Thanks to a somewhat remarkable rally Thursday night at Soldier Field as the Bills scored 25 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Bears 28-27, Buffalo finished its preseason schedule with a 2-2 record, both of the victories coming on the road.
Don’t look now, but Buffalo’s opponent in the Sept. 9 regular-season opener, the Baltimore Ravens, wrapped up a 5-0 preseason Thursday night.
Enough of the folly, though. Preseason results are meaningless, and I’m not quite sure why anyone takes anything that they see in these mockeries of competition with a grain of seriousness. The two most noteworthy examples of this? The only two teams in NFL history to finish 0-16 in the regular season – the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns – both went 4-0 in the preseason.
Sean McDermott looked like he was coaching in a playoff game Thursday as he watched his team fight to the end to pull out a victory that will be forgotten by the middle of this week. It was an indication that he deeply appreciated the effort his players gave, and it probably makes a bit more difficult a few of the decisions he and general manager Brandon Beane must make to pare the roster down to the NFL-mandated 53-man limit by 4 p.m. Saturday.
But in reality, very little that transpired during Buffalo’s four practice games had much of an impact on how the roster will be selected. McDermott and Beane probably had about 40 of the spots decided before the Bills even arrived at St. John Fisher College in late July, and all but perhaps the final three or four positions were likely penciled in before A.J. McCarron’s “legendary” comeback – his word, not mine – in Chicago.
What follows is the 53-man team I would pick, with the caveat being that the players occupying the bottom of the roster should not sign any apartment leases yet because the Bills will most likely alter some things once the waiver wire goes live.
Quarterback
Yay (3): Nathan Peterman, Josh Allen, A.J. McCarron. Nay (0).
When you have three, you don’t have one, and right now, the Bills don’t have a true starting QB which is not good with the season opener nine days away. I fully expect McDermott to name Peterman as the starter by default because he was better than McCarron over the long haul of the spring and summer, and because Allen isn’t ready to start, much as I’d like him to be.
Peterman won the preseason, but if you read the first paragraphs, you know how much I think preseason performance matters. Allen is the most talented of the three, but my hunch is that McDermott is fully aware how deficient the offensive line is, and it’s better to wait before subjecting Allen to that punishment. As for McCarron, I think it would be foolish to cut him or trade him because the Bills need three QBs.
Running back
Yay (5): LeSean McCoy, Chris Ivory, Marcus Murphy, Taiwan Jones, Patrick DiMarco (FB). Nay (3): Travaris Cadet, Keith Ford, Sam Rogers (FB).
Murphy made the biggest move as he earned a spot over the veteran Cadet. I thought he was one of the Bills’ most noticeable players in the games and in practice, and if he can figure out the intricacies of the position, namely blitz pickup and knowing when he’s the hot read, he could contribute in the real games if McCoy or Ivory were to get hurt.
McCoy’s health is a bit of a concern, but the good news is that Ivory was more impressive than I expected and he looks like a solid option if McCoy can’t handle a full load, or misses any time. DiMarco makes my team, but I really struggle to understand what the purpose of a fullback is in today’s NFL.
Wide receiver
Yay (6): Kelvin Benjamin, Zay Jones, Jeremy Kerley, Andre Holmes, Rod Streater, Ray-Ray McCloud. Nay (7): Corey Coleman, Brandon Reilly, Kaelin Clay, Cam Phillips, Robert Foster, Malachi Dupre, Austin Proehl.
The scene in episode 2 of Hard Knocks a few weeks ago where Coleman walked into Browns head coach Hue Jackson’s office and asked why he was running with the second team? Yeah, now we understand Jackson’s thinking.
Since being traded to the Bills the same day he confronted Jackson, Coleman has done nothing in a Buffalo uniform. Streater seems like a more useful player, but the problem with my choice is that if Coleman is released, the Bills have no one with any deep speed. Then again, with Peterman throwing, does it matter?
McCloud hurt his knee Thursday, and depending on the seriousness, he may be unavailable. Too bad because while he’s not ready to help on offense, he showed kick return ability. If he’s out, I’d keep Brandon Reilly who I think has potential. If nothing else, the Bills should be able to get Reilly back onto their practice squad, as well as Cam Phillips who showed production in practice.
Tight end
Yay (4): Charles Clay, Jason Croom, Logan Thomas, Khari Lee. Nay (2): Nick O’Leary, Keith Towbridge.
Clay continues to underwhelm, but he’s the best of the bunch. The good news is that Croom showed an ability to be a playmaker and if he can improve his blocking, he should get meaningful snaps. I also like Thomas’ potential and athleticism and I’d keep him over O’Leary.
