Tackling the "we need a LT" myth

[HuSeYiN1978]

first, welcome to the board, enjoy !!

 

second, i have to strongly disagree with you.

 

 

Fitzpatrick made the O-Line look good because he threw the ball in under 3 seconds. thats all the time he had before protection broke down. the Bills have the WORST two starting offensive tackles in the league. other than wood (at center) and levitre (at left guard only) the whole unit is not good enough. It would not surprise me in the least if they used their first round pick on a LT....Martin from Stanford the way i see the draft falling. i know a pass rush is what everyone is clamoring for, but it may already be on the roster if Merriman can get healthy, he was a beast in preseason and got injured in first regular season game.

 

as far as Fitz goes. the bills were 5-2 thru the washington game where fitz got his ribs broken by London Fletcher. they were 1-8 after that. Fitz is the least of our problems. a pass rush and o line protection is a much bigger problem. Fitz may not be a "franchise QB" , but in my opinion is a Top 20 QB.

 

Ranking 20 out of 32 is not great...

If we were talking math, ranking 20th out of 32 is a failing grade.

 

Or let's say your kid comes home and says hey mom and dad guess what? In my class of 32 students I'm the 20th. If it were a class of geniuses I'm sure you wouldn't mind. Such is not the case with NFL QB's. There's only top ten material.

 

If we want to make the playoffs it would help if our QB ranked in the top ten meaning he was accurate and/or his receivers caught the balls he threw. I'm not here saying Fitz is or isn't the guy that will take us to the playoffs but what I AM saying is if we want to make the playoffs? It would help if Fitz ranked in the top ten in overall rankings.

 

It still won't b a given because he finished 14th this year but top ten would help.

[jjmac]

Right, and I'm basically agreeing with him. Oh, it's possible (but unlikely) they could sneak into the 6th seed and get hammered in a wild card game, but there's no way Fitz leads a team with a real chance of reaching the Super Bowl.

 

So that's why I think they would be smart to draft a TJ Yates (although Houston didn't make the playoffs because of him -- they were miles ahead of the pack by the time he was the starter).

 

No, they didn't reach the playoffs because of him, but he did win a playoff game.

[PDaDdy]

Let me preface by saying Hello to all, I am a new poster to THIS particular Bills board, and I look forward to talking football with this board. I have been a regular on the BBMB on the official site for awhile now and the lack of knowledge there astounds me sometimes. I have been perusing this board and can safely say, that I am "in the right place". I sincerely hope that you enjoy my posts and I hope to have lengthy, knowledgable debates.

 

To the point, there is a myth that this team is "lacking" along the Oline and in perticular at the LT spot. To be honest, I have to find that laughable. The real problem with this offense is the Quarterback.

 

Lets not forget the fact that the QB (I cant even say his name sometimes he makes me sick) was the LEAST sacked QB in the NFL this year, even after injuries at critical positions along the offensive front. Lets also add QB pressures to this equation, of which the Qb was ONLY pressured on 135 of his 569 dropbacks or a rate of every 4.2% of dropbacks. Lets compare that number to QB's who are considered to "have all day" behind great offensive lines.

 

Drew Brees - 174 pressured dropbacks

 

Tom Brady - 173 pressured dropbacks

 

Aaron Rodgers - 158 pressured dropbacks

 

Eli Manning - 244 pressured dropbacks (the WORST OLINE in the league, and they won a Super Bowl)

 

There are 14 QB's who started every game this year (E. Manning/Brees/Freeman/Ryan/Rivers/Newton/Flacco/Dalton/Brady/Stafford/A. Smith/Rodgers/Sanchez). There are also Qb's who missed 1-4 games and their Olines surrendered more pressures than that of our Bills they are Vick/Grossman/Mccoy/Romo/Tebow/T. Jackson/Roethlisberger/Bradford/Gabbert. That is 22 Qb's who faced more pressure than Fitzpatrick and 9 of them didnt play 16 games. Of the remaining 12 QB's who started this year only Matt Hasselbeck threw more then 300 times.

