Brad Butler and Eric Wood

[DFITZ1]

OK Its no secret that this O-line has issues BUT if the Bills can get back Eric Wood and Brad Butler from injury does that solve some of the issues that this team has as far as the line goes? I know a lot of people were sold on Wood being a long term answer up until the injury but what about Brad Butler he looked good in the first few games until he got hurt.

 

Now the biggest concern with Butler is his health he always seems to get hurt for a few games a year. Are people sold on the idea of Butler coming back and being the starting RT from the get go? I wouldn't mind having Butler come back as the starter at RT because we have a guy like Jermon Meridith who can come in if Butler gets hurt.

 

Now if Wood and Butler come back are we just a LT short of having at least a decent offensive line? I think if we get a high enough pick to get a top tier LT then our O-line is pretty set especially considering if we bring back Cog and McKinney we would have solid backups at both guards and Bell and Meridith as good backups at both tackle spots.

 

Am I just dreaming that the Bills assuming Butler and Wood can come back the O-line would only be 1 piece a LT away from having a decent O-line. I mean Levitre and the Hang man will have both had a full 16 games of experience plus Wood getting 10 more games of experience as well as getting a top rookie LT and Butler back at RT is enough to improve the O-line.

 

The lack of tackles and a TE are what's hurting the line most. If Wood and Butler return 100% (that's always an if), the interior line should be OK. Perhaps an upgrade at center is in order, but not the first priority. An LT is the first priority. As one poster said, Bell might do OK at RT. At the start of the year, run blocking was decent, especially with Jackson the runner. I'd love to see Lynch traded for a decent limeman or a high draft pick to get one. Not throwing a no-huddle on the o-line will also help development.

[Thurman#1]

Now if Wood and Butler come back are we just a LT short of having at least a decent offensive line? I think if we get a high enough pick to get a top tier LT then our O-line is pretty set especially considering if we bring back Cog and McKinney we would have solid backups at both guards and Bell and Meridith as good backups at both tackle spots.

 

 

It's a legit question, but IMHO the answer is no.

 

If you look at Levitre, Hangartner and Wood's numbers on profootballfocus.com you find that only Wood was good enough to be ranked as somewhat below average. The other two are in the lowest 20% of the rankings at their position.

 

IMHO a lot of the reason for that is that Levitre and Wood were both changing position from college, and also that they didn't come into a stable situation. They didn't have crusty vets on each side to help them out. They didn't even work with the same guy for very long on the outside.

 

Especially if Wood gets switched back to center as many on these boards have called for, that would destroy what little continuity that they managed to put together.

 

So, no, because an awful lot of what they were supposed to get out of this year was continuity, which never happened, and would be even further destroyed if Wood is moved. They clearly need an LT, but assuming Wood and Butler are healthy, we get a below-average line in training for being a solid line the next year if they can stay healthy.

[Thurman#1]

Self-importance?

 

The guy who posted immediately before you pointed out that he started all 16 games in 2007, then missed three games in 2008.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting 19 games, from. He was injured week 2, meaning he played in 1.5 games of the 16 games we've played so far this year, so he's missed 17.5 games in his career.

 

He only played in two games his rookie year, so YTD, he's had one injury prior to getting rolled up. So, that's 2 games his rookie year, 16 games the following, 13 of 16 last year, and 1.5 before going down for an injury this. Therefore, prior to his freak season ending injury, he played in 31 of the 34 games he was eligible for. That doesn't sound like "injury prone" to me. Let's not be so quick to slap on the label just because he was lost early in the season for the rest of the year.

 

As for my self-importance, so sorry I pointed out your glossing of the facts less than 5 minutes after someone attempted to table said facts glossing by actually providing some!

 

 

 

All Orangemen said was "He hasn't proven he can stay healthy or contribute in a starting role IMHO." And he's right, particularly when he's referring to RT. The indications are decent, but he certainly hasn't proven it.

[Thurman#1]

I've been wondering if you could move Levitre to RT.

 

 

IMHO, the last thing you want to do is move the guy to a different position at this point. If you do that with a guy with 3 or 4 years experience, it's one thing. But Levitre needs to stay right where he is and build on what he did this year.

