TheBlackMamba Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 My link "...Nix expressed confidence in the Bills starting five linemen, but wasn't sure whether he'll have to wait until the off-season to add proven depth..." It took him 3 weeks into camp to just now realize this?!?!?
dollars 2 donuts Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) My link "...Nix expressed confidence in the Bills starting five linemen, but wasn't sure whether he'll have to wait until the off-season to add proven depth..." It took him 3 weeks into camp to just now realize this?!?!? I don't understand; I thought they liked the guys they had playing offensive line and thought that they were better than most of us out here thought they were. EDIT: I love how they went after Atlanta's RT and then after that...they were done. "Oh well, we tried." It is unlikely, but I would love it if someone from the organization came out and said, "Look, we knew we had a poor Oline, but when FA hit we had an extra 20 plus million dollars and sat on our f****** hands and now we are paying for it and you are going to suffer because of it as fans. So what's the big deal?" Edited August 17, 2011 by dollars 2 donuts
TheBlackMamba Posted August 17, 2011 Author Posted August 17, 2011 i mean i get that he thinks the starting 5 are good, but the depth sucks. i can't believe how he just realized, "oh sh*t, if someone gets hurt, we're screwed!!!", 3 weeks into camp when he had an entire season AND off-season to view tape and still didnt make any moves
Heitz Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 I know everyone is hot on Stinchcomb, but maybe this helps explain why he hasn't signed yet: http://buzztap.com/link.jsp?id=5773992&cid=32&source=feed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed Let us pray he has a miracle recovery and we sign him...
billsfreak Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 The whole entire line with the possible exception of Wood at center is a mess. Take away Bad Santa and you still have probably the worst offensive line in football, for yet another year.
Beerball Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 My favorite part: Nix said he entered the draft to focus on improving what had been a porous defense. "You can't," Nix said, "fix everything at once." Clady was tossed out there (By the author I beleive) as an attempt to improve the line, but, is there no one else? Should a GM "focus" on only one area of a team in the draft? Were there not options via the draft and FA outside of Clady that could have improved this line (at least from a 'depth' standpoint if not starter)? Is anyone out there happy with our starting O-line? Should Nix be concerned with more than depth? Did improving the Bills O-line occur to any of you prior to the second week of TC? Has anyone else had too much coffee today?
stony Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 My favorite part: Clady was tossed out there (By the author I beleive) as an attempt to improve the line, but, is there no one else? Should a GM "focus" on only one area of a team in the draft? Were there not options via the draft and FA outside of Clady that could have improved this line (at least from a 'depth' standpoint if not starter)? Is anyone out there happy with our starting O-line? Should Nix be concerned with more than depth? Did improving the Bills O-line occur to any of you prior to the second week of TC? Has anyone else had too much coffee today? Is Clady a FA? Not being a smartazz. Clabo?
dpberr Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 Everybody has offensive line problems. Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Indy... The advantage the Bills have is LOTS of money under the cap. The teams with identified weaknesses on the line are really up against the cap now. If the Bills *want* to do something, they have the flexibility to do it.
Fitz's Beard Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 My favorite part: Clady was tossed out there (By the author I beleive) as an attempt to improve the line, but, is there no one else? Should a GM "focus" on only one area of a team in the draft? Were there not options via the draft and FA outside of Clady that could have improved this line (at least from a 'depth' standpoint if not starter)? Is anyone out there happy with our starting O-line? Should Nix be concerned with more than depth? Did improving the Bills O-line occur to any of you prior to the second week of TC? Has anyone else had too much coffee today? no, yes there were, no, yes, us or the coaches?, and not enough yet...
