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Ep. 56 - Initial 53 Reactions
34 Plays1 year ago
Join the boys - er, one boy - to breakdown the initial 53 man roster that was released by the Bills on Tuesday! Nigel expertly navigates the ups and downs of this preliminary roster and gives us a sense of what the Bills will look like next week! Tune in for more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Social Media
00:00:23
Speaker
Oh, what is going on, everybody? You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast, your favorite podcast for all things bills and savers with one singular pal this evening. Uh, episode 56 is coming at you. You know, the drill folks, quick reminder to follow the social medias. You can find this at the handle. Let's go buff pod. That's two apps on that.
00:00:48
Speaker
And you know where we are. We're everywhere. Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok. I think that's the big ones.
Where are Jake and Tom?
00:00:55
Speaker
Unfortunately, no fellas to say hello to you today. um It is just me. Jake is a busy bee and Tom, to kick off his school year, is sick as a dog. So speedy recovery to Tommy.
Bills' 53-Man Roster Overview
00:01:08
Speaker
um Folks, this isn't going to be a normal, normal like hour-long podcast. um It's just me. So I think my plan for the evening here, we're just going to rip through um the initial 53-man roster that the bills ah whittled down yesterday on the 27th and really just kind of talk about the big things with that, the the surprises. There were only a couple. There weren't a ton. um Some things that could absolutely be debated, no doubt, but nothing absolutely crazy was going on. But there are some things to talk about for sure.
00:01:39
Speaker
um So the way I'll do this here is basically just go position by position, read off the guys that made the team. um And then if any of those guys got cut um or any of those guys at that position that got cut and potentially made the practice squad, um I'll touch on that as well.
00:01:54
Speaker
um so Yeah, here we go. um I break in a beverage roll. I don't have a i don't have one at all. um You guys remember how I said last week that I was off the sauce for a minute? I lied. I was on the sauce very quickly um after that. So I promise, I promise, promise, promise. I promise.
00:02:12
Speaker
Next pod, I'm going to have a damn beer. I just keep forgetting. I'm really sorry. Down here, still getting my feet wet in Nash and beer for the pod just isn't isn't a crazy, crazy, crazy high priority. I keep forgetting. I'm so sorry, um but it's not a lack of love.
00:02:27
Speaker
um So with all that being said, let's jump into this 53-man roster reaction. I'm not going to post anything. So if you're an audio person only for the Let's Go Buff Pod, you are in luck because it's just my dumbass weird raspy voice that you're stuck with this week. So let's get into it here. We'll start with the offense.
00:02:46
Speaker
quarterbacks, we kept two. I'm sure you'll be shocked to find that Josh Allen did make the roster. um Backup quarterback on the roster right now is Mitchell Trubisky, um but that will probably, that may change a little bit here. um We did sign Mike White to the practice squad today, um today being the 28th, so there's a chance he could possibly end up being the backup quarterback, who knows. um We'll all just kind of have to let that shake out a little bit. um Or maybe Mitch's injury isn't as bad as we thought, and we'll get him back sooner than we initially thought. But it's it's tough to say for sure with that whole thing. So one quick thing to to keep in mind with this, folks, um it's the initial, right? We still have two-ish weeks until the Bills actually play a game.
Running Backs and Wide Receivers
00:03:34
Speaker
So things will change here. this is very It's very unlikely that this is the roster that we will go into week one against Arizona with. um So be patient. some of this might Some of this definitely will change. It's it's like pretty much a guarantee. So if there's something right now that you're really, really, really passionately pissed about, just chill. <unk> We'll see what happens here. um So that's the quarterbacks. Running backs, we've got four making this roster.
00:04:01
Speaker
ah Reggie Gilliam, who was a guy that I predicted is a possible guy that might not make the team, but shows what I know. He is back in his kind of swing, fullback tight end blocking role. And then the three guys you would imagine, James Cook, Ray Davis, Ty Johnson. I think it'll be super interesting to see um how those carries get split up this season.
