Feliciano to IR; Jamil Douglas signed to 53

[billsfan_34]

On 11/6/2021 at 4:14 PM, LABILLBACKER said:

Feliciano has struggled this season. Hopefully we can take a peak at our backup olineman. 

Perhaps his struggles have been injury related?

[Cantankeous]

37 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

If the Bills had "the same opinion about Teller" (a 2018 draftee who played half a season at LG on a very bad line and was traded at the last minute before the 2019 season) as I express about a literal, 7 year vet with 11 starts scattered across those years - that would be silly of them.

Thankfully, not everyone as sure of themselves as you are. I prefer my views come from the coaching staff. 

[Jauronimo]

 

On 11/6/2021 at 4:59 PM, Scott7975 said:

 

Im hoping that being on the bench will kickstart something in Ford.  At least stop the 1 on 1 jailbreaks.

Being on the bench hasn't kick started anything so far and hes spent a lot of time there.  In fact, he looked way worse getting back into the lineup.

[oldmanfan]

I would put Brown at LT; Dawkins looks like he never really got over his Covid infection. Then put Doyle at RT, Williams at RG, and either Douglas at LG or Move Dawkins inside where he doesn’t have to deal with the speed rushers coining from outside.  They won’t start Bates because with Feliciano out he’s the only backup C if Morse gets hurt, and we know Morse is susceptible to concussion.

 

They should cut Ford.

[The Frankish Reich]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

With 11 starts and a handful of other games where he took >50% of the snaps over 7 seasons, I think Douglas has already shown he can play in the NFL.

 

The question is "how well?" since neither of the teams he started for considered him more than a capable fill-in.

 

He is the very definition of "journeyman"

 

How many destinations must one have to be labeled a "journeyman?" Because but for his mere two NFL stops, that's kind of how I see Feliciano. I imagine he may graduate from apprentice to journeyman next season.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

36 minutes ago, Cantankeous said:

Thankfully, not everyone as sure of themselves as you are. I prefer my views come from the coaching staff. 

 

Then take them from the coaching staff.  They've had Douglas on the practice squad for 7 games, and only elevated him to sit on the bench as a backup when they put Feliciano on reserve.  That's their opinion. 

 

If they don't start Brown at RT and return Williams to RG duty, they may in fact start him ahead of Ford, but unfortunately that's looking like a very low bar for improvement at this point - unless you take your opinions from PFF too.

[billrooter]

15 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I would put Brown at LT; Dawkins looks like he never really got over his Covid infection. Then put Doyle at RT, Williams at RG, and either Douglas at LG or Move Dawkins inside where he doesn’t have to deal with the speed rushers coining from outside.  They won’t start Bates because with Feliciano out he’s the only backup C if Morse gets hurt, and we know Morse is susceptible to concussion.

 

They should cut Ford.

I thought Doyle looked pretty rough in the preseason, I may be wrong? I would rather get Bates involved somewhere myself, he seems to have said playex pretty well filling in the past.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

8 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

How many destinations must one have to be labeled a "journeyman?" Because but for his mere two NFL stops, that's kind of how I see Feliciano. I imagine he may graduate from apprentice to journeyman next season.

 

It's looking more possible that's a fair assessment of Feliciano at this point.  He spent 4 years on the bench in Oakland, starting 8 games spread across those 4 seasons.  On the one hand, it was a cool story that in FA he finally earned his chance to start here in Buffalo. 

 

It does happen, guys do improve.  And he showed major grit coming back from the torn pec and probably played hindered all last season.  But he seems to have regressed - a lot - this season.  In hindsight, maybe he looked like a solid starter for us in 2019 because he was an improvement on John Miller, or because any G would look improved playing next to Mitch Morse vs Russ Bodine.

[The Frankish Reich]

20 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I would put Brown at LT; Dawkins looks like he never really got over his Covid infection.

Yikes. After a promising first couple games, Brown was pretty much abused at RT. I don't want to see him protecting Allen's blindside anytime soon.

I do agree about Dawkins. There's been a cascade effect stemming from his subpar health/play. But I don't think there's any real alternative there. He has to play through it and we have to hope that by January he's closer to the 2020 version of Dion Dawkins; otherwise, we'll be in rough shape approaching the playoffs.

