Our OL situation is not as dire as many of you make it out to be

[metzelaars_lives]

One way or another, we need a LT, but other than that, I see two possible scenarios playing out-

 

LT

LG- Levitre

C- Wood

RG- Incognito

RT- Meredith/Bell

 

or what I would do...

 

LT

LG- Incognito

C- Hangartner

RG- Wood

RT- Levitre

 

Either way, assuming they re-sign Incognito and Wood is ready to go, they only need one tackle and they actually have pretty decent depth.

 

I just saw a post where a guy is talking about drafting a tackle in each of the first two rounds!?! I really believe our OL is not as far away as say, our QB situation or even our WR's at this point.

[tennesseeboy]

Where is the depth? Wood is a question mark, Incognito could explode at any moment and Bell is a revolving door. If we had pretty good depth Bell would not be a starter.

[metzelaars_lives]

Where is the depth? Wood is a question mark, Incognito could explode at any moment and Bell is a revolving door. If we had pretty good depth Bell would not be a starter.

 

I agree that Wood is a question mark, but even if he doesn't come back, you got Levitre, Hangartner, Incognito and Bell/Meredith. Not abysmal as long as, again, you get a stud LT. As far as Bell, I think his penalties overshadowed his play last year. When a guy is flagged multiple times a game and then they pan in on him looking like an idiot, it's easy to say he sucks. But that has nothing to do with how well he actually played. I'll tell you this much- the Bills certainly haven't given up on him yet and he'll be on the roster this season.

[Lofton80]

Wood is a huge question mark for 2010. Incognito is a good player from what I saw. Both tackle positions are indeed dire.

[Doc]

Depth depends entirely on Wood's recovery. If he comes back 100%, and there's no reason/indication to think he won't, they have an excellent interior and depth. If he doesn't, things get dicey and they'll probably need to look for a veteran OG. At the tackle spots, I expect Meredith to win the RT spot, and be a decent one. Bell may give him a run for him money, but that's less likely. I was a big Bell proponent last year, but now think that anything they get out of him will be gravy.

[Dr. Trooth]

You are seriously dillusional if you believe there are any tackles on this roster that are competent NFL starters.

 

Merideth? Bell? These guys are simply training camp fodder. Just because they've had NFL starting experience means nothing. They only started becuase there was no one else. Levitre would not hold up on the outside for more than a couple of games. You can count 300 lb. starting tackles in the NFL on one hand... and they ain't good. Wood will be "PUP'd", so don't look for him until game 8 or 9.

[sllib olaffub]

I think a key to our future success on the o-line will be getting enough quality guys that they can play one position and learn that, and build chemistry on the line at that position. I'm weary of saying we can put wood at LG on a good day, and then ask him to switch as soon as another guy gets hurt, for example. We're going to see injuries, but that shouldn't mean shuffling the line everytime a guy gets injured. It seems better if we have legitimate back-ups in place, that practice in position, so that if a guy goes down we can plug another in and not skip a beat, so to speak.

As I understand our depth, that would mean given a new LT and RT, we'd have Bell and Meridith as backups, respectively, and then Levitre, Hangartner, and Wood with Incognito as backup to the Guards... so we bring in another C/G backup.

That's adding three O-linemen this spring...

I preferred Incognito to Hangartner last year, so I might try LT, Levitre, Wood, Incognito, RT.

Maybe this new staff can get Bell to play solid enough for RT - he didn't look too bad last year.

[BillsGuyInMalta]

You are seriously dillusional if you believe there are any tackles on this roster that are competent NFL starters.

 

Merideth? Bell? These guys are simply training camp fodder. Just because they've had NFL starting experience means nothing. They only started becuase there was no one else. Levitre would not hold up on the outside for more than a couple of games. You can count 300 lb. starting tackles in the NFL on one hand... and they ain't good. Wood will be "PUP'd", so don't look for him until game 8 or 9.

Completely disagree about Meredith. He was actually thought pretty highly of coming out of college and his slip in the Draft was somewhat of a surprise. I remember that Mel Kiper had him as his #1 overall prospect on the 2nd day of the Draft. I think he'll actually pan out for us and become a decent RT (or at least provide valuable depth).

