NFL Cuts /Cut Tracker

[No_Matter_What]

16 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

Across the league, only 27 players claimed:

 

 

Haha Jacksonville, Cincy and Jets have more players (2) claimed by other teams than Bills (1).

 

Maybe we don't have such strong roster after all

Edited September 1, 2021 by No_Matter_What

[BigBuff423]

3 hours ago, Chuck Schick said:

There are some really interesting names on the other teams' cut lists.  Key and Peele could do another skit....

 

DiCaprio Bootle

BoPete Keyes

Sandro Platzgummer

Equanimeous St. Brown (I had heard of him before)

Coy Cronk

Rojesterman Farris

Dee Virgin

Freedom Akinmoladun

Montrel Meander

Tre'Vour Wallace-Simms

 

and of course..

 

Tim Jones

 

Surprised by the cut, Dee Virgin leaves a big hole to fill......

[Sugar High JA17]

While all these moves were gobsmacking to some degree, the release of Gandy-Golden really stuck out like a sore thumb.

[maryland-bills-fan]

1 hour ago, No_Matter_What said:

Haha Jacksonville, Cincy and Jets have more players (2) claimed by other teams than Bills (1).

 

Maybe we don't have such strong roster after all

You forgot that they pick early in the draft and have a better chance of having young players.

 

[billsbackto81]

Surprised the Jets cut Bless Austin. He seemed to play pretty well the 2x we saw him last season. Maybe worth a claim at a position of need.

[Rochesterfan]

34 minutes ago, billsbackto81 said:

Surprised the Jets cut Bless Austin. He seemed to play pretty well the 2x we saw him last season. Maybe worth a claim at a position of need.

 

Not sure I would consider CB a position of need and I am really not sure an upgrade comes from the Jets cut pile. 
 

If he struggled bad enough to be one of their worse defenders - he isn’t beating out our top guys on the 53.  He just isn’t.

[Solomon Grundy]

Roche being cut was a surprise 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Urban Meyer is under the microscope:

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/urban-meyer-says-vaccine-status-certainly-consideration-jags-cuts?ls=pftvod

"NFLPA investigating Meyer after vaccine comment

The NFLPA will investigate Urban Meyer after the Jags coach said he considered players' vaccination statuses when making roster cuts, and he probably wasn't the only one—but he was the only one who admitted it."

 

This is pretty much what I felt when Beane came under scrutiny earlier in the off-season for saying if it took cutting an unvaccinated player to achieve a threshold and obtain a competitive advantage, he would do it - that every other GM in the league would privately do the same thing but STFU about it.

 

That may be why the NFL never set thresholds

 

But also:  Beane was firing a "warning shot" to tell players "this is something to think about", but now he and McDermott are all "no, that won't be a factor" with plausible deniability stacked high as sandbags around a floodplain house, and Urban Meyer is opening his yap and openly saying HE DID what the NFL cautioned folks not to.

 

Why would any sane coach or GM admit that, after the NFL and NFLPA said "You Can't Do That"?

 

[billsbackto81]

27 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

 

Not sure I would consider CB a position of need and I am really not sure an upgrade comes from the Jets cut pile. 
 

If he struggled bad enough to be one of their worse defenders - he isn’t beating out our top guys on the 53.  He just isn’t.

Maybe. Saleh runs a similar 4-3 base as the Bills do and maybe feels Austin isn't suited as well as what Greg Williams was running last year. I do feel CB is a position of need though.

[Rochesterfan]

27 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Urban Meyer is under the microscope:

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/urban-meyer-says-vaccine-status-certainly-consideration-jags-cuts?ls=pftvod

"NFLPA investigating Meyer after vaccine comment

The NFLPA will investigate Urban Meyer after the Jags coach said he considered players' vaccination statuses when making roster cuts, and he probably wasn't the only one—but he was the only one who admitted it."

 

This is pretty much what I felt when Beane came under scrutiny earlier in the off-season for saying if it took cutting an unvaccinated player to achieve a threshold and obtain a competitive advantage, he would do it - that every other GM in the league would privately do the same thing but STFU about it.

