Shane

Buechele

DiNucci spent last season on the Broncos practice squad and hasn’t played a regular-season snap since 2020. The veteran backup joins a Bills team that lost Shane Buechele to a neck injury in their first preseason game and will likely see some snaps in the team’s upcoming preseason game against the Steelers.

Prince ran and jumped his way into the hearts of fantasy managers earlier this offseason, only to fade away in camp/the preseason. The former Tulsa running back faced an uphill battle to crack a running back room that features Isiah Pacheco, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Jerick McKinnon and is now on the outside looking in. There’s a chance Prince clears waivers and ends up back on the Chiefs’ practice squad in the coming days. In addition to Prince, the Chiefs also released/waived DE Joshua Kaindoh, DT Phil Hoskins, S Deon Bush, DT Danny Shelton, CB Reese Taylor, CB Ekow Boye-Doe, LB Cole Christiansen, S Anthony Cook, QB Shane Buechele, QB Chris Oladokun, OL Sebastian Gutierrez, DT Daniel Wise, CB Kahlef Hailassie, RB La’Michal Perine, C Austin Reiter, and TE Kendall Blanton.

Chiefs gave Buechele (6'0/210) a $15,000 signing bonus and $160,000 guaranteed in base salary as multiple teams scrapped for his services the moment the draft ended. He was initially run out of Texas by Colts QB Sam Ehlinger but proved to be plenty capable as a passer at SMU, tossing a whopping 57 touchdown passes over those two seasons. Though his arm strength is uninspiring, Buechele has a knack for moving in and out of the pocket, as well as finding some interesting throws from uncomfortable platforms. Somewhere along the Austin Davis to Case Keenum spectrum is a fair expectation for him in the league as he learns behind Patrick Mahomes.

For most analysts, the No.10 spot is wide open. Kyle Trask, Davis Mills, Kellen Mond, and Jamie Newman, in some order, are widely accepted as the 6th to 9th best QBs in this class, but the 10th spot is really an “eye of the beholder” deal. For the crew at PFF, Buechele slots into the No.10 spot. Buechele (6'1/207) is a former Texas transfer who helped SMU put together some of their best seasons of the modern era, throwing a whopping 57 touchdowns over the past two years. Buechele should be aiming for a Case Keenum-style career in the NFL, which isn’t bad value for a team if they can get him as the 10th QB off the board.

Buechele (6'1/207) did eventually hit the 300-yard mark, but like a lot of his teammates he got off to a slow start Saturday afternoon. SMU scored on just one of its seven first-half possessions, going into the locker room trailing by a shocking 45-7 margin as a result. Buechele, who also scored on a 1-yard touchdowns run, was better in the second half but threw two costly interceptions as the Mustangs could get no closer than 14 points. He’ll look to rebound next week when SMU hosts Houston in its regular season finale.

Buechele has been outstanding for most of his time with the Mustangs. This was not an outstanding effort by any means. While he did fire a touchdown pass to Kylen Granson, the 6-foot-1, 207-pound signal-caller struggled for most of the rest of the evening, and he threw an interception near the end of the game to seal the victory for the Golden Hurricanes. It’s a disappointing loss for SMU, as they fall to 7-2 in a close race for the American Athletic Conference. Expect Buechele to be better next Saturday against Houston.

The Mustangs have shown that 2019 was no fluke, and have moved to 7-1 on the season. Buechele (6'1/207) is largely responsible for the strong play, and has another big night against an overmatched Temple defense. He found Tyler Page for two of his scores, with star tight end Kylen Granson along with Rashee Rice picking up touchdowns as well. The former Texas Longhorn quarterback has now thrown 20 touchdowns against three interceptions, and NFL scouts are likely taking a close look at this production. SMU can move to 8-1 next Saturday if they beat Tulsa -- assuming the game is able to be played.

Buechele (6'1/207) found Rashee Rice for two of his scores from five and 20-yards away, respectively, and he sandwiched in a 42-yard connection with Austin Upshaw. It was a much better effort than the one he had against Cincinnati (23-44, 216, 1/1), which isn’t a huge surprise, since it was a considerably worse opponent -- with all due respect to Navy. Buechele and the Mustangs improve to 6-1, and stay alive in their hope of winning the AAC. They take on Temple next Saturday.

Buechele did not bring his A-game against the Bearcats. Though Buechele is usually a highly-explosive passer, the Cincinnati defense kept him in check for the most of the night and never let him get off the string of deep passes he and the Sonny Dykes offense are accustomed to. Buechele has been otherwise excellent this year, though, so Saturday’s game against Cincinnati was likely a misstep rather than an omen for what is to come. Expect Buechele and SMU to get back in the groove against Navy next weekend.

Buechele (6'1/207) played turnover-free football while getting the ball in the hands of his playmaking wide receivers Danny Gray and Rashee Rice. Give credit to Tulane who put a scare into the 17th ranked Mustangs, sending the game into overtime before a Michael Pratt interception ended the Green Wave’s upset attempt. For his part, it was more of the same from the seasoned veteran Buechele who eclipsed the 300-yard mark for the fourth time this season. SMU hosts ACC challenger Cincinnati next Saturday.