Kellen Heard DT Chris White ILB Justin Rogers CB

You have to cut Martin. They may love his size and all but he's had very little time here and he's been available for a while.

Those are some crazy cuts, Astro. But I appreciate the different take. I don't think there's a chance they'll keep Ruvell Martin over David Nelson. And I'd be quite surprised if they cut Kirk Morrison in favor of Eddins or Jefferson.

August 30th.

Bills just tweeted that its airing at 11am in syracuse. Reminder: #Bills vs. #Jaguars to be shown on WTVH-Channel 5 in Syracuse today at 11:00 am.