Is the starting OL on Sunday

[Albany,n.y.]

Our line this Sunday will feature two players waived this season (one re-signed by the Bills); a player waived last season before the start of his team's 0-16 season; a rookie, who is the best offensive lineman left on the team & a lunchpail journeyman.

When (if ever) was the last time we picked a guy up who had been waived earlier in the month & put him right into the starting lineup on the O-line? The last guy I remember this happening with is in 1986 when we picked up LB George Cumby on waivers & he was promptly named a starter.

Next year we might be able to say-remember the game where we started 3 guys on the offensive line who are out of the league now?

I hope we never see this bad on O-line again, it took 50 years to get this bad a bunch together.

[spartacus]

Our line this Sunday will feature two players waived this season (one re-signed by the Bills); a player waived last season before the start of his team's 0-16 season; a rookie, who is the best offensive lineman left on the team & a lunchpail journeyman.

When (if ever) was the last time we picked a guy up who had been waived earlier in the month & put him right into the starting lineup on the O-line? The last guy I remember this happening with is in 1986 when we picked up LB George Cumby on waivers & he was promptly named a starter.

Next year we might be able to say-remember the game where we started 3 guys on the offensive line who are out of the league now?

I hope we never see this bad on O-line again, it took 50 years to get this bad a bunch together.

 

that crackerjack front office is still employed and making all personnel decisions

 

and don't expect Ralph to change it next year either

 

absolutely criminal what they did to the OL, though

[BillsVet]

I don't think anyone, let alone the front office, saw their two best starters going down to season ending injury. Still, their depth at OT going into the season was downright criminal. If you ask me, they've got one guy on that entire line who'll be a starter in the NFL two seasons from now: Andy Levitre. The rest are has-beens, or never will be's. I don't believe for a second that Meredith will amount to much, given GB's unwillingness to put him on their OT starved roster.

[spartacus]

I don't think anyone, let alone the front office, saw their two best starters going down to season ending injury. Still, their depth at OT going into the season was downright criminal. If you ask me, they've got one guy on that entire line who'll be a starter in the NFL two seasons from now: Andy Levitre. The rest are has-beens, or never will be's. I don't believe for a second that Meredith will amount to much, given GB's unwillingness to put him on their OT starved roster.

 

you are probably right

 

who could have possibly foreseen a problem when you cut Walker right before the season AFTER Bell was already injured for several weeks of camp.

 

Cutting Chambers and then being forced to re-sign him 2 days later (after every other team passed on him) couldn't be seen as a forecast of the disaster to follow.

 

and relying on Butler as the cornerstone of the OL when he hasn't been healthy since he's been here was also a masterstroke of planning

[Thoner7]

Our line this Sunday will feature two players waived this season (one re-signed by the Bills); a player waived last season before the start of his team's 0-16 season; a rookie, who is the best offensive lineman left on the team & a lunchpail journeyman.

When (if ever) was the last time we picked a guy up who had been waived earlier in the month & put him right into the starting lineup on the O-line? The last guy I remember this happening with is in 1986 when we picked up LB George Cumby on waivers & he was promptly named a starter.

Next year we might be able to say-remember the game where we started 3 guys on the offensive line who are out of the league now?

I hope we never see this bad on O-line again, it took 50 years to get this bad a bunch together.

 

Didnt we do that with Chris Draft just this season? This FO is a joke, but the Meredith/Brohm moves were impressive I must say.

[Doc]

you are probably right

 

who could have possibly foreseen a problem when you cut Walker right before the season AFTER Bell was already injured for several weeks of camp.

 

Cutting Chambers and then being forced to re-sign him 2 days later (after every other team passed on him) couldn't be seen as a forecast of the disaster to follow.

 

and relying on Butler as the cornerstone of the OL when he hasn't been healthy since he's been here was also a masterstroke of planning

The Bills need to get that crystal ball fixed. Or borrow yours.

[spartacus]

The Bills need to get that crystal ball fixed. Or borrow yours.

 

yeah -you need a crystal ball to determine that a 2nd year player with zero experience who is already injured may have some problems starting for the 1st time at LT.

 

you must have shared brilliant foresight with OBD

[BillsVet]

This FO is a joke, but the Meredith/Brohm moves were impressive I must say.

 

What definitive proof do you have that these moves are anything special? Both players were buried on GB's practice squad, with little chance of making their active roster. Too many fans talk about potential, which in this case are people remembering scouting reports from 1-2 years ago. They wouldn't be on practice squads if they were as good as some say they are.

[Conch]

I don't think anyone, let alone the front office, saw their two best starters going down to season ending injury. Still, their depth at OT going into the season was downright criminal. If you ask me, they've got one guy on that entire line who'll be a starter in the NFL two seasons from now: Andy Levitre. The rest are has-beens, or never will be's. I don't believe for a second that Meredith will amount to much, given GB's unwillingness to put him on their OT starved roster.

 

Wood is not one of their two best starters. Butler was our best starter and only experienced starter and he would not start for any AFC east team. Levitre outperformed Wood.

 

The comment on Meredith is rash and premature. On average it takes three years for an Oline player to develop. Meredith was highly rated coming out of college, time to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think it was a good move but one for the future, obviously the FO gave up on this team at the very start of the season and picked him up for down the road value.

[BillsVet]

Wood is not one of their two best starters. Butler was our best starter and only experienced starter and he would not start for any AFC east team. Levitre outperformed Wood.