 

This Buffalo Bills Oline is one of the strongest units in the league, and they receive constant hatred from some that are too enamoured by a QB who is nothing more than a solid spot-duty BACKUP.

 

Not enough to make some of you believers in this Oline, and non-Billievers in the QB? Well how about this:

 

Fitzpatricks TD/INT ratio when under pressure ranked him 3rd worst in the league and only Curtis Painter (1 TD/ 4 Ints) and Carson Palmer (2 TD's/ 10 Ints) were worse. Fitzpatricks TD/INT ratio under pressure was 2 TD's/ 8 INts.

 

How about his completion % under pressure? Well Fitz ranked at the bottom of the league at that as well at an abysmal 43.6%, hitting only 44 out of 101 attempts.

 

ladies and Gentleman this is definitive proof of the QB being the issue and not the Offensive line.

 

Let me also add that this team was dead last in 3 and outs this year. look, I realize the defense could benefit greatly from a pass rusher (in fact a pass rusher should be the pick in 2 of the first 3 rounds), but fans overlook that when your offense is giving the ball back to the opposing team after ONLY 3 plays that doesnt allow for the defense to properly make in-game adjustments and talk with the coaches about scheme on the sideline.

 

We must address the QB situation with haste, if not this team will continue to be muddled in mediocrity.

 

All I heard was blah blah blah BS...

 

We need a LT. Get a clue. Demetrius "IR" Bell the late UFA and Chris "4th round" Harrison I also get hurt are not the answer. The guys you mention have great tackles. Did you watch the probowl? At one point there were 3, count them THREE New Orleans Saints offensive lineman on the field at the same time including the LT. Rogers at one point I believe also had more than 1 offensive lineman playing at a given time. If it weren't for the super bowl I would imagine there would have been representation from New England and or New York.

 

I hate it too but after Fitz rib injury his stats went down along with 4 WRS, a LT, our best offensive line man and center Eric Woods and Fred Jackson who looked like an NFL MVP candidate. Ya...those things had NOTHING to do with our slide and Fitz's performance. Again...get a clue.

 

P.S. Fitz was also the second fastest QB in the league getting rid of the ball. HE was also hit a league high 3.1 times per sack. What does this mean? Fitz almost the least time in the league to find WRs plant his feet and make good accurate throws. Let's just ignore all that and whine about a QB who was leading the entire freaking league through 5 or 6 weeks while we had the best and for a time the second best record in the NFL for a while.

Edited February 14, 2012 by PDaDdy

[Nanker]

Brady, Manning, Rivers, Brees, and Manning2 are so good they don't need an offensive line. All they need is a center to hike them the ball. The rest is all on them.

[Turbosrrgood]

Good post. Prepare to be brutally attacked by the Fitz lovers on this board with excuses such as:

 

- We lost FJ

- He's throwing to horrible WR's

- He played with cracked ribs, a bruised sternum and non-communicable leprosy (OK, I made that last one up)

 

They will ignore the fact my opinion that he has never been a QUALITY starter in all of his years, he cannot consistently throw an accurate deep ball or that we will never see a playoff game with him as a starting QB.

Slight correction, as I am skeptical that you can predict the future.

 

You may want to consider that this is his FIRST full year as a starter. He threw for 25 TD's, despite the legitimate issues above (along with the injured O-line, and constantly playing from behind). The only other QB's that have done that for the Bills are Jim Kelly twice, and Bledsoe once.

 

It may be convenient for your delicate sensitivities towards the Bills to blame all of the problems on Fitz, but the fact of the matter is that there are 53 players on that roster and this team simply wasn't deep enough, or coached well enough (defense), to compete for a full season. Fitz played as good as any other QB for the Bills since Kelly left. Is he a star? Certainly not IMO, but he played well enough to get another chance. To blame the entire season on him, or to say we cant win with him (5-2 start), is simply asinine.

