Tuesday marks the first day of cuts in the NFL, and as a result, the Buffalo Bills will be releasing five players by the end of the day today.  The team must trim five off of its current roster of 80 to reach the NFL maximum of 75; the team will then play its final pre-season game Thursday at home against Detroit, and cut its roster down to 53 by the end of the business day August 30.

Anyone care to take any guesses as to who the five Bills cut today will be?  I'd love to hear some predictions in the comments section; here's my prediction: RB Dwayne Wright, WR C.J. Hawthorne, DE Derrick Jones, DT Teraz McCray and CB Kennard Cox will be ex-Bills by day's end.

Fantasy Football!
Just a quick reminder that two Buffalo Rumblings fantasy leagues hold their drafts today.  The Rumblings Premiere League will hold its draft tonight at 9:30; RL2 will beat us to the punch and draft first at 8:00; and RL3 has foregone the sanctity of pre-season football to draft during the Bills/Lions game Thursday night at 7:15 (all times eastern).

Speaking of fantasy, SB Nation's fantasy sports blog, Fake Teams, is running a series in which each SB Nation NFL writer (including yours truly) submits one stud and one sleeper from each team; this will hopefully give FT readers an edge when it comes to fantasy drafts.  The Bills' stud and sleeper has been posted; be sure to check that out, as well as the rest of the series.

Some reading material
Few articles kicking around the Interwebs this morning that I'd like you to focus your attention on this morning (other than what we've already mentioned, of course):

Roster spot could be around the corner for Youboty (Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News)
- It's nice to see some local media taking notice of Ashton Youboty's play finally.  It's about time the kid got some more recognition than what he already gets here.  (At least we saw it first.)

Bills sharp, announcers not so much (Chuck Pollock, Olean Times Herald)
- Nothing like a little more ribbing of the NFL Network's trio of Sterling Sharpe, Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders - the folks who called the Bills/Colts game Sunday night.  They were awesome awful.

Losman leads a sharp Bills offense (Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News)
- From Sunday night's win.  Nice read.

Reed's role a vital one in offense (Bob DiCesare, Buffalo News)
- Just for SuperFan82.

Stroud being counted on to shore up interior (Photo Source)

Prior to the 2008 NFL Draft - in fact, prior to the free agent signing period of this past March - we took a look at the Buffalo Bills' roster position by position, breaking down then-current personnel, finding holes, and building our community needs list.

Now that free agency and the Draft have been completed, and the Bills have infused their roster with new talent, it's time to repeat our process.  Where has Buffalo gotten better?  Where have they gotten worse?  How will additions impact which Bills veterans remain on the roster?  These are questions that we'll attempt to answer over the next week or so.

We continue those discussions today with an examination of Buffalo's defensive tackles.  To view our previous discussions on Buffalo's DT situation (pre-off-season), bang it here.

John McCargo: After a rookie season that was severely limited by injury, McCargo was healthy for all 16 games last season and made strides in his second year - despite rather limited playing time.  His 2.5 sacks were good for second on the team (hear that, Chris Kelsay?), and amongst last year's Bills defensive tackles, McCargo was easily the most explosive.  He has the ability to penetrate a line quickly and make explosive tackles behind the line of scrimmage; he didn't do it often last year, however, because of the lack of talent surrounding him.  That's expected to change in 2008, as McCargo elevates to the starting lineup.

Kyle Williams: The most underwhelming talent of Buffalo's top four tackles - a group that will be rotated heavily this season - Williams is yet another hard-working tackle that isn't a strong athlete, but never quits.  He's got some power and a nasty streak up front, but he'll need to play much more consistently if he still wants to receive substantial playing time.  You can't go wrong having a guy like this on your team, but Williams is very clearly the fourth tackle on this roster.

Jason Jefferson: He's stuck with the Bills for about two and a half years at this point, and it's hard to figure out why.  Injuries have kept Jefferson on the roster, and while he's very clearly not a playmaker, he rarely makes mistakes.  Jefferson has an uphill battle to make this year's roster with four guys ahead of him on the depth chart, but hey - he did it last year, too.  I wouldn't be shocked to see him stick as a fifth tackle, especially considering the injury histories of McCargo and Marcus Stroud.

Corey Mace: Entering his second year, Mace spent 16 weeks on the practice squad as a rookie, was elevated to the active roster for Week 17, but was inactive.  He'll likely compete with undrafted rookie free agent Teraz McCray for a spot on the practice squad once again.

The Additions: Marcus Stroud, Spencer Johnson, Teraz McCray
For the first time in a very long time, the Bills' significant off-season move was to pick up a legitimate, NFL starting-caliber defensive tackle.  The last time the team did that was when they acquired Ted Washington.  Stroud hasn't been the "Stroud of old" for a couple of seasons now as he's dealt with injuries, but he still represents a significant upgrade over Larry Tripplett for this team.  Stroud adds a dimension of power to Buffalo's interior line with the ability to play either the 1-technique or the 3-technique, but the trick for him will be to stay healthy in '08.  If that happens, he'll have a good season.

Johnson, who appears to be strictly a 3-technique tackle and possibly a swing end on run downs, is a stellar athlete who is looking to emerge from the shadows of Pat and Kevin Williams in Minnesota.  He is quick and explosive, and figures to see most of his time on pass downs.  He'll factor into the rotation heavily, and he'll definitely give McCargo a run at the starting job next to Stroud as well.  This was an excellent signing.

The Subtractions: Larry Tripplett
Signed in the off-season of 2006, Tripplett never evolved into the playmaking tackle that the team signed him to be.  Granted, he wasn't awful (well, he was pretty awful against the run), but the occasional QB pressure and gift play (see: INT vs. Washington) does not a starting defensive tackle make.  As a new member of the Seattle Seahawks, Tripplett will return to Buffalo in Week 1 of the '08 NFL season.

Pre-Season Outlook: Of any position on the Bills roster, defensive tackle has easily seen the biggest changes this off-season, both in terms of personnel and talent variety.  By shedding Tripplett and adding Stroud and Johnson, the Bills now have four defensive tackles who can play either the 1-tech or 3-tech spots, get after the passer, and (hopefully) stop the run.  This group is more athletic, more powerful, and better gifted at penetration.  There's a lot riding on this group.  If they're not up to the task, the team may be forced to go back to the drawing board once again.  But as it stands now, a failure from this group isn't very likely.  I'm excited to see this unit get on the field this fall.

Change: Power and depth.

As always, your thoughts and opinions on this analysis are welcome and encouraged in the comments section.