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

[Doc]

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.

While I agree that Bell probably won't amount to much, those numbers don't reflect the truth. Vollmer and Gaither wern't the 5th and 6th best LT's in the NFL last year, not by a longshot. Likewise the CB rankings for the Bills were ridiculous. And they ranked Jason Peters as the 18th best OT last year and the 46th best OT in 2008 (http://tinyurl.com/y8rduff). How do you reconcile those things?

[metzelaars_lives]

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.

 

Hey bozo, the Bills allowed fewer sacks and averaged more yards per carry than both the Packers and Steelers last year as per nfl.com. And those are two teams with QB's who got big runs and know how to avoid sacks; if you looked at just RB yards per carry, there would be even more of a disparity. Maybe they could use some of our guys.

[Steely Dan]

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.

 

(As always JMO) I think you're missing the point. If you look at his post he has the LT space empty meaning it needs to be filled. Bell or Meredith could play RT and the interior of the line is solid. The left tackle hopefully will be a stud at the #9 pick. All the Bills need to have a solid and maybe above average line is a LT. Wood, Levitre, Hangartner make a good interior and there is enough talent backing them up to have a solid guard unit. I doubt Incognito will be re-signed. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy Chansaw likes. If they do re-sign him then the guard depth is really good.

 

 

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).

 

Meredith was playing really well last year until he got hurt. In fact injuries were the biggest problem on the line last year. Bell had a lot of problems even when he was playing. If the guys who were injured come back healthy and the new S&C coaches can keep the injuries down then the Bills have a great interior and only need one competent LT. JMO

[metzelaars_lives]

(As always JMO) I think you're missing the point. If you look at his post he has the LT space empty meaning it needs to be filled. Bell or Meredith could play RT and the interior of the line is solid. The left tackle hopefully will be a stud at the #9 pick. All the Bills need to have a solid and maybe above average line is a LT. Wood, Levitre, Hangartner make a good interior and there is enough talent backing them up to have a solid guard unit. I doubt Incognito will be re-signed. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy Chansaw likes. If they do re-sign him then the guard depth is really good.

 

Thank you sir, someone finally agrees with me. There are some "ifs" involved, but we're not that far away.

[Thoner7]

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.

 

Your scenario has our OL still being one of the worst in the league. I guess it depends on ones assessment of dire.

[metzelaars_lives]

Your scenario has our OL still being one of the worst in the league. I guess it depends on ones assessment of dire.

 

A stud LT, Wood, Incognito, Levitre and Hangartner is one of the worst OL's in the league? I can't win. Good luck with Trent Edwards throwing to James Hardy next season, no need to address that situation.

[DanInUticaTampa]

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.

 

this

[manbeast]

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.

Our OT situation is awful, but I like the interior of our line and I think Bell can play RT. Peters was not a stud LT from day one it took time. Last year was realy Bell's first actually getting to play.

[DanInUticaTampa]

A stud LT, Wood, Incognito, Levitre and Hangartner is one of the worst OL's in the league? I can't win. Good luck with Trent Edwards throwing to James Hardy next season, no need to address that situation.

 

Well, that is bascially the same oline we had last year for awhile, with the exception of a "stud LT." Most people believe that we need two tackles, and I would agree. I don't like playing musical chairs with linemen. It never lets them mesh together, which is really important for an oline. If we juggle Levitre to RT, and wood to C, it is just going to jumble it more. That didn't work last year, and it won't work this year. And as far as the QB and WR situation.... no one said that we aren't going to address those. but going into next year with basically the same oline as last year doesn't seem wise.

[PDaDdy]

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!

 

 

Yo retard. How well would a QB throw from his back? The prospect isn't very encouraging. Even our GM has said exactly that. We are not talking about a average or below average o-line we are talking terrible. I don't know how your Alzheimer riddled brain can't see that a bunch of cast offs from other teams and 2 second year guards one with a SERIOUS leg injury makes our situation dire.

 

Yes ROFLOL is an acronym grandpa. With the advent of these magical little devices called cell phones and IM clients a new vernacular has evolved. You could always write me a letter expressing your fondest sentiments and spray some of your girly perfume on it. It's an internet forum jackass. We use acronyms. That being said I am unfortunately probably older than you. Despite your attack on my choice of words your point still shows what little intelligence you really have. Nice try to shift the focus from your own idiotic statement.

 

You were probably fighting over who should be captain(QB) while the Titanic was sinking.

[PDaDdy]

Our OT situation is awful, but I like the interior of our line and I think Bell can play RT. Peters was not a stud LT from day one it took time. Last year was realy Bell's first actually getting to play.

 

Unlike Bell Peters actually showed promise and made a meteoric rise from TE to probowl LT in about 3 years. It's this type of philosophy that got us into this situation. Making the exception the rule. "Tom Brady was a late round pick so we can wait until the 6th round to get a franchise QB." "We turned a TE into a pro bowl LT with Peters ...we can do it again." "Ben Roethlisberger didn't have a great 0-line when he won his last superbowl." Blah blah blah.

 

These are called exceptions for a reason people.

[Steely Dan]

Yo retard. How well would a QB throw from his back? The prospect isn't very encouraging. Even our GM has said exactly that. We are not talking about a average or below average o-line we are talking terrible. I don't know how your Alzheimer riddled brain can't see that a bunch of cast offs from other teams and 2 second year guards one with a SERIOUS leg injury makes our situation dire.