 

To the original post, I don't think we "need" a LT, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to upgrade...

Edited February 14, 2012 by Turbosrrgood

[PDaDdy]

Brady, Manning, Rivers, Brees, and Manning2 are so good they don't need an offensive line. All they need is a center to hike them the ball. The rest is all on them.

 

How do you explain so many of their lineman making the probowl? Because they suck?....HAHhAHAhaAHahAh. I might call Manning a push because he proved in his absence how much of that team he really was.

Edited February 14, 2012 by PDaDdy

[Alphadawg7]

Let me preface by saying Hello to all, I am a new poster to THIS particular Bills board, and I look forward to talking football with this board. I have been a regular on the BBMB on the official site for awhile now and the lack of knowledge there astounds me sometimes. I have been perusing this board and can safely say, that I am "in the right place". I sincerely hope that you enjoy my posts and I hope to have lengthy, knowledgable debates.

 

To the point, there is a myth that this team is "lacking" along the Oline and in perticular at the LT spot. To be honest, I have to find that laughable. The real problem with this offense is the Quarterback.

 

Lets not forget the fact that the QB (I cant even say his name sometimes he makes me sick) was the LEAST sacked QB in the NFL this year, even after injuries at critical positions along the offensive front. Lets also add QB pressures to this equation, of which the Qb was ONLY pressured on 135 of his 569 dropbacks or a rate of every 4.2% of dropbacks. Lets compare that number to QB's who are considered to "have all day" behind great offensive lines.

 

Drew Brees - 174 pressured dropbacks

 

Tom Brady - 173 pressured dropbacks

 

Aaron Rodgers - 158 pressured dropbacks

 

Eli Manning - 244 pressured dropbacks (the WORST OLINE in the league, and they won a Super Bowl)

 

There are 14 QB's who started every game this year (E. Manning/Brees/Freeman/Ryan/Rivers/Newton/Flacco/Dalton/Brady/Stafford/A. Smith/Rodgers/Sanchez). There are also Qb's who missed 1-4 games and their Olines surrendered more pressures than that of our Bills they are Vick/Grossman/Mccoy/Romo/Tebow/T. Jackson/Roethlisberger/Bradford/Gabbert. That is 22 Qb's who faced more pressure than Fitzpatrick and 9 of them didnt play 16 games. Of the remaining 12 QB's who started this year only Matt Hasselbeck threw more then 300 times.

 

This Buffalo Bills Oline is one of the strongest units in the league, and they receive constant hatred from some that are too enamoured by a QB who is nothing more than a solid spot-duty BACKUP.

 

Not enough to make some of you believers in this Oline, and non-Billievers in the QB? Well how about this:

 

Fitzpatricks TD/INT ratio when under pressure ranked him 3rd worst in the league and only Curtis Painter (1 TD/ 4 Ints) and Carson Palmer (2 TD's/ 10 Ints) were worse. Fitzpatricks TD/INT ratio under pressure was 2 TD's/ 8 INts.

 

How about his completion % under pressure? Well Fitz ranked at the bottom of the league at that as well at an abysmal 43.6%, hitting only 44 out of 101 attempts.

 

ladies and Gentleman this is definitive proof of the QB being the issue and not the Offensive line.

 

Let me also add that this team was dead last in 3 and outs this year. look, I realize the defense could benefit greatly from a pass rusher (in fact a pass rusher should be the pick in 2 of the first 3 rounds), but fans overlook that when your offense is giving the ball back to the opposing team after ONLY 3 plays that doesnt allow for the defense to properly make in-game adjustments and talk with the coaches about scheme on the sideline.

 

We must address the QB situation with haste, if not this team will continue to be muddled in mediocrity.

 

Welcome aboard and thank you for the great post! I have been saying this for a while, but all you will find is a long list of excuses for a guy who has not been a good starter yet in his career. What you will get is people clinging to a 2 to 3 game stretch claiming its definitive proof he is a top starter while ignoring every other game the guy has ever played in his career. Good luck!

