Hump Day Hypothetical

[hondo in seattle]

25 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Thurman Thomas. His versatility in/out of the backfield would be insane. His pass blocking abilities would also be helpful. Imagine Thurman in the screen game. Hands down, Thurman Thomas!

 

I think it's pretty obvious that OJ is the better runner.  But it's arguable who's the better overall back because Thurman is better at some of the other stuff.  Thurman was much better at blitz pickup and better as a receiver (although OJ was under-used in this category).   

 

So, yeah, it would be extraordinary fun to have Thurman.  The screen game would be a new weapon that's mostly missing now.  

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by hondo in seattle

[mabden]

Howard 'House' Ballard

or

Conrad Dobler

or 

Kent Hull

or

Billy Shaw

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by mabden

[Ethan in Cleveland]

44 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

While McD worries about the ugly current realities, I'll fantasize a bit.

 

Jerry Hughes has been really good at generating a high pressure rate, but not so hot at actually getting sacks.  I think one of the problems is that often when Hughes generates pressure, there's no one else there to wrap up.  The QB avoids Hughes and gets the pass away.

Imagine Hughes on one side and Bruce on the other... and the QB feeling pressure from both sides!   That would be so fun to watch!

 

 

I want to believe our D is as good as our stats say.  But I don't.  I understand the second half of your statement.  

 

But the D isn't bad.  Our offensive line is.  At this point in the season, I worry about our O far more than our D - despite your valid concerns about it.  

 

100% agree. I think the D is at worst a top 10 unit. If Edmunds plays a good game and Oliver/Rousseau play well they  can be elite on any given day. As many have said only a few teams can do what Tennessee did to them. Unfortunately many of those teams  are in the AfC like Cleveland, Tennessee, Patriots,  Baltimore, and Indianapolis. 

 

And I agree I worry much more about our o-line against even an average DL as opposed to our defensive front 7 being able to handle a big physical running game.  If the o-line can't keep Allen clean we lose. 

[cwater10]

Pre evil OJ is awfully tempting, just for the incredible aesthetic athletic beauty, and thrill of watching him run again.  But with this team, he's likely just back to being pre Lou Saban, decoy OJ, and that wouldn't help anyone.  

 

Kent Hull leaps out of the mist to me as the man I wish would walk through that door today.  He was a stud and an anchor for the entire line.  He made the average guards next to him pretty darn effective at the same time.  Joe D, Main Man Reggie McKenzie and Rueben all merit consideration, but at the end of the day, Kent Hull all day, every day.  Just imagine where that Tennessee QB sneak goes with Kent in front of Josh.  It would have been straight ahead into the end zone in all likelihood.  

 

Time travel and resource retrieval!  Hell yeah... what a great Wednesday.  Isn't it amazing anything's accomplished today?  Could we use Bobby Orr?

 

Bonus Round:  I'll always have time for Isaiah Robertson just to hear him sing "I've got a feeling" one or two more times.  Plus, I've become curiously curious to know exactly how Isaiah would handle the tricky task of having himself paged in a restaurant in the age of cell phones.  

 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by cwater10

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

35 minutes ago, mabden said:

Howard 'House' Ballard

or

Conrad Dobler

or 

Kent Hull

or

Billy Shaw

 

Well, if you're limiting me to those four, probably Conrad Dobler.  He does admit to biting at least one finger, so there's a fear factor opponents might have to contend with. 😁

*
Wasn't there an NFL lineman noted for 'crapping his pants' during games to increase the tendency of opponents to avoid him?  Lord knows the Bills O line has been figuratively doing so this season. 

[hondo in seattle]

59 minutes ago, cwater10 said:

Pre evil OJ is awfully tempting, just for the incredible aesthetic athletic beauty, and thrill of watching him run again.  But with this team, he's likely just back to being pre Lou Saban, decoy OJ, and that wouldn't help anyone.  

 

Kent Hull leaps out of the mist to me as the man I wish would walk through that door today.  He was a stud and an anchor for the entire line.  He made the average guards next to him pretty darn effective at the same time.  Joe D, Main Man Reggie McKenzie and Rueben all merit consideration, but at the end of the day, Kent Hull all day, every day.  Just imagine where that Tennessee QB sneak goes with Kent in front of Josh.  It would have been straight ahead into the end zone in all likelihood.  

