Buffalo Bills 53-Man Roster Prediction

The NFL rosters will be reduced to 53 tomorrow at 4 PM. Below is who I believe the Bills will keep on the 53-man roster for the deadline. I expect that Brandon Beane will do some roster gymnastics, and the 53 on the roster tomorrow will not be the 53 when the regular season starts against the Arizona Cardinals on September 8th. The IR designations of a few players will play a part in that, along with any trades swung in the next 24 hours. I only used Bills players for the practice squad. I assume players will become available from other teams that Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott will also want to bring in.

Quarterback - 2

Josh Allen
Mitch Trubisky

*Trubisky’s injury could move him to IR after the 53 cutdown if the Bills feel it's a week-to-week issue.

Running Back - 3

James Cook
Ty Johnson
Ray Davis

*Frank Gore Jr was one of the feel-good stories of the preseason, but they should be able to put him on their practice squad and let him continue to develop.

Fullback - 1

Reggie Gilliam 

*The Bills' desire to run the ball more under Joe Brady makes Gilliam a valuable player in his system. He also has special teams experience.

Tight End - 3

Dalton Kincaid
Dawson Knox
Zach Davidson

*Davidson brings a different element to the position that Quintin Morris lacked in his size and speed. I don’t know if he would still be available for the Bills to bring back on the practice squad.

Wide Reciever - 6

Curtis Samuel
Khalil Shakir
Keon Coleman
Mack Hollins
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Tyrell Shavers

*MVS sounds like a lock to make the roster, but it wouldn’t shock me if the Bills went with 5. Shavers took advantage of his opportunities and received high praise from coaches throughout training camp.

Offensive Line - 9

Dion Dawkins
David Andrews
Connor McGovern
O’Cyrus Torrence
Spencer Brown
Alec Anderson
Tylan Grable
Sedrick Van-Pran Granger
Ryan Van Demark

*The Bills proved their depth at the OL position this preseason. I think they will trade a player before cutdowns to take advantage of this, so one of the backups here may be gone before the regular season starts.

Defensive Tackle - 4 

Ed Oliver
DaQuan Jones
DeWayne Carter
Austin Johnson

*DeShawn Williams is the odd man out in this group. It will be interesting to see if they can keep him on the practice squad.

Defensive End - 6

AJ Epenesa
Greg Rousseau
Von Miller
Dewauane Smoot
Kingsley Jonathan
Javon Soloman

*Jonathan stepped up in the absence of Casey Toohill. His experience in the system is another advantage here.

Linebacker - 5

Terrel Bernard
Dorian Williams
Joe Andreessen
Edefuan Ulofoshio
Baylon Spector

*Andreessen performed at a high level to warrant a roster spot. Deion Jones was already released, which made me more confident about this choice. I assume that Matt Milano will be placed on IR with a designation to return before the roster cutdown, allowing the Bills to free up his roster spot. I didn’t see enough of Nicholas Morrow to think he should be on the roster over Spector.

Cornerbacks - 6 

Christian Benford
Rasul Douglas
Taron Johnson
Kaiir Elam
Ja’Marcus Ingram
Daequan Hardy

*Hardy’s return ability, on top of his strong play over the last two games at corner, gave him the edge over Te’Cory Couch. Ingram also had a strong preseason.

Safeties - 5

Mike Edwards
Taylor Rapp
Cole Bishop
Damar Hamlin
Cam Lewis

*Injuries and the unknown led me to believe the Bills will keep five at safety. Hamlin has special team abilities and performed well during the preseason. Lewis has special team abilities and good position flexibility.

Special Teams - 3

Tyler Bass 
Reid Ferguson
Sam Martin

*Bass ended his preseason on a sour note with the FG miss. His poor play to end last year and in training camp this year will have him under the microscope all season. 

Practice Squad - Bills Players Only

Ben DiNucci
Frank Gore Jr
Darrynton Evans
Tre’ McKitty
KJ Hamler
Xavier Johnson
Justin Shorter
Deon Cain
Eli Ankou
Kameron Cline
Deion Jones
Te’Cory Couch
Kareem Jackson
Kendall Williamson