[John Adams]

I agree that Wood is a question mark, but even if he doesn't come back, you got Levitre, Hangartner, Incognito and Bell/Meredith. Not abysmal as long as, again, you get a stud LT. As far as Bell, I think his penalties overshadowed his play last year. When a guy is flagged multiple times a game and then they pan in on him looking like an idiot, it's easy to say he sucks. But that has nothing to do with how well he actually played. I'll tell you this much- the Bills certainly haven't given up on him yet and he'll be on the roster this season.

 

So...am I supposed to ignore the actual evidence then?

 

The best thing about Bell, by far, was see him out on screen plays. He is an athletic guy and was able to get out in front on that play and use his athleticism to deliver a good "head of steam" moving block. The problem is that you get no head of steam in pass protection or normal run blocking unless it's some sort wide pull.

 

Bell is--at best--a project. He's more likely a guy who will go quietly from the NFL. The only place I want to see Bell is as a 3rd string lineman.

[Kultarr]

The OL is a mess. No matter what names the Bills end up with on their list, they simply will not have NFL game reps working together as a unit.

[Thurman#1]

Our OL situation is not as dire as many of you make it out to be

 

 

 

Yes, it is. Go ahead and keep sipping on that Kool-Aid if you want, because it can last a long time and feel really good, but we are in dire straits.

 

 

The people like yourself who swear it's all fine and dandy all propose the same two solutions:

 

1) Just use one or two of the guys who we had last year who did a crappy job. Surely one or two of those guys with a crappy history will shock the world and be a success. (For example, surely Bell or Meredith or Chambers will work out at RT.) Not likely.

 

or ...

 

2) When a guy has been OK at one position on the OL, obviously that means he'll be a success when you plug him in anywhere else. (For example, Levitre to LT, Levitre to RT, Incognito to RT, etc.) Different positions require different skill sets, and switches fail miserably just as often or even more often than not.

 

The real world isn't Madden. Usually when a guy sucks for a long time, he continues sucking, though there are exceptions. And usually taking one of those guys who suck at another position and moving him to another (Bell to RT, for instance when he wasn't even strong enough to play LT) doesn't work out. And generally moving a competent guy, particularly a guy who has just finished his rookie season and needs continuity more than anything, to a position he has zero pro experience at is a recipe for failure.

 

Bottom line: We need two tackles in the draft or FA. But Nix knows this, so I'm not worried.

[Cynical]

I think a key to our future success on the o-line will be getting enough quality guys that they can play one position and learn that, and build chemistry on the line at that position. I'm weary of saying we can put wood at LG on a good day, and then ask him to switch as soon as another guy gets hurt, for example. We're going to see injuries, but that shouldn't mean shuffling the line everytime a guy gets injured. It seems better if we have legitimate back-ups in place, that practice in position, so that if a guy goes down we can plug another in and not skip a beat, so to speak.

As I understand our depth, that would mean given a new LT and RT, we'd have Bell and Meridith as backups, respectively, and then Levitre, Hangartner, and Wood with Incognito as backup to the Guards... so we bring in another C/G backup.

That's adding three O-linemen this spring...

I preferred Incognito to Hangartner last year, so I might try LT, Levitre, Wood, Incognito, RT.

Maybe this new staff can get Bell to play solid enough for RT - he didn't look too bad last year.

 

He didn't look too bad?

The guy was terrible. On running plays, did he even get a push? On passing plays, speed rushers blew past him, and power rushers shoved him back with ease. The guy made back up D-Linemen look like competent starters.

 

There is a good reason why he was considered a project player.

[SawchukBills]

We need to sign Incognito first...here's hoping that happens before the March 4th deadline...

[Thurman#1]

I agree that Wood is a question mark, but even if he doesn't come back, you got Levitre, Hangartner, Incognito and Bell/Meredith. Not abysmal as long as, again, you get a stud LT. As far as Bell, I think his penalties overshadowed his play last year. When a guy is flagged multiple times a game and then they pan in on him looking like an idiot, it's easy to say he sucks. But that has nothing to do with how well he actually played. I'll tell you this much- the Bills certainly haven't given up on him yet and he'll be on the roster this season.

