Buffalo Bills: 53-man roster prediction after final preseason game
By Joe Cook
Linebacker (6)
Matt Milano, Terrel Bernard, Tyrel Dodson, A.J. Klein, Dorian Williams, Tyler Matakevich
All-Pro Matt Milano will be looking to duplicate his success from last season. He continues to be one of the best off-ball linebackers in the league. The middle linebacker spot is still very murky. Terrel Bernard seemed to be pulling away with the job before missing every preseason game with a hamstring injury. He is set to return this week and will have two weeks to prove in practice he should be starting week one.
Tyrel Dodson got the starts at middle linebacker all three games and at times looked lost. He struggled a lot in the second game of the preseason and even played in the fourth quarter. Against the Bears, he bit hard on multiple play-actions that allowed the Bills to get gashed over the middle. If the Bills had to play right now, he would likely be the starter. Hopefully, with more reps, he will improve; if not, other teams are going to zero in on him.
A.J. Klein knows the Bills’ system and provides some nice veteran depth. He can play both middle linebacker and weakside linebacker. Williams looked good in his preseason game action but has only been working at weakside linebacker. A lot of fans are disappointed he hasn’t worked in the middle, but the coaching staff seems to think it will be too much for the third-round pick to deal with right away. The Mike (middle linebacker), has to be very vocal for the Bills. Williams might not be ready for that yet.
Matakevich is a special teams captain and is always at the top of the list in special teams tackles for the Bills. Baylon Spector got injured against the Bears, but unlike last preseason, he didn’t stand out too much this summer. We could see him land on IR. Again, the Bills would have to carry him on the roster and then place him on IR or he would be done for the year. This is based off of what it will look like after that move if the Bills don’t outright cut Spector.