Frez Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Gandy is now our starting LT uh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark VI Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 You buying his jersey ? I still think Teague will wind up starting there but time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frez Posted May 1, 2005 Author Share Posted May 1, 2005 You buying his jersey ? I still think Teague will wind up starting there but time will tell. 324785[/snapback] Yes, I'm waiting for his jersey to go on sale. I bet they go fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLocke Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 I think the question we have to answer is do we want Gandy at LT and Teague at C? Or do we Teague at LT and Ross Tucker at C? I think we are set at RG with Villariall, RT with Mike Williams and LG with Bennie Anderson. I do have a sq uestion for those in the know. How good is Ross Tucker? He seemed steady last year at LG and Centre not spectacular, but steady. In fact it seemed like the turning point for the o-line was when he replaced Lawrence Smith at LG. Also do people think Lawrence Smith could provide solid depth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 I think the question we have to answer is do we want Gandy at LT and Teague at C? Or do we Teague at LT and Ross Tucker at C? I think we are set at RG with Villariall, RT with Mike Williams and LG with Bennie Anderson. I do have a sq uestion for those in the know. How good is Ross Tucker? He seemed steady last year at LG and Centre not spectacular, but steady. In fact it seemed like the turning point for the o-line was when he replaced Lawrence Smith at LG. Also do people think Lawrence Smith could provide solid depth? 324802[/snapback] You have to figure that Preston and Geisinger being current draft picks, are going to occupy sports in the OL ranks. Depending on whether they keep 9 or 10 OL, it will look something like this.... Top 8(no particular order)... Gandy Anderson Teague Villarrial Williams Tucker Preston Geisinger Last 1 or 2 spots....McFarland, Smith, Sobieski, Gudmundson, Peters, etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 I think the question we have to answer is do we want Gandy at LT and Teague at C? Or do we Teague at LT and Ross Tucker at C? I think we are set at RG with Villariall, RT with Mike Williams and LG with Bennie Anderson. I do have a sq uestion for those in the know. How good is Ross Tucker? He seemed steady last year at LG and Centre not spectacular, but steady. In fact it seemed like the turning point for the o-line was when he replaced Lawrence Smith at LG. Also do people think Lawrence Smith could provide solid depth? 324802[/snapback] I think back-ups on the OL is a key thing. If we can build the chemistry of the starting unit, but then also have a player ready to step in when the usual nicks happen and you need someone for a game or two and he can step in without us missing a beat, then you are cooking! The problems I see is that I like Tucker as a solid back-up for the middle of the OL because he can fill in at both G positions and the C position if necessary as he did for Teague last year. I like Gandy in the Marcus Price role of being a fill-in at both tackle position. This is fine except that leaves us needing both a starting C and a starting LT and Teague looks like the best candidate in either place. This is why I was actually bummed that it seems to have turned out that the docs say Shelton's ankle makes him not the answer at LT (there is still a slight chance the Bills are merely laying low until Shelton is released by AZ as a cap casualty, but i don't think so). Shelton is not a great player, but his strengths of good upper body streangth but difficulty when he is left out on island fits well with the need for a roadgrader to block for WM and Losman's ability to avoid heavy hits for speed rushing DEs fit well with our needs but he does not appear physically ready to be worthwhile. I do not see any dead certain locks for solving this problem that will work, but one of several less likely options should work including: 1. We deal with the problem of losing chemistry building time for the OL to work together the next month and pick up Shelton for a song as a cap casualty in June and his presence at LT allows Teague to stay at C. 2. Teague moves to LT and Preston pulls a Dusty Ziegler and is ready to step in at C right away. 3. Peter's really is a phenomenal athlete ready to step in as LT with Gandy backing up both Ts, Tucker backing up the middle of the line, and development projects like Preston (and others like McFarland, Smith, whatever) filling in over time. As far as Smith, the two things which strike me as significant are that: 1. he made a tremendous jump from the Raven's PS last year to be our starting LG that I wasn't surprised to find out he had failings in the redzone and as a run blocker which made him need to be replaced. Merely, becoming a credible back-up would have been quite the accomplishment. It is interesting to me that the strength of his game which led to this big jump was at the more difficult (allegedly) task of pass blocking and athleticism and that he failed to be the roadgrader we wanted. This athleticism probably is why he is in the T position where he will face speed rushers on an island rather than doing the inside knife work of a G. Still we are a team that is going to call the run a lot and then for the next play call the run again. Smith needs to elevate his game on the run game if he wants to stick. 2. It speaks well for Anderson that he was a starter on the Ravens while Smith was only good enough to make their PS. Is Anderson a great player at LG? Probably not. Is Anderson a significant upgrade for the Bills in terms of LG play where a player on his squad but two notches below was our starting LG last year? Yes. Anderson is almost certainly a significant upgrade for the Bills. This really is a shell game, but we do have several options for improvement of the an OL that blocked for a winning team last year with a statue at QB. Things bode well but they have to be made to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC-Bills Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 You have to figure that Preston and Geisinger being current draft picks, are going to occupy sports in the OL ranks. Depending on whether they keep 9 or 10 OL, it will look something like this.... Top 8(no particular order)... Gandy Anderson Teague Villarrial Williams Tucker Preston Geisinger Last 1 or 2 spots....McFarland, Smith, Sobieski, Gudmundson, Peters, etc.... 324865[/snapback] I think Peters is going to be here for another year at least so he can continue to learn/develop. Make or break year for Sobieski. Gudy will probably be on the practice squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 You have to figure that Preston and Geisinger being current draft picks, are going to occupy sports in the OL ranks. Depending on whether they keep 9 or 10 OL, it will look something like this.... Top 8(no particular order)... Gandy Anderson Teague Villarrial Williams Tucker Preston Geisinger Last 1 or 2 spots....McFarland, Smith, Sobieski, Gudmundson, Peters, etc.... 324865[/snapback] I think 10. Peters for sure, IMO. I think McFarland has the inside track as a tackle as Preston, Geisinger and Tucker all play guard and/or center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reuben Gant Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 I think Peters is a lock to make the squad this year. Back up tight end, back up tackle, and workhorse on special teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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