In a OL heavy draft why no OL?

[Dr. Fong]

 

I will say I am tired of hearing many say the Bills panicked.

 

Oh Lord, so am I.

[Ramius]

This is one where I have a difficult time trusting the FO, to be sure. FO thought O-line would be great after RT hole was filled with Cornell Green and Demetress Bell on the other side playing LT

 

On the other hand, I think we even got a couple months until training camp starts so let's wait and see.

 

Its very disingenuous to fault Buddy for those 2 moves 4 years ago and then completely ignore all he's done to fix the problem since then, like adding Urbik, Glenn, Pears, and Hairston. If anything, for his faults, Buddy's shown quite the ability to put together a solid OL without continually spending 1st rounder after 1st rounder on the line.

[OldTimer1960]

No OL - IMHO means that they drafted into the strength of what was left available after the early run on OL. Because of the early OL run, they were able to pick the QB that they preferred and still got a very high-end prospect at WR in round 2. As a bonus, they were able to nab an athletic LB who may give them coverage ability downfield against some of the top TEs in the league.

 

Goodwin certainly has the physical talent to warrant his selection in round 3. Even if he develops into a solid kick returner and a dangerous niche player on offense, the pick was worth it. He may have a lot of upside given his world-class athletic ability and the fact that he never benefitted from NCAA spring practices due to his track commitments.

[Captain Hindsight]

Thank you Captain Hindsight.

Hey man! That wasnt me

[John from Riverside]

Buddy Nix says the O line is fine. He will find more band-aids on the waiver wire, no doubt.

 

This line will really be exposed when Kolb, TJ or the rooke start playing for real. I feel bad for Marrone in trusting Nix.

 

BTW, If EJ fails to impress, who do you think will get the blame?

 

It was a great draft for the O line. From the top 3 OT's Fisher, Joeckel, Johnson to the top 2 OG's Warmack, Cooper. 3 of the first 4 picks were LT's, and 5 of the top 10 were O line.

 

Then OT Justin Pugh to the Giants to OT DJ Fluker to the Chargers.

 

The Bills were looking the other way this year, and had their eyes focused on a weak QB class. Then they panicked and took a QB in the first at 16 because they thought every other team wanted him. When in fact Buffalo was the only team.

 

Kinda sad really, but that has been the identity of this franchise for 13 years.

 

Yes this is why it has come out that Chip Kelly wanted EJ Manuel badly and were looking to move up to take him.

 

EJ Manual was going to be the top QB off this board based on his tools and his upside. The bills thought about moving down one more time before taking him but didn't want to risk it. We now have our future face of the franchise in EJ Manuel and credit to the bills for finally addressing the position.

 

You don't know a damn thing

[John from Riverside]

 

 

Who's to say Russell Wilson won't be one and done? And maybe TJ will come into his own this year with a QB that can throw the ball down field...

 

Word is TJ Graham is looking much better then his rookie season.....which I actually expected.

[thewildrabbit]

To be fair to FearTheLosing, all he is saying is that the Bills have the Penchant for doing the opposite of the strength of the draft. Last year in a QB rich draft, they did not draft a QB and this year in a OL rich draft, they have completely ignored the line. When many of the teams draft to the strength of the draft, why would the Bills try to do the opposite.

Again these are not my views: I do like the EJ drafting and I am mystified that they ignored the OL in spite of losing a starter.

Well said, just what I was thinking.

 

Ok, I understand but you rarely see guards drafted high. maybe one or two a year. I think the Bills take linemen late in draft and give them a year to learn. Glenn, Hairston, and Wood were chosen fairly high so I don't think they completely ignore it. We desperately needed WRs, DBs and LBs this year.

I will say I am tired of hearing many say the Bills panicked.

I like the player, just not where he was picked.

 

Like ganesh put it, I too am mystified why no OG or OT when the first round was literally filled with some top talent. The Bills were in perfect position to get one of latter two OT's with the trade back and an near certain pro bowl OG if they had stayed at 8. They could have also traded back again and gotten more picks in the second round and probably would have still gotten EJ in the 2nd as no other team but the Jets even wanted a QB before the 4th round.

 

Ok, they got their man. I can only hope they got it right this time.

 

Oh, Good Lord. You "feel bad for Marrone in trusting Nix"? What fantasy land do some of you people live in?

