Continuing a month-long series analyzing players who are on the Buffalo Bills' roster bubble and where they potentially fit in 2015:
Name: Wayne Hunter
Position: Offensive tackle
Age: 34
2014 stats: Out of football
Chance of making 53-man roster: 50 percent
Why he should make it: Hunter is a favorite of coach Rex Ryan, who once had his leg tattooed to help woo Hunter back to the Jets as a free agent. That gives Hunter a leg up when final cuts come in late August. Even at 34, Hunter could still have something left in the tank to give the Bills one season as a swing tackle, a spot held by Chris Hairston last season. If Hunter can earn the trust of the coaching staff -- whomever is coaching the offensive line -- then he stands a chance to earn the top reserve spot at tackle, and even push Seantrel Henderson off the roster. If coaches want reliability from their backup offensive linemen, Hunter could be the more appealing choice over Henderson.
Why he shouldn't make it: Henderson had a rough spring and seems to have fallen from his standing with the prior coaching staff. Still, it's not the end of the world for him. A strong training camp could mean Henderson pushes Cyrus Kouandjio for the starting right tackle job, and in that case, I think Kouandjio could slide into the swing tackle role and push Hunter off the roster. Hunter has very little future in the NFL while Henderson and Kouandjio were both 2014 draft picks, which could be good enough reason to keep both of them over Hunter. If Hunter is pushed to fourth on the offensive tackle totem pole, then his making the roster could be dependent on how many interior offensive linemen the Bills keep. In that sense, Cyril Richardson and Chris Williams would be his top competition.
Closest competition: Henderson, Richardson, Williams
