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Roster Analysis: Bills go heavy at LB and S

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When one looks over Buffalo's 53-man roster it's readily apparent that the positions heavy in number were at linebacker and safety. The main reason those positions had more than most others on the Bills regular season squad was due in large part to special teams. Here's a position by position breakdown of how the roster currently shapes up for Week 1.

QB (3) - Tyrod Taylor, EJ Manuel, Cardale JonesIt was a foregone conclusion that Buffalo was going to keep three quarterbacks after they took Cardale Jones in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft. Manuel serves as Taylor's backup while Jones works on his personal game.

RB (5) - LeSean McCoy, Reggie Bush, Mike Gillislee, Jonathan Williams, Glenn GronkowskiMcCoy is the feature back, Bush will play a specialty role and Gillislee and Williams to figure into the rotations. Gronkowski serves as the fullback.

WR (5) - Robert Woods, Greg Salas, Sammy Watkins, Walt Powell, Marquise GoodwinBuffalo went with fewer wideouts than they have in the past. Salas is expected to be the primary slot receiver. Goodwin and Powell had strong camps. Unfortunately none of the size receivers fared well enough to make the roster leaving Salas at 6-2 as their tallest receiver.

TE (3) - Charles Clay, Jim Dray, Nick O'LearyThis too was pretty cut and dry after Chris Gragg went down with a season-ending ACL knee injury. O'Leary finished strong in the final preseason game to beat out Blake Annen.

OL (9) - Cordy Glenn, Richie Incognito, Eric Wood, John Miller, Jordan Mills, Seantrel Henderson, Cyrus Kouandjio, Ryan Groy, Patrick LewisWith Henderson's availability somewhat compromised by his medical condition, Kouandjio is the likely swing tackle. Groy will serve as the backup guard with the newly acquired Lewis the backup in the pivot.

DL (5) - Kyle Williams, Corbin Bryant, Adolphus Washington, Jerel Worthy, Leger DouzableWith Marcell Dareus on the reserve/suspended list, there will be a lot of snaps for Worthy and Douzable who will be the rotational defensive linemen behind the starters.

LB (9) - Jerry Hughes, Preston Brown, Zach Brown, Lorenzo Alexander, Brandon Spikes, Jamari Lattimore, Bryson Albright, Ramon Humber, Lerentee McCrayThe defensive staff chose to load up on numbers here electing to keep players for specialty roles on defense like Spikes and on special teams like Humber and Albright.

CB (5) - Stephon Gilmore, Ronald Darby, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Corey White, Kevon SeymourThe cornerback contingent is a bit thin going into Week 1 knowing Seymour is still recovering from a hamstring injury.

S (6) - Corey Graham, Aaron Williams, Robert Blanton, Duke Williams, Colt Anderson, Jonathan MeeksBuffalo went heavy at this position due to the special teams abilities of Anderson, Meeks and Duke Williams. All proved capable on defense in camp and the preseason as well.

K/ST (3) - Dan Carpenter, Colton Schmidt, Garrison SanbornThe first cuts of Jordan Gay and rookie long snapper Reid Ferguson made this a cut and dry trio.

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