As of Friday morning, we finally have a look at the Buffalo Bills official 53 man roster. There were a few surprises, so who made the cut?
A week from Sunday, the Buffalo Bills will begin their regular season vs. the Baltimore Ravens. As expected, the team announced their 53-man roster on Friday. Players were notified by a slip in their locker room in the morning.
Here’s how it was explained by Rex Ryan himself:
"“I was in meetings for most of the day but we met, we came in, I think we got in, as all of us know, at 3:30 am or something like that, whatever it was, and then we had a 7:30 meeting. So Doug (Whaley), myself, coordinators, Jim Monos was in there, Russ Brandon, we all met at 7:30. We finalized our cuts and that’s how we approached it but then I’ve been involved in meetings so I haven’t seen some of our players. A lot of times when you go through—I did see some but not all—a lot of times there’s some medical things so they got to get cleared and all that type of stuff, so it’s not like you would think where they come in to see me or Doug Whaley and they get released. Sometimes it’s not as clear as that.”"
Before we get to the 53-man roster, let’s first take a look at the 21 players that had to say their goodbye. They all worked hard and will hopefully find success somewhere in the NFL. The list is as follows:
First off, let’s highlight Manny Lawson and Jerome Felton. Lawson was going through an investigation that could’ve possibly led to a suspension. Perhaps the team learned more about the situation, but he will not suit up for the Bills as of now. Also, Felton will have to find a new home as the Bills finally got rid of his unneeded contract.
With both of those players now gone, the Bills freed up some cap space which will come in handy when negotiating a new contract for Stephon Gilmore.
For wide receivers, dropped passes was the main story for a few of them and ironically, they were all cut. Kroy Biermann’s time in Buffalo was cut short as a few other players came in and overshadowed him throughout the preseason.
One thing I noticed from this list was no safeties were cut. And although 3 linebackers were cut, that still left a lot of linebackers on the final roster. This is a good sign that Rex Ryan seems set on his 3-4 defense from here on out.
Now, let’s get to the Buffalo Bills official 53 man roster by position.
Offense
Quarterback: Tyrod Taylor, EJ Manuel, Cardale Jones
Running Back: LeSean McCoy, Reggie Bush, Mike Gillislee, Jonathan Williams, Glenn Gronkowski
Wide Receiver: Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Greg Salas, Walt Powell, Marquise Goodwin
Tight End: Charles Clay, Jim Dray, Nick O’Leary
Offensive Linemen: Cordy Glenn, Richie Incognito, Eric Wood, John Miller, Jordan Mills, Seantrel Henderson, Cyrus Kouandjio, Ryan Groy, Patrick Lewis
Defense
Defensive Linemen: Kyle Williams, Corbin Bryant, Adolphus Washington, Jerel Worthy, Leger Douzable
Linebacker: Jerry Hughes, Preston Brown, Zach Brown, Lorenzo Alexander, Brandon Spikes, Jamari Lattimore, Bryson Albright, Ramon Humber, Lerentee McCray
Cornerback: Stephon Gilmore, Ronald Darby, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Corey White, Kevon Seymour
Safety: Corey Graham, Aaron Williams, Robert Blanton, Duke Williams, Colt Anderson, Jonathan Meeks
Kicker/Punter/Long Snapper: Dan Carpenter, Colton Schmidt, Garrison Sanborn
Notes
Strong preseason performances proved to be the key to some of these players making the 53-man roster. Bryson Albright, who was an undrafted free agent, woo-ed the coaching staff early on and never stopped. He should play a vital role in a injury-filled linebacker spot.
Jerel Worthy and Leger Douzable also made the cut and will see a lot of action in Dareus’ absence. As stated above, the team went very heavy with safeties. With Aaron Williams in concussion protocol, Robert Blanton — who had 7 tackles vs. Detroit — and Duke Williams will have to step up early on, like they did in preseason.
A very strong connection with Cardale Jones in the final preseason game vs. the Detroit Lions ultimately led to Nick O’Leary making the roster. He finished the game with 6 receptions for 63 yards.
Jamari Lattimore had 6 tackles and one for a loss vs. the Lions and was second in tackles on the team behind Blanton. He made the cut as well.
Overall, the roster is looking pretty sharp and if some key players could step up in place of the injured and suspended, we could be off to a smooth start.
Related Story: What About Shaq Lawson, Reggie Ragland, etc.?
The Buffalo Bills start the regular season on Sunday September 11th as they travel to play the Baltimore Ravens. You can find the team’s regular season schedule here.
Football has arrived.
What stood out to you on the Buffalo Bills official 53 man roster? Leave your comments below!
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