Josh Allen is the best weapon in the NFL and he’s not protected.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

9 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

Daryl Williams was considered a weakness? I remember him being quite decent.

Yes, he was good for one year.

 

Then his surgically repaired knee flared back up and effectively he never played again. 

 

Sandwiched around that one year was Jordan Mills, Cody Ford (briefly), Ty Nsekhe and now Spencer Brown as starters, with Connor McDermott and David Quesenberry as depth players. 

 

I think it's fair to say the approach on the offensive line is cheap free agents and mid to low round picks. 

 

Allen has not had a good offensive line. 

[TheWeatherMan]

41 minutes ago, arcane said:

Correct, they have no idea how to handle having a successful football team and have made this board completely unbearable for the last 10 months. 

Wide Right, Music City Mírale, 18 year playoff drought, Houston playoff debacle, 13 seconds, and last years nuclear melt down after being the consensus pre season SB favorites will do that to a fan base.
 

Bills fans are the most passionate fans on the planet and they have been snake bit for the better part of 3 decades.  This is a venue for fans to vent about frustrations just as much as it is to rejoice the teams accomplishments.  

[Tipster19]

41 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Again, you avoid the question of what specifically should Beane have done this off-season given he spent the most resources on the OL including drafting what might be a future star player in O’Cyrus.

 

You can’t just say trade for a star player.  One has to be available.  We have to have something they want.  We have to afford them.  
 

So who were they supposed to trade for that was available, we wanted, could afford, and had what that team wanted back in trade?  If you can’t name those players, then your trade for a star player option doesn’t exist.  
 

And as far as Dion goes, you do realize he made his first pro bowl last year right?  This was despite how bad Saffold was next to him and the struggles of the rest of the OL.  So you’re being dramatic about Dion without any context to how he actually played last year which was not a lot different than his career rankings.

 

Biggest question mark is Brown, but staff also has confidence in him still after the injury issues last year are hopefully behind him.  They gave up too soon in Teller, so no surprise they are going to give Brown a chance to lock the spot down now that he is healthy.  

If given the resources that Beane is given I’d be able to answer your question(s) more accurately but I’m not so I can’t. I will say that everything has a value and I’d be more than willing to insure that my star franchise QB would be protected beyond a shadow of a doubt. Meaning I would pay whatever it took to make sure Josh was protected. It’s not what’s available, it’s about what you’re willing to pay to make it available. Spencer Brown has done nothing to make me feel, and I’m pretty confident that many others feel the same, that he’s the solution at RT, he can’t even stay on the field for any great length of time. As far as Dion goes you better hope it was because of Saffold because if not then the Bills really do have a big problem. 
 

Beane did great at the G positions, much deserved credit but he has underwhelmed us at the T position imo.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

5 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

McGovern isn't in the same category as those other guys.

 

I think the interior is pretty strong with Morse, a mid-tier FA with upside, RD2 pick and strong depth.  

 

Not drafting Dawand Jones was maddening on Draft Night, and even more-so now...

 

If Bills fans had their way, our IOL would be led by Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, with Dawand Jones as RT competition.  No clue why the staff seems to take so long to reach the conclusions fanbase and media have years earlier.   We finally fix the IOL, only to be dependent upon a wild card in Spencer Brown with zero depth behind him.   

 

At some point Allen will get fed up.  Especially when he sees what the Bengals & Chiefs do for his peer elite QB's. 

Connor McGovern is okay. PFF has his 2022 overall at 52.2. For us, that's great. 

 

The analysts from the Cowboys described him as a finesse lineman who was serviceable, but is not going to be a people mover. 

 

Better than Vlad Ducasse, Quinton Spain, Rodger Saffold, hopefully because he's younger and not at the twilight of his career. But do I think he's going to be good? No. 

 

I think Morse is in decline. He was a fringe Top 10 center, I think he's somewhere around 20th now. Better than a 1/3 of the league or so, but again, he's okay. 

 

I do agree that O'Cyrus Torrence will probably be our best OL before this season ends because of his youth, power and pedigree coming from SEC competition. 

 

I think we should just be hoping Dawkins can hold onto what he's been. 

 

It's been Beane's approach to bandaid the line (with older free agents largely), with the exception of the Morse splash early on. Feliciano, Quesenberry, Bobby Hart, Saffold, Daryl Williams, David Edwards, these guys are all older veterans by the time we get them. Or we pick up these project players and scab them in: Greg Van Roten, Ryan Groy, Ike Boettger, Ryan Bates, Van Demark now being the primary swing tackle. 

 

I think this year is going to look like last year, you're dealing with chronic protection issues up front, it's going to be multiple times a game where you notice RT getting beat, Dawkins getting run around, McGovern and Morse getting pushed backwards with power DL. I think you're going to see the same struggle to move the pile on 3rd-1's as we've seen for years. 

 

Right or wrong, Beane's approach has been do enough to get by on the line, but nothing more than that. 

[In Summary]

On 8/21/2023 at 2:00 PM, Special K said:

If Dawkins can get his act together before week 1, the OL will not be as bad as you think, with the understanding that Spencer Brown will be the weak link, especially in pass protection.

Dawkins may have to play himself into shape. Not preferred, but that's his doing.