Delusional Bills Optimist Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000351182/article/tom-crabtree-released-by-tampa-bay-buccaneers He's 28, coming off some minor to moderate injuries. Forced out by the drafting of ASJ. I have some faint memories of him playing for GB. He's only about 18 months older than Moeaki, has more TDs on far fewer receptions, and a better YPC average. It's a smaller sample, but those are the numbers. Anybody know more about his game? Any reason not to bring him in for a look? Moeaki insurance (are we really that desperate at the position)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBUffalo Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 The new mike caussin ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 He played HS football here in Columbus and has some great tattoos. That's all I got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spillnation Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 We just released Kaufman and imo he had a better upside then this jabroni. We're rollin with Scotty, Moeaki and Gragg as difference makers. Lee Smith might make it simply for blocking prowess. Not the worst bunch if you ask me, maybe Moeaki or Gragg will surprise us. Confidence is contagious and with what I think our WR and RB stables can do to our opponents, the Tight Ends will have plenty opportunity to show off. The only TE I'd think about taking right now is Jimmy Graham. That would catapult us into top 5 in the league and dare I say playoff run. A guy can dream. But I'll pass on that crab apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 I say bring him in and give him a look. Worst case is he's cut. Although I do expect Gragg will surprise us this year in terms of a red zone target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryCletus Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 He'd just be another guy for us to rip on... too many guys are good in theory, then reality hits and they are the whipping boy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Kaufman might be back to at least the PS. His cutting was a numbers game so they could check out more rookies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delusional Bills Optimist Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 (edited) All fair points. I wouldn't expect a player like this to be the "answer" at the position, I was just wondering out loud about the prospect that he could provide some sort of an upgrade. To me, this season is somewhat of a different experience compared to many (or most) of the seasons over the past decade. The Bills are in "win now" mode. They have expended great effort in addressing areas of need. Frankly, I'm a bit shocked at how stocked this roster seems to be. We're not loaded with superstars by any means, but we do have a few very good players and seem to have some solid depth at almost every position group. If we truly are "all in," why not try to upgrade wherever possible? Why not try to obtain better players from anywhere you can, even if you're merely replacing players # 51, 52 or 53 on the roster? It seems to me that the only area of "need" that we had at the end of the 2013 season that remains unaddressed is TE (excluding, of course, QB, although I'm not sure this board will ever agree that we've pinned down the QB position until our guy is clutching the Lombardi trophy). So, why not bring in as many TEs as we can until the season starts? I trust our evaluators to figure out if any particular prospect is better than what we've now got pretty quickly. All this said, I hope they really explore what Gragg can do in camp and the preseason. He's got some interesting measurables. Maybe he can be the guy after all. If not, at least we'll know not to pin our hopes going forward on the possible emergence of our 7th round TE. Edited May 18, 2014 by Delusional Bills Optimist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Fringe players cut in mid may are not the answer to any position Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delusional Bills Optimist Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 (edited) Fringe players cut in mid may are not the answer to any position Ceded. Typically, no, they're not. But James Harrison, Wes Welker, Jeff Saturday and FJ would tell you that's not always the case. I'm not cheerleading for Crabtree, or any other player in particular. I can see not bringing in a Lyerla, if you think he could be a cancer in the room, or a Finley, given the nature of his injury. I'm just saying, we're getting there roster-wise, why not turn over every reasonable stone to punch up each and every position group as we gear up for a playoffs or bust campaign? The Bills seem to be doing it with the RBs. Hell, we're even plucking guys off of active rosters now! (see B. Brown). Edited May 18, 2014 by Delusional Bills Optimist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBUffalo Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Ceded. Typically, no, they're not. But James Harrison, Wes Welker, Jeff Saturday and FJ would tell you that's not always the case. I'm not cheerleading for Crabtree, or any other player in particular. I can see not bringing in a Lyerla, if you think he could be a cancer in the room, or a Finley, given the nature of his injury. I'm just saying, we're getting there roster-wise, why not turn over every reasonable stone to punch up each and every position group as we gear up for a playoffs or bust campaign? The Bills seem to be doing it with the RBs. Hell, we're even plucking guys off of active rosters now! (see B. Brown). Bryce Brown and Tom Crabtree are two completely different situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delusional Bills Optimist Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Bryce Brown and Tom Crabtree are two completely different situations. They're different situations, but the rationale would be the same. In Brown, the Bills identified a player that (A) would improve their roster, even if only at the 3rd spot on the depth chart (for now) at his position, and (B) who was ostensibly rendered expendable due to a new influx of positional talent and/or a scheme change. This would be the case with a Crabtree, or any other TE prospect they would bring in at this point. I'm not advocating they scour the other 31 teams' TE stables and headhunt a player that may be on his way out for one of the reasons set forth above (off the top of my head, I can only think of Fauria in Detroit), as this would require us to part with either a pick or player. But if a player happens to get shaken loose, and we can kick the tires for next to nothing, why not take a chance? Of course, the Bills brass might feel perfectly comfortable, at least in 2014, with the four guys they've got under contract right now. This might be the reason they didn't take a 5th or 7th round flyer on a TE, or bring in any UDFA TEs this week. If that's the case, I'm perfectly fine with that. I trust Mr. Whaley and Co., and I defer to their judgment with respect to assessing the level of talent they have on the roster. They have earned that deference with their recent moves, in my opinion. P.S. What a relief it is to finally be having a pre-camp discussion about something as seemingly trivial as potential back-up TE options, instead of how the Bills have failed to adequately fill one or (usually) more gaping holes on the roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Nails Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 If he's part of Mike Williams's 'cave man' posse, sign him up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladiebla Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Kaufman might be back to at least the PS. His cutting was a numbers game so they could check out more rookies. He just got cut from the pre-cuts roster size of 90 and you think we'll bring him back to PS? For the record I really like Kaufman and think he can make it on the roster somewhere, he needs to get a break (like so many others do), would have been an excellent NFL Europe project player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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