Inside The Bills

Bills roster breakdown under Jauron

With final cuts coming on Saturday at the latest here is the breakdown of Buffalo’s opening day roster during the Dick Jauron era.

Below is a list of the number of players kept at each position after final cuts over the first three years of Jauron’s tenure as head coach.

I think it’s most interesting that Jauron’s rosters with the Bills have never had more than 3 tight ends. They’ll likely have to carry four there to start the season due to Derek Fine’s hamstring injury.

As far as the 10 defensive backs go it’s typically been split down the middle with 5 corners and 5 safeties. This year however, I think there’s a strong chance they carry six corners. Whether they also carry five safeties for a total of 11 remains to be seen. But Buffalo has been so snake bit at the cornerback position in terms of injury over the past two seasons it wouldn’t shock me to see that happen.

Last season the defensive line broke down as 5 ends and 4 tackles and I would anticipate that falling the same way. But there are six NFL caliber ends on this roster. Whether they choose to release a veteran or a younger less experienced player is a big question.

Keep in mind that the Bills have two special cases with respect to their roster this year. Marshawn Lynch will presumably be placed on the Reserve/Suspended list, which would afford the coaching staff an extra roster spot for the first three weeks of the season.
They also may choose to place James Hardy on the Reserve/PUP list, which would also afford them an additional roster spot and give Hardy another month and a half to build more stamina in his surgically repaired knee.

That would make it possible to keep six receivers without losing any of their top talent.

Linebacker was a position that dipped from 7 to 6 last season. I believe they may carry seven again with youngsters Marcus Buggs, Alvin Bowen and Ashlee Palmer all faring well this preseason. Rookie Nic Harris is a lock. I believe Bowen, Palmer and Jon Corto are the three linebackers battling for two spots.

I’ll be putting up my ‘Predicted 53’ a little later this morning, so stay tuned.