Bill from NYC Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 OK, here we go..... RT:Pears/Hairston This is the most interesting position on the Bills OL imo. In an interview, Marcel Dareus said that he thought that Pears belonged in the probowl. I disagee, because he had some rough outings. But, he also had some good games. He looks like a much better run blocker than pass blocker, but this isn't uncommon for a RT. He is very strong, and 29 years old. Hairston has the potential to be better than Pears. He is a big, aggressive blocker, and imo projects to be a very good RT. Grade: B+, although some of this is based on potential. RG:Urbik/Rinehart Urbik surprised me. He seemed to find angles and provide holes for Jackson. He isn't super agile, but he's strong, and I sense very coachable. Rinehart seemed to be a capable backup. Grade: B Looking fairly solid, if unspectacular. OC: Wood/Brown Wood sure looked good for a few games, no? He plays hard, and is a tough guy, as well as a skilled, experienced Center. The problem is, there is no reason for me to believe that he will be consistently healthy after his serious injuries. Could he surprise us and play 16 games? Yes, but the odds get worse with each injury imo. Colin Brown was a pleasant surprise, and did OK as a backup. But if I was GM, I would try to address this position at some point. Is Vlachos coming out? Grade: C Could go much higher if Wood can stay on the field. LG: Andy Levitre: Andy seems to be an almost perfect OG for today's game. A converted LT, Levitre is very agile and is a good pass blocker. And, he's no slouch in the running game. What else is there to say? Grade: A- Probowl talent imo, and I would give him an A if he was just a bit stronger on running plays. LT: Bell/Hairston: I see that some are concerned about a LT prospect (Adams?) doing 19 reps with 225 at the combines. As I recall, Bell did 9. That said, his agility is beyond dispute, and sometimes he can compensate, especially on upfield blocks, on which he gets a running start. If he could consistently stay healthy, I would think that he would be a slightly better than average LT. But that's a huge "if." Here is another one.....if he was very highly regarded around the league, we would hear his name every day on Sirius, and teams would offer him a Jason Peters contract. Or, the Bills would use the tag on him and try to negotiate a long term deal. Hairston filled in as well as one could ask from a rookie. Grade: C Obviously, this would be higher with a consistently healthy Bell. A few notes: 1) The Bills can actually run right. This has not been the case in many years. 2) Sorry, but count me as one who thinks that Fitz gets the ball away quickly. This imo factors large in terms low sack totals. 3) None of the above players are old, which is obviously good news. 4) If the Bills lose Bell, AND they think that they can find a very good LT in this draft, they would be wise to take him, because there is no other way to get one. If they keep Bell, and draft a LB or DE, this could work, but we will have to keep our fingers crossed that Bell will not be carted off yet again. Just my passing, off season "thoughts."
zazie Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Nice analysis. Bell is gone IMO, the Bils would have signed him by now if they wanted him. So they will try Hairston at LT, a reasonably large downgrade for that position, and a move which also downgrades the RT position which went from strong to weak, as there will be no capable back-up. Why have we not yet signed Levitre to an extension??? He is next years fO TRAINWRECK HAPPENING IN SLOW MOTION AS WE ALL WITNESS IT HELPLESSLY.
