Way-Too-Early Buffalo Bills Roster Projections: Offensive Breakdown

Tommy Doyle, Buffalo Bills Offensive Tackle

Way-Too-Early Buffalo Bills Roster Projections: Offensive Breakdown | The Wandering Buffalo

Whelp Bills Mafia, we’ve done it; we’ve reached the time of year where nothing really happens in the NFL. The NFL does a tremendous job of making its product relevant nearly year round considering its games are only played over the course of 6 months. That being said, we still have a solid 2-3 months where very little happens in the league, and if you’re getting breaking news on your team, it’s probably bad news (cough cough, Chiefs). I like to take this time to do a waaaaay too early roster projection and we’ll start that today with the offensive side of the ball. This exercise is meant to be more predictive than what I would want them to do. That being said, a ton will change between now and training camps, and will continue changing from there. That, coupled with the money becoming available from the Tre’ White cut, will likely mean we see quite a bit of changes here, so make sure to check back as I update throughout the offseason.

Quarterback:

The QB room is about as cut and dry is it comes. Forget QBs, the Bills have one of the best PLAYERS in the league in Josh Allen. Beyond that is Mitch Trubisky back with the team and Shane Buechele. Predictively, Trubisky is the backup and Buechele ends up back on the practice squad. For what it’s worth I would love to see a different direction here. With all the draft capital next year, I would love to see the Bills make a mid-round selection for a player that could be a dirt cheap, semi long-term answer at the backup position.

Running Back:

The RB room will look a little different this coming season with the departures of Latavius Murray and Damien Harris. Added to the room to replace them include rookie Ray Davis, the return of Darrynton Evans, and the addition of the son of an NFL legend in Frank Gore Jr. James Cook factors to be the lead back with Davis being his primary backup. Ty Johnson comes back to the team with a more defined RB3 role. Darrynton Evans has looked exciting at times in the NFL but has failed to latch on to an active roster, and I have that happening again here in Buffalo. Frank Gore Jr. also gets cut with a spot on the practice squad. I think the biggest question with this room is the collective pass-blocking. I would not be surprised if we see an addition to this room for that purpose alone. Does Murray come back almost exclusively for this role? Can Frank Gore Jr. impress throughout the summer enough to give the team confidence in him being one injury away from being RB3? Time will tell, but I expect another *fairly* meaningful addition to this room. I also have FB Reggie Gilliam bunched in with the RBs, who also make the team.

Tight End:

The Buffalo Bills boast what I consider to be arguably one of the strongest tight end rooms in the league. Last season was a little complicated for Dawson Knox and the emergence of rookie Dalton Kincaid made that even more complicated. That being said he still provides a ton of value as a blocker and as an ancillary weapon in the passing game. Let’s not forget he was dealing with a wrist injury that required surgery last season, and seems to have rushed back when Kincaid suffered a concussion. I would be more willing to bet he gets a C on his jersey this year than him playing for another team. Kincaid had a historic year for a rookie tight end and that came while he spent part of the off-season rehabbing injuries. Look for another big step from him in year two. Q Morris continues rocking at TE3, and he makes me about as happy as any third-string player can make me. He looked solid when filling in due to injuries last year and contributes on ST. That leaves Tre’ McKitty and Zach Davidson as my cuts here. McKitty has some upside, and I think he would be TE3 on most rosters, which speaks to the talent in the room ahead of him.

Wide Receiver:

Probably the most discussed position group in Bills Mafia this off-season and rightfully so with the loss of Diggs. I think, despite all the conjecture and the number of bodies at the position, that this is actually pretty straightforward for the most part. I think the top 5 is pretty locked in (barring any significant moves). I have the top 5 being Samuel, Coleman, Shakir, Hollins, and MVS. The number 6 spot is currently a competition between Chase Claypool, Justin Shorter, Bryan Thompson, Xavier Johnson, Andy Isabella, KJ Hamler, Tyrell Shavers, and Lawerence Keys III. I originally had Hamler making the roster with the hope that he could stay healthy. He has some of the explosiveness that I think the team needs to round out the group. For the sake of being predictive however, I think the messaging coming from the organization has me leaning towards Claypool. I think it's all well and good to say the right things and look good in May, but will this continue through the off-season? Will he be willing and able to contribute on special teams? I am skeptical and that was my original reason for him being cut. For now, predictively, he makes the roster. I want also to be very clear here, I am not rooting against him. He has been a highly-drafted receiver who has had production in the league. If the Bills can get some of that out him I think it would be great, especially from a WR5-6. That being said I still have my doubts. I believe that barring some wild incoming trade this is about what the room will look like. I don’t think there are any remaining free agents, who would really do much to shake up this top 5, and I don’t think the team has the assets available to want to bring in someone to try to supplant a WR 4-6. Give me a trade for Deebo, and I’ll gladly bump Claypool from the team.

Offensive Line:

With some of the positional versatility, I think it is sometimes difficult to project each player at any given position, so I have just done the offensive line as a whole. I currently have the team keeping Dawkins, David Edwards, McGovern, Torrence, Brown, Van Demark, Anderson, Van Pran Granger, and La’el Collins. This means the team would cut the following players. Travis Clayton, Tylan Grable, Keaton Bills, Will Clapp, Kevin Jarvis, Tommy Doyle, Richard Gouraige, Gunner Britton and Mike Edwards. I think the toughest cut here for me was Tommy Doyle. He has looked ok at times, but back-to-back season-ending knee injuries are really tough to come back from for a late-round pick who was starting his career. I think there’s a chance he ends up back with the team in some capacity, but I think it’s very challenging to see him lock down a roster spot even as a reserve player. I imagine 3-4 of these guys end up on the practice squad. Travis Clayton is a wild card to me just based on the International Pathways Program. He doesn’t count against the 90-man roster or count for a practice squad spot, but I am unsure how that works for the final 53. If he has a spot on the 53 without it counting, he will be there; if not, he will certainly be on the practice squad.

Up next will be the defensive side of the ball.

Drop a comment with your thoughts on what you think the team might do or what you would do differently.

Thanks for reading and GO BILLS!!!

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Justin Goddard
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