Buffalo Bills 2011: 10 Biggest Surprises from Final Roster Cuts Announcement

The Buffalo Bills announced their 53-man roster today. As is the case every year when the final cuts are announced, there are some surprises that will shock the regular followers of the team. This year is no exception.

Although this is not the final roster, only because it is not out of the question that the Bills could use their advantageous waiver claim position to snag a player that they think could make them better, it is for all intents and purposes the current final roster.

We will go ahead and list the 10 players that we believe are the most surprised by today's transactions, the players that surprisingly made the final roster and those that were surprised by being released by the Bills. In addition, we will list the current 53-man roster, realizing that it is the current one only.

10. Kellen Heard (Retained)

Kellen Heard is a big man. The defensive lineman goes 6'6" and weighs 346 pounds. He is someone that caught my eye at Bills practice at St. John Fisher College, and continued on with solid play throughout the preseason games.

Heard does not have much NFL experience, but what he lacks in experience, he makes up for with size and strength. Heard made the Bills team over people like Michael Jasper, Geoff Hangartner and other veterans, so you know that the Bills place value on him.

For any goal-line situation, or short yardage situation, I would not be surprised to see the Bills bring in Heard, where he can use his strength and size to cave in the offensive line and penetrate into the backfield. He showed the ability to get to the quarterback, so it will be interesting to see how much further he can tap into his potential this year.

9. Justin Rogers (Retained)

Justin Rogers was the seventh-round draft pick cornerback that came out of Richmond, a small school. Rogers was unfortunately hurt for a good portion of preseason, so it was hard for people to get a true read and evaluation on just how good he was.

The Bills' scouts and coaches felt that they had uncovered a potential steal with Rogers when they drafted him. It wasn't until the final preseason game against the Detroit Lions where Rogers finally was healthy enough to display his skills. His returns were some of the best plays of the night, and his ability to excel on special teams is probably the deciding factor on why he made the team.

As Buddy Nix said after the draft, when in doubt, draft another cornerback. Well, this is one time when that axiom paid off.

8. Shawn Nelson (Cut)

Shawn Nelson has all the potential in the world. But that potential doesn't do anyone much good if you can't be healthy enough to actually suit up and play from one week to the next. Shawn Nelson was released by the Bills today, as the team just couldn't count on him to be there for them.

Whether it was the repeated migraine headaches, or the mysterious physical ailment that kept him out of the majority of the preseason, Nelson seemed to miss more action than he was able to participate in. Nelson made some nice catches during his time here, but they were too few and far between for him to stay on the roster.

7. Colin Brown (Retained)

Colin Brown was probably as much of a long shot to make the Bills roster as anyone that showed up to St. Johns Fisher College. Brown is a big lineman, 6'7" and 328 pounds, out of Missouri. He was part of the Bills practice squad in 2010, but has now graduated from the practice squad to the active roster.

What is rather surprising about Brown making the team is that you have not heard about him at all from the Bills coaches or from the Bills lead columnist, Chris Brown. He must have been the most surprised player in the locker room when the 53-man roster was announced.

Because of his inexperience, Brown may be one of the Bills that is not totally secure with the team, in that if there is a veteran that the Bills want to claim off of waivers, it could be Brown's roster spot that is deemed expendable. But, I think everyone understands that this is how life in the NFL is; you just never know what is going to happen from one week to the next.

6. Chris White (Retained)

Chris White was the sixth-round draft pick for the Bills out of Mississippi State. White is 6'3" and weighs 242 pounds. He's an inside linebacker, and was thought to be on the bubble due to the suddenly deep linebacker unit for the Bills.

Not only did White miss several preseason games due to injury, due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, he had a shorter practice time with which to work with the coaching staff. Because of that  missed time, it was thought that White was on the roster bubble, and was at the most was a potential practice squad member.

But White found out today that he made the 53-man roster. In fact, the Bills went with a total of 11 linebackers, so I am not sure how safe and secure White should be feeling just yet.

5. Naaman Roosevelt (Cut)

Wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt was one of the surprise cuts today. Roosevelt may regret this catch he made against the Denver Broncos, as he hurt his leg in the process and had to miss the rest of the preseason as a result.

The local University of Buffalo star was able to make his way onto the active roster in 2010, as he started out the year on the practice squad and got promoted from there. During his time with the Bills, Roosevelt demonstrated solid hands and was a good route runner.

Roosevelt is still eligible to return to the Bills practice squad, so it is not out of the question that his career with the Bills could still have some more life. What was surprising to me was that the Bills went with newcomer Ruvell Martin over Roosevelt. Roosevelt had already established strong chemistry with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, while Martin is new to the team.

4. Zack Pianalto (Retained)

Zack Pianalto is an undrafted rookie free-agent tight end that surprisingly made the team today. If you happened to attend any of the Buffalo Bills practices at training camp, Pianalto was the tall tight end (6'4" and 245 pounds) that caught all the passes that came his way.

Pianalto remained healthy through training camp, which in itself is much more than Shawn Nelson could claim. Pianalto is just one more North Carolina Tar Heel rookie that made the team. He joins Da'Norris Searcy and Johnny White.

It will be curious to see how the Bills use Pianalto compared to Scott Chandler. Chandler is the bigger target, but Pianalto may be more athletic and able to run better pass routes. Congratulations to Zack.