Dr. K Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 OK, here we go..... RT:Pears/Hairston This is the most interesting position on the Bills OL imo. In an interview, Marcel Dareus said that he thought that Pears belonged in the probowl. I disagee, because he had some rough outings. But, he also had some good games. He looks like a much better run blocker than pass blocker, but this isn't uncommon for a RT. He is very strong, and 29 years old. Hairston has the potential to be better than Pears. He is a big, aggressive blocker, and imo projects to be a very good RT. Grade: B+, although some of this is based on potential. RG:Urbik/Rinehart Urbik surprised me. He seemed to find angles and provide holes for Jackson. He isn't super agile, but he's strong, and I sense very coachable. Rinehart seemed to be a capable backup. Grade: B Looking fairly solid, if unspectacular. OC: Wood/Brown Wood sure looked good for a few games, no? He plays hard, and is a tough guy, as well as a skilled, experienced Center. The problem is, there is no reason for me to believe that he will be consistently healthy after his serious injuries. Could he surprise us and play 16 games? Yes, but the odds get worse with each injury imo. Colin Brown was a pleasant surprise, and did OK as a backup. But if I was GM, I would try to address this position at some point. Is Vlachos coming out? Grade: C Could go much higher if Wood can stay on the field. LG: Andy Levitre: Andy seems to be an almost perfect OG for today's game. A converted LT, Levitre is very agile and is a good pass blocker. And, he's no slouch in the running game. What else is there to say? Grade: A- Probowl talent imo, and I would give him an A if he was just a bit stronger on running plays. LT: Bell/Hairston: I see that some are concerned about a LT prospect (Adams?) doing 19 reps with 225 at the combines. As I recall, Bell did 9. That said, his agility is beyond dispute, and sometimes he can compensate, especially on upfield blocks, on which he gets a running start. If he could consistently stay healthy, I would think that he would be a slightly better than average LT. But that's a huge "if." Here is another one.....if he was very highly regarded around the league, we would hear his name every day on Sirius, and teams would offer him a Jason Peters contract. Or, the Bills would use the tag on him and try to negotiate a long term deal. Hairston filled in as well as one could ask from a rookie. Grade: C Obviously, this would be higher with a consistently healthy Bell. A few notes: 1) The Bills can actually run right. This has not been the case in many years. 2) Sorry, but count me as one who thinks that Fitz gets the ball away quickly. This imo factors large in terms low sack totals. 3) None of the above players are old, which is obviously good news. 4) If the Bills lose Bell, AND they think that they can find a very good LT in this draft, they would be wise to take him, because there is no other way to get one. If they keep Bell, and draft a LB or DE, this could work, but we will have to keep our fingers crossed that Bell will not be carted off yet again. Just my passing, off season "thoughts." It may surprise you to hear this coming from me, but I think this is a fair assessment. I worry about the seeming fragility of Wood and Bell.
RealityCheck Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Nice analysis. Now grade them as a unit and monitor how long after the snap until a defensive player makes contact with Fitz.
mead107 Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 I would give Woods a B+ , I thought he played very well. Had he stayed healthy A +. Had the whole line stayed healthy ??? We would be talking differently
spartacus Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) OK, here we go..... RT:Pears/Hairston This is the most interesting position on the Bills OL imo. In an interview, Marcel Dareus said that he thought that Pears belonged in the probowl. I disagee, because he had some rough outings. But, he also had some good games. He looks like a much better run blocker than pass blocker, but this isn't uncommon for a RT. He is very strong, and 29 years old. Hairston has the potential to be better than Pears. He is a big, aggressive blocker, and imo projects to be a very good RT. Grade: B+, although some of this is based on potential. RG:Urbik/Rinehart Urbik surprised me. He seemed to find angles and provide holes for Jackson. He isn't super agile, but he's strong, and I sense very coachable. Rinehart seemed to be a capable backup. Grade: B Looking fairly solid, if unspectacular. OC: Wood/Brown Wood sure looked good for a few games, no? He plays hard, and is a tough guy, as well as a skilled, experienced Center. The problem is, there is no reason for me to believe that he will be consistently healthy after his serious injuries. Could he surprise us and play 16 games? Yes, but the odds get worse with each injury imo. Colin Brown was a pleasant surprise, and did OK as a backup. But if I was GM, I would try to address this position at some point. Is Vlachos coming out? Grade: C Could go much higher if Wood can stay on the field. LG: Andy Levitre: Andy seems to be an almost perfect OG for today's game. A converted LT, Levitre is very agile and is a good pass blocker. And, he's no slouch in the running game. What else is there to say? Grade: A- Probowl talent imo, and I would give him an A if he was just a bit stronger on running plays. LT: Bell/Hairston: I see that some are concerned about a LT prospect (Adams?) doing 19 reps with 225 at the combines. As I recall, Bell did 9. That said, his agility is beyond dispute, and sometimes he can compensate, especially on upfield blocks, on which he gets a running start. If he could consistently stay healthy, I would think that he would be a slightly better than average LT. But that's a huge "if." Here is another one.....if he was very highly regarded around the league, we would hear his name every day on Sirius, and teams would offer him a Jason Peters contract. Or, the Bills would use the tag on him and try to negotiate a long term deal. Hairston filled in as well as one could ask from a rookie. Grade: C Obviously, this would be higher with a consistently healthy Bell. A few notes: 1) The Bills can actually run right. This has not been the case in many years. 