[Thurman#1]

Butler needs to compete at RT with a mid-level FA or draft pick. Best case scenario in my view is keep Incognito at RG (assuming no labor deal and he is an RFA), Levitre at LG or LT, move Wood back to his ALL-AMERICAN position at C, make Handgarnter your dependable back-up in the interior (like he was at CAR), and draft a LT in round 1 or 2. If you like Levitre at LT (his college position) than you can keep Hangartner in the starting lineup with Wood. One of them would be C and the other LG.

 

My best 8 men:

Scenario 1:

LT: Levitre

LG: Handgartner

C: Wood

RG: Incognito

RT: Mid-level FA / draft pick or Butler (if he EARNS it, no hand-out)

 

 

 

So assuming that Butler doesn't earn it, you want to start, for the second year in a row with nobody playing a position they have played before for the Bills (leaving out Incognito's three games).

 

You want to have Levitre playing a new position, next to a guy who is also playing a new position. You want Hangartner at a new position, playing between two guys playing new positions. You want Wood in a new position between a guy playing a new position and a guy he has never played with (Incognito). You want Incognito playing RG (which I'm OK with) between two guys he's never played with. And you want either a totally new guy at RT or Butler playing with a guy he's never played with at a position he has two games experience at?

 

No thanks. I had enough of that this year. Limit movement as much as possible, I say.

[Thurman#1]

I think Butler is a back-up plain and simple. He is best suited for either LG or RT -- and I think he is slightly better option at guard than tackle. I think the Bills are in need of 2 tackles and Butler would be a good option to have as insurance in case a real starter went down. Butler struggled mightily throughout pre-season and he hasn't shown me anything to suggest he would have made a big difference to our Offensive Line problems this year.

 

I think our only 2 legit lineman are Wood and Levitre. Hangman needs to be a backup and Scott/Bell/Merideth are all long-term projects that likely won't pan out.

 

 

 

Butler was ranked in the top 15 out of more than 70 tackles this year in his two games. He was the only guy above the 50th percentile on the Bills line this year.

 

http://profootballfocus.com/by_player.php?...p;playerid=3088

 

Worth noticing.

[Rzon604]

So assuming that Butler doesn't earn it, you want to start, for the second year in a row with nobody playing a position they have played before for the Bills (leaving out Incognito's three games).

 

You want to have Levitre playing a new position, next to a guy who is also playing a new position. You want Hangartner at a new position, playing between two guys playing new positions. You want Wood in a new position between a guy playing a new position and a guy he has never played with (Incognito). You want Incognito playing RG (which I'm OK with) between two guys he's never played with. And you want either a totally new guy at RT or Butler playing with a guy he's never played with at a position he has two games experience at?

 

No thanks. I had enough of that this year. Limit movement as much as possible, I say.

 

Don't agree. You fall into the 'continuity' category. continuity blah blah blah. It's a bad move to move Wood back to his all-american position? it's a bad idea to move Levitre back to his natural position? Gimme a break. The o-line sucked how is putting guys back to where they should have been in the first place a bad idea? Could it be any worse? Remember, Jauron was retained due to 'continuity's' sake. Brandon is the de facto GM because Ralph wanted 'continuity.' Guards and Centers block whoever is lined up in front of them, continuity don't mean jack. According to your viewpoint, the Bills destroyed the 'continuity' of these guys from college to the pros when they moved their positions. And Hang played guard in Carolina, so they destroyed his mental 'continuity' when he was moved to Center for the Bills. We're starting from scratch here, and you don't NOT move guys to their BEST positions just because you had them in wrong position to begin with. The Bills staff got too cute and outsmarted themselves. Put the guys where they belong 'continuity' be damned.

[....lybob]

If things went a little right for the Bills I could imagine this

 

LT Bruce Campbell 1st rd, LG Levitre, C Woods, RG Incognito, RT Ciron Black 2nd rd as starters

 

Bell, Butler, Hangartner, Meridith as back-ups

 

probably to young to be good right away but enough talent to grow into one of the better Olines in a few years.

[Bill from NYC]

I've been wondering if you could move Levitre to RT.

 

He has short arns and is a bit small for RT. I really like him right where he is. Same with Wood if he can still play.