Joe Andreessen
| No. 44 – Buffalo Bills | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | February 7, 2000 Depew, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 232 lb (105 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Lancaster (Lancaster, New York) | ||||||||||||
| College: | |||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2024 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Joseph Andreessen (born February 7, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Bryant Bulldogs before playing his final year for the Buffalo Bulls.
Early life and college career
[edit]A native of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, Andreessen played little league football before playing for Lancaster High School,[1] where he was noted for his work ethic and won numerous accolades, including Defensive Player of the Year in Western New York. He enrolled at Bryant University, the only school to offer him a football scholarship, before transferring to his hometown University at Buffalo as a graduate transfer.[2] In his final year at Bryant, Andreessen was named an All-American after setting a school record with 112 tackles, ranking 8th in the FCS in 2022, and finishing third in career tackles in Bryant Bulldogs history. He then started 12 games for Buffalo the following year, leading the Bulls in tackles.[3][4]
Professional career
[edit]| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0+1⁄2 in (1.84 m) |
240 lb (109 kg) |
30+1⁄2 in (0.77 m) |
9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) |
4.65 s | 1.59 s | 2.69 s | 4.22 s | 7.21 s | 38 in (0.97 m) |
10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) |
32 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[5] | ||||||||||||
After going undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft, Andreessen was signed by his hometown Buffalo Bills on May 11, 2024, after a successful rookie minicamp tryout.[4] Andressen started the second game of the preseason after Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard were sidelined due to injury and precaution, respectively. Playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers' starters and second-stringers, he had a strong performance, finishing with a team-high 12 tackles, including two tackles for loss, one of which was a fourth-down sack of Justin Fields.[6] Quarterback Josh Allen nicknamed Andreessen "Buffalo Joe" following the performance, also paying homage to the latter's upbringing in Buffalo.[7] Andreessen was named to the NFL's "All Preseason team" for his play in the preseason,[8] later making the Bills' initial 53-man roster alongside fellow UB alumnus Ja'Marcus Ingram.[9][10]
Andreessen's number 44 has historically only rarely been issued to players, being reserved (but not retired) in honor of Elbert Dubenion, a key contributor during the Bills' American Football League era; the number has historically been only used in the preseason and granted to players not expected to make a regular season roster.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Tibbetts, Dom (May 27, 2024). "'Once a Legend, always a Legend': From Lancaster to the Buffalo Bills, Joe Andreessen living out his dream". WKBW 7 News Buffalo. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Bronstein, Jonah (December 15, 2022). "Lancaster alum Joe Andreessen bringing All-America experience to UB football". WIVB.com. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "Joe Andreessen - 2023 - Football". University at Buffalo. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ a b "Bills sign undrafted Buffalo native after successful rookie minicamp tryout". Buffalo Bills On SI. May 11, 2024. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "2024 NFL Draft Scout Joe Andreessen College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Sabato, Nick (August 17, 2024). "Preseason Takeaways: Joe Andreessen enters the chat as Bills linebacker depth is tested". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Carter, Megan (August 18, 2024). ""Buffalo Joe" Captivates Western New York". 106.5 WYRK. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Wojton, Nick (August 27, 2024). "Bills' Joe Andreessen named to 2024 NFL 'All-Preseason team'". Bills Wire. USA Today. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Lancaster native 'Buffalo Joe' Andreessen makes Bills initial 53-man roster". WKBW 7 News Buffalo. August 27, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Bills' Joe Andreessen makes initial 53-man roster". MSN.com. Syracuse.com. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ Brown, Chris (June 17, 2011). "The untouchable numbers". BuffaloBills.com. NFL Enterprises. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.