00:04:24
Speaker
just with Joe Brady being the full time play caller. And you know we talked very briefly last week about some concerns that I have with um James Cook and the ah the love that I have for Ray Davis right now. I think he could really push James Cook for um the guy as the leading toucher of the football from the running back position.
00:04:43
Speaker
So we'll see what happens there. Wide receiver was an interesting one just because, you know, a lot of people felt like there was a really good shot. This could be the year where we keep six. um And surprise, it wasn't. um But I think a lot of people, myself included, were kind of hoping um that that fifth wide receiver might be a guy like KJ Hamler or Tyrell Shavers and not MBS, which is not what happened. MBS was that fifth wide receiver. um There's a lot of people that are predicting he could be one of those guys that's inactive on game days, um which would be interesting because then you're only dressing
00:05:23
Speaker
four wide receivers, which seems pretty low. But, you know, it's with with the tight end room depth that we have on this team, and we'll get to that next, um it kind of makes, at least I feel like it makes that sixth wide receiver tough to roster.
Offensive Line Decisions
00:05:37
Speaker
um The only thing I would have imagined with the fifth wide receiver is that it would have been a guy like Tyrell Shavers, who at the very least offers a ton of special teams ability mvs is a one-trick pony with no special teams ability my guess it was just the contract that won him this job being having all that guaranteed money so kind of a bummer for me personally that mvs made the squad over a guy like tyro shavers um but
00:06:04
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it is what it is. Tyrell Shavers is at least back on the practice squad so we didn't lose him. I did forget some of these as well in terms of position, position, excuse me, we've already went through. um and So I mentioned that Mike White is on the practice squad. Frank Gore Jr. was released He is also on the practice squad. So we did get him back. um And worth mentioning that Darrington Evans um was is on IR, but he's designated as a return. So at some point this season, Darrington Evans is going to be on the roster. um So it'll be interesting to see what the Bills do with him in that situation.
00:06:41
Speaker
um In terms of guys that were released, Tyrell Shavers, Justin Shorter, another notable one um since he was a draft pick last year, but he didn't even get brought back on the practice squad. So um looks like and the Bills were ready to cut ties with Justin Shorter here.
00:06:58
Speaker
Damir Bird was cut, Xavier Johnson cut, Andy Isabella um was also a cut, and from what I can see, has not been brought back on the practice squad as well. um And then Dion Cain, currently a member of the practice squad. So three wide receivers on the practice squad, Tyrell Shavers, KJ Hamler made it as well, and Dion Cain brought back for the practice squad.
00:07:20
Speaker
Offensive line, the Bills decided to keep nine. Those nine that we kept, Deon Dawkins, David Edwards, Conor McGovern, Osiris Torrance, and Spencer Brown, those are your presumed starters across the offensive line. And then the guys that we kept, man, really, really good look at crop of young um ah offensive line depth. You've got Alec Anderson, Ryan Vandermark, Tylan Grable, and Cedric Van Prand, Granger, excuse me,
00:07:48
Speaker
Um, so yeah, between those four guys, Anderson, Panda Mark, Grable, VPG, really solid, young, high upside offensive line debt. So. We love to see that um as far as the offens or as far as the practice squad goes. Excuse me. um Guys that were brought back, we had Mike Edwards, Richard Garraj, and Will Clapp brought back. Guys that were cut, um let's see here. Gunner Britton, no surprise there. Kelvin Jarvis, no surprise there. Lyle Collins, no surprise. And Keaton Bales, no surprise. um Travis Clayton was placed on injured reserve. And Tommy Doyle is on the PUP. at this time. um So yeah, no surprises there with the offensive line. I think you know those rookies that the um made the team, they absolutely earned it. So really, really, really great for those guys there. um Your first guys off the bench, I would have to imagine, or your first tackle off the bench is probably Ryan Vandermark. And then your first ah inside offensive lineman, probably Alec Anderson, I would guess.
00:08:53
Speaker
And that's it for our offense there. So pretty solid 53 starting there. i I'll be honest with y'all. I've got some concerns about the wide receiver depth. um I think I echo a lot of people's sentiment for that. Like one of those guys goes down. um Like MVS and and Curtis Samuel just got back to practice today.