 

You don't think grown men with years of football experience cannot make their own reasoned analysis of their OL needs? Don't you think it's possible that the entire coaching staff personally evaluated each of the team's own lineman to determine who could fill each position?

 

"So, Mr. Nix, what about a lineman here?"

 

"Oh, don't you worry yourself, young man, go play with your new QB."

 

"OK, thanks Mr. Nix, sorry for bothering you."

 

This post and others like are ludicrous and I'd be embarrassed if any of the staff were to read this laughing out loud and shaking their heads. I really wonder what some of you do for a living.

Buddy Nix has already proven himself to be a moron for so many mistakes in so many areas in his first three years. Coaching hires, schemes, player band-aids all over the place. CEO Russ Brandon is a money man and not a football man as the head honcho of the team football operations.

 

So yea, i think Marrone is hamstrung by the men above him!

 

Yes this is why it has come out that Chip Kelly wanted EJ Manuel badly and were looking to move up to take him.

 

EJ Manual was going to be the top QB off this board based on his tools and his upside. The bills thought about moving down one more time before taking him but didn't want to risk it. We now have our future face of the franchise in EJ Manuel and credit to the bills for finally addressing the position.

 

You don't know a damn thing

Proof? A link into your brilliant foresight?

 

Geezus, your self misery know no bounds. I haven't seen a positive post by you ever I don't think. First off those great OL guys were off the board when we picked...hard to draft a guy already drafted ahead of us. Second, your loathing of the Manuel pick is fine, but your panic claims and assumptions that no one else wanted them are your personal speculation built around focusing on mock drafts that have no NFL football relevance at all. Truth is, Eagles were in discussions about moving back into first to get him. Cle wanted him too.

 

Get a grip, this was a great draft and try smiling for once and going out into the sun and relax and let new regime have a chance before you decided everything and everyone sucks again

Leave it to you to make stuff up and put in words I never stated. In all my recent posts show me where I stated I loathed the pick?

 

I actually stated I LIKED THE PLAYER, just not where he was picked.

 

Again, do you have proof with a link to this so called "truth", or is this just more BS speculation.

[John from Riverside]

Well said, just what I was thinking.

 

I like the player, just not where he was picked.

 

Like ganesh put it, I too am mystified why no OG or OT when the first round was literally filled with some top talent. The Bills were in perfect position to get one of latter two OT's with the trade back and an near certain pro bowl OG if they had stayed at 8. They could have also traded back again and gotten more picks in the second round and probably would have still gotten EJ in the 2nd as no other team but the Jets even wanted a QB before the 4th round.

 

Ok, they got their man. I can only hope they got it right this time.

 

Buddy Nix has already proven himself to be a moron for so many mistakes in so many areas in his first three years. Coaching hires, schemes, player band-aids all over the place. CEO Russ Brandon is a money man and not a football man as the head honcho of the team football operations.

 

So yea, i think Marrone is hamstrung by the men above him!

 

Proof? A link into your brilliant foresight?

 

Leave it to you to make stuff up and put in words I never stated. In all my recent posts show me where I stated I loathed the pick?

 

I actually stated I LIKED THE PLAYER, just not where he was picked.

 

Again, do you have proof with a link to this so called "truth", or is this just more BS speculation.

 

 

If you like the player it doesn't matter where they were picked.....only that they were picked. For instance De Rick Rogers.....people would have loved if we would have drafted him high because he has 1st round talent......but we didn't....but then we got him as a undrafted free agent....so it doesn't matter....HE IS ON THE TEAM

 

Same with EJ Manuel. In two years nobody is going to care where he was drafted.....he is going to be out there throwing to this insanely talented group of wide outs and most likely putting up huge numbers with that cannon of his.....and the only thing people will remember is that he is a bill

[PromoTheRobot]

Buddy Nix says the O line is fine. He will find more band-aids on the waiver wire, no doubt. This line will really be exposed when Kolb, TJ or the rooke start playing for real. I feel bad for Marrone in trusting Nix.

 

What you are saying is Marrone can't judge an O-line for himself? He doesn't have to "trust" Buddy on anything. He can see with his own eyes.

 

PTR

[San Jose Bills Fan]

In his post-draft comments Marrone said he thinks they have a good group of O-linemen and that the was looking forward to working with them (and O-line coach) and taking a little more hands-on approach in that area. "Teaching them up."

 

This is true.

 

And he and Nix said the same thing in their pre-draft comments.

[ganesh]

Or these where safe picks

or need picks

Why do you assume the other teams know more then the Bills?

