LTs struggling in space against speed rushers

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I find the signing of Shelton by the Browns and the reports on the potential availability of Verba to be quite interesting from a football perspective. Its interesting to me because I don't know what the heck is going on with the Bills situation at LT and OL and I look forward to watching and learning.

 

JMac has forgotten way more than I will ever know about building a productive OL and properly assessing an OL players's skill level and future. However, even with my addled view this is how I see it and I am curious what the minds of other folks who have way to much interest in the Bills to be considered sane think about the OL situation..

 

1. Overall, nothing suceeds like success and JMac has a clear record of getting productive results out of OL players who in the past have been good at best and often have had flaws in their game.

 

- The most recent example of this was last year with the Bills as he took an OL with: a player headed toward being a bust at RT after a meltdown in pre-season, a new RG to the team who had been solid for a poor team elsewhere, an athletic and smart C who sometimes got embarrasingly bull rushed, a vacnacy at LG being filled by a guy from the PS of another team, and a good but oft-injured LT and molded them into a unit which though not great was far more productive last year blocking for a talented rusher recovering from a horrid injury and protecting a passer called a statue by many Bills zealots.

 

- In addition to that JMac got to an SB with the 2000 season Giants and produced an OL led by well-known recent Bills players Dusty Z. at C and Glenn Parker at LT and this crew was productive enough to block and protect this team to an SB.

 

-In addition he was the OL coach for several productive Bengals teams which made the SB a couple of times.

 

It simply is quite reasonable to hope and even assume that he will get production from the OL and that even if he ends up with pedestrian talents on the OL that with the running skill or WM, mobility of Losman and a little luck that the OL will be productive.

 

2. Being a Bills fan is frustrating right now because the OL has a ton of bodies but no one who does not have some significant troubles or issues on the OL. Maybe I ask too much and I'm not going to get Walter Jones/Orlando Pace at every position where I can virtually count on 16 starts and usually dominant play (even the best get badly beat sometimes witness how Aaron Schobel used and abused Ogden last year on particular plays the results were real but do not mean that Schobel is always dominant nor does it mean Ogden is anything but very good). However. though there is good upsside to many Bills OL player there is definite downside as well.

 

Anderson- Upside- likely starter at LG and a definite upgrade over Smith who was actually on the PS of the same team season before last. Downside- Yes an upgrade but not a dominant player at this position though he opened holes for a productive Jamal Lewis and has a record of starting all 16 in 2002 and 15 in 2003 though he got nicked and started only 12 last year. He's a big boy who should be solid in the center of the OL.

 

Bannan- U- On the roster as a G and was very productive in the red zone last year in place of L. Smith D- likely DT will be the place he makes the roster IF if he makes it at all.

 

Gandy- U- Seemingly bright guy from Notre Dame who has played OK at a number of positions for the Bears. D- It was simply the lowly Bears and he missed a few games due to injury before switching from LT to G and eventually being cut by the Bears after some hammy issues. JMac better see something here if he really is going to step up be our LT starter. Makes more sense to these untrained eyes as the next Marcus Price in a key depth role rather than seeing him as the next Tony Boselli.

 

Geisinger- U- Should make the team as a 05 draft pick D- Will only be on the team on the PS unless he impresses in pre-season. Doubtful we will get much of a contribution from this rookie.

 

Gudmundsen- U- Great dinner guest of JMac's last Xmas. D Great dinner guest of JMac's last Xmas. Likely camo fodder though maybe he showed something in the JMac gameroom that indicates he will be a great Bill that we don't see yet.

 

Jerman- U- 4 years as a pro mostly in spot duty at G for the Fins, there must be a reason why JMac went out of his way to get him- D- never been outstanding or very notable as a pro. The reason for getting him may be merely because competition is good and he is simply camp fodder.

 

McFarland- U- Made the roster as expected last year but even got into a couple of games last year which was not expected. D- Not dominating at all and only has hope because of oppeness of Bills situation rather than his play demanding time.