 

The comment on Meredith is rash and premature. On average it takes three years for an Oline player to develop. Meredith was highly rated coming out of college, time to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think it was a good move but one for the future, obviously the FO gave up on this team at the very start of the season and picked him up for down the road value.

 

Meredith was drafted by a team (GB) with a huge weakness at OT. And yet he could not make the active roster, was exposed to 31 other teams in the league, and ultimately was placed onto GB's practice squad. If he's that good, wouldn't a team with huge needs at OT promote him when they began having problems at his position?

 

Offensive lineman DO NOT take 3 years to develop. There are a host of guys who came into the league and played well from the start. Meredith, like Demetrius Bell, is a project player that needs another season of development, and only plays because the team is woefully thin on the OL. It's why he was taken in the 5th round and not the 1st-2nd.

 

I would like for someone to give me proof, other than dated scouting reports, as to why players like Meredith and Bell are going to be good starters in the NFL.

[Doc]

yeah -you need a crystal ball to determine that a 2nd year player with zero experience who is already injured may have some problems starting for the 1st time at LT.

 

you must have shared brilliant foresight with OBD

So the "brilliant" answer was keeping Walker, to play LT? Walker isn't even starting for the Raiders.

[gobillsinytown]

Langston Walker: Now with the Raiders, not as a starter.

 

Derrick Dockery: Back with the Redskins, as a starter.

 

Obviously this doesn't say much for our front office when it comes to picking linemen in free agency. The only real promise I see on the line are LeVitre and hopefully Wood, if he can fully recover. Let's all hope Ralph really means what he says and gets a good football guy in the front office, because the first thing he's going to have to do is work on building the O-line.

[hb123]

Langston Walker: Now with the Raiders, not as a starter.

 

Derrick Dockery: Back with the Redskins, as a starter.

 

Obviously this doesn't say much for our front office when it comes to picking linemen in free agency. The only real promise I see on the line are LeVitre and hopefully Wood, if he can fully recover. Let's all hope Ralph really means what he says and gets a good football guy in the front office, because the first thing he's going to have to do is work on building the O-line.

 

 

We have definately been bitten by the injury bug and the Oline has been decimated by injury. They were REALLY thin on talent to begin with - at least experienced talent. Theres a chance guys like Bell, Scott, Meredith might be good in a few years, but they are very raw right now. If were lucky one will turn into a solid starter and the others might be servicable backups. The front office gets an F for preparation thinking they could shuffle 2 rookies and a new center while pushing oft injured Butler to tackle and throwing Walker over to LT, where by all accounts he was not good at nor athlethic enough. Alot of people here could see this or at least were concerned about it going into traning camp. To not have brought in even a stop gap veteran tackle was foolish. Their brillance gave us basically 2 rookie guards, a rookie LT, an oft injured guard moving to a new position and a decent fa center. No continuity and thinner than a heroin strung out model.

 

When you cant pass block and cant run the ball, you are doomed to have an offense like we have seen this year. Who ever comes in here has to fix up the line to at least be average in pass pro and run blocking and figure out who the qb is first and foremost.

[BillsfaninFl]

Our line this Sunday will feature two players waived this season (one re-signed by the Bills); a player waived last season before the start of his team's 0-16 season; a rookie, who is the best offensive lineman left on the team & a lunchpail journeyman.

When (if ever) was the last time we picked a guy up who had been waived earlier in the month & put him right into the starting lineup on the O-line? The last guy I remember this happening with is in 1986 when we picked up LB George Cumby on waivers & he was promptly named a starter.

Next year we might be able to say-remember the game where we started 3 guys on the offensive line who are out of the league now?

I hope we never see this bad on O-line again, it took 50 years to get this bad a bunch together.

 

Amen. How can a couple of you actually say "stop blaming the offensive line?" No, it's not their fault that they aren't very good. Some are too young and inexperienced to expect much from them. Injuries have made a bad situation much worse. No line can play well when they do not line up with the same guys beside them often enough. But the situation was created by the comedy of errors brought about by the coaches and management. We may never know...

 

1. We may never know if the real reason for Jason Peters' sudden bad attitude was that he wanted to escape from a sinking ship.

2. We may never know if the apparent fall off in talent in recent years is just Ralph sweetening his pot even more than before (by spending so little on players).

3. We may never know how good or bad Losman and Edwards would have been with good coaching and supporting players. Next year, add Brohm to this sentence and the following year add whomever is our next QB.

[spartacus]

So the "brilliant" answer was keeping Walker, to play LT? Walker isn't even starting for the Raiders.

 

when you plan the entire off-season for Walker to play LT, you don't cut the guy outright days before the season starts when the guy you want to replace is already injured.

 

I'm not a big fan of Walker, especially at LT, but he is healthy and light years ahead of what has been playing OL for this team since he left.

[Doc]

when you plan the entire off-season for Walker to play LT, you don't cut the guy outright days before the season starts when the guy you want to replace is already injured.

Bell was healthy when Walker was cut.

 

I'm not a big fan of Walker, especially at LT, but he is healthy and light years ahead of what has been playing OL for this team since he left.

Walker at LT had just as much of a chance to blow-up as playing Bell. The guy is a RT. And with Butler being moved to RT, Walker was going to be a backup. And having a $5M/year backup isn't how you want to run things, except in hindsight.

 

That being said, I always favored keeping Walker at RT and Butler at LG, and starting Bell at LT, from the first OTA (although in retrospect, playing Levitre there might have been an option). However there is no doubt that injuries have killed the O-line, and team.