 

Good post. Prepare to be brutally attacked by the Fitz lovers on this board with excuses such as:

 

- We lost FJ

- He's throwing to horrible WR's

- He played with cracked ribs, a bruised sternum and non-communicable leprosy (OK, I made that last one up)

 

They will ignore the fact that he has never been a QUALITY starter in all of his years, he cannot consistently throw an accurate deep ball or that we will never see a playoff game with him as a starting QB.

 

 

^^^THIS TOO^^^

[Captain Hindsight]

Fitz is what he is. Hes a middle of the road starter that can look really good or really bad. I'll agree with the OP. I don't think our line is that bad but to say Fitz decision making and Gailey's design of the offense inst protecting them is just silly.

 

Short routes, nothing deep and rely heavily on receivers making plays.

[Alphadawg7]

You may want to consider that this is his FIRST full year as a starter. He threw for 25 TD's, despite the legitimate issues above (along with the injured O-line, and constantly playing from behind). The only other QB's that have done that for the Bills are Jim Kelly twice, and Bledsoe once.

 

It may be convenient for your delicate sensitivities towards the Bills to blame all of the problems on Fitz, but the fact of the matter is that there are 53 players on that roster and this team simply wasn't deep enough, or coached well enough (defense), to compete for a full season. Fitz played as good as any other QB for the Bills since Kelly left. Is he a star? Certainly not IMO, but he played well enough to get another chance.

 

People need to please STOP bringing up Jim Kelly. He played in a VERY different era and all QB's were putting up a lot less numbers than todays NFL where the rules HEAVILY favor passing. 25 TD's are not exactly rare in todays NFL, especially on a team that threw as much as we did. Plus, Fitz's stats are heavily weighted with a few big games while sucking a lot of the rest of the games. He is the definition of inconsistent.

 

The fact that only Bledsoe and Kelly are the only other QB's in Bills history to pass for 25 TD's and that SJ is the ONLY Bill to ever have back to back 1000 yard seasons speaks volumes about the ineptness of this Franchise to field quality QB's...yet QB is the single most important position in all of team sports. The Bills are so ass backwards on this its not even funny.

[The Big Cat]

People need to please STOP bringing up Jim Kelly. He played in a VERY different era and all QB's were putting up a lot less numbers than todays NFL where the rules HEAVILY favor passing. 25 TD's are not exactly rare in todays NFL, especially on a team that threw as much as we did. Plus, Fitz's stats are heavily weighted with a few big games while sucking a lot of the rest of the games. He is the definition of inconsistent.

 

The fact that only Bledsoe and Kelly are the only other QB's in Bills history to pass for 25 TD's and that SJ is the ONLY Bill to ever have back to back 1000 yard seasons speaks volumes about the ineptness of this Franchise to field quality QB's...yet QB is the single most important position in all of team sports. The Bills are so ass backwards on this its not even funny.

 

I disagree with you about just everything but this.

 

The comparisons to Kelly (or any other quarterback who played 20 YEARS AGO) are ludicrous.

 

In a league that's only 50 years old, why are we drudging up stats from decades ago, when the game itself transforms every five years or so?

[Sisyphean Bills]

Welcome to the board.

 

You're right that Fitz isn't a great QB. You're wrong that the revolving door solution at LT (which features a guy that is always nicked up and has missed more practice than not the past 2 years) is perfectly fine.

[Fan in San Diego]

Welcome to the board. I was reading David Lee's comments about Fitz and think that he is going to help Fitz a great deal with accuracy and velocity. David Lee's specialty is getting a QB's throwing mechanics in sync. If he he can improve Fitz's accuracy and velocity, I think all of the previous arguments go out the window. David Lee mentions that Fitz has alot of the intangible qualities a QB needs but can use some improvement with mechanics.