 

That may be why the NFL never set thresholds

 

But also:  Beane was firing a "warning shot" to tell players "this is something to think about", but now he and McDermott are all "no, that won't be a factor" with plausible deniability stacked high as sandbags around a floodplain house, and Urban Meyer is opening his yap and openly saying HE DID what the NFL cautioned folks not to.

 

Why would any sane coach or GM admit that, after the NFL and NFLPA said "You Can't Do That"?

 

 

Urban has always felt he was above the law or was the law everyplace he has been.  
 

Jacksonville has been no different except each time he has tried to do things his way - sneaky hires, over practicing, and now vaccinated comments - he keeps getting his hand slapped.

 

He is not long for this position and that is going to set their QB back because Urban seems vindictive and I could see him doing similar things that Bill O’Brien did and destroying the team from the inside before he is gone.

 

 

[ricojes]

3 hours ago, BigBuff423 said:

 

Surprised by the cut, Dee Virgin leaves a big hole to fill......

Technically he couldn't fill the hole...

[Kelly the Dog]

Lions just cut Dean Marlowe. Wouldn't really mind him back on the PS although I liked what I saw from Josh Thomas.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

Urban has always felt he was above the law or was the law everyplace he has been. 

 

I mean, that's exactly how his remark struck me.

 

"I'm the only one who admitted it"

 

If that's what you believe, Coach Meyer (and I can't tell you there's not truth to it), maybe there's a GOOD REASON no one else would admit to it.  Maybe the other 31 head coaches are SMARTER and WISER Than you in this regard!

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I mean, that's exactly how his remark struck me.

 

"I'm the only one who admitted it"

 

If that's what you believe (and I can't tell you there's not some truth to it), maybe there's a REASON no one else would admit to it

It's a really interesting argument to me. IMO, anyone who doesn't admit that (if asked) is lying. I think Belichick is flat lying when he said it didn't at all factor into his decisions. I also think it was naive/stupid for Meyer to admit it because of how the NFL operates. But should we really just let this go? Should we really reward lying and punish honesty? That's a good debate.

[YoloinOhio]

Have to wonder if the Bills find a spot for Marlowe. 

[Logic]

8 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Have to wonder if the Bills find a spot for Marlowe. 

I came in here to post this, but should've guessed that you had already done so. 😋

There IS an empty spot on the practice squad....

I guess we're about to find out how confident the Bills are in the youngsters Johnson, Hamlin, and Thomas (sounds like a law firm).

[Hapless Bills Fan]

36 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

It's a really interesting argument to me. IMO, anyone who doesn't admit that (if asked) is lying. I think Belichick is flat lying when he said it didn't at all factor into his decisions. I also think it was naive/stupid for Meyer to admit it because of how the NFL operates. But should we really just let this go? Should we really reward lying and punish honesty? That's a good debate.

 

Well, this could just be me, but I think there's a lot more shades of gray in it than that.  I think most people have multiple factors driving a decision.  If they don't mention ALL of them when asked, are they lying?  Or are they telling the truth, but not the whole truth?  When we exchange information with a 15 or 30 minute presser and multiple reporters asking multiple questions, is there even room to tell the whole truth if you want to?

 

So, for example when Beane says cutting Hollister was "really a numbers decision.  we went heavy at DL" is he telling the truth?  Sure.  We did go heavy on DL, and he does have to make numbers decisions.

 

Is he telling the whole truth?  Almost certainly not. 

 

The Bills also chose to go "heavy" at WR (if one can say that of the Skinny Boy Club), including a WR who has TE-type height and is a good downfield and backfield blocker and good STer, Kumerow.  So Beane could truthfully say "we felt keeping another WR in Kumerow offered more to the team than keeping Hollister at TE". 

 

Is it lying if he doesn't say that?  I don't think so.  He doesn't have time or obligation to tell the whole truth about his decision making process.  There's also a "do right by your peeps" aspect, why shouldn't he do right by Hollister by saying only positive things in public?