Because this front office has in general bungled their drafts in the past decade! I think 31 teams can be more right than just the Bills thought process.

[thewildrabbit]

They let Levitre walk, and I think it was wise given they could not compete with the $$ he was being offered as a FA. I figured they would take a shot at Warmack and then grab one of the many 2nd tier QB's that most of us figured would fall out of the 1st round. Obviously they felt that Manual was not going to last through the later half of the 1st round or the first half of the 2nd and took him where they did.

 

So I understand the way things unfolded and they filled their QB and WR needs up front in the draft, but the one thing that has me scratching my head as well... if not blue-chip prospects, there were plenty of solid OL contributors in the later rounds that could have added depth.

 

The only thing I can think of (and Buddy eluded to) is that they must have more confidence in the bench-strength of our 2nd string OL than any of us do. That and they picked up a center and a guard as UFA, they must be awfully high on these guys and must have known they were not on anyone else's radar. The guard is from Cuse so Marrone knows the player very well so he probably feels he is a prospect that can step in where Levitre left off pretty quickly. He would definitely be a guard that is used to and has a leg up executing the up-tempo offense they like to run and is familiar with the pulls and traps they like to run...and he must be a player that Marrone and Hackett feel can make the transition to the pros.

Hey, i could be all wrong about the current O line talent on the roster, no question about it. The offense might actually become better under an ex NFL O linemen in Doug Marrone then it was under Chan Gailey. I don't claim to be a scout of any sort and am certainly not a GM.

 

I just go by what my eyes tell me, and my eyes tell me that Gailey managed to field a team with an acceptable O line mainly because of his QB and the schemes he ran. That QB is now gone, and so is the starting left OG that played well since his rookie year in 2009, and was never injured, is now also gone.

 

Starting RT Erik Pears, back up RT Chris Hairston and C Eric Wood all appear to be somewhat injury prone. Hairston has never played a full season and neither has the best player on that line in C Eric Wood. Which to me, the latter is very disconcerting because in his four years he has never finished a season.The reason I find it so disconcerting is because that line plays so much worse after Wood goes down ever year.

 

Like I've stated in other posts my idea of building a proper offense starts with the line, and I firmly believe you can't win games in this league with a sub par O line. Not with cast offs from the waiver wire, and injury prone players. Band-aids don't work, and they never will!

 

I look at the 49ers and how they built that line with Three, 1st rounders, and 2 second rounders in 2009. Lost a starting center in 2010 and picked up a 10 year vet, a pro bowler to replace him. Lost a starting right OG and replaced him with a LT. Lost that LT / OG and replaced him with a 3 year player OG that was second team all-NFL last season.

 

I like the Buffalo Bills and want them to win games, win the division, win the SB. If this franchise had put as much effort and player talent into the O line as they have the defensive backfield the last 13 years. 30+ DB's drafted,and even more players in and out like a revolving door for that line. I feel they would have given the QB's better protection and would have had an chance at least field a team with a winning record.

[thewildrabbit]

If you like the player it doesn't matter where they were picked.....only that they were picked. For instance De Rick Rogers.....people would have loved if we would have drafted him high because he has 1st round talent......but we didn't....but then we got him as a undrafted free agent....so it doesn't matter....HE IS ON THE TEAM

 

Same with EJ Manuel. In two years nobody is going to care where he was drafted.....he is going to be out there throwing to this insanely talented group of wide outs and most likely putting up huge numbers with that cannon of his.....and the only thing people will remember is that he is a bill

Da' Rick Rogers has a reason he wasn't drafted, multiple drug suspensions is why. In two years I can only hope he puts his drug problem behind him and has learned from it.

 

Also, I can only hope you are right about EJ putting up huge numbers. I would love to see that! But with the current O line players I just don't see him developing properly. I hope I'm wrong, and Nix / Marrone are right. Although, I do remember stating similar concerns about Nix / Gailey, and Edwards / Fitz.

[thebandit27]

This really is quite easy to explain...the Bills obviously feel good about where their OL is at right now.

 

They have a young, solid LT, an excellent center (who coaches around the league have called one of the best OLmen in the game), a steady player at RG, and two goo options at RT. Clearly they believe someone on the roster can play LG, whether it's Snow, Brown, Young, or even Hairston.

 

They've got talent, and it's an area if the team that has been solid recently. If their head coach, a highly regarded OL coach in his NFL career, isn't worried, then I'm not either.