00:09:13
Speaker
um I think they were full participants so maybe their injury concern going into week one is is little. um But I don't know man, having those guys just being back at practice today and MVS being an injury prone wide receiver pretty much his entire career. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have concerns about the wide receiver depth but You know yeah have to imagine that Bean has that in his back pocket as a concern. um And there are some decent players in the practice squad that we can call up. So that's what you're looking at for the offensive line. um Let's see. if If we were a podcast that had ads, here's where we would put an ad. So if you want to support us here with what you're doing and you come across this, definitely get in touch. And we'd put your ad right here in this episode.
00:10:00
Speaker
Let's get to the defense here.
Defensive Line and Tactics
00:10:02
Speaker
Defensive ends. So we kept six, which is a little bit higher than normal. um The six guys that we kept, Greg Russo, AJ Epinesse, Vaughn Miller, Duann Smoot, Jevon Solomon, and here was the big surprise, Casey Two Hill, who we saw little to none from in training camp. um That was one that was a major surprise.
00:10:27
Speaker
I'm not positive as to the reasoning um and and at this point I'm not sure anybody is except for Brandon Bean. um If I was to make an educated guess here, my educated guess on why he made the team, um it's probably special teams. um At the very, very least, Casey Toohill has insane athletic profile. is His r RAS score is well over a nine. So there's there's some athleticism to be desired there. He's got good size as well. So that has to be, i would be if I'm a betting man, that's my that's my guess.
00:11:02
Speaker
um I don't have another good reasoning aside from that. um Going into this, my guess, if I had known we were going to kick or keep, excuse me, six defensive ends, my thought would have been Kingsley Jonathan. I thought he had a great camp, um had a couple of really great moments and in preseason games, but he doesn't have the size or the athleticism of a KC2 hill.
00:11:24
Speaker
That is my best guess, but that is definitely a head scratcher. The rest of them, not a surprise. um Defensive tackles, we kept four. Those four are at Oliver, Daquan Jones, no surprise there. Dwayne Carter and Austin Johnson. So probably with the top four you would have assumed um if you had been told that you they were going to keep four. um As far as practice squad positions go,
00:11:49
Speaker
Um, we did manage to get, um, Elianku is back. Kingsley Jonathan from the defensive end group, um, and Cameron Klein from the defensive end group, both brought back on the practice squad. Um, and then as far as defensive tackles go, like I mentioned, Elianku and Branson Dean. Um, so yeah, uh, no, no, no crazy surprises there. Guys that were cut, Gable Stevenson and Deshawn Williams. So Deshawn, yeah, Deshawn Williams. So.
Linebacker Surprises
00:12:17
Speaker
um No major surprises. They're pretty cut and dry. Don't have to think about it too much. Line backers. We kept six. Here's where we have our really, really fun feel-good story. Joe Andreessen did make um the team, which is just awesome, man. It's it's really great to see a Lancaster native, and then a UB product um make the team. So shout out Buffalo Joe. We're stoked for you, man. um It's it's just it's just just one of those feel good things, right? A lot of shitty things in the world. And cool to see a ah local kid be playing for his favorite childhood team. And a a guy that it's not like you know like he made it and and I think will make impacts, um particularly on special teams with his athleticism. so
00:13:04
Speaker
Congrats to Buffalo Joe. ah The other five that were kept, ah your two presumed starters, Terrell Bernard and Dorian Williams. And then in addition, we have Balan Spector, Edefuan Ullifoshio and Nicholas Moreau. So some good veterans up there with Nicholas Moreau.
00:13:19
Speaker
um And Baylon Spector, who's been in the system for a little bit. And some really athletic rookies making the team with some pretty legit upside. Shane Simon and Dion Jones were your players that were cut. You might be wondering where Matt Milano's name is at this point. He's on IR, also designated to return. So he does not count against the 53 to start.
00:13:43
Speaker
So don't worry, he's not anywhere that we need to worry about just on IR so he doesn't count against the initial 53. As far as the practice squad goes, let's see here. Actually, from what I can tell, we currently don't have a linebacker on the practice squad from what I can see based on the list.