1 minute ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

In hindsight, maybe he looked like a solid starter for us in 2019 because he was an improvement on John Miller, or because any G would look improved playing next to Mitch Morse vs Russ Bodine.

Agreed. Between a healthy Dawkins and Morse, a healthy Feliciano was certainly able to hold his own. But that's just not been the case this year. I'm all for experimenting when you're talking about swapping out one journeyman type for another journeyman type - sometimes (Justin Zimmer for about one calendar year?) you get lucky.

[GunnerBill]

26 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

It's looking more possible that's a fair assessment of Feliciano at this point.  He spent 4 years on the bench in Oakland, starting 8 games spread across those 4 seasons.  On the one hand, it was a cool story that in FA he finally earned his chance to start here in Buffalo. 

 

It does happen, guys do improve.  And he showed major grit coming back from the torn pec and probably played hindered all last season.  But he seems to have regressed - a lot - this season.  In hindsight, maybe he looked like a solid starter for us in 2019 because he was an improvement on John Miller, or because any G would look improved playing next to Mitch Morse vs Russ Bodine.

 

I think the weight loss is a factor. He was never and is never going to be a technician. But he does play with an edge and at his best he had enough power to cover up some of his flaws, still holding guys off when he had taken poor angles etc. He isn't getting away with that this year. Whenever he takes a bad angle he gets blown up. 

Edited November 12, 2021 by GunnerBill

[Hapless Bills Fan]

5 minutes ago, billrooter said:

I thought Doyle looked pretty rough in the preseason, I may be wrong? I would rather get Bates involved somewhere myself, he seems to have said playex pretty well filling in the past.

 

I don't think you're wrong at all.  Doyle did NOT look ready for Primetime in the preseason.  Joe B had this to say:

Quote

Buscaglia: As a vested veteran, the Bills can sign Hart right back to the practice squad if he doesn’t have any interest for an active roster spot elsewhere. If Spencer Brown isn’t ready to go in Week One or any week this year, Hart has practice squad call-up written all over him to serve as the backup to Dawkins and Williams on game day. As much as Hart has struggled, he’s the better option right now between him and Doyle.

I don't take Buscaglia as gospel, but at RT that seemed to match what we saw.  'Course, Hart is now starting at LT for the AFC-leading Tennessee Titans so there's that 😈

 

Seems to me if the Bills coaching staff felt Doyle was at all plausible as a starting RT at this point, they would have preferred to play him at RT and keep the rest of the OL constant, instead of first shifting around 3 positions (Williams RG->RT, Feliciano LG->RG, Boettger bench -> LG and then Ford Bench->RG when Mongo was injured).  Don't you think?

[LABILLBACKER]

On 11/6/2021 at 1:46 PM, John from Riverside said:

I am praying Douglas is that gem that comes in and shows he can actually play

At this point I'll take Ritchie off the streets.

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I don't think you're wrong at all.  Doyle did NOT look ready for Primetime in the preseason.  Joe B had this to say:

I don't take Buscaglia as gospel, but at RT that seemed to match what we saw.  'Course, Hart is now starting at LT for the AFC-leading Tennessee Titans so there's that 😈

 

Seems to me if the Bills coaching staff felt Doyle was at all plausible as a starting RT at this point, they would have preferred to play him at RT and keep the rest of the OL constant, instead of first shifting around 3 positions (Williams RG->RT, Feliciano LG->RG, Boettger bench -> LG and then Ford Bench->RG when Mongo was injured).  Don't you think?

I don't think Daboll has a clue what OL sequence is the best right now? That's why we've struggled lately. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

13 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Yikes. After a promising first couple games, Brown was pretty much abused at RT. I don't want to see him protecting Allen's blindside anytime soon.

 

Do you mean LT here?

 

13 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

I do agree about Dawkins. There's been a cascade effect stemming from his subpar health/play. But I don't think there's any real alternative there. He has to play through it and we have to hope that by January he's closer to the 2020 version of Dion Dawkins; otherwise, we'll be in rough shape approaching the playoffs.