Note: Pianalto has since been waived

3. Ruvell Martin (Retained)

If you are not that familiar with Ruvell Martin, you are not alone. He has logged five prior years in the NFL, but he is now a member of the Buffalo Bills 53-man roster. Martin is the veteran wide receiver that the Bills signed when they had all of those injuries coming out of the Denver Broncos preseason game.

Martin is 6'4" and weighs 212 pounds. If you watched the replay of the Detroit Lions game, Martin is the gunner that went down on kick coverage, was blocked in the back (the referee missed that call by the way), and then hustled back to be part of the play, which allowed him to recover the subsequent fumble. It very well may have been that play that convinced the Bills to keep him.

Martin made the team, while Naaman Roosevelt did not. So, if you look at this from a big picture perspective, the Bills probably felt that Martin was more of a help on special teams than Roosevelt. It is not yet known how much of an impact he will make on offense, with so many other receivers in front of him.

2. Geoff Hangartner (Cut)

Geoff Hangartner was one of the Bills team leaders in 2010, but after being released today, that leadership is no longer part of the team. As an example of his leadership, he was the Bills team captain on offense after the team released Trent Edwards.

You may recall the overtime loss in Kansas City, when Hangartner objected to a call and slammed his helmet to the ground, which resulted in a penalty. Hangartner played with passion, and he will be missed.

Hangartner was one of the potential roster bubble guys when the Bills determined that Eric Wood was probably better at center than guard. That fact, combined with Hangartner earning a base salary in the $3 million range, proved to be a lethal combination. 

1. Robert Eddins (Retained)

Robert Eddins is the final player we highlight among the roster surprises.

Besides Zack Pianalto, Eddins is the second Bills undrafted rookie free agent that was able to make the Bills final roster. Despite all of the new depth that the Bills were able to acquire at the linebacker position, Eddins was still able to make enough of an impression in practice and in games to convince the Bills to keep him.

Eddins played his college ball at Ball State and is 6'3" and weighs 248 pounds. He used his size and power to make a number of tackles in the preseason and will be probably initially contribute on special teams.

We will now add two bonus slides, which are the final 53-man roster along with the final list of players that were released today.

List of Bills That Were Released Today

Waived/Injured (4): Jon Corto, Ed Wang, Felton Huggins and Jammie Kirlew. 

Released (22): Danny Aiken, Kamar Aiken, Levi Brown, Mike Caussin, Jehuu Caulcrick, Antonio Coleman, Reggie Corner, Craig Davis, Lionel Dotson, Sidney Glover, Geoff Hangartner, Brandon Hicks, Cordaro Howard, Michael Jasper, T.J. Langley, Doyle Miller, Shawn Nelson, Josh Nesbitt, Naaman Roosevelt, Mike Switzer, Jason Watkins and Mansfield Wrotto. 

Placed on Injured Reserve: (1) Bruce Hall

Out of the released group, the following players are eligible for the practice squad: D. Aiken, K. Aiken, L. Brown, M. Caussin, J. Caulcrick, A. Coleman, L. Dotson, S. Glover, B. Hicks, M. Jasper, J. Kirlew, T.J. Langley, D. Miller, J. Nesbitt, N. Roosevelt, M. Switzer, E. Wang and J. Watkins.

It was a rough day for University of Buffalo players Josh Thomas and Drew Willy as they were both waived.

Ex-Bills players that were released around the league: Trent Edwards, Alvin Bowen, Kirk Chambers, Michael Matthews, Sammy Morris, Marlon Favorite, Xavier Omon, John McCargo, Derek Schouman, Matt Ware, Coy Wire, James Hardy, Mike Balogun, Jamon Meredith, Ellis Lankster, Chad Jackson, Anthony Hargrove, Mario Harvey and Dominique Harris.

Final note: New York Jets kept Aaron Maybin on their 53 man roster.

EDIT: The following day, on Sept. 4th, the Jets wound up releasing Maybin.

Final 53-Man Roster

Buffalo Bills 53 man active roster  (as of Sept. 3, 2011)

QB (3) Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tyler Thigpen and Brad Smith.

RB (4) Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller, Johnny White and Corey McIntyre

WR (6) Steve Johnson, Roscoe Parrish, David Nelson, Donald Jones, Marcus Easley and Ruvell Martin.

TE (3) Scott Chandler, David Martin and Zack Pianalto

O-Line (8): Eric Wood, Andy Levitre, Colin Brown, Chris Hairston, Chad Rinehart, Demetrius Bell, Erik Pears and Andy Levitre

D-Line (6): Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, Dwan Edwards, Torell Troup, Spencer Johnson and Kellen Heard.

Linebackers (11): Nick Barnett, Shawne Merriman, Arthur Moats, Andra Davis, Kelvin Sheppard, Danny Batten, Kirk Morrison, Robert Eddins, Chris Kelsay, Chris White and Alex Carrington.

Secondary (9): Aaron Williams, Terrence McGee, Da'Norris Searcy, Drayton Florence, Jairus Byrd, George Wilson, Justin Rogers and Bryan Scott. 

Special Teams (3): Brian Moorman, Rian Lindell and Garrison Sanborn.

EDIT - On Sept. 4th, the Bills claimed tight end Lee Smith off of waivers from New England, and released tight end Zack Pianalto.

Italics signifies rookie