Going into last season, the Buffalo Bills were being surrounded with a lot of negativity based on the offseason they had where they lost a lot of key veterans (both in free agency and via trade). A lot of people were writing the Bills off and saying that the AFC East was going up for grabs after Buffalo had dominated the division for four consecutive seasons. Instead, the Bills had one of their best seasons in franchise history and it was capped off with Josh Allen rightfully winning the MVP award.
However, one positive story that had a lot of Bills fans excited for the season was a local Buffalo native making the final 53-man roster for Week 1. Linebacker Joe Andreesen, who played his college career Bryant University at the University at Buffalo, made an early impression on the coaching staff to where they signed him after rookie minicamp tryouts.
Now obviously, a lot of the narratives about Andreessen is that it was going to be a “feel-good” story for a player who is from Buffalo, playing for the hometown team. However, Andreessen had other plans.
He didn’t just shine in training camp in the preseason, but he did enough to get brought onto the regular season roster where he dressed for 13 games and started in one as well. Believe it or not, Andreessen was the Bills’ leading tackler in Week 17 last season against the New York Jets which was a special moment for the local native. Now he is back with the Bills and looking at an uphill battle again to make the final roster.
Joe Andreessen already making an early impact in minicamp
The Bills’ first day of mandatory minicamp took place earlier today and Andreessen had a strong start to the summer in Buffalo, according to Alex Brasky. Brasky tweeted that Andreessen picked off Josh Allen on a wobbly pass in the middle of the field during team drills, and that he also made “an athletic play” in coverage against tight end Dawson Knox and knocked down a pass that was intended for Knox.
While this isn’t the most exciting news to hear about in June in the first week of minicamp, Andreessen is already showing that he still deserves a roster spot just like last season.
However, Andreessen is facing a bit of an uphill battle to make this roster. Matt Milano is back and healthy, Dorian Williams is going into the third year of his rookie contract as a third-round pick, and the Bills signed Shaq Thompson earlier today.
Even though Andreessen was on the roster last year and took advantage of every opportunity, he still has a lot to prove that he deserves it again this coming season. Assuming that there are no major injuries in the linebacker room, Andreessen has to be nearly perfect this summer at minicamp and training camp.