The Buffalo Bills have decided to keep linebacker Joe Andreessen on the roster after the undrafted rookie starred this preseason.
According to Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic, Andreessen has made it onto the team's initial roster.
Buffalo native and rookie undrafted LB Joe Andreessen has made the Bills' initial 53-man roster, according to a source.
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) August 27, 2024
The Bills, like all other NFL teams, had until 4 pm ET on Tuesday to trim their roster from 90 down to 53.
How can Joe Andreessen improve for the Buffalo Bills in 2024?
Andreessen had a phenomenal summer. He was voted to the NFL All-Preseason team this week, thanks to outstanding performance in the team's three preseason games. All told he tallied 24 tackles, including a stellar 12-tackle game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bills signed Andreessen to their roster after he worked out for the team during a tryout this past spring. He did enough to impress the coaches then, and all he's done since then is continue to ascend.
There is one area of Andreessen's game that must improve, however, if he's going to take the step from being a Buffalo sensation to becoming a household name. An adept and skilled attacker in the run game, Andreessen is still finding his way in coverage.
Joe Andreessen had a very strong preseason but this miscommunication led to a gimme TD for the Panthers pic.twitter.com/5jzP7HCNAS
— Jesse Reed (@JesseReed78) August 27, 2024
There were instances in which Andreessen appeared to be uncertain in his coverage responsibilities. Here is an example in which he was late to turn upfield to cover the seam.
Would you probably want Justin Fields to put this ball on the back shoulder of the seam route? Probably, especially with Andreessen being a little slow to get back. But idk man it worked so good for you I guess? pic.twitter.com/vEJ00o9nrt
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) August 18, 2024
It says plenty that a guy who is basically the NFL version of a walk-on has made the initial Bills 53-man roster. He's outstanding at diagnosing runs and screens, and once he makes the decision to move he is moving fast, downhill.
If Andreessen can clean up his coverage game, he has a chance to go far in the NFL.
