Jeepers JMac has a lot of bodies to work with

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I, like most have not content with our OL situation, but I am quite satisfied that JMac and the braintrust have a ton of bodies to work with to attempt to forge a more than adequate OL that we want.

 

The test will be whether all of these players are simply pro bodies or in fact whether they can come together as a unit that performs well. I am pretty hopeful (the satisfaction), but worried about how this will work (the lack of contentment).

 

Overall, the final numbers will likely be 9 or 10 OL players whom we keep ownership of with 7 OL players active each week. an 8th player active on the roster and 1 or 2 players in development who probably are on the PS,

 

Rather than choosing between 1 or 2 players on the margin. The Bills roster has these 15 OL players under contract:

 

 

66 Anderson, Bennie OL 6-5 345 28 4 Tennessee State

60 Esposito, Jasen G 6-4 305 23 1 Kutztown

69 Gandy, Mike OL 6-4 310 26 4 Notre Dame

-- Geisinger, Justin OL 6-3 322 22 R Vanderbilt

-- Gunmundsen, Geir OL U of Albany

79 McFarland, Dylan OT 6-5 290 24 R Montana

71 Peters, Jason OT 6-4 328 23 R Arkansas

-- Preston, Duke OL 6-5 311 22 R Illinois

74 Pruce, David OT 6-8 328 26 1 Buffalo

72 Smith, Lawrence OT 6-3 295 25 1 Tennessee State

64 Sobieski, Ben G 6-5 315 25 1 Iowa

70 Teague, Trey C 6-5 300 30 7 Tennessee

65 Tucker, Ross G 6-4 316 26 4 Princeton

58 Villarrial, Chris G 6-3 318 31 9 Indiana(Pa)

78 Williams, Mike OT 6-6 360 25 3 Texas

 

The current depth chart appears to be:

 

RT: Williams

RG: Villarial

C: Teague

LG: Anderson

LT: Gandy

 

BRT: McFarland

BRG: Tucker

BC: Tucker, Preston

BLG: Tucker, Geisinger

BLT: Smith

 

This makes 10 off the top, but several of the remaining 5 will have some shot (interesting to non-existent of getting in there:

 

Esposito: Hung on the team last year but a likely goner and camp fodder.

 

Gundmundsen- I know nothing about him except that he impressed JMac enough to end up as a guest of his for Easter Sunday and then made the roster. Perhaps a better cadidate to marry JMac's daughter if he has one.

 

Peters: Great contribution on ST last year probably gets him on the active roster and rumor has him being an LT candidate because of his phenomenal athleticism. Yet, if he is such an athlete, why take the ball out of his hand by not working him in at TE? He clearly is a big varuiable and if the Bills are committed to him making this team as a T then someone is a goner.

 

Pruce: Probably a quality player as he played LT well with NFLE last year, but he seems like camp fodder to me.

 

Sobieski: Well regarded talent got him drafted, kept on the PS, and then kept on the roster again, but at some point the dream will likely come to an end with him getting cut.

 

Add to this, there are several off-roster options which means they likely will not happen but need to be considered before rejecting these ideas.

 

Bannan- based on TD comments on TV Sunday he has been told he has a better shot at making the team as a DT so theG experiement appears to be done.

 

LJ Shelton or some other cap casualty- The deal is dead but AZ likely has to let him go come June and he and other folks like Kyle Turley should probably not be brought in to throw off chemistry developed in minicamp, but this needs to be thought about.

 

Marcus Price- Did a great job as a swing reserve tackle last year, but Bills and NFL seeming lack of interest indicates that reports of an injury may singal the end of his career.

 

Pucillo- Not signed by anyone but probably a goner.

 

At any rate, I am pretty comfortable though not satifisfied that JMac can make this work. The precence of WM and his outside ability and stiff arm meaning that defenders will need to hesistate before committing to the rush will help the protection.

 

Further, the experience Losman has running for his life at Tulane should not be depended upon. but will hold the Bills in good stead as his mobility makes the likely mistakes from this OL workable.

 

The wildcard I see is that JMac will need to get more out of Gandy than he has shown in Chicago or our offensive approach will have to work around this weakness if it occurs.

 

Still I can see how this might work quite well.

[Like A Mofo]

Good post as always FFS....it is a good way of looking at the Bills OL situation, there are no guarantees either way, the Bills could have drafted 2 OL in the 1st round w/o a OL coach with the credibility of JMac and it would be a risk, and having JMac and picking OL who arent rated as high on draft day is a risk as well.

 

Personally, I have confidence that JMac and the Bills can get a cohesive and productive OL in place, but again, there are ZERO guarantees.

[Mark VI]

McNally said he wanted to move them around in the mini-camps and see where some guys fit. My guess at the line :

 

RT - Williams

RG - Villarial

C - Tucker

LG- Anderson

LT - Teague

 

Tucker did play well when he filled in for an injured Teague. Teague is nothing great at LT but can move a little. With the mobile Losman having a tendency to roll to his right, the blindside worry is decreased more so than when Bledsoe was here.

 

The Bills will keep their 2 picks, Preston and Geisinger , meaning it will be a fight for the other couple of roster spots and that includes Gandy.

 

The 2006 Draft is reportedly strong at OT, with plenty of true LT's. Teague could do for this year but the off-season isn't over yet. We'll see.

[34-78-83]

Great post FFS... I was just looking at the roster yesterday and noticed that indeed we do have a lot of prospects to work with!... There should be plenty of options to come up with something that JMAC and the other coaches feel secure with.

[ndirish1978]

My guess: I know im gonna get slammed for it , but I DID read McNally thinking this kid was a phenom and could start this year

RT - Williams

RG - Villarial

C - Teague

LG- Anderson

LT - Peters

[BuckeyeBill]

To be honest, I would have been disappointed if we had picked a lineman in either the second or third rounds. With JMac there, I think he can work magic with later rounders, and I am liking Duke Preston as our center for the future.

 

Isn't Teague's contract up at the end of this year? I would be shocked if he stayed in Buffalo when his contract expires (unless he signs for dirt cheap). Even though I do like Teague, he is adequate, but not dominant anywhere.

[/dev/null]

having a ton of bodies is one thing. having talented players is another.

 

i said it last year and i'll say it again this year...

having McNally coach our OLine is like putting Patton in command of the French Army

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

having a ton of bodies is one thing.  having talented players is another.

 

319383[/snapback]

 

You are right, but the additional thing which also appears true is that when it comes to OL production the whole is far more than a simple summation of the individual parts. This example was shown clearly with JMac and his Jints team. We all know better than many the real limitations that Dusty Z had as a center and Glenn Parker had as a tackle.

 

Yet, JMac got production which got this team to the SB out of this unit even though their were some pretty clear talent limitation (I loved the Duster, but I would not mistake him for Kent Hull anyday).

 

Particularly with the MM commitment to run and then run some more, TC and MM working well together to really know how to run an O and the skills that the skill players bring at RB, QB, and WR, having bodies and having individual talents are two different things, but in terms of OL unit production this has a very good chance of being more than good enough here.

 

 

I'd be just whistling in the dark here, but we have seen this work before a number of times and inparticular with JMac at the helm quite recently.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Holy Cow!! We have another Kutztowner on the squad?

 

Let's sing the Kutztown fight song in honor:

 

Ring Bologna onest,

Ring Bologna twicest,

 

KUTZ-town KUTZ-town GEE that's nice!