This is the third iteration of a Buffalo Bills 53-man roster projection that I've put together this summer, and sadly, things have not changed an awful lot from week to week. It'd be rather nice if some Bills reserves made me think about changing these projections up in a more significant manner.
You can find the latest projection after the jump, along with a review of changes from last week. The Bills will need to cut down to 80 players by a week from tomorrow, on August 30. They currently employ 85 players.
I've only got two new players on this list from last week. After giving Chad Rinehart the proverbial axe in the first two projections, it is now painfully obvious that he'll be on the team, if not starting at left guard. He takes the place of Mansfield Wrotto - a player I'd given the nod over Rinehart because of the two-year deal he signed this past March. Wrotto has been awful this pre-season.
The other change made was swapping in Kellen Heard for Lionel Dotson as the seventh defensive lineman. I still believe the team will keep seven big guys up front thanks to the Alex Carrington experiment at outside linebacker, and after closely watching both pre-season games to date, both Heard and Dotson have looked good on occasion. Heard has been getting reps earlier, however, and is a bigger, equally mobile version of Dotson. He'd be a huge upgrade over last year's weekly inactive lineman, John McCargo.
| Pos. | # | Starter | # | Backup | # | Reserve |
| WR | 19 | Donald Jones | 11 | Roscoe Parrish | 81 | Marcus Easley |
| LT | 77 | Demetrius Bell | 71 | Ed Wang | ||
| LG | 67 | Andy Levitre | 76 | Chad Rinehart | ||
| C | 70 | Eric Wood | 63 | Geoff Hangartner | ||
| RG | 60 | Kraig Urbik | ||||
| RT | 79 | Erik Pears | 75 | Chris Hairston* | ||
| TE | 84 | Scott Chandler | 80 | David Martin | ||
| WR | 13 | Stevie Johnson | 86 | David Nelson | 18 | Naaman Roosevelt |
| QB | 14 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 4 | Tyler Thigpen | 16 | Brad Smith |
| RB | 22 | Fred Jackson | 28 | C.J. Spiller | 35 | Johnny White* |
| FB | 38 | Corey McIntyre | ||||
| LE | 99 | Marcell Dareus* | 92 | Alex Carrington | 72 | Kellen Heard |
| NT | 95 | Kyle Williams | 96 | Torell Troup | ||
| RE | 98 | Dwan Edwards | 91 | Spencer Johnson | ||
| SLB | 90 | Chris Kelsay | 57 | Danny Batten | ||
| MLB | 54 | Andra Davis | 55 | Kelvin Sheppard* | 94 | Chris White* |
| WLB | 50 | Nick Barnett | 53 | Reggie Torbor | 52 | Arthur Moats |
| JLB | 56 | Shawne Merriman | 59 | Antonio Coleman | ||
| LCB | 24 | Terrence McGee | 21 | Leodis McKelvin | ||
| SS | 37 | George Wilson | 43 | Bryan Scott | 25 | Da'Norris Searcy* |
| FS | 31 | Jairus Byrd | ||||
| RCB | 29 | Drayton Florence | 23 | Aaron Williams* | 27 | Reggie Corner |
| K | 9 | Rian Lindell | ||||
| P | 8 | Brian Moorman | ||||
| LS | 65 | Garrison Sanborn |
Players cut (34): QB Levi Brown, RB Bruce Hall, RB Anthony Elzy, FB Jehuu Caulcrick, WR Buster Davis, WR Felton Huggins, WR Paul Hubbard, WR Kamar Aiken, TE Shawn Nelson, TE Mike Caussin, TE Zach Pianalto, OT Cordaro Howard, OT Jason Watkins, OG Mansfield Wrotto, OG Colin Brown, OG Isaiah Thompson, C Michael Switzer, DE Lionel Dotson, DE T.J. Langley, NT Michael Jasper, OLB Jammie Kirlew, OLB Robert Eddins, ILB Brad Jefferson, ILB Brandon Hicks, CB Justin Rogers, CB Loyce Means, CB Doyle Miller, S Jon Corto, S Rajric Coleman, S Sidney Glover, S Josh Nesbitt, P Reid Forrest, LS Danny Aiken.
Positional Breakdown
QB (3): Fitzpatrick, Thigpen, Smith
RB (3): Jackson, Spiller, White
FB (1): McIntyre
WR (6): Johnson, Jones, Parrish, Nelson, Roosevelt, Easley
TE (2): Chandler, Martin
OT (4): Bell, Pears, Wang, Hairston
OG (3): Levitre, Urbik, Rinehart
C (2): Wood, Hangartner
DE (5): Dareus, Edwards, Johnson, Carrington, Heard
NT (2): Williams, Troup
OLB (4): Merriman, Kelsay, Coleman, Batten
ILB (6): Barnett, Davis, Torbor, Sheppard, Moats, White
CB (5): Florence, McGee, McKelvin, Williams, Corner
S (4): Byrd, Wilson, Scott, Searcy
SP (3): Lindell, Moorman, Sanborn