FB Jerome Felton Returns to the Buffalo Bills’ Roster
By Ryan Brennan
Just 10 days after the team released the fullback during the final cuts, the Buffalo Bills announced that they have re-signed Jerome Felton to the roster.
On September 2nd, the Buffalo Bills made their final cuts to their 53-man roster to start the regular season with. One player that fell short of a roster spot was fullback Jerome Felton, as eyes quickly fell on rookie Glenn Gronkowski as the team’s “fullback.”
After a Week 1 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the team seemed to be unhappy with how that decision panned out and quickly decided to change it back to the way it was. On Monday, the Bills announced that they have re-signed Jerome Felton and he will join the 53-man roster. Even more surprising, to make room for the re-signing, the team announced they have cut Glenn Gronkowski.
Looks like big-brother-Rob won’t get to see his little brother in Week 4 after all.
Let’s be honest, the team’s blocking was terrible vs. the Ravens. The Bills couldn’t seem to open up any holes for LeSean McCoy, who only finished with 53 yards and a 3.6 yards per carry average. They couldn’t even stop the pass rush, as Tyrod Taylor was constantly surrounded by defenders. Ultimately, it made it hard for our quarterback to make anything happen on offense.
Most of that blocking comes at the hands of the offensive line. However, a good chunk of it comes from our running backs, fullbacks and tight ends that find themselves blocking for the quarterback. With Glenn Gronkowski — and also a few missed blocks by McCoy — the Bills don’t have that extra protection needed.
With the addition of Jerome Felton, the Bills get exactly that — blocking — as well as a great special teams player. He knows the Bills’ system, schemes and has chemistry with these players already. With that being said, he won’t need time to adjust to the team and will be a valuable addition right out of the gate — kind of like he never left.
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Felton hasn’t had a very statistical career so far by any means, with almost all of his presence coming from blocking. After being drafted in the 5th round of the 2008 draft by the Detroit Lions, he spent the next 3 seasons with the team before moving to the Carolina Panthers. He then spent one year with the Minnesota Vikings, bringing us to his first year with the Bills last season.
In his career, he has 165 yards on 47 carries and one fumble. Don’t expect Jerome Felton to get many rushing attempts this season, as he only had one attempt for 2 yards last year. His presence will be indirectly felt.
The Bills are hoping that Felton can help get them back to being the league’s leader in rushing and yards per carry last season — two things they were noticeably the worst in the league at during Week 1 vs. the Ravens.
In addition to re-signing Jerome Felton and cutting Glenn Gronkowski, the team announced that S Damian Parms has been added to the practice squad. The team suits up for their home opener vs. the New York Jets for Thursday Night Football.
Be ready.
Are you excited to see Jerome Felton back with the team? Leave your comments below!