Kelly the Dog Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Nix is right. You can't fix everything at once. I think people fail to see there are several things going on at once as well. First, I think our OL stinks, so I am not just giving Nix a pass. I think we need probably three new players out of eight. I think we need a starting RT so Pears can be a decent/solid back-up. I think we need a back-up LT instead of Wang. And I think we need to find a starting RG, whether he is on this roster or not. But I also don't think we can just bring in any vet just because he may be a better short term back up than Wang, or possibly better than Erik Pears (because even if they were better before, they are available now for a reason, usually a good one, and a health one). We need to FIX the line, which means for good. Not patch it. The guys they bring in better be able to play for 3-4 years, not 1-2. They cannot be just patchwork guys that take the place of all the developing guys, because then we are stuck for the next 10 years doing the same thing. They also must fit the kind of player that Nix and Gailey are bringing in to change the culture of this team, meaning bigger, nastier, smarter, self-motivated leaders. That eliminates a lot of players who may seem like good fits. But the upside is I love the attitude of the new players they are bringing in and I think it will help up for years to come when we are an entire team of guys like that. That's part of what Nix means by you can't fix everything at once. They are looking both short term, medium term and long term to turn around this franchise, and are really only in the beginning of the second year. Gailey needs to see if Urbik, Rinehart and Pears are starting material in this league. You only get that by watching them practice and playing in games. It's too early to give up on them (one pre-season game). Granted, it has to happen soon. Levitre will likely get his starting job back. I wouldn't doubt if Rinehart starts over Urbik but both of those guys need to play with the ones in real games to see if they can cut it (which I believe is part of the strategy of Levitre's demotion which had several factors). I expect a veteran cut to be brought in to play tackle, but if there isn't a clear player who fits what they're trying to do, it's likely not going to happen. We don't need a player like MacKinnie even if he is right now, slightly better than a guy we have. I think Nix went after Clabo and we didn't offer him as much money as it would have taken, which may not have been all Nix's call. But the fact is, it's not nearly as simple as "this guy is better than our guy" because he played better before on a different team in a different system in a different year feeling different health-wise asked to do different things. Not to mention that Levitre is already back with the ones, and will be splitting time there for now. http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2011/08/17/levitre-back-with-1s/ Edited August 17, 2011 by Kelly the Fair and Balanced Dog
CodeMonkey Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 This is not news guys. Regardless of what you think of the starting 5, I don't think anyone would argue the backups are atrocious. We are approaching preseason game 2 and players are soon going to be cut by teams, including some decent depth linemen. The Bills are grossly under the cap. Do the math.
Trader Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 My link "...Nix expressed confidence in the Bills starting five linemen, but wasn't sure whether he'll have to wait until the off-season to add proven depth..." It took him 3 weeks into camp to just now realize this?!?!? Yep Gailey to Nix loud and clear. Get some OL help ASAP. Nix is right. You can't fix everything at once. I think people fail to see there are several things going on at once as well. First, I think our OL stinks, so I am not just giving Nix a pass. I think we need probably three new players out of eight. I think we need a starting RT so Pears can be a decent/solid back-up. I think we need a back-up LT instead of Wang. And I think we need to find a starting RG, whether he is on this roster or not. But I also don't think we can just bring in any vet just because he may be a better short term back up than Wang, or possibly better than Erik Pears (because even if they were better before, they are available now for a reason, usually a good one, and a health one). We need to FIX the line, which means for good. Not patch it. The guys they bring in better be able to play for 3-4 years, not 1-2. They cannot be just patchwork guys that take the place of all the developing guys, because then we are stuck for the next 10 years doing the same thing. They also must fit the kind of player that Nix and Gailey are bringing in to change the culture of this team, meaning bigger, nastier, smarter, self-motivated leaders. That eliminates a lot of players who may seem like good fits. But the upside is I love the attitude of the new players they are bringing in and I think it will help up for years to come when we are an entire team of guys like that. That's part of what Nix means by you can't fix everything at once. They are looking both short term, medium term and long term to turn around this franchise, and are really only in the beginning of the second year. Gailey needs to see if Urbik, Rinehart and Pears are starting material in this league. You only get that by watching them practice and playing in games. It's too early to give up on them (one pre-season game). Granted, it has to happen soon. Levitre will likely get his starting job back. I wouldn't doubt if Rinehart starts over Urbik but both of those guys need to play with the ones in real games to see if they can cut it (which I believe is part of the strategy of Levitre's demotion which had several factors). I expect a veteran cut to be brought in to play tackle, but if there isn't a clear player who fits what they're trying to do, it's likely not going to happen. We don't need a player like MacKinnie even if he is right now, slightly better than a guy we have. I think Nix went after Clabo and we didn't offer him as much money as it would have taken, which may not have been all Nix's call. But the fact is, it's not nearly as simple as "this guy is better than our guy" because he played better before on a different team in a different system in a different year feeling different health-wise asked to do different things. They don't have any developmental players on their roster that are so talented that it would be a problem to replace them with better players. The Bills need to get one Tackle and one Guard with more quality experience than is on the roster now.
