Why I feel comfortable today w/ LT situation right

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

1. Today isn't tomorrow or quite frankly isn't even the start of the season yet and there remain several opportunities and ways to get adequate and even pretty good production out of the LT position before it is too late.

 

Am I satisfied with the LT position right now? No. Am I comfortable with it right now? Yes, because there are quite a few options for improving this situation and only those who most easily get their panties all up in a wad at a problem are freaking out even after a draft that produced little of immediate OL hope.

 

2. I think there is a fairly good chance for Trey Teague to work out as our LT if necessary.

 

It is far from a certain thing that TT will be what we need (and he will never be what we want because we want everything even if we can't have it) at LT, but my sense is that while he was adequate for Denver (if he was inadequate he likely would have been benched) he did not merit a big contract in their view. However, I think he has improved since he got here due to having more experience and having more smarts as it takes to take on the center role. Injuries are always an issue, but he showed he can come back from the ACL tear he had in Denver and even came back to perform at a better level for the Bills after the injury which forced him out for a few games last year.

 

Though TT being the player we want at LT is not sure thing, I'm actually more worried about whether we can have an adequate replacement for him at C than the uncertainty of whether he can handle the LT position.

 

3. The Shelton deal is dead, but the potential for us getting him for no compensation after June 1st is real.

 

There are obviously questions about how much Shelton can do. However, (particularly after the docs made the correct call on WM) I am pretty confortable that the Bills will only get him if his ankle can stand up to the task. Shelton is far from perfect, but assuming he still has something left, the good parts of his game (the run game) are where we plan to go and the weaker part of his game (athleticism when left on an island against speed rushers) are just the thing that a mobile QB who ran for his life all through college like JP can compensate for,

 

Even if the Bills will get the advantage of getting him for no compensation after his likely cap cut, I'm still tempted for the Bills to have made the trade for him to get him into minicamp and begin building chemistry. Yet, he is a vet and a late start whould not prove fatal and I still consider him a live option.

 

4. There are several other LT options even beyond the TT thought.

 

Though I think they are all far less likely than the utility of moving TT, there are a fairly substantial number of potential LT options the Bills can try though I suspect there will be little need to do this. These include:

 

A. Use of Gandy who has played LT before though it was for the lowly Bears.

B. Dylan Mcfarland played a couple of games at RT last year and while not an LT may provide room for MW to flip sides if that were the way to go at LT.

C. Jason Peters is talked about as a phenomenal athlete who commands a look at LT. My sense is that if he is such a penomenal athlete why take the ball out of his hands and he should stay at TE. Yet this wildcard is talked about so it is on the plate.

D. David Pruce was the NFLE LT of the year with his play there. This earns him a look (proabably brief in my book) but only a look to see if he is one of those rarities who can translate NFLE performance to the US.

E. Leonard Smith is shat upon by those who saw his LG play last year as inadequate. It was inadequate, but it seems foolish to me to declare him a horrible player as making the jump from the Ravens PS to starting for us was little short of phenomenal in terms of a jump. The fact that his failing actually was the run blocking part of G play and that his pass protection was actually judged to be good means maybe there is a place for him at T. he more logically makes it possible for MW to jump to LT rather than him taking on this task, but he is a possibility as far as the mix.

F. Ross Tucker actually first came into this league as a tackle rather than a C. His role would also likely be dependent on MW showing enough to jump to LT and he fills in at RT but again he is part of the mix.

G. MW is a question mark. His game however is now moving in the right direction. If JMac judges him ready to make the switch. I can see this and the bigissue becaome which of the several candidates for RT will work.

 

^. It starts with the players and ends with their quality of play, but the road to a producing OL goes through JMac.

 

I think that one huge factor working for the Bills is that he has forgotten more about OL development than the not-ready-fopr-primetime Vinklarek and Ruel who manned this job for GW know about the position. The fact he took players whom we know the limitations of well like Glenn Parker and Dusty Ziegler and forged them into an OL with help capable of getting NYG to the SB spaks volumes. He has produced a couple of ther SB squads with the Bengals and we have given him lots of options to play with (15 OL players on the roster) to find the 7-10 guys he needs to produce on the OL for us.

 

I am not satisfied with where we are now, but quite comfortable that all is under control.

[Fla Bills Fan]

There could be others available after June 1. Kyle Turly for one.

[Spiderweb]

There could be others available after June 1. Kyle Turly for one.

317268[/snapback]

 

Kyle Turley's shoulder (injury), and his considerable loss of weight may very signal his

career is over. Quite a nut case as well, but in his best days, he was a very solid OT.

[HtownBillsFan]

Did I hear somewhere that Turley wants to play d-line?