Dion Dawkins- on the hot seat?

[K-9]

On 4/27/2019 at 10:44 AM, BuffaloBillies said:

 

Seeing that potential line in writing gets me very excited.

 

Nsekhe 6' 8", 325 lb

Dawkins 6' 5", 320 lb

Morse 6' 6", 305 lb

Spain 6' 5", 335 lb

Ford 6' 4" 329

 

Time to get nasty upfront!

 

I don’t know. It’s gonna be hard for Shady and other RBs to be effective when they’re trying to run while sporting wood over this Oline.

Edited April 28, 2019 by K-9

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

57 minutes ago, BuffaloBillies said:

 

Seeing that potential line in writing gets me very excited.

 

Nsekhe 6' 8", 325 lb

Dawkins 6' 5", 320 lb

Morse 6' 6", 305 lb

Spain 6' 5", 335 lb

Ford 6' 4" 329

 

Time to get nasty upfront!

 

 

Good thing we have a tall QB.  Can you imagine Flutie behind that line!  They'd all be out with concussions from getting hit in the back of the helmet too many times with the football.

[NewEra]

7 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

 

The only real threat to his starting spot is soon to be 34 year old Ty Nsekhe. There’s a decent chance now that he’s our backup swing tackle if BB and McD view Ford as a RT

There’s also a decent chance that he beats out our starting LT for his seat at the table.....if there’s a true open competition.

 

from everything I’ve read, Nsekhe’s play last year was pretty good.  Dawkins play was not. Maybe that was due to the players around him.  The skins have a talent line.  We also had Castillo as our OL.  Lots of things could’ve contributed to each of their play. 

 

I’m eager to see them battle it out.  Like I said, his last open competition, he was beaten by Jordan Mills.  Hopefully he steps up!  It would be great for our franchise if he can become a good starter long term.  It’s what I’m hoping for.  For him to earn it. He hasn’t earned anything yet.  We probably had the worst tackle unit in football last year

[Happy]

I don't think Dawkins is on the hot seat, but probably will compete with Nsekhe for starting LT.  If Dawkins loses out to Nsekhe, I imagine he will get a shot at LG or become depth and have a chance at further development at the position.  From what I observed, and I'm just an average fan, that Dawkins is not good enough (at least at this point) to hold down the LT spot by himself.  He needs a good LG next to him to be a more effective LT.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I'm excited this looks like one potentially nasty line. Making everyone compete is a great strategy and is underestimated by some on here.

[billspro]

1 hour ago, Ittakestime said:

If the Bills are serious about building a nasty line, they will go with:

 

Nsekhe, Dawkins, Morse, Spain, Ford

 

I'm saying it now, if Dawkins is the LT over Nsekhe, this team isn't serious about open competition an building the best line.

 

It wouldn’t surprise me if it played out that way.

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

There’s also a decent chance that he beats out our starting LT for his seat at the table.....if there’s a true open competition.

 

from everything I’ve read, Nsekhe’s play last year was pretty good.  Dawkins play was not. Maybe that was due to the players around him.  The skins have a talent line.  We also had Castillo as our OL.  Lots of things could’ve contributed to each of their play. 

 

I’m eager to see them battle it out.  Like I said, his last open competition, he was beaten by Jordan Mills.  Hopefully he steps up!  It would be great for our franchise if he can become a good starter long term.  It’s what I’m hoping for.  For him to earn it. He hasn’t earned anything yet.  We probably had the worst tackle unit in football last year

 

If this were an "all things being equal" situation, you might be right that Nsekhe would win the job.  But sometimes you also have to look to the future.  Even if Nsekhe is better this year, at his age, he will not be the guy moving forward. You have a better chance of Dawkins being the guy.  Now, sure, you can let him sit for a year, and that might work.  It might also obliterate his relationship with the Bills.  But it would definitely take reps away from the guy that could be your future franchise LT.  

[Ittakestime]

I feel like people have this mindset that Dawkins was so dominant rookie LT.  I actually thought the line took a step back when he had to fill in for Glenn. 

 

When I see Dawkins play, I see Quenton Nelson. 