Should be an interesting year.

[The Big Cat]

Welcome to the board. I was reading David Lee's comments about Fitz and think that he is going to help Fitz a great deal with accuracy and velocity. David Lee's specialty is getting a QB's throwing mechanics in sync. If he he can improve Fitz's accuracy and velocity, I think all of the previous arguments go out the window. David Lee mentions that Fitz has alot of the intangible qualities a QB needs but can use some improvement with mechanics.

Should be an interesting year.

 

Did he say this to the media?

If so, I'm glad to hear it.

 

I wonder if the lockout prevented Lee's predeccesor from addressing these seemingly obvious concerns a year ago. Or, perhaps his failure to do so ultimately cost him his job.

 

Any way you cut it, one needn't an NFL contract to detect bugs in Fitz's mechanics. Glad to hear the new guy's making them a priority.

 

My only fear is that mechanics tweaks, regardless of sport, can either have tremendous benefits, or terrible, terrible consequences. Here's hoping.

[D2K]

Saying something this clearly incorrect loses you nearly all credibility with some of your other points.

 

They just did win 6 games with him, despite a poor defense with the worst pass rush in the league, despite losing their starting Center, their only pro-bowler from the prior season, their starting SS, and their pro-bowl-bound starting RB.

 

I think Fitz is mediocre, and I agree the OL is much better than people give it credit for - but it is patently OBVIOUS that they CAN win more than 6 games with Fitz - all they need to do is repeat last season and not lose KW and Wood.

 

Couple things here: How can I be so "clearly" incorrect when he has never won more than the 6 games that he won this year? That is a fact. Injuries aside (because thats part of the game, see GB packers Super bowl season IR list) you cant project wins for him. I dont know how mentioning FACTS could have any relevance to my credibility?

 

You say poor defense with a bad pass rush, I say wrong scheme for the players on the field coupled with the OFFENSE leading the league in 3 and outs, which again doesnt allow for defensive adjustments and scheme adjustments on the fly. Granted we dont have a "pass rusher" to help this team get off of the field on 3rd down, but that helps make my point. I guess I should have titled this thread "Just say no to a LT in the first 3 rounds".

 

Eric Wood has yet to play a full 16 game schedule, and has done nothing to solidify the hype that Bills fans in general give the guy. Dont get me wrong, I like Wood and think he is an asset, but even healthy he isnt our best Olineman. I would give that to the multi-faceted Levitre. Wood cannot and should not be counted on as a 16 game center. He is as injury prone as Bell or anyone else you can mention.

 

KW is a good player, but lets face facts. The guy made the Pro Bowl as an alternate. He wasnt a first Ballot pro-bowler and he only registered 5.5 sacks last year and has 13.5 in his entire career. Dareus, as a rookie matched that 5.5 number. In the 5 games KW played this year he had 0 sacks 9 tackles and only 4 of those were solo tackles. I like KW as well, and I am very excited about the possibilties with him and Dareus manning the middle of our 43 front, but he is far from outstanding.

 

George Wilson is a converted WR who is a solid SS, but I think if Searcy is in the game instead you wouldnt notice a drop off in production from that position.

 

Fred, you gotta love this guy, but CJ filled in admirably in his absence. He is on the wrong side of 30 and IMO shouldnt get any more than maybe a 2 year deal 3 years if its backloaded with incentives.

 

If your opinion of Fitz is predicated on this opinion, then I think you're evaluations are completely flawed. Although, I wouldn't say our Oline is the worst in the league, I find it hard to see how anyone could say we have one of the best 3-5 lines in the league.

Fitz has issues with his accuracy, certainly. And, he needs to work on that quite a bit this off season; however, at least a portion of that is due to the Oline allowing too much pressure. I might also add that throwing to UFA and the like makes his job considerably more difficult than Eli's (for one).

 

Number 1 in the league in pass-pro (only allowing 135 pressures ALL SEASON) and number 12 in the running game despite Chans continued insistance to neglect our strongest assets (Spiller/Jackson) scream otherwise.