 

Someone could point out that it's not just a numbers game, Sweeney who we haven't seen a lot out of made the roster when Hollister (who has shown something in PS) didn't.  Beane could respond that Sweeney is stronger and has shown more blocking potential.  He could point out Sweeney is locked up for 2 years and Hollister only one, so if they score them similarly it makes sense to keep the 2 year guy. 

 

Is it lying if he doesn't say that?  (See above)

 

And (totally hypothetical, I have no knowledge) supposing Sweeney is vaccinated and Hollister isn't, and other things close to equal, keep the guy who's vaxxed.  Why would Beane have a special responsibility to share that facet of his decision making process or be tagged with lying, especially when a player's vaccination status is in truth, a private matter unless the PLAYER chooses to disclose it?

 

I think framing it as "reward lying and punish honesty" is kind of simplistic.

[Kelly the Dog]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Well, this could just be me, but I think there's a lot more shades of gray in it than that.  I think most people have multiple factors driving a decision.  If they don't mention ALL of them when asked, are they lying?  Or are they telling the truth, but not the whole truth?  When we exchange information with a 15 or 30 minute presser and multiple reporters asking multiple questions, is there even room to tell the whole truth if you want to?

 

So, for example when Beane says cutting Hollister was "really a numbers decision.  we went heavy at DL" is he telling the truth?  Almost certainly. 

 

Is he telling the whole truth?  Almost certainly not. 

 

The Bills also chose to go "heavy" at WR (if one can say that of the Skinny Boy Club), including a WR who has TE-type height and is a good downfield and backfield blocker and good STer, Kumerow.  So Beane could truthfully say "we felt keeping another WR in Kumerow offered more to the team than keeping Hollister at TE". 

 

Is it lying if he doesn't say that?  I don't think so.  He doesn't have time or obligation to tell the whole truth about his decision making process.

 

Someone could point out that it's not just a numbers game, Sweeney who we haven't seen a lot out of made the roster when Hollister (who has shown something in PS) didn't.  Beane could respond that Sweeney is stronger and has shown more blocking potential.  He could point out Sweeney is locked up for 2 years and Hollister only one, so if they score them similarly it makes sense to keep the 2 year guy. 

 

Is it lying if he doesn't say that?  See above)

 

And (totally hypothetical, I have no knowledge) supposing Sweeney is vaccinated and Hollister isn't, and other things close to equal, keep the guy who's vaxxed.  Why would Beane have a special responsibility to share that facet of his decision making process or be tagged with lying?

 

I think framing it as "reward lying and punish honesty" is kind of simplistic.

That’s not really my point. In this instance, it’s ONLY concerning COVID. There’s no other circumstance (unless you want to stretch it) where a team would really get in trouble for telling the truth. Of course all of the instances you gave were not lying per se. I meant any GM that says publicly that Covid had no bearing on their decision making IMO is very likely lying. Should we punish Meyer for honesty about Covid and reward GMs and coaches for lying about Covid. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

16 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

That’s not really my point. In this instance, it’s ONLY concerning COVID. There’s no other circumstance (unless you want to stretch it) where a team would really get in trouble for telling the truth. Of course all of the instances you gave were not lying per se. I meant any GM that says publicly that Covid had no bearing on their decision making IMO is very likely lying. Should we punish Meyer for honesty about Covid and reward GMs and coaches for lying about Covid. 

 

I think we're talking past each other.  Let's try to approach it a different way.

 

Does vaccination play into all roster decisions?  Clearly not.  We're not cutting our core offensive or defensive players for vaccination status.  No way.

 

Into decisions about the "bubble players"?  Perhaps.  But the "bubble players" are the ones whose agents have been pointing out for months that if they want to advance their careers in the NFL and make sure they're not at a disadvantage relative to other players, Get Vaccinated.  So it's plausible that with 93% vaccination across the league, they're all vaccinated and it really wasn't a factor.

 

If we look at the Bills roster, about which we all think we know the most - @Alphadawg7 called our 53 man roster almost perfectly, based on reports from practice and watching the pre-season games.  Joe Buscaglia got pretty close.  Hollister was the biggest surprise, and as I pointed out, that can be argued/defended based on factors like time under contract, better blocking strength/potential and so forth.  IF vaccination was a factor, when you get to a personal level, it's private info.