00:14:04
Speaker
So maybe I'm seeing something that's a little bit outdated. um And if so, shame on me. um I do see we have one more projected practice squad spot here because, fun fact, if I can back up a little bit, Kingsley Jonathan does not count towards the 16 because he is a part of the International Players um Association because he's from Nigeria, which is pretty sick. So at this time, we do have 16 players, but Kingsley Jonathan does not count.
00:14:33
Speaker
So we have an open spot right now. um We do imagine though, or at least I imagine that that spot is actually going to go to another wide receiver. um There's a lot of rumblings that Jalen Virgil from Denver is in talks with Bean about possibly being brought back on the practice squad. so At this point, that's what I think that last spot is for. um But we'll see. things Things can change very quickly in this business, as we all know. So that's it for our linebackers. um Our cornerbacks. This was another surprise here.
Cornerbacks and Trades
00:15:06
Speaker
um So we kept six CBs. The guys that made the team are Christian Benford, Wussul Douglas, Taron Johnson, Kai Eulam, Jamarcus Ingram, and Brandon Codrington. So that's probably a name that you don't know super well, and that's totally fine because he was signed to the team yesterday through a trade. um We actually traded late round picks with the New York Jets to bring in Brandon Codrington. He's going to be our return guy. um He had some pretty legit return stats this season. um I think it was something crazy in like um not very many returns um this preseason. He was able to force 17 tackles. It was like in the course of like eight pot returns or six pot returns or something like that. So a pretty shifty guy that looks like he should serve the role well. um
00:15:58
Speaker
With that came the cutting um of Daquan Hardy, which was a huge surprise for so ah those of us that have been following the preseason pretty closely. Daquan Hardy showed quality coverage skills in preseason, um but Brandon Bean has already had a press conference today, and he did indicate the fact that or the reason he wasn't brought back was because on those punt returns, um on many of them, Daquan Hardy did show some questionable and, dare I say, reckless um ideas with the ball. So I think they're just looking for his decision making to mature a little bit. He is back on the practice squad, so he's with the organization. He's not long gone. um But I think that's the reason this happened was
00:16:43
Speaker
um somebody whether it be McDermott or Matthew Smiley or Brandon Bean did not like the decision making and frankly was not comfortable giving this guy the keys to the car yet. So you know hopefully that'll just be a one-year thing and we'll see you pretty soon what what goes on um with the return stuff but yeah it's gonna be a guy that we haven't seen yet in a Bill's uniform.
00:17:07
Speaker
um In addition to Daquan Hardy being cut, we also saw Kyron Brown, Kenai Lovely and Takori Couch be cut as well. Takori Couch along with Daquan Hardy though was brought back to the practice squad. So your CBs on the practice squad, Takori Couch and Daquan Hardy. Two quality guys there, I like that depth a lot as far as practice squad depth goes.
00:17:32
Speaker
um And then your safeties.
Safety Surprises
00:17:35
Speaker
We kept five safeties. Rookie Cole Bishop, Taylor Rapp, Cam Lewis, Mike Edwards, and Damar Hamlin. Maybe a little bit surprising that Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop um were kept, Cole Bishop not so much because he was a second round pick, but Mike Edwards, maybe that's a little surprising considering he's been injured the entire preseason. um But like I've said on this pod before,
00:17:57
Speaker
I don't think you can be upset about the film, especially this Kansas City film. I think he's a quality safety so um we'll see what the safety room looks like week one. At this point it looks like it's possible that maybe Mike Edwards or Cole Bishop have a shot to come back but Tough to say for sure they're not on IR or anything like that. um Or PUP, from what I can see. So those guys are making the roster. um And I doubt we'll be game day in Actives. Or maybe it's possible to start, who knows. But yeah, those are your five safeties. um Again, just quality depth there. Your guys that were caught, Terrell Burgess and Dee Delaney, those guys are both on IR.
00:18:36
Speaker
um Kareem Jackson and Kendall Williamson also were cut. um Kareem Jackson, though, brought back to the practice squad. So um as far as guys that were outright cut, Kendall Williamson, the only guy that is just is just gone gone. um And then your specialists.