 

 

For most of the season last year, Bell was the 77th ranked tackle out of 77 tackles who played LT or RT in the NFL last year. Dead last. He improve a bit, or rather his ranking did, because after he was injured, he stopped racking up negative points each game and three tackles continued and drifted down past him. But he is seriously the opposite of good.

 

http://profootballfocus.com/by_position.ph...&numgames=1

 

Doesn't mean he might not be something in a couple of years or so if you see him as a project. But don't expect him to become competent so quickly as to be a candidate to start this year. If Bell starts, the QB better triple his life insurance and insure his knees with Lloyd's of London. Seriously.

[metzelaars_lives]

You are seriously dillusional if you believe there are any tackles on this roster that are competent NFL starters.

 

Merideth? Bell? These guys are simply training camp fodder. Just because they've had NFL starting experience means nothing. They only started becuase there was no one else. Levitre would not hold up on the outside for more than a couple of games. You can count 300 lb. starting tackles in the NFL on one hand... and they ain't good. Wood will be "PUP'd", so don't look for him until game 8 or 9.

 

You are seriously delusional (spelling, buddy) if you think that Johnson and Hardy are going to be your # 2 and 3 WR's. My point is that a) relatively speaking, after getting a great tackle, our OL will be in pretty good shape and b) with four other good starters on the OL and a little bit of depth, I'm OK with rolling the dice w/ either Bell or Meredith at RT. We're not going to have the 80's Redskins offensive line this year, but it won't be all that bad.

[PDaDdy]

ROFLOL. Are you serious!?!??!?!!??

 

Let me take a wild wild guess here....you want a QB with the #9 over all pick?

 

 

Our line is in TERRIBLE TERRIBLE shape. At the bare minimum we need at least 2 starters and that is if Woods is healthy and doesn't switch to his true position center. That says absolutely nothing about our glaring lack of depth.

 

Nice try

[Thurman#1]

Completely disagree about Meredith. He was actually thought pretty highly of coming out of college and his slip in the Draft was somewhat of a surprise. I remember that Mel Kiper had him as his #1 overall prospect on the 2nd day of the Draft. I think he'll actually pan out for us and become a decent RT (or at least provide valuable depth).

 

 

Given another year or two you may be right, but watching his play last year was not a happy experience. He was not a particularly powerful run blocker, and you need that at RT. On the up-side, he was better than Bell. On the down-side he wasn't good. He lis a project.

 

There was a reason Green Bay had him on the practice squad.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

Where is the depth? Wood is a question mark, Incognito could explode at any moment and Bell is a revolving door. If we had pretty good depth Bell would not be a starter.

 

I agree with this poster and also Hangartner is a major liability at Center if Wood can't come back. He just can't handle the 3-4 nose tackles in our division. Our situation is probably worse than most of us make it out to be.

[metzelaars_lives]

ROFLOL. Are you serious!?!??!?!!??

 

Let me take a wild wild guess here....you want a QB with the #9 over all pick?

 

 

Our line is in TERRIBLE TERRIBLE shape. At the bare minimum we need at least 2 starters and that is if Woods is healthy and doesn't switch to his true position center. That says absolutely nothing about our glaring lack of depth.

 

Nice try

 

Are you serious w/ your acronyms? ROFLOL? Are you a middle school girl texting your friend in class? Assuming Wood and Incognito return, that's FOUR NFL caliber starting offensive lienmen on our roster. Period. While you were rollling on the floor laughing out loud at the prospect of drafting a QB who, after spraining his toe last season, threw 28 TD's and 4 INT's on a mediocre team, did you happen to recall that the Steelers won a Super Bowl two years ago with a sub-par offensive line? YOU NEED A FRANCHISE QUARTERBACK DUMMY!

[thewildrabbit]

Perhaps maybe 2 of the Bills O line players currently on the roster would even start for the Steelers or Packers, both those teams with supposedly bad O lines. Even then both Hangartner and Levitre might be backups due to inexperience.

 

The only positions that are locked on the Bills O line are-center and guard, the Bills might need another guard depending on how Wood recovers. But they definitely need both LT & RT. Plus they still lack a dominate blocking tight end.