 

So how can you definitively conclude that Meyer is being honest, and GMs who say it didn't factor are for sure lying?

 

Me, I think Urban Meyer is show-boating, trying to claim some sort of moral superiority to which he really lacks the right.

[Kelly the Dog]

19 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think we're talking past each other.  Let's try to approach it a different way.

 

Does vaccination play into all roster decisions?  Clearly not.  We're not cutting our core offensive or defensive players for vaccination status.  No way.

 

Into decisions about the "bubble players"?  Perhaps.  But the "bubble players" are the ones whose agents have been pointing out for months that if they want to advance their careers in the NFL and make sure they're not at a disadvantage relative to other players, Get Vaccinated.  So it's plausible that with 93% vaccination across the league, they're all vaccinated and it really wasn't a factor.

 

If we look at the Bills roster, about which we all think we know the most - @Alphadawg7 called our 53 man roster almost perfectly, based on reports from practice and watching the pre-season games.  Joe Buscaglia got pretty close.  Hollister was the biggest surprise, and as I pointed out, that can be argued/defended based on factors like time under contract, better blocking strength/potential and so forth.  IF vaccination was a factor, when you get to a personal level, it's private info.

 

So how can you definitively conclude that Meyer is being honest, and GMs who say it didn't factor are for sure lying?

 

Me, I think Urban Meyer is show-boating, trying to claim some sort of moral superiority to which he really lacks the right.

We don't know which players are and are not vaccinated on the Bills, and even if you are, your position group can be affected by vaccination status. For example, I don't think it's pure coincidence that the Bills had three WR unvaccinated (now two) and that we kept 7 WR which is virtually unheard of. Those 7 WR affects most other units, considering we would love to have kept Johnson but no room for him, another OL but no room, maybe Hollister but no room, another CB but no room. Do we know this for absolute sure? Of course not. But again I think it's almost impossible to imagine that Beane, McD,  Daboll and Chad Hall did not strongly discuss the fact that Beasley, Davis and McKenzie were not vaccinated regardless of their public stance. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, Kelly the Dog said:

We don't know which players are and are not vaccinated on the Bills, and even if you are, your position group can be affected by vaccination status. For example, I don't think it's pure coincidence that the Bills had three WR unvaccinated (now two) and that we kept 7 WR which is virtually unheard of. Those 7 WR affects most other units, considering we would love to have kept Johnson but no room for him, another OL but no room, maybe Hollister but no room, another CB but no room. Do we know this for absolute sure? Of course not. But again I think it's almost impossible to imagine that Beane, McD,  Daboll and Chad Hall did not strongly discuss the fact that Beasley, Davis and McKenzie were not vaccinated regardless of their public stance. 

 

Isn't that re-framing the issue though?  I thought the issue was whether Urban's claim that "he considered players' vaccination statuses when making roster cuts and he was the only one who admitted it", indicated that other GMs and coaches are "lying about Covid" if they said they didn't?  To me that means, "I have three CB, I can keep two, I'm going to keep the two that are vaccinated"

 

I think coaches and GMs look at things like anticipated injury frequency when deciding how many players they need to keep at different positions.  Now maybe this year they factored in chance of losing multiple players as close contacts, when deciding that.  But all things considered, the Bills wound up with 6 WR on the roster, same as last year (Stevenson went to IR, just as Hodgins did last year).  Overall, their numbers match pretty closely with how they've built the roster last year and the year before.

 

The exception is DL and TE.  We kept 11 DLmen, which is 2 more than we kept last year - but that seems to have more to do with signing Obada then drafting 2 guys back to back, creating a logjam given McDermott's strong opinions on the importance of veteran leadership in each room.  That's probably the biggest factor in the numbers game, and there's no reason to think Covid vaccination status factored into that - they have a crowd of young developmental guys BUT McDermott and Frazier aren't willing to "bet the season" on those guys yet, not until they actually get their feet wet in the regular season.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

5 hours ago, BigBuff423 said:

 

Surprised by the cut, Dee Virgin leaves a big hole to fill......

