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Offensive Line Continuity


Flip Johnson

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I thought this was a fascinating note in Albert Breer's MMQB article.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have managed to keep their offensive line together over the years and have developed massive continuity. This has to be part of what allows them to plug in James Connor, and allows Big Ben to keep thriving while losing top tier players like Bell.

 

Look how long their current o-lineman have been with the team.

- Ramon Foster - 10 years

- Maurkice Pouncey - 9 years

- Marcus Gilbert - 8 years

- David DeCastro - 7 years

- Alejandro Villaneueva - 4 years

 

It's an interesting note as the Bills decide how to allocate their money and draft picks in 2019. Most of us are clamoring for WR/TE to take top priority. They have invested picks in Dawkins and Teller and those guys have the potential to anchor the left side for years to come. More offensive lineman might not be as exciting, but could turn out to be shrewd roster building.

 

Whole article is here:

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/11/12/nfl-news-notes-rumors-ronald-darby-sidney-jones-cooper-kupp-josh-reynolds-teryl-austin

 

 

 

 

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Continuity is great when you have good players.   But the players can't be bad at what they do.   Cincy was fine with letting Bodine go after 4 seasons where he started a bunch of games, they drafted the kid from OSU and he was doing well until he got hurt.  I don't know if he's back yet but seems like they made the right decision letting him go.    

 

We just need to find a winning combination and stick with it.  I like Dawkins and Teller, so that's something to build on. 

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I think most people have OLine as a top priority, not an afterthought. And yes, continuity is good only with the right players. We do NOT want continuity with THIS group, though the left side looks promising. Build both lines, then go for the skill guys. (And PRAY Allen is the guy!) 

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I believe the Bills are in an ideal position this offseason...if they don’t get distracted. They need a WR and O Linemen. Both should be available in the draft. They have money to spend in free agency on defensive players who’ll want to join a productive defense. It’s not rocket science.

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1 hour ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

Continuity is good if you have the right people in place.  Pittsburgh obviously does.  4 of those five are very good players.  

 

32 minutes ago, MJS said:

And continuity is bad if you have bad players.

 

Yep this is where I am. A piece of crap among other pieces of crap is now simply a pile of crap. You can keep that together as long as you want, but it will still be a pile of crap. 

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Interesting.  That's pretty rare to have that many guys together for that long.  Has to be the longest in the league.   I wonder if there's a Dline with even half that much continuity.

 

When I see that stat and look at how well Connor is doing (almost 800 yards already, 4.7 yp carry) I wonder how LeVeon Bell is going to do on another team that doesn't have that kind of line in front of him.   

 

I'm sure someday our boy TD Mike Gillislee will look back fondly on his NFL days when he was running in Romans offense behind Richie and Eric's line.  He had a legendary 5.7 yards per carry in 2016 (just over 100 carries) and yet when he went to Patriots the next year he had the same amount of carries but only managed 3.7 yards per touch and my guess is he faced far less 8 man fronts in New England than he did with us in '16.

 

This year's free agent market for Oline doesn't seem to have a standout center, which is why I think you'll see us drafting one early, and part of our $80M is going to go to a guard like the Pats Shaq Mason or the Titan's Quinton Spain or a RT like Daryl Williams from Carolina.  Maybe both.   

 

We got a little blindsided with Oline this offseason-- our pro bowl LG went batshit crazy and our veteran center had a freak neck injury out of the blue.  Huge shoes to fill and something we are still struggling to address.

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1 minute ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Yep this is where I am. A piece of crap among other pieces of crap is now simply a pile of crap. You can keep that together as long as you want, but it will still be a pile of crap. 

 

I will say, though, that sometimes you THINK that you have crap and you throw that crap away, but it turns out you were wrong. Sometimes, but not all the time.

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I feel very comfortable on the left side of our line... We have the draft and free agency to see if we can get the C position and the right side better.

 

The only concern I have with draft picks with McDermott is,unless they are drafted high, he doesn't play them right away.

 

If we can sign or draft a LT, I know for sure Dawkins can play RT so we have many ways to go about it. But it's obvious (with our #1 overall defense) that our needs are on offense and I hope Beane and his scouts are doing their homework. 

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The fact that the O-line has gotten so much better through the course of the season after all the reshuffling that happened in the off season goes to show that continuity matters.  Even Teller, who is doing well for a rookie, probably would not have been that good if inserted at the start of the season.  He needed to learn and grow with the O-line during practice through the season.   

 

An upgrade at center would be great, but I don't think we need the massive overhaul so many have called for.  

 

Development seems to have gone out the window in the NFL.  I understand why, but you can't just pretend that players don't need to develop just because its a win-now league.   

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Let's hope these young WR's develop into reliable targets. If that happens, we're free to upgrade the right side of the OL. Would still like to see a coaching upgrade at the OL and QB positions. With this defense, 20+ points a game will make the Bills a serious contender in 19.

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1 hour ago, Flip Johnson said:

I thought this was a fascinating note in Albert Breer's MMQB article.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have managed to keep their offensive line together over the years and have developed massive continuity. This has to be part of what allows them to plug in James Connor, and allows Big Ben to keep thriving while losing top tier players like Bell.

 

Look how long their current o-lineman have been with the team.

- Ramon Foster - 10 years

- Maurkice Pouncey - 9 years

- Marcus Gilbert - 8 years

- David DeCastro - 7 years

- Alejandro Villaneueva - 4 years

 

It's an interesting note as the Bills decide how to allocate their money and draft picks in 2019. Most of us are clamoring for WR/TE to take top priority. They have invested picks in Dawkins and Teller and those guys have the potential to anchor the left side for years to come. More offensive lineman might not be as exciting, but could turn out to be shrewd roster building.

 

Whole article is here:

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/11/12/nfl-news-notes-rumors-ronald-darby-sidney-jones-cooper-kupp-josh-reynolds-teryl-austin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya know, Flip, it is not unreasonable to think they can legitimately count on that same line for another 2 years, possibly 3.

 

That is an eternity in the NFL.  However, obviously from left to right some consideration should at least be given on how to back up those roles.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Flip Johnson said:

I thought this was a fascinating note in Albert Breer's MMQB article.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have managed to keep their offensive line together over the years and have developed massive continuity. This has to be part of what allows them to plug in James Connor, and allows Big Ben to keep thriving while losing top tier players like Bell.

 

Look how long their current o-lineman have been with the team.

- Ramon Foster - 10 years

- Maurkice Pouncey - 9 years

- Marcus Gilbert - 8 years

- David DeCastro - 7 years

- Alejandro Villaneueva - 4 years

 

It's an interesting note as the Bills decide how to allocate their money and draft picks in 2019. Most of us are clamoring for WR/TE to take top priority. They have invested picks in Dawkins and Teller and those guys have the potential to anchor the left side for years to come. More offensive lineman might not be as exciting, but could turn out to be shrewd roster building.

 

Whole article is here:

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/11/12/nfl-news-notes-rumors-ronald-darby-sidney-jones-cooper-kupp-josh-reynolds-teryl-austin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continuity is great - when you have the right folks in the first place.


And not just on the offensive line.  The Steelers love continuity in general.  Both their GM and HC have been around for a very long time.  

 

I'd love to see both more continuity on the Bills and an investment in the OL.  

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