I’m being a couch GM, but why do the Bills lately seem to make some really boneheaded decisions regarding their depth in-season? Last year they refused to sign Isiah Hodgins to the roster after crowder went down for the season. WR depth was a legit issue and Hodgins had shown enough to seemingly make himself worthy of a roster spot when injuries struck. The Bills were honestly lucky to get him back on the PS after the preseason that year. There were obvious candidates for the PS that were far less likely to be claimed that the Bills could’ve risked to sign Hodgins. And then of course Hodgins was claimed by the NYG and lit things up. Obviously he’s not doing a whole lot now, but the Bills could’ve used the spark he provided to the Giants last year.
This year it’s Eli Ankou. It was unfortunate timing when the Falcons snagged him since it was a week before Daquan went down, but now they have AJ Klein wasting a roster spot when he’s pretty much unrosterable by the rest of the league and Ankou is sitting, vulnerable, on the PS after they resigned him when they don’t have a true healthy Nose Tackle on the roster. Poona played well last game but has otherwise been underwhelming.
I’m nitpicking, but last year we really could’ve used help at WR down the stretch while Hodgins was going off. We already saw the lack of depth at DT kill us against the Pats. Is this going to be the same shit, different position this year?
I think you’re nitpicking with Hodgins and Ankou, but I do take issue with the personnel decisions in one specific area: special teams. With the NFL trying harder every year to essentially remove kickoffs from the game, it seems like McBeane are overvaluing players with special teams skills to fill the depth spots on our roster.
Tyler Matakevich is awesome, but I would rather have one of the linebacker spots being taken by someone who is better than Dodson or AJ Klein at actually playing linebacker. There are examples like this at multiple other positions, and I think it’s exacerbating the affects of injuries on both sides of the ball.
And the worst part is that it’s not like our special teams units are elite. We shouldn’t neglect special teams to the point where we become the 2010 Chargers, but it just seems foolish to invest so much roster capital in the phase of the game that is least often on the field.
Yeah I don’t disagree there. Siran Neal is the ideal ST ace IMO. Elite, consistently makes plays, and has at least a minor role (Kelce’s shadow once a year) on defense and is decent depth.