 

Peters- U- Tremendously high praise for him at LT from JMac that this "phenomenal" athlete can become a quality LT despite not being used in this role in games at any point in his carreer. He has demonstrated that he is in fact a phenomenal athlete showing great speed and soft hands as a TE in camp that got him on the PS despite a rediculously low Wonderlic score. In addition, his rep and the potential for opponents to steal him off our PS got him onto our roster and once on the roster he proved unblockable on pass rush and got this job in games for the Bills which led to him blocking a punt and being an athletic enough ballhawk to recover and fall on the ball in the opposing endzone for a TD. Really outstanding. D- However, he seems to be dumb as dirt as he failed to notify the refs when he got into his first game as a TE with a tackles number and we took a penalty. Nevertheless this excitement leading to bad play is not atypical for even a bright first time player (it happened to RJ last year who took a delay of game call when he failed to control the huddle in mop-up duty his second performance). The question remains how good is he, how quickly will he be trustworthy to guard RJ's blindside and why are the Bills nullifying him as a receiver by our choice. He struck me as getting a tackles number because he showed great receiving skills and this sent this player (who may well be a mental doofus) a clear message that learning how to block would be the key to him making this game as a TE. It simply seems like asking more of him than can reasonably be expected that he will be trusted to guard RJ's blindside so quickly no matter how phenomenal an athlete he is. I expect nothing more than ST contribution from him in 05 and given the injuries to Everett this year and Campell and Euhus last year it may still be TE where he makes his mark for the Bills.

 

Preston- U- Very well regarded player in a deep draft at C and after a couple of rookies made the start for others at C it is not outrageous though quite unlikely he can make the jump to start. However, his making the team as a back-up C is his most likely role and contribution. He is a bright guy known as a technician who did not make mistakes in the Bills write-up on him. D- No real downsides in reports i have seen though I suspect flexibiity in mastering other position will be a key to him being a true contributor. As a C he should understand the details of G/T play but he has not done this as of yet because he was such a good C and a durable player he always was the C on his teams.

 

Pruce- U- Great performance at LT in NFLE in winter of 04 snd 03. D- Likely camp fodder because NFLE and NFL are two different things. Still a big boy at a thin position.

 

Smith- U- Made a huge jump moving from the PS of the Ravens to start at LG for the Bills. Oddly a better pass blocker than run blocker (usually the other way around for NFL youngsters) and thus saw sme time at LT for the Bills when JJ got injured (again) and also at RG when Villarial got nicked. Despite disappointment by some Bills fans that he did not become the LG equivalent of Orlando pace for us after we plucked him from the Ravens PS, his big improvement and flexibility give him some prospects that I think Bills fans are silly to discount. D- Was bad enough in redzone he got replaced and production improved. Tucker proved to be a better option at LG so he really got driven out of his position to T rather the quality of his play taking him there. He will need to prove himself to make the roster, but the big jump, the sense he actually is a better blocker in space rather than a roadgrater and his flexibility will give him the chance to win a position if he is tough enough to do so.

 

Sobieski- U- well regarded player who showed good stuff at a number of positions in college and in camp. D- Injury bug has repeatedly interrupted his career and nullified the good skills he showed. Was cut last year when puch came to shove demonstrating the Bills know they cannot count on him, but made it back to the PS demonstrating they do see the flashes of talent. We are too deep (though not dominately talented) for an inconsistent player and he likely is gone unless he shows he is not injury prone.

