With the 2007 Draft and the signing of undrafted free agents now come to a close, I thought I'd take an early look at the potential opening day roster of the Bills in 2007. I've taken a lot of things into account in doing this - the systems we run, special emphasis placed on certain traits (most notably special teams), and how each player came about an opportunity with the organization.
By no means am I saying that this is the final roster, nor am I saying that I even have a clue how the roster will be decided. It's just nice once in a while to assess the current talent on your roster; I have been feeling the need to do this for a while.
So! Without further ado, here's one potential opening-day roster that I feel has a bit more potential than other combinations; please feel free to argue with me or vehemently disagree about anything I have to offer. This is a thread to open discussion on personnel, NOT for me to proclaim that I know everything. I'd love to hear what everyone else sees happening as well!
3 QB: J.P. Losman (starter), Craig Nall, Trent Edwards
4 RB: Marshawn Lynch (starter), Anthony Thomas, Dwayne Wright, Shaud Williams
5 WR: Lee Evans (starter), Peerless Price (starter), Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Sam Aiken
4 TE: Robert Royal (starter), Brad Cieslak, Derek Schouman, Ryan Neufeld
9 OL: Jason Peters, Derrick Dockery, Melvin Fowler, Duke Preston, Langston Walker (starters), Brad Butler, Terrance Pennington, Jason Whittle, Aaron Merz
9 DL: Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay, Larry Tripplett, Kyle Williams (starters), Ryan Denney, Anthony Hargrove, C.J. Ah You, John McCargo, Darwin Walker
7 LB: Angelo Crowell, Paul Posluszny, Keith Ellison (starters), Coy Wire, John DiGiorgio, Mario Haggan, Josh Stamer
5 CB: Terrence McGee, Kiwaukee Thomas (starters), Ashton Youboty, Jabari Greer, Eric Bassey
4 S: Donte Whitner, Ko Simpson (starters), Jim Leonhard, John Wendling
3 SP: Rian Lindell, Brian Moorman, Mike Schneck
Notable "Cuts": WR George Wilson, TE Kevin Everett, DT Tim Anderson
Discuss away, Bills fans. I'd love to see how your early projections match up with mine and discuss a little roster-building rationale with y'all. It's not the season yet, but hey - let's talk some football!
TRENT EDWARDS ARTICLE
Found this nice little article that appeared in the San Jose Mercury News that outlines Edwards' day last Saturday as he waited eleven grueling hours to be selected. My favorite quote from the article:
"I told him Buffalo, N.Y.," Tollner said. "And we could see that Buffalo was next on the clock, and all I heard was Trent say, `I would love to, Coach."
Trent sounds like an upstanding kid, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him play this preseason. Thoughts on the article?