Edited February 14, 2012 by D2K

[The Big Cat]

Couple things here: How can I be so "clearly" incorrect when he has never won more than the 6 games that he won this year? That is a fact. Injuries aside (because thats part of the game, see GB packers Super bowl season IR list) you cant project wins for him. I dont know how mentioning FACTS could have any relevance to my credibility?

 

You say poor defense with a bad pass rush, I say wrong scheme for the players on the field coupled with the OFFENSE leading the league in 3 and outs, which again doesnt allow for defensive adjustments and scheme adjustments on the fly. Granted we dont have a "pass rusher" to help this team get off of the field on 3rd down, but that helps make my point. I guess I should have titled this thread "Just say no to a LT in the first 3 rounds".

 

Eric Wood has yet to play a full 16 game schedule, and has done nothing to solidify the hype that Bills fans in general give the guy. Dont get me wrong, I like Wood and think he is an asset, but even healthy he isnt our best Olineman. I would give that to the multi-faceted Levitre. Wood cannot and should not be counted on as a 16 game center. He is as injury prone as Bell or anyone else you can mention.

 

KW is a good player, but lets face facts. The guy made the Pro Bowl as an alternate. He wasnt a first Ballot pro-bowler and he only registered 5.5 sacks last year and has 13.5 in his entire career. Dareus, as a rookie matched that 5.5 number. In the 5 games KW played this year he had 0 sacks 9 tackles and only 4 of those were solo tackles. I like KW as well, and I am very excited about the possibilties with him and Dareus manning the middle of our 43 front, but he is far from outstanding.

 

George Wilson is a converted WR who is a solid SS, but I think if Searcy is in the game instead you wouldnt notice a drop off in production from that position.

 

Fred, you gotta love this guy, but CJ filled in admirably in his absence. He is on the wrong side of 30 and IMO shouldnt get any more than maybe a 2 year deal 3 years if its backloaded with incentives.

 

You've managed to surface a half dozen debatable issues and take the glass-is-half-empty argument for each one.

 

You'll find your ilk here in no time!

[uncle flap]

 

 

Lets not forget the fact that the QB (I cant even say his name sometimes he makes me sick) was the LEAST sacked QB in the NFL this year, even after injuries at critical positions along the offensive front. Lets also add QB pressures to this equation, of which the Qb was ONLY pressured on 135 of his 569 dropbacks or a rate of every 4.2% of dropbacks. Lets compare that number to QB's who are considered to "have all day" behind great offensive lines.

 

Drew Brees - 174 pressured dropbacks

 

Tom Brady - 173 pressured dropbacks

 

Aaron Rodgers - 158 pressured dropbacks

 

Eli Manning - 244 pressured dropbacks (the WORST OLINE in the league, and they won a Super Bowl)

 

There are 14 QB's who started every game this year (E. Manning/Brees/Freeman/Ryan/Rivers/Newton/Flacco/Dalton/Brady/Stafford/A. Smith/Rodgers/Sanchez). There are also Qb's who missed 1-4 games and their Olines surrendered more pressures than that of our Bills they are Vick/Grossman/Mccoy/Romo/Tebow/T. Jackson/Roethlisberger/Bradford/Gabbert. That is 22 Qb's who faced more pressure than Fitzpatrick and 9 of them didnt play 16 games. Of the remaining 12 QB's who started this year only Matt Hasselbeck threw more then 300 times.

 

This Buffalo Bills Oline is one of the strongest units in the league, and they receive constant hatred from some that are too enamoured by a QB who is nothing more than a solid spot-duty BACKUP.

 

Not enough to make some of you believers in this Oline, and non-Billievers in the QB? Well how about this:

 

Fitzpatricks TD/INT ratio when under pressure ranked him 3rd worst in the league and only Curtis Painter (1 TD/ 4 Ints) and Carson Palmer (2 TD's/ 10 Ints) were worse. Fitzpatricks TD/INT ratio under pressure was 2 TD's/ 8 INts.