What happened to Harry Beavers? Used to see alot of 'em

[ColoradoBills]

3 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

What happened to Harry Beavers? Used to see alot of 'em

 

Sorry, I have to do this.

 

 

[Kelly the Dog]

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Isn't that re-framing the issue though?  I thought the issue was whether Urban's claim that "he considered players' vaccination statuses when making roster cuts and he was the only one who admitted it", indicated that other GMs and coaches are "lying about Covid" if they said they didn't?  To me that means, "I have three CB, I can keep two, I'm going to keep the two that are vaccinated"

 

I think coaches and GMs look at things like anticipated injury frequency when deciding how many players they need to keep at different positions.  Now maybe this year they factored in chance of losing multiple players as close contacts, when deciding that.  But all things considered, the Bills wound up with 6 WR on the roster, same as last year 

To me it doesn’t at all mean just the flat I have 3 and can only keep 2. It’s the whole roster because how many you keep on one unit affects others.
 

Star is unvaccinated. They kept 5 DT. Maybe one more is. Maybe ONE of the several reasons they kept 5 is Star. That means it affected their thinking and decisions. That extra DT, like the WR example, affects the different units. 
 

 

 

 

 

[The Dean]

3 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Lions just cut Dean Marlowe. Wouldn't really mind him back on the PS although I liked what I saw from Josh Thomas.

 

 

I'd love to see Dean back on the team. He seemed to come through when called upon, for the most part.

[Chandler#81]

Ditto. But Beane -being coy- wouldn’t reveal the mystery guest coming in tomorrow to ‘tour’ and be signed to the PS. 

Marlowe doesn’t need a tour.

 

My guess is another DB -perhaps a guy they coveted in the Draft but was gone before we picked..🤔

[BarleyNY]

14 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Well, this could just be me, but I think there's a lot more shades of gray in it than that.  I think most people have multiple factors driving a decision.  If they don't mention ALL of them when asked, are they lying?  Or are they telling the truth, but not the whole truth?  When we exchange information with a 15 or 30 minute presser and multiple reporters asking multiple questions, is there even room to tell the whole truth if you want to?

 

So, for example when Beane says cutting Hollister was "really a numbers decision.  we went heavy at DL" is he telling the truth?  Sure.  We did go heavy on DL, and he does have to make numbers decisions.

 

Is he telling the whole truth?  Almost certainly not. 

 

The Bills also chose to go "heavy" at WR (if one can say that of the Skinny Boy Club), including a WR who has TE-type height and is a good downfield and backfield blocker and good STer, Kumerow.  So Beane could truthfully say "we felt keeping another WR in Kumerow offered more to the team than keeping Hollister at TE". 

 

Is it lying if he doesn't say that?  I don't think so.  He doesn't have time or obligation to tell the whole truth about his decision making process.  There's also a "do right by your peeps" aspect, why shouldn't he do right by Hollister by saying only positive things in public?

 

Someone could point out that it's not just a numbers game, Sweeney who we haven't seen a lot out of made the roster when Hollister (who has shown something in PS) didn't.  Beane could respond that Sweeney is stronger and has shown more blocking potential.  He could point out Sweeney is locked up for 2 years and Hollister only one, so if they score them similarly it makes sense to keep the 2 year guy. 

 

Is it lying if he doesn't say that?  (See above)

 

And (totally hypothetical, I have no knowledge) supposing Sweeney is vaccinated and Hollister isn't, and other things close to equal, keep the guy who's vaxxed.  Why would Beane have a special responsibility to share that facet of his decision making process or be tagged with lying, especially when a player's vaccination status is in truth, a private matter unless the PLAYER chooses to disclose it?

 

I think framing it as "reward lying and punish honesty" is kind of simplistic.

I am always bewildered by those who think GMs owe the fans every last bit of information.  If anything, they get punished by the media (and occasionally the league) when they say too much.  Beane did everyone a favor in your example.  Even Hollister by basically saying that he is good enough to be on the team, but there just wasn’t room with the direction we went.  Even if there was a little bit of a white lie in that, there was no harm done and it was a kind gesture. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 hours ago, The Dean said:

I'd love to see Dean back on the team. He seemed to come through when called upon, for the most part.

