Pilsner

I haven't posted often. Rarely actually in the last year or so. I've been mostly a lurker and i do very much appreciate the info and insight a lot of you veteran posters have provided. But it surprises me how much some of you have such little faith in our new O-line. Yes we have two rookies and a new center. In my opinion what separates them from most other NFL O-linemen is that our new guys are INTELLIGENT to the max. Also they are MEAN as hell. Our three guys are finishers. They are known for FINISHING their blocks and Relishing it. This is the kind of mentality we've been missing for too long. I miss the days of Wolford, Ritcher and Hull. Give our new guys a chance. It's not like we just drafted two StayPuff Pillsbury guys. Woody and Andy are finishers. That's what they love and that's what makes them Tick. Handy won't be a Hull or even come close but he's smart and tough is a good upgrade over Fowler and Preston. Our O-line honestly has the potential to be quite a good one. I don't know about you guys but i'm Very excited to see how they progress over the season. To you guys this may not count for much, but I coached 0-linemen in HS. (Yes i know it's nothing at all like the NFL). We had a line with average physical talent but very intelligent. We succeeded. Now our Bill's O-line is Intelligent AND has the physical tools and talent to become dominant. IMO our only question marks for the future are LW and Butler. They are serviceable. They will get the job done until we upgrade there. The board was getting a little slow so i figured i'de put in my 2 cents. Plus i think the O-line is generally always under appreciated (in any team). Post your comments if you wish.

Yep, that's why i'm hoping he'll be just as good. If we are only this fortunate Jim Ritcher was a beast

And hopefully Wood will be our new Jim Ritcher. Possibly even better in time.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm glad you brought up Green Bay's two starting rookie guards from a few years ago. People seem to forget what the Packers accomplished with them.

Two years ago the Packers started two rookie guards. They were not even as highly drafted as Wood or Levitre. and they ended up opening holes for Ryan Grant. A lot of holes actually. Now stop being so pessimistic.

I'm ok with that lineup. It's the lineup i assumed would happen. Next year if Wood gets the line calls down maybe he'll be the starting center. And we'll draft a few more top notch o-linemen. Wood and Levitre will hopefully be true Beasts. We need that aggressiveness. And hopefully it rubs off on the likes of our tame Walker.

Does anyone remember our old O-line of the early 90's. Wolford, Ritcher, Hull (can't remember the name of our right guard) Howard "the House" Ballard, and Pete Metzelaars. I think Finally our FO has gotten a clue and is beginning to put together a real O-line. It's about time. Success begins in the trenches. And we just drafted two potentially very solid O-linemen. Let's see if we draft more solid prospects next year.

haha i couldn't agree more! Wolfork needs a lesson. and Wood will do it!

I keep thinking Wolford, Ritcher and Hull... We need more guys like Wood

I respect what you say. But it's not just about just what we need. It's also about about the quality available at other positions. And there isn't very much quality at OT and DE. It's about getting value for our picks. And at those positions there isn't much value. This year's draft doesn't seem to be that great at those positions. I could be wrong. But I would rather get a top flight TE than an over valued OT or DE that might not pan out. And plus i don't want our team to over pay for a TO or DE who have so many question marks and who might not live up to expectations. In most any other draft, your view point would prove true i think. But this year's draft is short on quality players that would fill our glaring holes in the first round. I would like to get Pettigrew at 28, but i'm not sure he will last this long. Honestly i hope we trade down from 11. There isn't much "value" at 11. I don't want us paying too much.

We need a Pete Metzelaars type guy again. Someone who can blow people off the line. For the longest time i wanted a good DE or OLB but the best ones might already be gone by the time our #11 comes around. Pettigrew might still be there tho. And he is far and away the best TE available. Lets solidify this position (no one is a sure bet) but he has the potential to be a good quality player. The top DE's and top tackles all have big question marks. Pettigrew has the fewest question marks compared to to them. He is the best bet. Cushing might work out well for us too. But we need a Metzelaars to push people around, to open holes and to make some clutch catches when we need them. We've needed a good quality TE for years now. I think our coaching staff has enough confidence in our current O-line, that's why ther ended up letting Peters go. What do u think?

How about we convert LW to a TE. and then we'll "experiment" with him at LT. just having fun with this of course.

I fully agree with u on the fact that he was more about himself than the team. not a team player. glad to get rid of dead weight. I've only coached jv and varsity football. but i know dead weight when i see it. well i hope i do. he turned into bad news. I hope he doesn't turn out too badly tho cause one of my best friends is a hard core philly fan.

Let him do well for one year first tho. so we get a great conditional draft pick. then he can eat donuts for the rest of his career and hang with Willis.

Hmm.. ok for a conditional draft pick. ok yes... Peters better go the pro bowl! well for one year. for our sake. then after that he can show his true colors

We took a risk with him and even took a chance by converting him to LT. Jason should thank his lucky stars. Sure he's happy with his contract in Philly. But it never would have happened if the Bills hadn't first taken a chance with him. He didn't show loyalty in the end. He listened too much to his agent. I'm glad he's gone. Loyalty is key for a team's success. I was a Peters supporter for a while. I think things happened for the best now though. Good luck to him. Over time we'll be better off without him.

Haha I love it!

This is my take. I could be wrong but here it is. Let's say that Leodis and Reggie are about on an equal level right now playing corner. There seems to be a chance that Youboty might not play. Maybe Reggie Corner is a better nickel player than Leodis? What do you guys think?

Wow!! That's how i was in my living room, but I sure wish i was there!

I agree whole heartedly with what you said. You stated it better than I could have. On accounts with both Ellison and Fowler. I think overall we'll be ok on D barring injuries. Go Bills!!!

I'm sure Fowler tries his best. But he is undersized and unfortunately he is one of our weaknesses now. Butler is a very pleasant surprise and he is a keeper. I hope in our next draft there is a worthy center out there worth going after to help upgrade our line. We are fairly solid with our O-line now except with center. A little more quality depth couldn't hurt either. Our only major other weakness would be Ellison as a LB. He's good for depth but we need to get a new Solid starter for his position. Other than that we are fairly set with good young talent compared to other teams.

Some people actually do care about what he thinks about O-lines because he was quite an accomplished O-line coach. He was able to turn O-lines into over achievers. During his tenure with Buffallo, unfortunately the Bills never gave him too much to work with. He was only with us for...what was it... 2 or 3 years? Only during his last year with us did he actually have average talent to work with. He didn't fail miserably. He had the likes of Tuten Reyes and Terence Pennington as "starters" to work with. There is only so much anyone can do with such talent as them. The guy deserves more credit than you are willing to give.

I'm a huge Bills fan from the Central Coast and I've been looking for a good Bills Backers bar to check out and even meet other fans as into the Bills as I am. I might have to try the North Start sometime. Sounds great.

i think your prediction is closer to the mark. Although maybe with one TD thrown in there for good measure. I HOPE Lynch gets over 100 yards and at least one TD. He's on my fantasy team so there's added incentive for me to want him to do well. But the Seattle D is tough and our O-line isn't up to full strength. It'll be a tough game for Lynch and company. I hope i'm wrong and that he runs roughshod over dem seahawks! Go Bills!!!

Thanks Lori! This is great info.