 

Yes ROFLOL is an acronym grandpa. With the advent of these magical little devices called cell phones and IM clients a new vernacular has evolved. You could always write me a letter spray some of your girly perfume on it. That being said I am unfortunately probably older than you. Despite your attack on my choice of words your point still shows what little intelligence you really have. Nice try to shift the focus from your own idiotic statement.

 

You were probably fighting over who should be captain(QB) while the Titanic was sinking.

 

Do you have a link for that?

[C.Biscuit97]

There's some good young talent for sure. They just need some more time to grow. They need to add at least 2 quality o linemen and get rid of the deadweight (Chambers and Scott). There will still be some growing pains this year, but hopefully by the following season (assuming there is one), this could be a really good group.

[Cynical]

A stud LT, Wood, Incognito, Levitre and Hangartner is one of the worst OL's in the league? I can't win. Good luck with Trent Edwards throwing to James Hardy next season, no need to address that situation.

 

Part of the problem is your claim of "not as dire", while you freely admit there are "ifs" involved.

The other part is the number of "ifs" involved.

 

Let's look at your desired line up;

 

LT - Stud (Draft, FA)

LG - Incognito

C- Hangartner

RG - Wood

RT - Levitre

 

Even with this line up, you assumed Incognito is resigned and Woods will be ready to go.

You are also assuming (but did not mention) Levitre can play RT, and you are assuming the Bills will acquire a stud LT (like somehow those are just real easy to locate)

 

That 4 assumptions impacting 4 positions.

 

So when we re-look at your 'desired' line up with the "ifs" (represented by "?") in place:

 

LT - Stud (Draft, FA)(?)

LG - Incognito(?)

C- Hangartner

RG - Wood(?)

RT - Levitre(?)

 

Based on that, the only position that a question mark (or if) is not involved is the center. If 50% of your "ifs" pan out, 2 still did not.

 

This O-line is farther away than you wish it to be.

[metzelaars_lives]

Yo retard. How well would a QB throw from his back? The prospect isn't very encouraging. Even our GM has said exactly that. We are not talking about a average or below average o-line we are talking terrible. I don't know how your Alzheimer riddled brain can't see that a bunch of cast offs from other teams and 2 second year guards one with a SERIOUS leg injury makes our situation dire.

 

Yes ROFLOL is an acronym grandpa. With the advent of these magical little devices called cell phones and IM clients a new vernacular has evolved. You could always write me a letter spray some of your girly perfume on it. That being said I am unfortunately probably older than you. Despite your attack on my choice of words your point still shows what little intelligence you really have. Nice try to shift the focus from your own idiotic statement.

 

You were probably fighting over who should be captain(QB) while the Titanic was sinking.

 

Hey Junior, for what it's worth (or for your generation, FWIW), I'm 31. I'd imagine you're pretty young considering your choice of words. Let's not bring the developmentally disabled into this. And if you want to fight, you know where to find me. With respect to football, your mentality is exactly the reason that Howard Simon blew up at that caller on GR in that fantastic youtube clip that was on here a few weeks ago (you can still find it). My original point was that IF we draft a big time LT and IF Wood is healthy and IF we re-sign Incognito, we have a good line. Those are three very realistic possibilities. It's within reach at least. Finding a franchise quarterback, which is the most important thing to do in all of football however, is still a wild wet dream that no one seems to want to address. I would be very happy with Clausen or Dez Bryant at #9 and a free agency or Round 2 left tackle acquisition.

[jahnyc]

So how does Hangartner fit in? Seems like posts and views about him are all over the place. Was he effective as the center last year or not? Does he need to be replaced?

[PDaDdy]

Do you have a link for that?

 

You're damn right I do. http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/02/26/9709...s-on-first.html

 

""There's three there that have got talent," Nix said when he took the GM job. "You've got to have some protection. It's hard to throw from laying on your back.""

 

It's about 1/2 to 2/3s of the way down the page.

[Kultarr]

Our OT situation is awful, but I like the interior of our line and I think Bell can play RT. Peters was not a stud LT from day one it took time. Last year was realy Bell's first actually getting to play.

I like some of the young talent, but I'm not going to blow smoke up my own arse and pretend the kids are going to be Pro Bowlers next year. The line is a long ways away from being solid even if everything goes absolutely perfectly. And last year showed that it is no stretch to believe that some things are going to go completely and brutally south.

[Calgary_JG]

Both Bell and Meredith are better Tackles than Captain Checkdown is a QB...anyone who thinks that if you fix the OL all of a sudden we'll be a playoff team I'm guessing were dropped on their heads as babies.

 

Arguing whether or not Bell should start at LT is a waste of time, Gailey already said that they're going to address the T situation either in FA or the draft. The lineup that's been posted here is not that bad, Levitre played RT in college and Incognito, Wood and Hangartner have all proven to be capable starters. I guess that for some idiot posters a capable line's not good enough because if we had an all-pro line then all of a sudden captain checkdown will become John Elway.

 

We need a QB, we need a LT. If you're comfortable watching some 3rd or 4th round project QB waste another 3 years of our time then that's fine but I'm not. Fix QB, then fix LT.

 

you can win the SB with a capable line, you can't win the SB without a good QB.

[bills in va]

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.

Do you actually believe the B.S. you are selling or are you just trying to piss people off.

Levitre is not an NFL tackle. Wood may not be back to start the season. Butler retired. No left tackle. Bell and Merideth are backups.

THE BILLS OFFENSIVE TACKLE SITUATION IS DIRE! THE ONLY HEALTHY STARTERS UNDER CONTRACT ARE HANG/LEVITRE.