RT Talk:

[The Senator]

Sorry to put you on the spot - but who, at the RG position, do you feel comfortable about ? Only one I can think of is HanG and that is because he may make the transition easier due to experience.

So you can see why it's reasonable to think that 5-year veteran NY Giants (and former Cornellian) RG/RT Kevin Boothe might be a good addition...

 

Reverse the Curse!!!!

[Astrobot]

So the Bills run a hybrid zone / man scheme depending on the play.

I'm guessing zone blocking more on runs and man blocking more on pass plays?

[yungmack]

I think it's safe to say that until your starting roster is completely filled with sure-fire Hall of Famers, you can always improve. So maybe, yeah, the Bills could add another RT in FA. But the front office seems very happy with all the guys they currently have vying for the starting slot. And maybe they see other positions that are more in need of immediate improvement. If so, then with a drastically shortened FA signing period (and training period), I'd guess they'll spend their money and limited time on them.

[....lybob]

Sorry to put you on the spot - but who, at the RG position, do you feel comfortable about ? Only one I can think of is HanG and that is because he may make the transition easier due to experience.

You got Urbik, Reinhart, Howard and Wrotto all with reasonable size and athletic ability- I'm not worried about RG - TE is the weakest position followed by RT

[shoretalk]

You got Urbik, Reinhart, Howard and Wrotto all with reasonable size and athletic ability- I'm not worried about RG - TE is the weakest position followed by RT

I definitely agree ... tight end is our weakest position but I am still worried about our inside linebackers. I am so tired of watching POZ chasing runners from behind and unable to provide any type of pass protection. Maybe, just maybe one of the picks will make a difference there ... but they do take time to develop.

 

I'd place RT behind the ILB as a point of weakness ... Pears actually might be the answer, just haven't seen enough of him but he didn't look bad last year.

[Fan in Chicago]

You got Urbik, Reinhart, Howard and Wrotto all with reasonable size and athletic ability- I'm not worried about RG - TE is the weakest position followed by RT

A blocker+ pass catching TE is difficult to find. Part of our trouble is that due to the weakness of our OL, we have needed the TE to stay back and block. Which limits the coaches ability to involve a TE in the passing game. Strengthen the OL and then go with a TE who is more of a receiving threat than being the primary blocker. See our offense take off after that.

[thewildrabbit]

Buffalo's' O line is not as settled as everyone thinks it is, just wait till Fitz gets an injury, and the world will see all the flaws.

 

Fitz and his ability to get the ball out to the right guy in under 3 seconds was so unappreciated by so many last year, and Gailey got most of the credit for what Fitz was able to do.

 

I have no idea what this staff is thinking going into this season with just Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick as the only starters and no decent backups. But hey, they did the same thing last year with the RT position.

[John from Riverside]

Buffalo's' O line is not as settled as everyone thinks it is, just wait till Fitz gets an injury, and the world will see all the flaws.

 

Fitz and his ability to get the ball out to the right guy in under 3 seconds was so unappreciated by so many last year, and Gailey got most of the credit for what Fitz was able to do.

 

I have no idea what this staff is thinking going into this season with just Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick as the only starters and no decent backups. But hey, they did the same thing last year with the RT position.

 

What makes you so sure they are finished? We haven't even had a free agency yet its way to early to talk like that. The only thing that has happened is we have had a strong defensive draft....the locket has prevented anything else.

[Pilsner]

Buffalo's' O line is not as settled as everyone thinks it is, just wait till Fitz gets an injury, and the world will see all the flaws.

 

Fitz and his ability to get the ball out to the right guy in under 3 seconds was so unappreciated by so many last year, and Gailey got most of the credit for what Fitz was able to do.

 

I have no idea what this staff is thinking going into this season with just Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick as the only starters and no decent backups. But hey, they did the same thing last year with the RT position.

 

Harvey you're not the only one here who wants a solid O-line. I want some studs on our line, road graders and pass blockers extraordinaire. But the new staff can only fix so many things at once. Considering how they drafted to try and upgrade the D, I'm ok with what we have atm on the O-line. There's still time to upgrade it there in FA. If the team had invested picks into the O-line, then many others on this board would be bitching about how clueless the FO is about neglecting the porous D. I think the team has a plan and will fix things in steps.