[bowery4]

I think really, if they say they can coach the Oline up, they feel comfortable with them (not saying they won't add more still). Please FTL look at these links

Pat Morris offensive line coach

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Bills-name-Pat-Morris-offensive-line-coach/dfa44805-4c6e-4206-af86-1ec8e0939b03

 

DOUG MARRONE

http://www.buffalobills.com/team/coaches/marrone_doug/2fd4fd60-7b07-4eb5-919e-d8e6c895d473

 

TE because it pertains GREG ADKINS

Tight Ends

http://www.buffalobills.com/team/coaches/adkins_greg/ebcfac10-606c-4877-839b-444cfb66e31a

 

And O quality control because it also pertains

 

KURT ANDERSON

Offensive Quality Control

http://www.buffalobills.com/team/coaches/anderson_kurt/1dd1c30e-01e4-4b05-86b2-339e6d4652fe

 

almost all of them have one way or another coached Oline and or played it. The Oline coach has a boat load of experience. Marrone did both plus was an O coordinator.

I for one am sure they know what they have and apparently were okay with Andy walking. I am sure instead of, what you insisted that Nix told the they might let him walk and they might have even said don't worry about it, let him walk.

BTW I think there is a rule on the forum about campaigning or some such thing after reading you arguing with almost everyone in this 3 page thread so far, I am sure we all kind of get it, that you have no faith. But please you don't need to repute every post, it getting to the point of breaking the rules almost.

You are very negative about it but I sense it is just you caring, which is good. At some point though some one is going to say stop feeding the troll even though I doubt you are doing that.

I don't think it is bad to have negative views and arguing them out, that is what the board is for and I think you are an okay poster, I just haven't seen you get this worked up and taking it this far before. I am not a mod or anything but I hate to see an opinion turn into complete faith that you might not be wrong and I do understand you say you would like to be wrong.....the thing is you just keep going back to it. Just remember, everyone is an ahole has an opinion.

We all hope you are wrong and even believe you are but after a little while you turn into someone on my ignore list (I haven't read a thing by Mr. Weo, for instance in well over 2 years I know and there are more, he is just an example lol.) I doubt I am the only one. Discourse is fun. Hell, I feel the same way about Darcy as a GM but I won't be found on any Sabres boards arguing it out. What is the point, I could be wrong and am in no position to do anything about it. I have no motivation. And everyone is down enough about it already, offseason is for hope.

[Lurker]

If their head coach, a highly regarded OL coach in his NFL career, isn't worried, then I'm not either.

The key statement in this whole discussion. As a former lineman and position coach, I don't think Nix or anyone else is going to pull the wool over Marrone's eyes about what he has.

 

That said, I'd still like to have Brandon Moore (or some other quality vet) for the leadership/mentoring that would mix well with all the young guys...

[CardinalScotts]

They had a good offensive line last year, guys like Hairston able to play tackle or guard, Colin Brown, Sam Young all got valuable playing time Sanders returns and you get Pears back. Not a position of trouble.

[Nanker]

This is why:

Player Position Height Weight Age Experience
Colin Brown   C 6'7 326 27 2 years
Ryan Turnley  C 6'3 320 23 Rookie
Eric BalsaWood C 6'4 310 27 4 years
Zack Chibane  G 6'5 293 22 Rookie
Kraig Urbik   G 6'5 324 27 4 years
Keith Williams G 6'5 330 25 1 year
Chris Hairston LT 6'6 330 24 2 years
Hutch Eckerson OL 6'6 310 25 1
Zebrie Sanders OL 6'6 318 23 R
Chris Scott   OL 6'4 320 25 2 years
David Snow  OL 6'4 305 23 R
Cordy Glenn   OT 6'5 343 23 R
Thomas Welch OT 6'6 300 25 1 year
Erik Pears   RT 316 30 7 years
Sam Young   RT 316 25 3 years

[chris heff]

 

 

There were five OL drafted in the 1st 10 picks of the draft....followed by more of them in the later part of the round and then in the 2nd round too. That is not a pundit's opinion but teams showing where the strength of this draft was.

Someone else pointed this out on another thread. For the 8th pick the Bills got, Manuel, Alonso and Gragg.So they would have been better off taking the 5th best OL?

[xsoldier54]

Hey man! That wasnt me

LOL sorry. I think you may have a few cousins on the board though.