Colin Brown re-signed

[BADOLBILZ]

I think that this was a great signing for the reasons that you mentioned. Frankly, I am surprised that the got him at this low price. Btw, do you think that they will be able to sign Levitre? I know that it could be done, but if my life depended on it I am thinking that he walks.

 

When Nix came in he made it a point that he wanted to make the Bills a bigger team. Levitre is a smaller lineman. Not sure he fits the plan at top dollar pay. I hate to see him go, being the only proven durable option they have on the line but I have a feeling he will be gone as well.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

2 year deal according to KFFL.

 

I like him, he played well when he was in there.

[ganesh]

I agree, the man-love to performance ratio for Eric Wood around here is a bit too high and when Wood tore his acl a couple of years ago I think too much was made of Brown not playing well in his place. He held his own, and as you stated he is an enormous guy on a dirt cheap contract. And I like the two year aspect of the deal. In the event that Brown has to play in place of an injured Eric Wood(a good possibility) and Brown performs well enough as a starter, the Bills would have him under contract when Wood is hitting free agency next year, which gives them options. The odds are against that happening, but so was Scott Chandler ever making it and he has been a solid starter. It's a small deal, but I appreciate deals that make sense and this one does, IMO.

 

Every time Wood has been injured, Ryan Fitzpatrick game has nose dived. I agreed that Wood being injured so often is a great concern. However, when he is on that line, he actually is the best player. Fitzpatrick throws much better when Wood is on that line up.

[Bills Fan since '64]

Colin Brown is garbage.

 

LEVI Brown, on the other hand, would be a quality signing.

 

 

 

Not.

[Bill from NYC]

When Nix came in he made it a point that he wanted to make the Bills a bigger team. Levitre is a smaller lineman.

 

Good point. Now, given the impact of the rule changes, would this make a guard such as Levitre actually more valueable? I always thought that pass protection was his strong suit, although he is a better than average run blocker as well imo. Because he played LT in college, he seems to have great balance and footing, and be tough to beat on passing downs.

I guess what I am asking is will the smaller, more agile guards be a better fit in this new game than the big bruisers (who are NOT named Chance Warmack ) ?

[BADOLBILZ]

Every time Wood has been injured, Ryan Fitzpatrick game has nose dived. I agreed that Wood being injured so often is a great concern. However, when he is on that line, he actually is the best player. Fitzpatrick throws much better when Wood is on that line up.

 

No, Levitre is consistently the best player. I don't believe that Fitz's dropoffs have any more to do with losing Wood than losing other starters. For instance, when Wood went down in that Dallas game in 2011, Fitz was already playing terribly. Fitz's problem is his own lack of range as a passer, which basically means his receivers have less room to operate than most. Most teams can stretch a defense back at least 40 yards. Fitz's range is less than half that.

 

There was a post on here recently that showed statistical data that suggested the Bills were the least durable team in the NFL. For that reason they would be wise to keep Levitre. Having a center who is hurt a lot is not good. I know Wood is desperately trying to shake his reputation as injury prone, but he gets the kind of injuries that IR a player on the regular. Last year, he should have gone on IR. When hobbled his way back into the lineup at the end of the season he was THE WORST player on the Bills line, unable to anchor on that bad knee. That was the worst he has played in his Bills career. Wood is a good player when healthy but he has had IR-able injuries three of the last four years.

[BillsVet]

When Nix came in he made it a point that he wanted to make the Bills a bigger team. Levitre is a smaller lineman. Not sure he fits the plan at top dollar pay. I hate to see him go, being the only proven durable option they have on the line but I have a feeling he will be gone as well.

 

Remember when Gailey split training camp LG reps in 2010 between Rinehart and Levitre for a time? Made little sense then and over time was proven that bigger wasn't better between those two.

 

Nix wanted a bigger line for a waterbug type RB complemented by a QB who threw most of his passes less than 10 yards. How's that for synergy?

[BADOLBILZ]

Good point. Now, given the impact of the rule changes, would this make a guard such as Levitre actually more valueable? I always thought that pass protection was his strong suit, although he is a better than average run blocker as well imo. Because he played LT in college, he seems to have great balance and footing, and be tough to beat on passing downs.

I guess what I am asking is will the smaller, more agile guards be a better fit in this new game than the big bruisers (who are NOT named Chance Warmack ) ?

 

I think the safe money is always on building an OL around bigger lineman. The league has been going toward smaller, quicker defenders to combat the pass-happy offenses popping up around the league and that has opened the running game back up. Both OL's in the SB were big, mauling type lines. SF ran a bunch of read option behind their big OL, so I don't think having a big OL means that the pistol type offenses are slowed down by big lineman. I really hope the Bills keep Levitre. Durability is critical. When the Bills let Fletcher and Clements walk after Jauron's first year they struggled with injuries at those positions for the rest of the Jauron era. I hate to see mistakes like that repeated. Levitre may never be a Warmack, but he is a very good, durable player.