 

Bunny rabbit, sometimes you have a way of bringing up good points. But I hope the organization will exceed your expectations in time. I think they will.

 

When our team wins it's first of many SB's I'll be looking forward to everyone celebrating. Naysayers and optimists. But mostly optimists.

Edited July 2, 2011 by Pilsner

[thewildrabbit]

last year, the same talk was made about Jamon Meredith and Ed Wang. You can replace the names and the comments remain the same, year in and year out.

 

I don't have a problem with bringing in other team's cast off's or low round draft choices. I agree, if you happen to hit on one... great. But the Bills bring these guys in an pencil them in immediately as starters.

 

I can't think of a team that has consistently placed such a low priority on the O-line, for so long, as the Bills have.

This goes hand in hand with stability at QB and should be the first thing built by a new head coach. This is also the reason the Bills can't get a QB to develop, get a QB to stabilize the offense or win many games. This team has had 10 QB's in the last decade along with 30+ linemen in that time.

 

Go back and look at the linemen during the successful years, OJ had the electric Co, Kelly had LT Will Wilford,C Kent Hull, TE Pete Metzelaars, G Jim Ritcher. That last name was drafted by Chuck Knox and played for Knox and stayed and played for Marv levy also. No go back and look up the length of the careers of those linemen, they span decades and not 2 years and out like most of the recent linemen.

 

This is the failure of the owner, front office, various coaching staffs and is the primary reason why this franchise hasn't won since the Levy era. There is always some skill player that takes priority over a big ugly on draft day, and until this team gets a HC-GM that understands to build the line first this team will continue to lose.

[CSBill]

Hate to be the Debbie Downer here, but news flash: The Bills will not sign any FA lineman, the starter will come from the current crew. They are young, and developing, I think will be better, it takes time. But don't expect them to land any new people, and I doubt they'll even seriously look. Our only hope is that the current options improve and make the line better.

[Bill from NYC]

This goes hand in hand with stability at QB and should be the first thing built by a new head coach. This is also the reason the Bills can't get a QB to develop, get a QB to stabilize the offense or win many games. This team has had 10 QB's in the last decade along with 30+ linemen in that time.

 

Go back and look at the linemen during the successful years, OJ had the electric Co, Kelly had LT Will Wilford,C Kent Hull, TE Pete Metzelaars, G Jim Ritcher. That last name was drafted by Chuck Knox and played for Knox and stayed and played for Marv levy also. No go back and look up the length of the careers of those linemen, they span decades and not 2 years and out like most of the recent linemen.

 

This is the failure of the owner, front office, various coaching staffs and is the primary reason why this franchise hasn't won since the Levy era. There is always some skill player that takes priority over a big ugly on draft day, and until this team gets a HC-GM that understands to build the line first this team will continue to lose.

 

Thank you for a perfect post.

[John from Riverside]

Harvey you're not the only one here who wants a solid O-line. I want some studs on our line, road graders and pass blockers extraordinaire. But the new staff can only fix so many things at once. Considering how they drafted to try and upgrade the D, I'm ok with what we have atm on the O-line. There's still time to upgrade it there in FA. If the team had invested picks into the O-line, then many others on this board would be bitching about how clueless the FO is about neglecting the porous D. I think the team has a plan and will fix things in steps.

 

Bunny rabbit, sometimes you have a way of bringing up good points. But I hope the organization will exceed your expectations in time. I think they will.

 

When our team wins it's first of many SB's I'll be looking forward to everyone celebrating. Naysayers and optimists. But mostly optimists.

 

I am not pinpointing any board posters but it just drives me nuts about the draft complaints and not looking at it from a common sense point of view. WE ONLY HAVE SO MANY PICKS......in the draft before last Buddy Nix said as much....in this draft they did a good job aquiring even more picks....we picked at the beginning of every round....and we look like we had a solid defensive draft. Hey guys....its not flashy....but its needed. We addressed every area of weakness on the D line.

 

 

The Offense is young.....they still have some pieces to get. I think the fact that we got that crappy RT from the raiders last year and not much else in free agency left a bad taste in peoples mouths but people gotta understand..last year was a EVALUATION year....buddy needed to see what we actually have on the team.....now he knows.

[CookieG]

Buffalo's' O line is not as settled as everyone thinks it is, just wait till Fitz gets an injury, and the world will see all the flaws.