2) Sorry, but count me as one who thinks that Fitz gets the ball away quickly. This imo factors large in terms low sack totals. 3) None of the above players are old, which is obviously good news. 4) If the Bills lose Bell, AND they think that they can find a very good LT in this draft, they would be wise to take him, because there is no other way to get one. If they keep Bell, and draft a LB or DE, this could work, but we will have to keep our fingers crossed that Bell will not be carted off yet again. Just my passing, off season "thoughts." The Bills OL seems to be a situation where the whole is less than the sum of its individual parts - according to how you graded each player with grades of B and better. The line benefited hugely from 2 things which have inflated your individual grades: 1. Fitz getting rid of the ball in under 2 seconds to compensate from the piss-poor pass protection. Of course, this helps the sack totals but severely restricts plays to no more than 10- yards downfield. The Bills can not an NFL offense with the pass blocking of this unit - which is why DCs are able to shut it down. The bad pass pro led to Fitz getting pounded in the Wash game and allegedly breaking his ribs - a gamble the Bills consistently take in refusing in playing a bona fide talent at LT 2. The run blocking is perceived to be better than it is because of the lanes created by the 5 WRs on the field. In crunch time when short yardage is needed, this OL can nbot move anybody off the line. Again, as DCs brought their defenses up to the line because of the inability to throw more than 10 yards down field - they choked off the run even with the spread field. As for the last decade, the OL can be made to look functional at times, but the bar has been set so low in Buffalo that fans forget what a real NFL offense looks like to compare it against. They need to add a real NFL LT and a C that can fill in for Wood if he never fully returns to pre-injury ability. Edited March 3, 2012 by spartacus
bmur66 Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Can someone refresh my memory of exactly what Woods injury was this year? I wouldn't use his broken leg as evidence in a case against him as being injury prone. That was just bad luck. I love the guy, he is a warrior. I hope he fully recovers from whatever his injury was. Also, nice analysis.
ieatcrayonz Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Could this simply be Bill lobbying the Bills to take a CB in the first like he does every year?
papazoid Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Nice analysis. Now grade them as a unit and monitor how long after the snap until a defensive player makes contact with Fitz. exactly !!.... the unit as whole SUCKS !!...according to Rotoworld's analysis they are ranked 30th out of 32 teams. the ONLY reason they show up statistically at all is because Fitz throws the ball in 3 seconds or less and Fred Jackson is a league leader in YAC yards after contact. http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/38453/179/matchups
San Jose Bills Fan Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) Can someone refresh my memory of exactly what Woods injury was this year? I wouldn't use his broken leg as evidence in a case against him as being injury prone. That was just bad luck. I love the guy, he is a warrior. I hope he fully recovers from whatever his injury was. Also, nice analysis. At the tail end of a play Wood was running downfield near the sidelines alongside a D-lineman. The D-lineman pushed him. It was an innocent looking play but Wood seemed to be caught off guard and fell awkwardly. Torn ACL. Edited March 3, 2012 by San Jose Bills Fan
Bill from NYC Posted March 3, 2012 Author Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) The Bills OL seems to be a situation where the whole is less than the sum of its individual parts - according to how you graded each player with grades of B and better. The line benefited hugely from 2 things which have inflated your individual grades: 1. Fitz getting rid of the ball in under 2 seconds to compensate from the piss-poor pass protection. Of course, this helps the sack totals but severely restricts plays to no more than 10- yards downfield. The Bills can not an NFL offense with the pass blocking of this unit - which is why DCs are able to shut it down. The bad pass pro led to Fitz getting pounded in the Wash game and allegedly breaking his ribs - a gamble the Bills consistently take in refusing in playing a bona fide talent at LT 2. The run blocking is perceived to be better than it is because of the lanes created by the 5 WRs on the field. In crunch time when short yardage is needed, this OL can nbot move anybody off the line. Again, as DCs brought their defenses up to the line because of the inability to throw more than 10 yards down field - they choked off the run even with the spread field. As for the last decade, the OL can be made to look functional at times, but the bar has been set so low in Buffalo that fans forget what a real NFL offense looks like to compare it against. They need to add a real NFL LT and a C that can fill in for Wood if he never fully returns to pre-injury ability. I didn't post this to try to sell the Bills OL to anyone. And, the lowest ratings I gave were to the spots that you mentioned (LT and C). The good news is that it is no longer the weakest unit on this team. This alone is amazing for the Bills. Remember Marcus Spriggs? Greg Jerman? Jerry Ostroski? Duke Preston? Urbik is better than the 48 million dollar Dockery, and Pears is better than the 25 million dollar Langston Walker. Does this stop me from wanting a standout talent at LT? Of course not. But, LB is a big problem too imo. Other than Barnett, who is on the wrong side of 30, what LB do you like on this roster? Sheppard? He really needs to show more. In summary, if the Bills can grab a franchise LT in round 1, this is obviously a good thing. He wouldn't have to be Orlando Pace/Anthony Munoz either in order for this to be a good pick. A LT at the talent level of a Brad Hopkins or Tarik Glenn would be a great thing. But if a top LT isn't there, they better do something about LB/DE. Again, jmo. Edited March 3, 2012 by Bill from NYC
CBD Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 How did you feel about Urbik's abilities at center and Rhinehart at RG? I honestly think Bell walks and they draft an OT high this year, maybe even at pick #10.