O’Leary has been with the Bills three years, and you can count on one hand the number of impactful plays he’s made. He’s a better blocker than Thomas, but I’d rather take a chance on Thomas than stick with the same old, same old. As for Lee, he’s probably the best blocker in the group, and he also can catch the ball as we saw a few times this summer.
Offensive line
Yay (8): Dion Dawkins, Vlad Ducasse, Ryan Groy, John Miller, Jordan Mills, Russell Bodine, Wyatt Teller, Marshall Newhouse. Nay (7): De’Ondre Wesley, Conor McDermott, Gerhard de Beer, Adam Redmond, Mo Porter, Ike Boettger, Josh James.
Besides Dawkins, there is nothing to like here, and I think McDermott an Beane will be furiously seeking reinforcements from outside the building. Ducasse and Miller are below average at guard, neither Groy nor Bodine made a suitable case to start at center, though one of them will have to do it. And Mills has always been average.
Behind them, Teller doesn’t look ready to be a starter, though I do love his aggressiveness, so hopefully he continues to grow and gets in there sooner rather than later. Newhouse was awful, but he does have 70 NFL starts and I’d be more comfortable – a relative term in this discussion – with him than any of the other tackles the Bills had in camp.
Defensive line
Yay (8): Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, Kyle Williams, Star Lotulelei, Harrison Phillips, Adolphus Washington, Shaq Lawson, Eddie Yarbrough. Nay (7): Terrence Fede, Ryan Russell, Mike Love, Mat Boesen, Rickey Hatley, Tyrunn Walker, Albert Havili.
Murphy has been a non-entity since the Bills signed him as a free agent. He’s either been recovering from a severe injury (knee) or nursing a new injury (groin) the whole time he’s been here. I have no idea what he will give the Bills, but if he can’t rush the passer as advertised, the Bills have big problems because Hughes will get doubled on every play.
Lawson stepped up and saved his roster spot, and Yarbrough is a motor-never-stops guy, so the Bills have a little depth at the end spots, though I would stop short of saying it’s tremendous. Inside, Williams is also hurt, but at least Phillips has already proven that the Bills got a bargain drafting him in the third round.
Lotulelei was mostly invisible in camp and the games, so hopefully he was pacing himself for the regular season because the Bills paid him an awful lot of money to be a difference-maker. No one on my cut list did anything to warrant making the team.
Linebackers
Yay (6): Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano, Lorenzo Alexander, Deon Lacey, Ramon Humber, Julian Stanford. Nay (3): Tanner Vallejo, Xavier Woodson-Luster, Corey Thompson.
Edmunds, Milano and Alexander are acceptable as a starting three, though I wonder how much Alexander has left and whether Milano can withstand a season weighing 223 pounds. If any of them were to get hurt, the Bills have no one good enough to step in.
I know the Bills liked Vallejo on special teams, but that’s not enough for me. He’s an undersized player who can’t hold up on defense, and in this position group, the Bills are desperate for players who can at least be marginally decent.
Humber, Lacey and Stanford probably wouldn’t make 20 other NFL rosters, but they make it here because there’s no one else. This is another area where the waiver wire will be scoured.
Cornerback
Yay (5): Tre’Davious White, Vontae Davis, Taron Johnson, Phillip Gaines, Breon Borders. Nay (3): Lafayette Pitts, Levi Wallace, Ryan Carter.
White is outstanding. After that, it’s a worry. Davis did not impress and I wonder if the 10th-year veteran is past his prime. Johnson looks like he can fill the nickel role, while Gaines and Borders are the best of a nondescript backup group. If Pitts and Wallace made the team over them, I’d shrug my shoulders and say, “OK.”
Safety
Yay (5): Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Rafael Bush, Dean Marlowe, Siran Neal.
Nay (1): Kelcie McCray.
Ideally, the Bills would keep six corners and four safeties, but this speaks to the lack of talent they have at corner. Marlowe, Bush and Neal are better players than any of the cornerbacks that I have getting cut.
Neal has played some corner in college, and he could possibly be used in the slot in certain situations, but I’d expect him to be inactive on most game days this year because Hyde and Poyer are solid as the starters, and Marlowe and Bush provide pretty good depth.
Special teams
Yay (3): Stephen Hauschka, Colton Schmidt, Reid Ferguson. Nay (1): Jon Ryan.
I have no idea why the Bills brought Ryan all the way in from Seattle, and then barely gave him a chance to punt in the two games he was here for. And there were plenty of opportunities given how bad the offense was. Unless they think Ryan is the better option and they were giving Schmidt one last chance to save his job. In the end, I don’t give a hoot who the punter is.
Hauschka is excellent, and so is Ferguson as the long snapper, so no worries there. As for the return game, the Bills have to figure that out, but it seems to me, based on the team I have picked here, the best options would be Murphy, Jones and McCloud.