 

Fitz and his ability to get the ball out to the right guy in under 3 seconds was so unappreciated by so many last year, and Gailey got most of the credit for what Fitz was able to do.

 

I have no idea what this staff is thinking going into this season with just Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick as the only starters and no decent backups. But hey, they did the same thing last year with the RT position.

 

It wasn't under appreciated by me. Nor was his ability to make the line calls at the LOS. Hangman made a comment about it during the season. Fitz was so good at placing the lineman in the right area and on the right guy that he just let him go ahead and do it.

 

Fitz did about as good as you can with what he had to work with.

[CookieG]

This goes hand in hand with stability at QB and should be the first thing built by a new head coach. This is also the reason the Bills can't get a QB to develop, get a QB to stabilize the offense or win many games. This team has had 10 QB's in the last decade along with 30+ linemen in that time.

 

Go back and look at the linemen during the successful years, OJ had the electric Co, Kelly had LT Will Wilford,C Kent Hull, TE Pete Metzelaars, G Jim Ritcher. That last name was drafted by Chuck Knox and played for Knox and stayed and played for Marv levy also. No go back and look up the length of the careers of those linemen, they span decades and not 2 years and out like most of the recent linemen.

 

This is the failure of the owner, front office, various coaching staffs and is the primary reason why this franchise hasn't won since the Levy era. There is always some skill player that takes priority over a big ugly on draft day, and until this team gets a HC-GM that understands to build the line first this team will continue to lose.

 

-When Lou Saban came back to Buffalo, he saw they had a superstar RB in the making. Reggie McKenzie was drafted at the top of the 2nd and the next year, Joe D and Paul Seymour (an OT playing TE) in the first the next year. He understood that if you want to get the guy in a position to make plays, you better have the people to do it.

 

-When Knox traded Joe D, (I was in high school at the time), I was shocked. Apparently it was a personality thing. Replacing him with a declining Conrad Dobler seemed like a step back. But Dobler brought an attitude that immediately made those around him better. He brought a "he's our QB and we will protect him by whatever means necessary" attitude. He said himself, Ken Jones and Joe Devlin were very good players, they just needed an attitude.

 

The Bills ended up giving up something like 16 sacks that year, and led the league in 3rd down percentage.

 

Here's the thing with the present O. You just use a 1st round pick on a little scat back, someone who is supposed to be able to take it to the house on every play. Wouldn't you want to protect, or enhance your investment by getting some guys who can get him past the LOS? If he can break it on every play, wouldn't you want to increase his opportunity to so?

[CookieG]

I am not pinpointing any board posters but it just drives me nuts about the draft complaints and not looking at it from a common sense point of view. WE ONLY HAVE SO MANY PICKS......in the draft before last Buddy Nix said as much....in this draft they did a good job aquiring even more picks....we picked at the beginning of every round....and we look like we had a solid defensive draft. Hey guys....its not flashy....but its needed. We addressed every area of weakness on the D line.

 

 

The Offense is young.....they still have some pieces to get. I think the fact that we got that crappy RT from the raiders last year and not much else in free agency left a bad taste in peoples mouths but people gotta understand..last year was a EVALUATION year....buddy needed to see what we actually have on the team.....now he knows.

 

This was one of Harvey's points....there is ALWAYS some skill player, or someone for the latest new defensive scheme, who seems to take precedence. It has been going on since before Buddy got here...he's just continuing the trend. This is the 4th "new" defensive scheme in a decade, and we seem to need 5-6 new guys to make it work.

 

There is always the RB who is too good to pass up, or the "fits the scheme" offensive skill player who has to be taken before we get around to the Oline.

 

But I'll put is this way...Woods and Levitre went in the 1st and 2nd round, respectively. How many people complain about those picks? How many think they weren't worth their position drafted?

 

Compare that to some of the skill players, the supposed play makers we couldn't pass up.

 

McGahee

Lynch

Maybin

Whitner

Hardy

McLovin

Parrish

 

If we had used a third of those picks on quality OL, we'd have a kick ass Oline by now.

[thewildrabbit]

Harvey you're not the only one here who wants a solid O-line. I want some studs on our line, road graders and pass blockers extraordinaire. But the new staff can only fix so many things at once. Considering how they drafted to try and upgrade the D, I'm ok with what we have atm on the O-line. There's still time to upgrade it there in FA. If the team had invested picks into the O-line, then many others on this board would be bitching about how clueless the FO is about neglecting the porous D. I think the team has a plan and will fix things in steps.