 

How about his completion % under pressure? Well Fitz ranked at the bottom of the league at that as well at an abysmal 43.6%, hitting only 44 out of 101 attempts.

 

 

ok, i dont see how you "compared" the stats here. you didnt include the %s of the other QBs, and in fitz's case, 135 out of 569 is about 25% not 4.2.

 

regardless, i dont really think these stats are that important in the grand scope of things. scheme/playcalling, game situation and personnel tell more of the story than these cherry picked stats.

 

i think you can tell a lot more from paying attention during the games rather than just reading the box scores.

 

bottom line: fitz isnt that good, but neither is the oline.

Edited February 14, 2012 by uncle flap

[thewildrabbit]

Welcome aboard.

 

After week 5 during last season someone made a post of how good the bills O line was doing because of how few sacks the O line was giving up, plus the YPC Fred Jackson was getting. While the stats looked impressive they weren't telling the actual truth. This thread turned into a very heated debate about just how good that Bills line was playing last year.

 

First HC Chan Gailey recognizing that the O line was made up of some young players, cast offs from the waiver wire, and some decent players he knew he needed to help the QB as much as he could. So he set up a short, quick passing game that would allow the QB to get rid of the ball very quickly, thus negating most of the pass rush. In doing this it also limited what plays the Bills could run in the passing game, mostly short quick passes and not so many deep passing plays. Former Bills WR Lee Evans was known for being primarily a deep threat so his talents were no longer essential to the success of the offense, another reason why he was traded away.

 

Next you have Gailey utilizing a "spread offense", you know the very same one that Thurman Thomas run so well out of back in the early 90's. This offensive scheme kept teams from stacking the proverbial box against the run and allowed more big gains once the RB broke free.

 

Then you have Ryan Fitzpatrick who has an uncanny ability to read the defense, call protections and then find the open receiver in 3 seconds or under once the ball is snapped. The latter part of that last statement was something that former Bills QB's JP Losman & Trent Edwards couldn't always do, but then they had some inexperienced OC's trying to call 5-7 step drop back deep passing plays when the line clearly wasn't giving them enough time to complete those throws.

 

 

Here is a link to that thread I spoke of:

 

http://forums.twobil...ine-in-the-nfl/

 

 

 

What really screwed this team hard this past year was the injuries on the O line, particularly at LT and center . Once Eric Wood went down and went on IR the line play really fell off, the Bills had 4 different players trying to fill that position, and none came even close to what Wood was able to do. Not only did Andy Levitre play guard but he was also used at LT and center. Both starting LT Dem Bell and rookie Chris Hairston were injured at the same time. The O line last season was a cluster fluck for the 4th straight year. Two years ago it was the RT position and center, the bills were pulling guys off the street to play RT.

 

Then the injuries to the WR corps and Freddy Jackson also took its toll. The Bills had one viable top WR last year in Stevie Johnson, and it showed when the Bills kept trying to run 4-5 WR sets.

 

 

Bell has started at LT the last 3 years, and played in 31 out of 48 games 8 his first year, 16 last year and 7 this year. Who knows if the Bills really want to resign a player so often injured. If not then this becomes a very high priority in the draft since there are no top LT's in free agency

 

Then in regards to the QB, first I doubt there are many QB's in this league who could have even survived last season much less played as well as he did when everyone was healthy. Lets not forget that he was looking really good while that short passing game was working, and before all the injuries. Is he a top ten QB, we won't know until the Bills get him some help in protections and on the line. The Bills have so many other dire needs at other positions besides QB.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Fear the Beard

[D2K]

All I heard was blah blah blah BS...