 

Teague- U- Great mind and a good athlete. D- Has had trouble multi-taking early with Drew. He can read and make line calls, he is athletic and can put his smallish OL body in the right position for him to excert maximum leverage. he can make the long distance snap in the shotgun. However, though he can do all the individual pieces he sometimes had trouble doing them all at the same time and the result ended up being he sometimes ended up on his butt. He does represent one of our last realistic options at LT as he was adequate at this position for Denver (though not great and they let him go to FA), however, if we are forced to do this because Gandy fails, Peters is a year or more away and no one else steps up (Smith, McFarland, Pruce) he can be replaced by Tucker or potentially Preston at C but the tremors of these moves creates new issues be dealt with so the Bills and JMac seem to want to avoid this. if it happens it will be likely presented as Tucker or Preston demanding PT at C rather than the more likely Gandy/Peters failure to step up to be startigng LT.

 

Tucker- U- Bright guy (PU graduate) who filled in nicely at C when Teague went down to injury and took the starting LG role from Smith. He originally entered the league and surprisingly for an Ivy League stuck as a T so he has great flexiblity for positions. D- Generally good across the board though not dominating at any position. he is more likely to be part of a great OL unit than to become a great OL player in his own right. I think he will be great if those around him are great.

 

Vilararial- U- A rock who probably has as much to do with MW becoming better was a solid consistent upgrade to Pacillo. D- The rock is getting older and though he history allowed the Bills to go without a back-up RG on the depth chart last year, this came back to bite us a little when he missed the Pitts game and we had to press Smith into service at RG after we gave up on him at LG. We'll see how age treats this 10 year vet.

 

Williams- U- He really was on his way to reasonably being called a bust last year mincamp due to the outside impacts of the death of the grandma who was really more like his Mom and the Bills always lining this rookie up next to an RG who actually needed more schooling than him (Sullivan and then Pacillo who were both cut by the Bills). However, he did come back with a vengance last year as he rebounded from the semi-veiled threats of JMac to cost him big FA bucks by moving this wide-body inside to G instead of up the economic chain from RT to LT. He got high marks from outside obsevers for his RT renewal (he definitely wanted to come back and even hurt himself trying to lose some weight after he missed minicamp having to go to the bike to train was probably his lowest moment to outside observers. He even got a gameball because of his efforts and this year is a make-or-break for him to show the advancement in hisgame to have the flexibiity to move to the LT position and guard Losman's blindside. D- His past inconsistency and the disruption to team chmistry of having him move probably makes him the RT this year. His current missing of minicamp and the first two OTAs is potentially troubling as it mimics his problematic attendance last year. However, JMac and the gang do not seem to be squawking about this excused absence and if he has used this time alone to come into camp with a better body and in control of his weight perhaps this will be the sign that he reasonably may well step up to be the player at the position he was drafted.

 

3. Looking at this crew, it is easy to see from the numbers and the multiple positions that many of these players have held that there is a lot to work with here. JMac had les to work with in terms of certainly numbers and even in quality last year and our OL production increased.

 

However, the lack of clarity as to who will merit the starting LT role is simply a puzzle. Though there are several potential good answers, they all involve leaps in improvement or trigger other changes which can be dealt with but are additional issues:

 

A. Is there something about Gandy that he merits the startiing LT slot?

Not that I see but it is possible though it seems unlikely

B. Is Peters such a phenomenal athlete that he will trusted to guard Losman's blindside?

Not this year from what I see. If he has the intellectual problems he seems to have had I don;t expect this jump and if he is such a phenomenal athlete it seems dump to take the ball out of his hands particularly when injuries create TE uncertainty.

C. Would a Teague move create more difficulties than solve problems?

It depends upon Preston's rate of development or Tucker stepping up at C whether Teague leaving is a solvable issue. Teague at LT may be our best option there but it is not guranteed to work either.

 

I actually am disappointed that Shelton did not work out at LT not because I think he is a good player, but because I think his past stengths (strong upper body so if he locked up with a passrusher the play was over but not so good in space) actually lent themselves well to having a team which was going to run first alot and then run it again. I was more intrigued having a roadgrater at LT than having an athletic guy (though both abilities would be great but I'm just a fan so it is fine for me to be unreasonable) but it appears we will go in the opposite direction.