 

Bunny rabbit, sometimes you have a way of bringing up good points. But I hope the organization will exceed your expectations in time. I think they will.

 

When our team wins it's first of many SB's I'll be looking forward to everyone celebrating. Naysayers and optimists. But mostly optimists.

 

When Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey were first hired both men stated that the O line was a "priority" in their first draft, that "priority" didn't manifest itself until round 5, which is basically an after thought, and a developmental player.

 

CJ Spiller took that priority, how much did he contribute to the running game last year? The Bills already had enough kick returners, they didn't need to waste a first round pick on one. Now think what would have happened if the Bills had drafted a decent RT with the #1, an entirely different season. Even Jauron was smart enough to draft 2 guards in rounds 1& 2, which is kind of lame when you think Gailey is supposed to be the offensive minded HC

 

 

 

Sorry I can't share your rosy optimistic view as I think this team has already wasted another 2 years on an over the hill GM & HC as there is an abundance of evidence to prove this. I can only wonder how much longer it will take to get these two incompetents replaced by people that know what they are doing! I want the Bills to win as much as the next guy, but I simply can't support 2 men I know are inept. They both might be really great people and real nice guys, but you know what they say about "nice guys'

[BillsVet]

Even Jauron was smart enough to draft 2 guards in rounds 1& 2, which is kind of lame when you think Gailey is supposed to be the offensive minded HC

 

Sorry I can't share your rosy optimistic view as I think this team has already wasted another 2 years on an over the hill GM & HC as there is an abundance of evidence to prove this. I can only wonder how much longer it will take to get these two incompetents replaced by people that know what they are doing! I want the Bills to win as much as the next guy, but I simply can't support 2 men I know are inept. They both might be really great people and real nice guys, but you know what they say about "nice guys'

 

I would argue the selections of Wood and Levitre were borne out of necessity in 2009. Going into the draft that season, Buffalo had already cut Dockery, forcing Butler to RT when they brilliantly decided Langston Walker could play LT after Peters was dealt. They had nothing at G to begin with and were forced to find immediate starters via the draft.

 

To say they only have so many picks is absurd. You never have enough picks when you're constantly changing schemes designed by sub-par coaches.

[Adam]

When Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey were first hired both men stated that the O line was a "priority" in their first draft, that "priority" didn't manifest itself until round 5, which is basically an after thought, and a developmental player.

 

CJ Spiller took that priority, how much did he contribute to the running game last year? The Bills already had enough kick returners, they didn't need to waste a first round pick on one. Now think what would have happened if the Bills had drafted a decent RT with the #1, an entirely different season. Even Jauron was smart enough to draft 2 guards in rounds 1& 2, which is kind of lame when you think Gailey is supposed to be the offensive minded HC

 

 

 

Sorry I can't share your rosy optimistic view as I think this team has already wasted another 2 years on an over the hill GM & HC as there is an abundance of evidence to prove this. I can only wonder how much longer it will take to get these two incompetents replaced by people that know what they are doing! I want the Bills to win as much as the next guy, but I simply can't support 2 men I know are inept. They both might be really great people and real nice guys, but you know what they say about "nice guys'

What year was Jauron running the draft?

[Astrobot]

I am not pinpointing any board posters but it just drives me nuts about the draft complaints and not looking at it from a common sense point of view. WE ONLY HAVE SO MANY PICKS......in the draft before last Buddy Nix said as much....in this draft they did a good job aquiring even more picks....we picked at the beginning of every round....and we look like we had a solid defensive draft. Hey guys....its not flashy....but its needed. We addressed every area of weakness on the D line.

 

 

The Offense is young.....they still have some pieces to get. I think the fact that we got that crappy RT from the raiders last year and not much else in free agency left a bad taste in peoples mouths but people gotta understand..last year was a EVALUATION year....buddy needed to see what we actually have on the team.....now he knows.

We also didn't see a full season from Dwan Edwards, Andra Davis, Spencer Johnson, Marcus Easley, Danny Batten, Antonio Coleman, Demetrius Bell, Donald Jones, Geoff Hangartener, Terrence McGee, Reggie Torbor, Shawn Nelson, Andy Levitre, even Eric Wood.