i shudder to say this

[eball]

...has become a legitimate strength of the bills' OL?

 

i'm no expert, but i've watched a lot of football, and during the PS thus far teague has looked very solid to my untrained eye. pressure on the QBs has not come from up the middle, from what i've seen.

 

is it reasonable to suggest that finally, after a couple of years, teague has "bought in" to being a C and has now embraced the cerebral aspects of the position that will allow him to succeed? i think that when the bills brought him in initially, there was a reluctance to switch from T to C, but perhaps he has now turned the corner.

 

i sure hope so.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

...has become a legitimate strength of the bills' OL?

 

i'm no expert, but i've watched a lot of football, and during the PS thus far teague has looked very solid to my untrained eye.  pressure on the QBs has not come from up the middle, from what i've seen.

 

is it reasonable to suggest that finally, after a couple of years, teague has "bought in" to being a C and has now embraced the cerebral aspects of the position that will allow him to succeed?  i think that when the bills brought him in initially, there was a reluctance to switch from T to C, but perhaps he has now turned the corner.

 

i sure hope so.

15471[/snapback]

More likely it's McNally. Teague has been with the Bills the past 2 years and hasn't shown much. Then after McNally enters he gets better? Too coincidental, although the possibility remains that he has improved on his own.

[swede316]

I don't care who it is as long as his strong play continues.

[Mark VI]

Shame on you. You're not supposed to give McNally ANY credit. It's pure coincidence that he arrived and Teague suddenly looks like he can play Center effectively.

 

We don't need this positive kind of posting. Move along, nothing to see here.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

More likely it's McNally.  Teague has been with the Bills the past 2 years and hasn't shown much.  Then after McNally enters he gets better?  Too coincidental, although the possibility remains that he has improved on his own.

15472[/snapback]

 

I disagree. In the past two years Teague has actually shown quite a bit. Unfortunately some of what he has shown has been just plain bas as his lower body weight has allowed him to get bowled over into Drew when he fails to get good leverage on an oncoming big rusher.

 

However, though we fans tend to really notice and focus on these bad moments, the are the exception rather than the rule (if they were the rule, Teague would gave been gone and we would have tried Jennings there, tried to advance the development of Sobieskit or tried to go outside and pick up a vet.

 

We did not because even a couple of not-ready-for-primetime position coaches like Vinklarek and Ruel could see be had the right stuff for the job. Him sticking around with JMac is only further confirmation of this.

 

In mt mind the center has several jobs:

 

1. Be second only to the QB in seeing the Ds response to the play called.

2. Make the line calls for blocking for the play as the two linemen and TE to his wings can hear him best of all. He needs to help 4 to 6 players (the TE and QB) be better players and all they can be on each play, helping them be in the best position to do what they can do.

3. Deliver the ball to the QB consistently with speed, pace and accuracy which is difficult in all conditions but really really difficult in the shotgun.

 

All along Teague has shown himself to have the right stuff to do each of these indvidual thing so it is no surprise to me that folks would notice him doing them well.

 

However, he has struggled to do them all at the same time and has not had total command of the multi-tasking which kent Hull did so well. Further, he has had real challenges with shotgun snaps and when he loses his leverage blocking because he was focusing on some other task as a new center in a young line, he would get bowled over.

 

I think however he is getting it and improving.

4. Do multi-tasking of these three functions AND still be able to handle his own blocking duties and get proper advantage and leverage over the oncoming DT.

[UConn James]

It's likely a combination of his own dedication, more experience (it's nice to let guys develop rather than blindly signing a 35-year-old stopgap vet), and the guidance of McNally.

 

Oh, and not having liabilities at both sides of the man. Ruben and Pucillo were addition by subtraction. The first game vs. Denver was an improvement b/c Villareal was in, but Pucillo was still at RG. Notice how the angry Teague threads have subsided since Lawrence Smith was put in at LG? LS's not a world-beater (yet) but he can at least hold his own.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

It's likely a combination of his own dedication, more experience (it's nice to let guys develop rather than blindly signing a 35-year-old stopgap vet), and the guidance of McNally.

 

Oh, and not having liabilities at both sides of the man. Ruben and Pucillo were addition by subtraction. The first game vs. Denver was an improvement b/c Villareal was in, but Pucillo was still at RG. Notice how the angry Teague threads have subsided since Lawrence Smith was put in at LG? LS's not a world-beater (yet) but he can at least hold his own.

15486[/snapback]

True. I overstated how little Teague has shown, but he was seen as more a liability than a strength up until now. I'm just thankful he's looking good. When you have an immobile QB, the last thing you need is a bad interior of the O-line. Heck even a mobile QB needs a good pocket. Hopefully now they stay healthy and develop as a unit. There's too much talent on that O-line for it not to be a good one.

[TigerJ]

To contrast two players, apparently Teague had the potential all along and simply needed time and maybe a little solid coaching to put it all together. Pucillo has hadtime and now coaching and he couldn't. Apparently it was a balance issue with Pucillo. DTs have all sorts of little tricks to knock guards off balance whereupon it's easier to move them in order to either get to a unner or rush the QB. Once Pucillo was off balance he stayed off balance. A good guard can recover. Lawrence Smith shows he can recover.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

I don't know if I'd write Pucillo off so quickly. As much as his play has pained me to watch, and unless some better prospect comes along, he's still worth developing.

[bobinaz]

I agree, Teague has looked much better so far and give credit where credit is due, irregardless if it's Mcnally or Teague. Someone figured it out. Now what about the rest of the O-line? I'm still worried mainly because Jennings is still hampered by the injury bug (how long will he stay healthy?), and big Mike is still playing catch up. The middle of the line looks pretty solid and as long as Jennings stays healthy, DB will survive within the new system. But MW has his work cut out for him this year. His unpreparedness for camp is his weakness until he catches up. DE's are faster off the ball here lately and MW is a little slow reacting in some instances.

 

But I'll remain optimistic and hope that the O-line gels real quick. With our schedule, the team can't afford to play catch up in November. They'll have to win the early games and play tough on the road the second half. MM is playing the media well and accepting what he can't change with all the injuries and lack of reps with the first offensive line unit. But I hoping the offense will score some points after some serious game planning for the season opener and not see a repeat of how the preseaon has played out with the plain vanilla play calling. Time will tell.

[Jukester]

Let's give it a few reg season games with full defensive assaults and see how he holds up before we jump to any conclusions here. As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on Teague, and the rest of the OLine for that matter.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Maybe for the past two years Teague had to play with one eye on the guy in front of him and one eye on the guy Purcillo was trying to block!