 

I don't think we will, though.  I think the Bills believe Damar Hamlin has earned the spot he' received.

 

17 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

I am always bewildered by those who think GMs owe the fans every last bit of information.  If anything, they get punished by the media (and occasionally the league) when they say too much. 

 

Exhibit A IMO: Meyer

[Sherlock Holmes]

Everson Griffen was released as far as I know.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

13 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

To me it doesn’t at all mean just the flat I have 3 and can only keep 2. It’s the whole roster because how many you keep on one unit affects others.
 

Star is unvaccinated. They kept 5 DT. Maybe one more is. Maybe ONE of the several reasons they kept 5 is Star. That means it affected their thinking and decisions. That extra DT, like the WR example, affects the different units.

 

Gentle reminder that aside from guys who have come out and given their opinion publicly, we really don't know vaccination status - a guy could have been in the process of getting vaccinated but still be subject to league quarantine rules for unvaccinated folks.

 

I certainly can't argue that it's possible Covid protocols and their possible impact influenced Beane's decisions on who to keep, but let's look at this for a second.

 

What did every fan watching practice/games and every media member say?

"Wow, the Bills have a logjam at WR, they have some really tough decisions to make with their speedy draft pick Stevenson and Kumerow playing 🔥🔥 at WR and ST."

"Wow, Zimmer is really stating his case for a roster spot.  Dang, Phillips got dinged, he was actually looking really good!"

"DE 🔥🔥🔥 I know we just signed him, but maybe we'll have to cut Obada.  Or I know - cut Addison AND Hughes and keep all the young guys. What a log jam!"

 

We know the Bills coaches stated position is that we missed Star last season and Butler/sometimes Oliver were playing out of position, and that our biggest need is to "affect the QB" more.

 

The two spots where we seemed to have a surfeit of talent were WR and DL

 

So let's look at the numbers, after cuts/IR/resigning:

2020: QB (3) RB (4) TE (4) WR (6) IOL (5) T (4) DT (4) DE (5) LB (6) CB (5) S (4)

2021: QB (2) RB (4) TE (3) WR (6) IOL (5) T (4) DT (5) DE (6) LB (6) CB (5) S (4)

 

After all the dust settled, the numbers at each position are remarkably similar across the board.

The differences are 1 less QB (most teams only keep 2) and 1 less TE, which positions were used to keep extras at DT and DE.

 

Looks like they "robbed" the offense at two positions where the depth was not inspiring (QB and TE) to "pay" positions where they would otherwise have had to sacrifice a recently drafted player/promising young player OR a veteran they regard as proven/leadership 

 

But it's entirely explainable by where the draft picks were, what everyone saw in training camp, and McDermott's oft-stated desire to keep veteran leadership in each room (eg not cut vet DTs/DEs) - no need to hypothesize that Beane would be lying if he were asked if Covid decisions influenced the choices or if they were influenced by vaccine.

🤷‍♂️

 

Personally I don't think Urban deserves extra "honesty" points while everyone else is "lying".  There may be some Covid influence, can't rule that out.  But I think Meyer is just being an arrogant tool, believing he can publicly flout NFL policies without consequences, and indulging in some grandstanding. 

 

Could just be me.

 

11 minutes ago, Sherlock Holmes said:

Everson Griffen was released as far as I know.

 

Re-signed?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/vikings-re-sign-griffen-add-14-players-to-practice-squad/ar-AANZuBk

[The Dean]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I don't think we will, though.  I think the Bills believe Damar Hamlin has earned the spot he' received.

 

 

He was resigned by Detroit today anyway.  But I was thinking more along the lines of him over Jaquan

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

He was resigned by Detroit today anyway.  But I was thinking more along the lines of him over Jaquan

 

Marlowe is 29.  Jaquan Johnson is 25 and under contract thru 2022. 

 

We need to retain and develop young players if we're going to keep this thing building.

[The Dean]

5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Marlowe is 29.  Jaquan Johnson is 25 and under contract thru 2022. 

 

We need to retain and develop young players if we're going to keep this thing building.