[NewEra]

3 minutes ago, JoshAllenHasBigHands said:

 

If this were an "all things being equal" situation, you might be right that Nsekhe would win the job.  But sometimes you also have to look to the future.  Even if Nsekhe is better this year, at his age, he will not be the guy moving forward. You have a better chance of Dawkins being the guy.  Now, sure, you can let him sit for a year, and that might work.  It might also obliterate his relationship with the Bills.  But it would definitely take reps away from the guy that could be your future franchise LT.  

If he gets beat out by a 34 year old tackle, what does it matter if his relationship with us is obliterated?  He has 2 years left on his contract. Then he wants to get PAID.  Nsekhe has 2 years on his contract. If we’re serious about winning, you play you’re best players and not worry about next year....which will be the final year of Dawkins’ contract.

 

i don’t see the point of playing a lesser player because he’s younger, especially when they have same amount of years left under contract.  Nsekhe was pretty good last year.  I’ve seen more than a couple analysts listing the Nsekhe signing as one of the best league wide. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, Billsfansinceday1 said:

I think Dion benefited from playing next to Incognito and Wood in 2017.  Last year he was on an island of incompetence and suffered for it...just like our running and passing games.  I will go out on a limb and predict that Dion rises from the ashes this year.

 

Yes.  For example, Wood didn't look so good playing between Legursky and Urbik or (worse yet) Urbik and Pears. 

Next year he magically improved playing between Cog and Miller.

 

OL is one of the positions where the guy you're playing next to makes a huge difference, and sites like PFF fall down because they don't know the blocking assignments so when a guy (esp. on the interior) apparently "whiffs" they have no way to know - was it his man to block or not?  Wood was interviewed about this and gave a few examples.

 

[Billzgobowlin]

Russell Bodine

Mitch Morse

Spencer Long

Ike Boettger

Wyatt Teller

Jon Feliciano

Quinton Spain

Jeremiah Sirles

Dion Dawkins

Cody Ford

Ty Nsekhe

Conor McDermott

LaAdrian Waddle

Vladmir Ducasse

 

14 players and curious how this is going to play out.  I bet we cut some very good linemen.

[ColoradoBills]

I agree with the posters who say Dawkins needs to compete for the LT.

He has had a free ride with the Glenn injury and zero competition last year.

His need to improve is no different than anyone else.

The OL is in great shape compared to last year and I am optimistic the cream will rise fast.

 

One of the things I am looking forward to is who is the depth Center.

Bodine is it for now but he doesn't bring "versatility" in dressing him.

This is the number one factor in how many OL players are keep on the 53 IMO.

 

The cut down to 53 is going to have some tough decisions this year in many positions.

I like that!

 

 

[Nextmanup]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBillies said:

 

Seeing that potential line in writing gets me very excited.

 

Nsekhe 6' 8", 325 lb

Dawkins 6' 5", 320 lb

Morse 6' 6", 305 lb

Spain 6' 5", 335 lb

Ford 6' 4" 329

 

Time to get nasty upfront!

 

Huge size doesn't necessarily equate to "nasty".  Most of the really tough/nasty guys tend to be smaller IMO.

 

These guys get too big and they turn into slow moving blubber mobiles.  

 

The nasty guys are more compact with a lower CG and they can get under their block and move him.  When I think of "nasty" Bills OL, I think Jim Ritcher and Incognito.  Neither were huge giants by any means.

 

 

[Magox]

He definitely is on the hot seat.  I am 90% sure of it.

 

"Hot seat" not meaning about to be cut, rather that he will be in a completely open and impartial competition with someone either at guard or tackle.  My guess is that him and Nsekhe will battle it out at LT and the first hint of him losing out they will try him out at guard to attempt to salvage his career as a Bill.  And even then he wont be handed the job.

1 minute ago, Nextmanup said:

Huge size doesn't necessarily equate to "nasty".  Most of the really tough/nasty guys tend to be smaller IMO.

 

These guys get too big and they turn into slow moving blubber mobiles.  

 

The nasty guys are more compact with a lower CG and they can get under their block and move him.  When I think of "nasty" Bills OL, I think Jim Ritcher and Incognito.  Neither were huge giants by any means.