The Big Cat Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 169 rush yards per game. That's not an "area" of our team that needed to be "addressed." That was a fundamental FAILURE that needed completely RE-HAULED. Can you address AND re-haul in the same off-season? Sure, but you'll be compromising SOMEWHERE on both fronts. Dareus, Merriman, Barnett and all the guys we drafted: that's where our resources went, and I think we're going to see some serious ROI (one would hope). I think top brass knows that they did a pretty good job of boosting the starters and adding depth to the front 7, at least to an extent that their performance won't be a bloody abortion (barring a catastrophic number of injuries). NOW we move to problem #2, the OLine. Again, not saying it "wasn't a problem" last year and in years past, but think of it this way, if your house is on fire (you let up 169 rushing yards PER GAME) and you've been having to bike to work because your car's transmission is shot (your offense has been hamstrung, though not paralyzed by the OLine), I think you're likely to call the fire department before you call a mechanic. It seems like the fire is out and we've got a roof over our heads. Now with a little extra money from the home owners insurance check, it's time to get the car fixed.
PromoTheRobot Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 The Bills had several problems going into the draft and they decided to fix the defense first. They tried to sign Clabo but it's likely he was just using the Bills to drive up his price. So why haven't we brought in other O-linemen? I wonder if there is lingering distrust over the last couple of free agent O-line signings? Green, Walker and Dockery all flopped, and all cost big money. Could it be Ralph is blocking any more free agent pickups?
CodeMonkey Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 The Bills had several problems going into the draft and they decided to fix the defense first. They tried to sign Clabo but it's likely he was just using the Bills to drive up his price. So why haven't we brought in other O-linemen? I wonder if there is lingering distrust over the last couple of free agent O-line signings? Green, Walker and Dockery all flopped, and all cost big money. Could it be Ralph is blocking any more free agent pickups? Ralph is cheap.
dpberr Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 I think it's going to be a banner year for defenses across the league. I think the Bills have a half decent situation. It's a question of depth, not a question of figuring out who all the starters will be. BTW, Ryan Harris, the RT formerly of the Broncos, and now in Philadelphia, is out with, you guessed it, a back injury.
Defend Greece Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 Well he is the guy who can do something about it
BringBackFlutie Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 I don't understand; I thought they liked the guys they had playing offensive line and thought that they were better than most of us out here thought they were. EDIT: I love how they went after Atlanta's RT and then after that...they were done. "Oh well, we tried." It is unlikely, but I would love it if someone from the organization came out and said, "Look, we knew we had a poor Oline, but when FA hit we had an extra 20 plus million dollars and sat on our f****** hands and now we are paying for it and you are going to suffer because of it as fans. So what's the big deal?" I'm going to be honest here about Nix first: he should have known better at the beginning...rather than now. There are obvious problems on the O-Line. BUT judging by last year he was probably right. We had a carousel of linemen at the end of the year and they all filled their jobs in at least an adequate manner. Some were bad but I'm sure Nix and Co. were banking on all of the line coming back healthy and being better when all 5 of the best were out there, but unfortunately it didn't happen that way and everyone is even worse than they seemed before. He did say they thought they had better O-Linemen...Well, whatever, point made. I am extremely happy with Nix, at least he is acknowledging that the line is a problem, which makes me confident that he will fix it if he can. Which leads to the next point. We are building a young team for the future. He's not going to find stop-gap players. If he's going to sign a FA and let them fill our holes on the O-Line then you better hope those young players of ours can step up next year like they didn't this year, or that we draft all starting caliber O-linemen right away next year, because the stop-gap is gonna have to be signed short-term unless he's young enough. Why? The answer is simple and clearly overlooked by fans at an alarming rate: We have 20 million dollars of cap room which needs to stay there because next year we need to keep everyone of our skill positions. In the past we've argued that the Bills don't keep their talent when they can afford it. Well, if we go out and dump a bunch of money into free agency this year, chances are, next year we won't even be able to keep our big-name young talent. I'm pretty sure that Buddy is just going about this the most cautious way possible. He's waiting for final cuts by all of the teams. If he can sign a good O-Lineman that will pay dividends and be worth the money for years to come, he's gonna do it. If not, then he's gonna have to go out and take a hit to sign depth players and hope that the ones on the team now are gonna be adequate to mix in with some rookies next year.
PromoTheRobot Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 Our only hope now is other teams releasing useful players and being able to sign them. Then hoping they can learn the offense quickly. PTR
Green Lightning Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 I think the best we can hope for is: Starters: D.Bell Levitre Wood Rinehart New Guy Back ups: Pears Hairston Howard Wang Wrotto Urbik Hangman Vet signing
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