Jump to content

Youthful Bills could be looking to get even younger.


Recommended Posts

What jumps out at you when perusing the Bills' current roster is just how young they are. They have no less than 65 players who are 25 yrs old or younger. Only FIVE players are 30

yrs old or older - Pears (30), T. Jackson (30), F. Jackson (32), Br. Scott (32), Lindell (36).

 

I would say that those players could all be in jeopardy of being waived simply because of their age. You can bet that the Bills will be considering it.

 

I especially think that Pears (Sanders and Young could replace him), T. Jackson (Tuel), Br. Scott (Dowtin, Pough, others), and Lindell (Hopkins) could all be waived.

 

With the release of those four players the Bills would probably be the youngest team in the league. That should tell you why they haven't signed any 30 something vet FAs so far and why they probably don't plan to. They want to bring this team up together.

 

Marronne has clearly stated that he will pick his team based solely on ability and ability to compete. Age is not important. If Lindell plays better than Hopkins, then Lindell keeps his job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think Fred Jackson will be cut, but he is 32 and the Bills will be looking at that at some point.

 

Pears, who is 30, will hopefully stay, but guys like Hairston, Young, and Sanders could prove to be just as good at some point through training camp and that might sway the Bills to release him.

 

T. Jackson, 30, is not safe by any means. I expect Kolb and Manuel to be #1 and #2 going into the season. TJax will need to fend off J. Tuel, who is very talented and almost ten years younger than TJax. If Tuel has success in the preseason games TJax and his $2.5M salary will likely be gone.

 

Brian Scott is 32 and now is playing a cover LB position. I think he has a great chance to stay with the team, but he has a lot of viable competition so his age could be a factor. Guys like Dowtin, Pough, and Moats stand a very good chance to make the team and Scott make get caught up in a numbers game where the coaches need to choose between him and 1 or 2 others for the #52 and #53 spots on the final roster.

 

Lindell is 36 and has shown signs of not being able to consistently make 48+ yd FGs. The Bills drafted Hopkins in R6 and he was probably the best kicker in the country in college. You know that they have high hopes for him and he is 15 yrs younger than Lindell. Still, he will have to prove that he is reliable enoguh to keep.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Except for Pears being terrible?

 

 

Pears F: He was awful before his injury shut him down. Will likely look for a replacement at right tackle.

 

Pears was injured all of training camp and tried to play on one good leg. Assuming a return to better health, I would not write him off just yet. He was pretty good in 2011.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What jumps out at you when perusing the Bills' current roster is just how young they are. They have no less than 65 players who are 25 yrs old or younger. Only FIVE players are 30

yrs old or older - Pears (30), T. Jackson (30), F. Jackson (32), Br. Scott (32), Lindell (36).

 

I would say that those players could all be in jeopardy of being waived simply because of their age. You can bet that the Bills will be considering it.

 

I especially think that Pears (Sanders and Young could replace him), T. Jackson (Tuel), Br. Scott (Dowtin, Pough, others), and Lindell (Hopkins) could all be waived.

 

With the release of those four players the Bills would probably be the youngest team in the league. That should tell you why they haven't signed any 30 something vet FAs so far and why they probably don't plan to. They want to bring this team up together.

 

Young is good but when was the last time a really young team won the super bowl?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This has nothing to do with this but the sad moment when you realize your 12 year old nephew has never seen the bills in the playoffs wow

 

Technically that is not too bad, considering that his first six years is not much into football (NFL). Think about those kids that are 18-20 years of age and who were pushed into the NFL just as Flutie was weaving his magic. For them the next 13 years of their life would have been bill-strutating....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What jumps out at you when perusing the Bills' current roster is just how young they are. They have no less than 65 players who are 25 yrs old or younger. Only FIVE players are 30

yrs old or older - Pears (30), T. Jackson (30), F. Jackson (32), Br. Scott (32), Lindell (36).

 

I would say that those players could all be in jeopardy of being waived simply because of their age. You can bet that the Bills will be considering it.