 

I think Dawkins problems go back earlier than the Covid infection.   Don't you recall pictures of Dawkins at OTAs where we all were like "YIKES, if the Bills didn't ask him to gain all that weight, Uh-Oh!"  After OTAs, he posted pics of himself biking and working out in a vest, which could either be a weighted vest or a cooling vest designed to accelerate weight loss.  Bottom line, Dawkins got paid with Covid restrictions in place.  I think with the lifting of Covid restrictions, he wanted to pahrrrr-tee.  I think he was still training, it's just sometimes you think you're doing enough and you're not.

 

I think Williams got paid and it took off his edge because last season he looked like locking down RT for a decade and this season - not so much.

 

13 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Agreed. Between a healthy Dawkins and Morse, a healthy Feliciano was certainly able to hold his own.

 

? In 2019 and last season, Mongo was playing RG between Ford/Nsekhe and Morse, then between Williams and Morse.

 

13 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

But that's just not been the case this year. I'm all for experimenting when you're talking about swapping out one journeyman type for another journeyman type - sometimes (Justin Zimmer for about one calendar year?) you get lucky.

 

It's entirely possible that Jamil Douglas could get put in at RG and play better than Williams, Feliciano, or Ford or get put in at LG and play better than Feliciano or Boettger.  My guess as to what will happen, though, is that if Brown is healthy, the Bills will put him back at RT and move Williams over leave Boettger at LG, and see how that flies for a game or two.

[The Frankish Reich]

1 minute ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Do you mean LT here?

Sorry, I meant Brown was abused at RT, and that doesn't bode well for him moving to LT.

In general, I'm an optimist re: O line issues. NFL coaching staffs generally figure out a way to patch them together during the course of the season. We probably all remember the disastrous Pats O line in, what was it, 2016 or 17? They got it fixed. Even our historically bad O line at the start of 2018 was poor but ... better by the end of that season. Sometimes a good reshuffling is the start.

[TheFunPolice]

As I've said many times, one of the most beautiful sights on an NFL field is a gigantic lineman, but even I was a little concerned at Dawkins' weight gain. That said, I don't think that is the cause of his struggles. 

 

I think it was Covid just really knocked him for a loop. Guy was in the hospital for 4 days with it right before the start of the season, and it sounds like he was sick enough that he was worried about his life/health, so it's understandable that he's still trying to get himself right. Some people are affected, some aren't, but when that virus digs into you it's a real SOB. 

 

It's one thing to work an office job after recovering from Covid, it's another to have to go 100% on an athletic field against premier professional athletes every play. 

 

So I think Dawkins will eventually be back to himself. It's just bad timing and a much worse illness than a lot of other guys get. I bet he'll be closer to the Dawkins we all know and love for the stretch run in January and hopefully February. He's talented, he's an awesome guy, he's a hard worker, and he's getting over a serious illness that put him in the hospital right before the year started. 

 

Feliciano is the one that bugs me the most. He was this road grader, mauler, angry dude with an edge. Then he decides it's time to aspire to be a center, to lose 20 freaking pounds and become Mr. Yoga man or whatever. Get more flexible, more sleek, more athletic. 

 

Guess what? He's hurt with a muscle strain anyway, and he's been mediocre to bad all year because he's trying to play his game without the same strength and size. He didn't suddenly become one of those Denver OL from the Elway/Davis days that weighed 280 pounds but could open holes a truck could drive through. 

 

Hopefully Feliciano is putting in the work in the dining room to get back ready to roll for the stretch run. 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by TheFunPolice

[billsfan1959]

28 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I don't take Buscaglia as gospel, but at RT that seemed to match what we saw.  'Course, Hart is now starting at LT for the AFC-leading Tennessee Titans so there's that 😈

 

And getting as abused there as he did here.

 

For what it's worth, PFF grades:

 

                Overall    Pass    Run
Hart             30.4    24.9    38.2
Dawkins       67.7    75        57
Brown          59.9    51.9    66.3

[Hapless Bills Fan]

29 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

At this point I'll take Ritchie off the streets.

 

No you won't. Incognito is on the Raiders roster.  On IR; hasn't practiced since the 3rd week of August.