 

 

I just hope Jacquan can meet the challenge when called upon the way Marlow did.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

18 minutes ago, The Dean said:

I just hope Jacquan can meet the challenge when called upon the way Marlow did.  

 

That's always the question when replacing a solid vet with a younger player, right? 

 

The Bills have several of those ?? on the roster besides Johnson for Marlow:

-Isaiah McKenzie in the KR/PR role filled by all-pro Andre Roberts last season - Big Shoes

-Tommy Sweeney apparently in the "in-line blocker/leak out as outlet receiver" role filled by Lee Smith last season

-Sweeney in the apparent "sees the field every down, can catch and block" backup TE role filled by Tyler Kroft last season

-Spencer Brown/Tommy Doyle in the backup OT role filled by Ty Nsekhe last season

-[Someone among our young DE] in the "Run Plugger" role filled by Trent Murphy last season

-? Basham and Obada in the "play inside or out" role filled by Q Jefferson last season

-Dane Jackson in the backup/split time at #2 CB role filled by Josh Normal last season

-some combination of Lewis, Griffin, and Wildgoose in the "what if both starting CB can't go?" role.

 

I think the reason we don't hear so much stressing about this is: most of these are backup roles, and McDermott and Beane have built a certain "trust level" in their personnel decisions and ability to coach players up with the fans.

[The Dean]

6 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That's always the question when replacing a solid vet with a younger player, right? 

 

The Bills have several of those ?? on the roster besides Johnson for Marlow:

-Isaiah McKenzie in the KR/PR role filled by all-pro Andre Roberts last season - Big Shoes

-Tommy Sweeney apparently in the "in-line blocker/leak out as outlet receiver" role filled by Lee Smith last season

-Sweeney in the apparent "sees the field every down, can catch and block" backup TE role filled by Tyler Kroft last season

-Spencer Brown/Tommy Doyle in the backup OT role filled by Ty Nsekhe last season

-[Someone among our young DE] in the "Run Plugger" role filled by Trent Murphy last season

-? Basham and Obada in the "play inside or out" role filled by Q Jefferson last season

-Dane Jackson in the backup/split time at #2 CB role filled by Josh Normal last season

-some combination of Lewis, Griffin, and Wildgoose in the "what if both starting CB can't go?" role.

 

I think the reason we don't hear so much stressing about this is: most of these are backup roles, and McDermott and Beane have built a certain "trust level" in their personnel decisions and ability to coach players up with the fans.

 

 

I really can't disagree with any of this. But with regard to Hollister, I don't think it's as much about him in particular (at least it isn't with me). But more about Beane's stated desire to upgrade the unit from last year. Well, maybe that is Sweeney returning and the progress that he thinks Knox made in the offseason. OK, i guess I will buy that. I can't believe he thinks Morris is the upgrade, but what  do I know.  Gilliam was here last year and is now a FB. Can he play TE in a pinch? Sure. But I'm thinking if you are upgrading the position, you aren't looking at a part timer for that. Since they were also reported to be interested in trading for Ertz, I'm thinking they weren't 100% sold on their current dept at the position.

 

Some have asked, "why would you care so much about a 3rd stringer?"  The thing is, nearly every 53 roster prediction I read before the cuts had Hollister either as the starter or #2. I don't think even ONE had him as the 3rd string TE. Maybe everybody was wrong,. Well, actually they WERE wrong, But you don't find that surprising that the most experienced TE on the roster, and the one they seemingly chose to upgrade the position, was cut?  I found it interesting and surprising. And with players this young, I doubt age is a driving factor. Hollister is 27, that is plenty young for a TE. 

 

Now I'm all about trusting McBeane and I'm not stopping now. They have to have seen something that gives them confidence in this group. I sure hope so. I really hope that next year, the FO isn't in the  same TE bind they seemed to be in last year.

 

And I say, right up front, the complaining about TE, #2 CB, lack of blazing speed with the WR's  is all interesting and has some merit. This is basically the same team that went 13-3 last year and missed the SB due to one poor game. So I certainly not panicking too much.  Just finding a few moves interesting.