 

I especially think that Pears (Sanders and Young could replace him), T. Jackson (Tuel), Br. Scott (Dowtin, Pough, others), and Lindell (Hopkins) could all be waived.

 

With the release of those four players the Bills would probably be the youngest team in the league. That should tell you why they haven't signed any 30 something vet FAs so far and why they probably don't plan to. They want to bring this team up together.

We are going to be so bad this year. Hope everyone is ready for an avalanche of penalties and turnovers this year. Growing pains. Not sure this fan base is ready for this...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are going to be so bad this year. Hope everyone is ready for an avalanche of penalties and turnovers this year. Growing pains. Not sure this fan base is ready for this...

 

We have seen debacle after debacle for the past 13 years....As long as they show promise and progress, what is the big deal in another frustrating year!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wrt Fred Jackson and Pears, their careers will be determined by how their bodies hold up. If FJ loses, or has lost a step, he doesn't really have a step to lose and will not contribute very much.

Again, I think more of Pears than most posters. He isn't great, but he is very strong. And while he's not very mobile, he moves better than Langston Walker did imo. If he is healthy, I think that he will be OK at RT.

 

We are going to be so bad this year. Hope everyone is ready for an avalanche of penalties and turnovers this year. Growing pains. Not sure this fan base is ready for this...

Good point. The world is not a very patient place these days. I personally would rather lose with a young qb. Remember when our starter was Alex Van Pelt? Things were much more hopeless back then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fred Jackson will not be cut, traded maybe but not cut.

You won't get anything for a 32 year old running back with a couple years in a row full of injuries. Besides, the Bills have nobody to replace him. I think the writing is on the wall for Lindell to be gone.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did not mean to intimate that the five 30 something players would be cut or should be cut because of their age. I did say though that the Bills will definitely consider releasing them or moving when it comes down to finalizing the roster if there are other players at their respective positions who are comparable.

 

Lindell is 36. Hopkins is 21 and an invested draft pick. If Hopkins proves to be reliable through training camp and the preseason games (i.e. comparable to Lindell), Lindell will be released.

 

F. Jackson is 32 and has had injury problems. However, he is still a very good RB and is looked upon as a team leader. I do not anticipate that he will be released because beyond Spiller, the Bills don't have a RB on the roster who is comparable.

 

Brian Scott is 32. Even though there appears to be a lot of competition for Scott on the roster in the form of much younger players the fact that Scott is pretty good at covering big TEs makes him very valuable. My guess is that Scott has an 80-20 chance to make the final roster.

 

T. Jackson is 30. J. Tuel is 21. Tuel has a lot to prove, but does appear to have what it takes to be an NFL QB. My guess is that there is a 70-30 chance that TJax makes the roster and Tuel is kept on the practice squad as a development player. I believe that Kolb and Manuel will both make the team.

 

Pears is 30 and appears to be slowing down. I hope he proves to be as good as he has been in the past, but much younger guys like Hairston/Young/Sanders are breathing down his neck. If two of the three appear to be comparable, Pears could be released.

 

Realistically, I can only see Lindell being beaten out because of Hopkins' talent, Lindell's age and salary. i believe all of the others will make the final roster, but Pears and TJax could be in the most jeopardy both because of their age and their salary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Again, I think more of Pears than most posters. He isn't great, but he is very strong. And while he's not very mobile, he moves better than Langston Walker did imo. If he is healthy, I think that he will be OK at RT.

 

 

This is a concern, IMO. They've got Pears at RT, and may have health issues, and Wood at C, who can't quite make it through a season, and Colin Brown

pencilled in at G.

 

There's not one player on that line who played 16 games for the Bills last year that I see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

T. Jackson is 30. J. Tuel is 21. Tuel has a lot to prove, but does appear to have what it takes to be an NFL QB. My guess is that there is a 70-30 chance that TJax makes the roster and Tuel is kept on the practice squad as a development player. I believe that Kolb and Manuel will both make the team.

 

 

I remember in a recent interview with Marrone that he has been very happy with Manuel AND Tuel... I wonder if DM didn't pick up his franchise back up as well... I don't see TJax making it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...