90 players in 90 days: offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch

With some injuries along the offensive line, the Buffalo Bills looked for help towards the end of July and into the first week of August. Any team likes to have three distinct units to run with during training camp, and thanks to some minor aches and pains, Buffalo was just short of that threshold along the offensive line.

As a result, the team signed some reinforcements. In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss one of those players, a massive man with some starting experience.

Name: Caleb Benenoch

Number: 59

Position: OL

Height/Weight: 6’5” 305 lbs.

Age: 27 (28 on 8/2/2022)

Experience/Draft: 5; selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round (No. 148 overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft

College: UCLA

Acquired: Signed by Bills on 8/4/2021

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Benenoch’s contract details have yet to be released, but we can assume that it’s a one-year deal at the league minimum. Using teammate Eli Ankou as a comparison point, that would mean that Benenoch signed a one-year contract worth a total of $850,000 with no guaranteed money.

2020 Recap: Benenoch spent the 2020 season as a member of the practice squad with the New England Patriots. This came after a 2019 season which saw him move between four rosters (after starting the year with the Patriots, he also spent time with the Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, and Detroit Lions in 2019). Benenoch was elevated to the active roster for New England’s Week Six matchup with the Denver Broncos, but he did not play in the game. In November, New England placed Benenoch on the practice squad reserve/injured list. He was not offered a reserve/futures contract with the team in January.

Positional outlook: Benenoch has 22 starts at the NFL level, all at right guard. With that in mind, he’s most likely competing against the team’s interior offensive linemen. However, he started 31 games at right tackle in college, so he has some versatility. Buffalo’s non-centers along the offensive line include Dion Dawkins, Jon Feliciano, Ike Boettger, Cody Ford, Daryl Williams, Forrest Lamp, Jamil Douglas, Marquel Harrell, Jordan Devey, Steven Gonzalez, Syrus Tuitele, Ryan Bates, Tommy Doyle, Spencer Brown, and Bobby Hart.

2021 Offseason: Benenoch has practiced since signing with the club.

2021 Season outlook: Barring something very strange, Benenoch isn’t long for the Bills’ roster, as the team has plenty of line depth moving forward. When Dawkins is activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list and Jerry Hughes comes back from his NFI designation, the Bills will need to release people, and it will most likely be some of the players they signed most recently.