 

 

 

Generally speaking, A good big man is better to have than a good smaller man.  With size comes advantages for O linemen and with size comes a relatively higher degree of being able to physically dominate your opponent than a smaller man.  

[MDH]

1 hour ago, Ittakestime said:

If the Bills are serious about building a nasty line, they will go with:

 

Nsekhe, Dawkins, Morse, Spain, Ford

 

I'm saying it now, if Dawkins is the LT over Nsekhe, this team isn't serious about open competition an building the best line.

 

Yeah, if the team doesn't agree with your expert assessment, they're obviously not serious about putting the best team possible on the field.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

6 minutes ago, Billzgobowlin said:

Russell Bodine

Mitch Morse

Spencer Long

Ike Boettger

Wyatt Teller

Jon Feliciano

Quinton Spain

Jeremiah Sirles

Dion Dawkins

Cody Ford

Ty Nsekhe

Conor McDermott

LaAdrian Waddle

Vladmir Ducasse

 

14 players and curious how this is going to play out.  I bet we cut some very good linemen.

...GOOD news is when is the last time we were in the position of potentially too much OL talent?....could "Electric Company Take 2" be on the horizon??....stay tuned....

[Koko78]

2 hours ago, Ittakestime said:

If the Bills are serious about building a nasty line, they will go with:

 

Nsekhe, Dawkins, Morse, Spain, Ford

 

I'm saying it now, if Dawkins is the LT over Nsekhe, this team isn't serious about open competition an building the best line.

 

I'd go even father and say that if they don't go with your April suggestion for the line in September, it shows that Beane and McCoach aren't serious about winning, and should be fired. Of course, firing those two for not being serious about winning shows that Mr. Pegula isn't serious about winning, and he should be forced to sell the team to an owner who will defer all personnel decisions, to be decided each April, to an advisory counsel made up of message board GMs.

[dollars 2 donuts]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I hope so!  After seeing his body at the OTA (or whatever they call it) a couple weeks ago, it didn’t look like he was taking it too seriously.  I figured he had Duffs wings in an IV 

 

 

Uh-oh.

[wppete]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBillies said:

 

Seeing that potential line in writing gets me very excited.

 

Nsekhe 6' 8", 325 lb

Dawkins 6' 5", 320 lb

Morse 6' 6", 305 lb

Spain 6' 5", 335 lb

Ford 6' 4" 329

 

Time to get nasty upfront!

 

 

It will be very nasty up front. Toughest Oline in the NFL. I like the line this way.

 

LT - Dawkins

LG - Spain

C - Morse

RG - Ford

LG - NSekhe 

 

Feliciano Rotating in and playing big TE with Jake Fisher. Scary!!!

[TigerJ]

I think Dawkins will face some competition at LT, but I don't think the Bills have necessarily given up on him.  Cody Ford is strictly a RT/G prospect.  Generally teams carry 8-9 offensive linemen.  It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.  At this point I see Morse, Dawkins, Ford, Long and Nsekhe making the 53 man roster for sure.  That's five guys.  That means you've got Feliciano, Spain, Teller, Bodine, Boettger and Waddle competing for 3 or 4 spots.  I'm not even counting Ducasse, McDermott or Sirles.  I assume they are as good as gone.  Morse starts at center.  Bodine is a natural center, who can also play guard.  Feliciano is a natural guard, who can also play center.  Despite a disastrous stint at center for the Jets (when he tried to play through an injury) Long is reasonably adapt at either.  Spain and Teller are probably looked at mostly as guards.  Nsekhe is a natural tackle who has played a little guard.  Ford can play either tackle or guard.  I think Waddle is pretty much a pure tackle.   The versatility of so many of these guys makes sorting it all out a bit complicated.  I think Teller will get a real shot to impress the coaches in order to earn a second year.  I'm sort of doubtful that Bodine hangs on.  Boettger as a UDFA last year has a real uphill climb to make the roster.  I think Morse is probably the only consensus starter.  That makes for a lot of sorting out to do in training camp.

Edited April 27, 2019 by TigerJ