I'm very appreciative to those of you who take time to email me throughout the year at the moment, because when a dude's in the midst of the driest spell of the NFL off-season, interesting discussion topics are hard to come by. Keep the emails coming, folks (or the comments), because we've still got 12 days to get through before the 2010 Buffalo Bills hit the field at St. John Fisher College.
Today's reader-submitted question is one you've probably gleaned from the headline; we're going to talk about Buffalo's crop of undrafted free agents, nine of whom will be attempting to crack Buffalo's final roster in the face of long odds. Of those nine specific rookies, there are three that I believe have a legitimate shot to stick with the organization, even if it's only as a member of the practice squad. You can go ahead and disagree with me in the comments section, if you feel so inclined.
Antonio Coleman, outside linebacker. Coleman, an Auburn product, makes this list because of the desolate landscape that is Buffalo's pass-rushing depth chart. He enjoyed a very productive career in the SEC, picking up 10 sacks as a senior and 27.5 over four years, and added 50.5 tackles for loss to boot. It's tough to argue with solid production in that quality of a conference, but as a prospect, Coleman is pretty average all around. Still, average could be good enough to secure Coleman a spot as a reserve outside linebacker.
Naaman Roosevelt, wide receiver. Given the youth of the Bills' receiver position, one could legitimately claim that any or all of Buffalo's three UDFA receivers have a good shot at making the team in some capacity. Of that group, Roosevelt is the most polished and the most instinctive. That said, there are young receivers that have much more natural talent than Roosevelt does - particularly speed, quickness and yards-after-catch ability - so Roosevelt looks like a much better bet for the practice squad.
Cordaro Howard, offensive guard. No, he's not on the list because he's a Georgia Tech alum recruited there by Chan Gailey, but that certainly doesn't hurt his cause, either. The 6'4", 315-pound Howard is a tremendous athlete with the foot speed to play tackle, but he'll be a better pro fit inside at guard, where he has solid potential on pulls, traps and angle blocking. He'll never be a mauler, but guards don't need to be maulers to excel in this league. Look for him to be stashed on the practice squad so the Bills can try to mold his raw physical tools.
Joique Bell, David Nelson, Donald Jones, Sean Allen, John Destin and Dominique Harris are your other contenders. Any of those that you'd add to the list?