Bills prospect OT Liam Eichenberg

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

Landon Dickerson is my favorite OL in this draft, he's literally played every position on the line at some point. Very versatile player imo and you can never have too many good OL.

 

[OldTimer1960]

6 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel said:

Landon Dickerson is my favorite OL in this draft, he's literally played every position on the line at some point. Very versatile player imo and you can never have too many good OL.

 

Boat load of injuries in his career, too.  Will he last 4 years in the league?

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

15 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Boat load of injuries in his career, too.  Will he last 4 years in the league?

 

It seems like every player I like in this years draft has injury concerns. 

[WideNine]

On 3/31/2021 at 7:12 PM, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Again.........when it comes to key positions......LT being one of them........when you need them you REALLY need them.   Desperately.    Interior OL you can always patch up with free agents.

 

Normally I agree with this at G, but with Morse one head-slap away from another concussion and nearing the end of his contract coupled with his weaker power scheme blocking, and the Feliciano struggled blocking at the guard position as well against better teams. I think their priority is shoring up the middle starting-caliber players this offseason.

 

Josh's comfort avoiding the rush and extending plays with his legs often hid the less stellar pass-pro at times, but overall I think against MOST teams our pass protection held up although Josh held the ball longer and struggled finding the open man against teams did not need to send the 5th rusher; However our consistently poor run-blocking even against 4-man fronts was an indictment of our line's capabilities and prevented us from forcing some teams out of that alignment.

 

Any team is going to have a drop off if they lose their starting LT, but I think this year we go after that G/C starting caliber player they can ease behind Morse and Feliciano who can start to back them up or take emergency snaps in a pinch with an eye to eventually taking over one of those positions.

 

Ford may come back and prove himself at G, but I do not see a replacement for Morse on our roster although Felliciano was able to fill in on spot duty and did not screw up snapping the ball even out of the shotgun which was a pleasant surprise. Either way, I do not see any of the o-line FA's Beane brought in as anything more than competition, but I thought the same about Williams who recovered much of his past form.

 

We will see...

 

 

 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

4 minutes ago, WideNine said:

 

Normally I agree with this at G, but with Morse one head-slap away from another concussion and nearing the end of his contract coupled with his weaker power scheme blocking, and the Feliciano struggled blocking at the guard position as well against better teams. I think their priority is shoring up the middle starting-caliber players this offseason.

 

Josh's comfort avoiding the rush and extending plays with his legs often hid the less stellar pass-pro at times, but overall I think against MOST teams our pass protection held up although Josh held the ball longer and struggled finding the open man against teams did not need to send the 5th rusher; However our consistently poor run-blocking even against 4-man fronts was an indictment of our line's capabilities and prevented us from forcing some teams out of that alignment.

 

Any team is going to have a drop off if they lose their starting LT, but I think this year we go after that G/C starting caliber player they can ease behind Morse and Feliciano who can start to back them up or take emergency snaps in a pinch with an eye to eventually taking over one of those positions.

 

Ford may come back and prove himself at G, but I do not see a replacement for Morse on our roster although Felliciano was able to fill in on spot duty and did not screw up snapping the ball even out of the shotgun which was a pleasant surprise. Either way, I do not see any of the o-line FA's Beane brought in as anything more than competition, but I thought the same about Williams who recovered much of his past form.

 

We will see...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eichenberg is a good enough technician to excel at LG and bump out to LT and be good immediately if needed, IMO.  

 

I also think Feliciano is a solid center.   In the power game he was absolutely better than Morse.  Ryan Bates is a decent, full sized C prospect that they've been cultivating for some time now as well.   

 

I would never use a first round pick on someone who projects long term as an interior OL.

 

A simple rule to follow is if you take that player...........and they play up to first round expectations..........can you easily justify giving them a second contract?

 

This is why you tend to see All Pro quality interior lineman hit free agency but that is almost never the case with the key positions..........QB/PassRush/LT/WR1/CB1........when they do they are usually replete with red flags.

 

I've seen the "just use the 1st round pick on a RB and use him up and let him walk in 4-5 years"  takes and I am sure some will use the same logic with inside OL..........but that's not a good way to approach it, IMO.    

 

Needs change FAST.

 

Dawkins could blow out a knee........we could find out that Tre White has had stingers because he has a narrowing of the spine and has to retire........you just don't know.........so IMO you should use that first rounder(and preferably the second as well) on key, big money positions that are hard to fill..........and let the scouts do what they are paid for and find you interior OL and RB's and off-ball LB's etc.. on day 3.

 

 

[WideNine]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Eichenberg is a good enough technician to excel at LG and bump out to LT and be good immediately if needed, IMO.  

 

I also think Feliciano is a solid center.   In the power game he was absolutely better than Morse.  Ryan Bates is a decent, full sized C prospect that they've been cultivating for some time now as well.   

 

I would never use a first round pick on someone who projects long term as an interior OL.

 

A simple rule to follow is if you take that player...........and they play up to first round expectations..........can you easily justify giving them a second contract?

 

This is why you tend to see All Pro quality interior lineman hit free agency but that is almost never the case with the key positions..........QB/PassRush/LT/WR1/CB1........when they do they are usually replete with red flags.

 

I've seen the "just use the 1st round pick on a RB and use him up and let him walk in 4-5 years"  takes and I am sure some will use the same logic with inside OL..........but that's not a good way to approach it, IMO.    

 

Needs change FAST.

 

Dawkins could blow out a knee........we could find out that Tre White has had stingers because he has a narrowing of the spine and has to retire........you just don't know.........so IMO you should use that first rounder(and preferably the second as well) on key, big money positions that are hard to fill..........and let the scouts do what they are paid for and find you interior OL and RB's and off-ball LB's etc.. on day 3.

 

 

 

True that it is rare to see a team spend 1st round draft capital on an interior OL player, although there was Quinton Nelson and more than a few centers that have gone in the 1st.

 

My focus was more on our future center position and although Feliciano filled in admirably I still have visions of his turnstile play against KC's Jones. The Bills have to be able to match up better against those better 4-man fronts to take the next step.

 

If Eichenberg could back up Dawkins that would be awesome. I avoided posting all those nightmare Dawkins scenarios although they were there in the back of my mind - I am superstitious that way. If Eichenberg has that inside/outside flexibility he would fit the O-line player mold Beane values.

 

Speaking of the Colts and Nelson, reading one of Eichenberg's draft profiles they made a strong case that Indy could take a shot at him. Made some sense pairing him up with Nelson, shoring up their LT position with the loss of Costanzo, and prioritizing protecting the shell-shocked Wentz and easing him into his role with them to see if he can turn his NFL career around.