 

Time travel and resource retrieval!  Hell yeah... what a great Wednesday.  Isn't it amazing anything's accomplished today?  Could we use Bobby Orr?

 

Bonus Round:  I'll always have time for Isaiah Robertson just to hear him sing "I've got a feeling" one or two more times.  Plus, I've become curiously curious to know exactly how Isaiah would handle the tricky task of having himself paged in a restaurant in the age of cell phones.  

 

 

 

Singing Isiah Robertson - that's a blast from the past!

 

Kent Hull is a guy I considered too with the same image in mind - the sneak against Tennessee.  

 

Ruben Brown is a player who I never felt was as good as his 9-time Pro Bowl resume says he is.  But he is much better than the guards we have now and would be a welcome addition if our science team could bring back more than one player.   

 

Agreeing with mabden, Billy Shaw would be another guard I'd love to have.  

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by hondo in seattle

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

Offensive lineman Bob Kalsu (and not just because the current Bills could use better O-line play).

 

For those who don't know who he is:

 

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/all-of-us-owe-former-sooner-vietnam-vet-bob-kalsu-a-moment/article_2a60ddb4-5d4c-5c4f-848c-b5f338231184.html

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

You wake up today and discover that – much to your surprise – the Pegulas have given you complete ownership of the Bills.   And if that isn’t strange enough, you’ve learned that you have a team of scientists on staff who have just invented a time machine.  It’s complicated and expensive to operate but they can fetch any Bills player you want from the past and add them to the team.   But just one. 

 

So who do you get?

 

A couple of weeks ago, I probably would have said Bruce in his prime.  Bruce would elevate this DL to elite status and scare the bejeezers out of opposing QBs. 

 

But after the Jags debacle, Joe D comes to mind for all the obvious reasons. 

 

But maybe a better back would help this offense even more and here are the first three backs I thought of...

 

OJ:  Possibly the best pure runner ever.  Just give him the ball seven yards behind the line of scrimmage and he’ll find a hole, even if it’s not where it was schemed to be.  OJ would instantly force defenses to respect our run game – something they don’t do now. 

 

Thurman:  He can slide through the smallest holes - an important talent for a back running behind a line that doesn't generate big ones.  And Thurman's a multidimensional weapon who can also block and catch.

 

Cookie:  "Lookie, Lookie!  Here comes Cookie!"   Any defense that decided to go light to stop Josh would get abused by the freight train called Gilchrist.  Cookie would add an element of physicality and fierceness to this offense that's missing now. 

 

In the end I'd personally pick pre-evil OJ and then ask Beane to rebuild the offensive line next year.  

 

Who would you send your scientists to get?  

 

Bruce is the obvious answer, but with all the protections on the QB and rules against roughing the passer these days, I feel Bruce would have a steep learning curve to avoid penalties.

 

Hmmmm.  Jim Ritcher or Pete Metzelaars.

 

Jim Ritcher, because there goes any problem with LG

 

Pete Metzelaars because he was a great blocker, and didn't get a lot of targets vs. the other guys but he could catch.

[YoloinOhio]

How the hell is it only Wednesday 

 

I’m not gonna make it 

[hondo in seattle]

10 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Bruce is the obvious answer, but with all the protections on the QB and rules against roughing the passer these days, I feel Bruce would have a steep learning curve to avoid penalties.

 

Hmmmm.  Jim Ritcher or Pete Metzelaars.

 

Jim Ritcher, because there goes any problem with LG

 

Pete Metzelaars because he was a great blocker, and didn't get a lot of targets vs. the other guys but he could catch.

 

These are two names I wasn't expecting.  Interesting choices.  

 

Metzelaars wasn't as fast or athletic as Knox.  But he dropped fewer balls (though Knox has been better this year).  And Metzelaars was a better blocker - and we need more good blockers.

 

Jim Richter.  A forgotten Wall-of-Famer.  At least, I had forgotten about him.  Went to the Pro Bowl a couple times.  I've always that if I was a GM, I want to build an OL with a couple of Pro Bowl caliber guys as anchors.  Currently, we don't have any OLinemen who could even sniff the Pro Bowl.  

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

12 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Currently, we don't have any OLinemen who could even sniff the Pro Bowl.  

Doesn't the Bills organization get so many complementary tickets? 🤔