What's more fun on a Monday morning in May - from a football perspective, at least - than attempting to predict which 53 players from your favorite team will be lining up in front of your eyes this coming fall? That's exactly what we'll do this morning. With position-by-position breakdowns of the Buffalo Bills' 2008 roster just around the corner, I thought it would be prudent to take a look at the overall picture first, then break it down in the coming days.
So this is how I see the 2008 roster shaking out. Keep in mind that in the grand scheme of things, this exercise means very little; it is a topic that should, at the very least, bring about some interesting philosophical discussions, however.
Here's the positional breakdown. We'll avoid doing this depth chart style for now since, ultimately, I was playing a numbers game here. (It's not hard to figure out the depth chart, however.) Feel free to offer your own alternatives, pick apart my ideas, or ignore this exercise wholly. :)
Quarterback (3)
Starter: Trent Edwards
Reserves: J.P. Losman, Gibran Hamdan
Running Back (4)
Starter: Marshawn Lynch
Reserves: Fred Jackson, Dwayne Wright, Xavier Omon (R)
Fullback (1)
Starter: Mike Viti (R)
Wide Receiver (6)
Starters: Lee Evans, James Hardy (R)
Reserves: Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Justin Jenkins, Steve Johnson (R)
Tight End (3)
Starter: Robert Royal
Reserves: Courtney Anderson, Derek Fine (R)
Offensive Tackle (3)
Starters: Jason Peters, Langston Walker
Reserve: Kirk Chambers
Offensive Guard/Center (5)
Starters: Derrick Dockery, Melvin Fowler, Brad Butler
Reserves: Jason Whittle, Christian Gaddis
Defensive End (5)
Starters: Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay
Reserves: Ryan Denney, Chris Ellis (R), Ryan Neill (LS)
Defensive Tackle (4)
Starters: Marcus Stroud, John McCargo
Reserves: Spencer Johnson, Kyle Williams
Outside Linebacker (5)
Starters: Angelo Crowell, Kawika Mitchell
Reserves: Keith Ellison, Blake Costanzo, Alvin Bowen (R)
Inside Linebacker (2)
Starter: Paul Posluszny
Reserve: John DiGiorgio
Cornerback (5)
Starters: Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin (R)
Reserves: Jabari Greer, Ashton Youboty, Reggie Corner (R)
Free Safety (2)
Starter: Ko Simpson
Reserve: George Wilson
Strong Safety (3)
Starter: Donte Whitner
Reserves: Bryan Scott, John Wendling
Kicker/Punter (2)
Starters: Rian Lindell, Brian Moorman
Notable Cuts: FB Darian Barnes, TE Teyo Johnson, TE Derek Schouman, OT Matt Murphy, OT Demetrius Bell (R), OG Duke Preston, DT Jason Jefferson, DT Corey Mace, CB William James, CB Kennard Cox (R)