Over the past three weeks, we here at Buffalo Rumblings have diligently dissected the mediocre, highly suspect cast of characters that is the Buffalo Bills' roster in our ever-expanding attempt for inclusion in Ralph Wilson's vaunted "inner circle" of decision-makers at One Bills Drive. With those reviews complete - and reviewable here - we can now begin putting together a summary of the fruits of our labor. And the fruits, folks, are juicy and plentiful.
Our main goal in this endeavor - besides, obviously, being members of the "inner circle" - is to put together one massive "Community Needs List", in which every single need the Bills carry into the off-season personnel wise is prioritized from most to least critical. In this way, we'll be able to see exactly how good or bad the Bills do in upgrading the roster over the next few months. That list is largely shaped up, but we'll wait another day or two to finalize it. First, we're going to divide all 70 players currently on the roster in some capacity into four groups. Fun!
Below are the breakdowns. Players are split into five groups, explained in each section - Extendables, Expendables, Questionables, Apathetics and Keepers. From those breakdowns, we can put together our ideal "core roster" - that is, the core group of players that are most likely to be on the roster in 2009 (there are 41 of them). This core group, ideally, will be supplemented by 12 (or more) of the needs we'll define on the Community Needs List tomorrow. See how this works? We're on the cusp of putting together the Bills' ideal - and sufficiently realistic - 2009 roster! You're welcome, members of the "inner circle". Onto the breakdowns...
EXTENDABLES (9): Players that the community has deemed worthy of contract extensions, for a variety of reasons ranging from ease of retention to "holy crap, this guy is really good".
QB Gibran Hamdan (RFA), RB Fred Jackson (ERFA), OT Jason Peters (potential holdout), OT Kirk Chambers (UFA), C/G Duke Preston (UFA), MLB John DiGiorgio (RFA), OLB Keith Ellison (RFA), CB Jabari Greer (UFA), FS George Wilson (RFA)
EXPENDABLES (10): Players that the community has deemed expendable, whether on the merits of terrible play or contract status. In short, if this community is running things, these guys don't stand a chance of coming back.
QB J.P. Losman (UFA), FB Corey McIntyre (UFA), TE Robert Royal (cut), OG Jason Whittle (UFA), C Melvin Fowler (UFA), DE Chris Kelsay (cut), DE Copeland Bryan (ERFA), DT John McCargo (cut/trade), LB Blake Costanzo (RFA), FS Ko Simpson (cut)
QUESTIONABLES (1): Players that the community wouldn't mind seeing brought back, but the coaching staff probably has a different take. The community was quite literally split on this one. This is where our attempt at realism truly lies.
OLB Angelo Crowell (UFA)
APATHETICS (18): Players that the community, by and large, doesn't give a rip about, because they're bubble players and/or spot contributors at best.
QB Matt Baker, RB Xavier Omon, RB Bruce Hall, WR Justin Jenkins, WR Felton Huggins, WR C.J. Hawthorne, WR Mike Jefferson, TE Jonathan Stupar, OT Jonathan Scott, OT Chris Denman, OG Brandon Rodd, DT Corey Mace, DT Marcus Smith, LB Teddy Lehman, LB Jon Corto, LB Marcus Buggs, LB Vince Hall, CB Dustin Fox
KEEPERS (32): Players that the community believes will stay in Buffalo, whether it be on their own merit, on the merits of common knowledge, or on the merits of exorbitant contracts.
QB Trent Edwards, RB Marshawn Lynch, WR Lee Evans, WR Josh Reed, WR Roscoe Parrish, WR Steve Johnson, WR James Hardy, TE Derek Fine, TE Derek Schouman, OT Langston Walker, OT Demetrius Bell, OG Derrick Dockery, OG Brad Butler, DE Aaron Schobel, DE Ryan Denney, DE Chris Ellis, DT Marcus Stroud, DT Kyle Williams, DT Spencer Johnson, MLB Paul Posluszny, OLB Kawika Mitchell, OLB Alvin Bowen, CB Terrence McGee, CB Leodis McKelvin, CB Reggie Corner, CB Ashton Youboty, DB Donte Whitner, SS Bryan Scott, SS John Wendling, K Rian Lindell, P Brian Moorman, LS Ryan Neill
Put the Extendables and the Keepers together, and voila - we come away with Buffalo's core roster heading into 2009. As previously noted, there are 41 such players, broken down by position as follows...
QB: Trent Edwards, Gibran Hamdan
RB: Marshawn Lynch, Fred Jackson
FB:
WR: Lee Evans, Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Steve Johnson, James Hardy
TE: Derek Fine, Derek Schouman
OT: Jason Peters, Langston Walker, Kirk Chambers, Demetrius Bell
OG: Derrick Dockery, Brad Butler, Duke Preston
C:
* OT Jason Peters has been mentioned as potential trade bait
DE: Aaron Schobel, Ryan Denney, Chris Ellis
DT: Marcus Stroud, Kyle Williams, Spencer Johnson
MLB: Paul Posluszny, John DiGiorgio
OLB: Kawika Mitchell, Keith Ellison, Alvin Bowen
CB: Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin, Jabari Greer, Ashton Youboty, Reggie Corner
FS: Donte Whitner, George Wilson
SS: Bryan Scott, John Wendling
* CB Terrence McGee has been mentioned as potential trade bait
Specialists: K Rian Lindell, P Brian Moorman, LS Ryan Neill
So there you have it. Buffalo's core roster for the 2009 season. Clearly, there are holes in that chart - and that's where our Community Needs List comes in. More on that tomorrow, but for now, feel free to discuss this core roster and whether or not you think it can gel into a winning team next year.