Conclusion and Social Media Reminder
00:18:57
Speaker
No surprises. The only guys that were really there. Reid Ferguson, your long snapper, Tyler Bass, your kicker.
00:19:03
Speaker
Sam Martin, your punter. um There was never really much of a con, never really much of a doubt there about who those were going to be. There was really no competition. A little bit for the punting job, but that other guy was caught pretty soon. so So there you have it, folks. I'm just going to go through one more time and read through the guys that made the team. And then I'll read off the practice squad one more time. So guys making the initial 53-man roster, quarterbacks.
00:19:31
Speaker
Josh Allen, Mitchell Trubisky, that will probably be up in the air a little bit more, though, with mr as far as Mitch goes. Running backs, four of them, Reggie Gilliam, James Cook, Ray Davis, Ty Johnson. Wide receivers, five, Keon Coleman, Matt Collins, Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, and Marques Valdez-Scandling.
00:19:50
Speaker
three tight ends Dalton Kincaid Dawson Knox Quinton Morris um and your guys that were cut there were Zach Davidson, Trey McKinney um I don't think I talked about that I think I went right from wide receiver to offensive line I apologize um and as far as your tight ends that came back under the practice squad Zach Davidson is back so we have an nice athletic uh tight end in the waiting in the wings for us sorry about that folks my bad um offensive line being capped on the 53 Deion Dawkins, David Edwards, Connor McGovern, Osiris Torrance, and Spencer Brown. Alec Anderson, Ryan Vandermark, Tylan Grable, SVP are your backups there. Defensive end guys making the initial 53. Greg Russo, AJF Vanessa, Von Miller, Duann Smoot, Chavon Solomon, and Casey Two Hill.
00:20:37
Speaker
Defensive tackles, Ed Oliver, Daquan Jones, Dwayne Carter, Austin Johnson, linebackers, Terrell Bernard, Dorian Williams, Bail Inspector, Edefuan Ulfotio, Nicholas Moreau, and Joanne Dreesen. Cornerbacks, Christian Benford, Rasul Douglas, Darren Johnson, Kyair Elam, JaMarcus Ingram, Brandon Codrington, the little surprise there.
00:21:00
Speaker
safeties, Cole Bishop, Taylor Rapp, Cam Lewis, Mike Edwards, Damar Hamlin, and once more your specialist, Reid Ferguson, Tyler Bass, Sam Martin. Your practice squad players, CBs or your cornerbacks, Daquan Hardy to Corey Couch, defensive ends, Cameron Klein, Kingsley Jonathan, defensive tackles, Branson Dean, Eli Anku, offensive linemen, Mike Edwards, Richard Garage, Will Clapp,
00:21:30
Speaker
quarterback, Mike White, Frank, running back, excuse me, Frank Gore, Jr., safety, Kareem Jackson, tight end, Zach Davidson, and then three wide receivers, Tyrell Shavers, KJ Hamler, and Dionne Kane. Don't forget, currently, we have a 17th practice spot that is available, but um it is a decent guess that at this point that we'll go to Jalen Virgil, the wide receiver from denver Denver, but who knows that could obviously change as well. So there you have it folks, the bill's initial 53-man roster. um it's It's going to be in flux, folks. Don't forget, this is probably going to change a little bit more. Although um day one here, there were really no changes from the initial 53. So um there's also a chance that it might not change, but there's there's reasonable expectation to think that it will. um Like I said, we still got
00:22:21
Speaker
right around two weeks until, a little over two weeks, until our first game. um So we'll see what happens here. um But hey, you know we always got your back here. You can always catch us um for the latest on the Bills and Sabres news here. ah Don't forget to follow the social medias. That's again, ah the handle at Let's Go Buff Pod. And folks, we will catch you on the flip side.
00:22:51
Speaker
Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for spending some time with us. Please give us a like and a follow on Instagram, X, TikTok, and our YouTube channel at Let's Go Buff Pod. These are my pals, Jake and Nigel. My name is Tom, and you're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast. We're sending you love wherever you are. Go Bills. Go Savers. Let's Go Buffalo.