Bill from NYC Posted March 3, 2012 Author Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) How did you feel about Urbik's abilities at center and Rhinehart at RG? Tough to say CB, but I did see some good things from Urbik at RG. He is certainly strong enough to play center. Not sure about the agility, so it's hard to make a pertinent comment. Btw, I focus on the OL WAY more than most viewers when I watch games, and find that the hardest player to see on TV is the Right Guard. Edited March 3, 2012 by Bill from NYC
bmur66 Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 At the tail end of a play Wood was running downfield near the sidelines alongside a D-lineman. The D-lineman pushed him. It was an innocent looking play but Wood seemed to be caught off guard and fell awkwardly. Torn ACL. Damn!
zazie Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 At the tail end of a play Wood was running downfield near the sidelines alongside a D-lineman. The D-lineman pushed him. It was an innocent looking play but Wood seemed to be caught off guard and fell awkwardly. Torn ACL. Someone in another trhread aluded to the fact that the body is a system and maybe the shattered leg threw things out of whack. I am hoping for the best but I really believe Wood needs a lot of time to really get right before coming back, or the same thing will happen. 2013 we should be looking at. So for 2012 at the least, we need someone else.
Dragonborn10 Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Wood will almost assuredly be on PUP list at start of the season. Bell is gone unless he initiaties something with the Bills. He will test the market and if the rest of the league sees him as injury prone and he does not get the money he is looking for, he and his agent may come back to the Bills looking for a contract. If Bell is not signed the #10 pick has to be a LT. FYI...Fitz broke ribs on a blitz up the middle not around LT
BillsWatch Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 4) If the Bills lose Bell, AND they think that they can find a very good LT in this draft, they would be wise to take him, because there is no other way to get one. If they keep Bell, and draft a LB or DE, this could work, but we will have to keep our fingers crossed that Bell will not be carted off yet again. Disagree that there is no other way to get one (Jason Peters is God crowd probably agree with that) but otherwise I agree with most of what you say. I think the NFLPA lockout really affected the Bills offensive line - they had some advantage in beginning with other teams not really coherent but lack of time together hurt later on especially the players with less time in the system. I also think the NFLPA insisted rule about limit in number of practices with pads really hurt them.
Direhard Fan Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 Seems to me that Bell and Hairstein, with limited experience did fine. Allow them to grow and they could be very fine. Players come back from injuries many times with improved results. We need "D". Big "D". I think Winnie will infulance the draft alot. They didn't get him for nothing two years ago. Sign Bell and go "D".
T master Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 exactly !!.... the unit as whole SUCKS !!...according to Rotoworld's analysis they are ranked 30th out of 32 teams. the ONLY reason they show up statistically at all is because Fitz throws the ball in 3 seconds or less and Fred Jackson is a league leader in YAC yards after contact. http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/38453/179/matchups WOW !! I went & looked at the link ------ And it MIGHT have something to it BUT , seeing as we had the 3rd LEAST sacked QB in the league AND up to the point of him getting hurt one of if not the best RB as far as out put in the league AND then when CJ came in we continued to show the ability of the line to open wholes for our RB's just makes me think this guy that wrote this article is a first class DINK !!!!!!! When it comes to evaluating talent in the NFL !! Maybe thats why he's a writer & not a football coach -- YA THINK ????? I DO !!!
vincec Posted March 3, 2012 Posted March 3, 2012 I'm not sure what people are seeing in Pears. Maybe I need to look again, but he didn't seem anything special to me. Average.
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