 

We need a LT. Get a clue. Demetrius "IR" Bell the late UFA and Chris "4th round" Harrison I also get hurt are not the answer. The guys you mention have great tackles. Did you watch the probowl? At one point there were 3, count them THREE New Orleans Saints offensive lineman on the field at the same time including the LT. Rogers at one point I believe also had more than 1 offensive lineman playing at a given time. If it weren't for the super bowl I would imagine there would have been representation from New England and or New York.

 

I hate it too but after Fitz rib injury his stats went down along with 4 WRS, a LT, our best offensive line man and center Eric Woods and Fred Jackson who looked like an NFL MVP candidate. Ya...those things had NOTHING to do with our slide and Fitz's performance. Again...get a clue.

 

P.S. Fitz was also the second fastest QB in the league getting rid of the ball. HE was also hit a league high 3.1 times per sack. What does this mean? Fitz almost the least time in the league to find WRs plant his feet and make good accurate throws. Let's just ignore all that and whine about a QB who was leading the entire freaking league through 5 or 6 weeks while we had the best and for a time the second best record in the NFL for a while.

 

 

I find this post hilarious. Before Bell went down he was rated number 2 behind only Joe Thomas by PFF grading every starting LT in the league. Let me also add that Eric Wood has not played a single 16 game season in his entire career, should we be looking for his replacement? Chris HAIRSTON (no idea who chris harrison is) played the swing tackle better than anyone could have imagined. He was more then acceptable in his time on the blindisde. That 4th round argument is a terrible one and proves that you are reaching to support a 7th round QB on his 3rd team.

 

You cant possibly convince me that the Giants have great tackles. They were amongst the worst in the league. Not sure where you get your statistics. Diehl started the season as a LG and was forced to move outside because of an injury to Beatty. Diehl was kicked inside to guard because he was no longer capable of holding up at the POA and is a liabilty on that line (as i stated that oline allowed 244 pressures this year). Dont even get me started on Kareem Mackenzie the Giants RT. He is among the absolute bottom feeders at his position and is likely going to be replaced this year. Furthermore, the best LT's in the league are probably Joe Thomas of Cleveland and Jake Long of the Dolphins, those guys combined for 1 playoff appearance in their careers COMBINED. LT is such an overrated position in todays NFL because offenses arent reliant on the 9 routes and verticals to move the ball.

 

I am glad that you brought up the NO saints Oline. Here is a rundown of the player and their draft round:

 

Carl Nicks - 5th round

 

Jahri Evans - 4th round

 

Jermon Bushrod - 4th round

 

Those are the Pro Bowlers that you speak of, and NOT ONE of them was drafted before the 4th round.

 

I am not sure what point you were trying to make, but an Olineman at 10 is about as ill-conceived a pick as another RB.

Edited February 14, 2012 by D2K

[uncle flap]

Fitz is what he is. Hes a middle of the road starter that can look really good or really bad. I'll agree with the OP. I don't think our line is that bad but to say Fitz decision making and Gailey's design of the offense inst protecting them is just silly.

Short routes, nothing deep and rely heavily on receivers making plays.

 

i shouldve just quoted this in the first place. nicely put.

[NewEra]

Welcome to TSW. It's a great place. BBMB Is a joke. Let's hope you didn't pick up any bad habits there.

First off, I am not a BIG fan of Fitz. Many here think I hate him due to a couple threads I made. Well, I don't hate him. I just don't think he can ever lead us to our only true goal, a Super Bowl ring. He's a good qb at times. He's a bad qb at times. I like a lot of things about him and dislike a lot of things about him. I've said the, enough, so I'll leave it at that. Now on to your post. I disagree 100%. Like many here have said, chan devised a passing attack that would limit the time in the "pocket" due to our lack of good pass blocking. I think our OL played well this season, but it can still be MUCH improved. Your stats are a product of a system, not an OL. Is Casey Keenum the best QB in this years draft? According to his stats, which are based on the system in which he played, he is definitely the best QB. But he's not and your theory is irrelevant. But welcome aboard. Fun times, especially this time of year.