 

This is my overview and congrats for lasting through it. I am not cliff-noting this one as I really have no conclusion as to how this will work out, but I appreciate the opportunity to think it through by writing about this.

[PromoTheRobot]

I want to say something that some people would find preposterous. And I don't bring it up as a solution for the Bills in 2005.

 

Has anyone ever seen a Sumo tournamnet? ESPN shows them in the middle of the night once in a great while. One of the myths about Sumo is that it is only played by grotesquely fat japanese dudes in diapers. In fact Sumo is played by many nationalities and all weight classes. Also, size is not always an advantage is Sumo.

 

I bring up Sumo because I believe all the qualities that go into a top flight Offensive Lineman are exactly the same qualities in a top flight Sumo wrestler. Balance, agility, quick-thinking, able to fight off a attacker. I must stress only Japanese Sumo has the fat diaper guys. International Sumo has guys who look like they are in great shape, and they wear shorts, not diapers.

 

One day I would love to take JMac to a Sumo tourney and get his opinion. Would it be possible to take a Sumo wrestler and train them to be an O-lineman in 2-3 years?

 

Check out some of these video clips and tell me what you think.

 

http://sumo.cz/tourneys/1998/7thwsc/videos.htm

 

PTR

[/dev/null]

II bring up Sumo because I believe all the qualities that go into a top flight Offensive Lineman are exactly the same qualities in a top flight Sumo wrestler.  Balance, agility, quick-thinking, able to fight off a attacker.

351107[/snapback]

 

hey i saw that movie too, its called The Replacements, with Keaunu Reeves as the QB and Gene Hackman as the coach

 

but its a good idea. even if he doesn't make the team as an OLineman he can be our placekicker

 

I mean anyone has got to be better than lindell

[PromoTheRobot]

hey i saw that movie too, its called The Replacements, with Keaunu Reeves as the QB and Gene Hackman as the coach

 

but its a good idea.  even if he doesn't make the team as an OLineman he can be our placekicker

 

I mean anyone has got to be better than lindell

351120[/snapback]

I wasn't talking about any one player. I guess you think it's a dumb idea.

 

PTR

[Live&DieBillsFootball]

I find the signing of Shelton by the Browns and the reports on the potential availability of Verba to be quite interesting from a football perspective. Its interesting to me because I don't know what the heck is going on with the Bills situation at LT and OL and I look forward to watching and learning.

 

JMac has forgotten way more than I will ever know about building a productive OL and properly assessing an OL players's skill level and future.  However, even with my addled view this is how I see it and I am curious what the minds of other folks who have way to much interest in the Bills to be considered sane think about the OL situation..

 

1. Overall, nothing suceeds like success and JMac has a clear record of getting productive results out of OL players who in the past have been good at best and often have had flaws in their game.

 

    - The most recent example of this was last year with the Bills as he took an OL with: a player headed toward being a bust at RT after a meltdown in pre-season, a new RG to the team who had been solid for a poor team elsewhere, an athletic and smart C who sometimes got embarrasingly bull rushed, a vacnacy at LG being filled by a guy from the PS of another team, and a good but oft-injured LT and molded them into a unit which though not great was far more productive last year blocking for a talented rusher recovering from a horrid injury and protecting a passer called a statue by many Bills zealots.

 

    - In addition to that JMac got to an SB with the 2000 season Giants and produced an OL led by well-known recent Bills players Dusty Z. at C and Glenn Parker at LT and this crew was productive enough to block and protect this team to an SB.

 

    -In addition he was the OL coach for several productive Bengals teams which made the SB a couple of times.

 

It simply is quite reasonable to hope and even assume that he will get production from the OL and that even if he ends up with pedestrian talents on the OL that with the running skill or WM, mobility of Losman and a little luck that the OL will be productive.

 

2. Being a Bills fan is frustrating right now because the OL has a ton of bodies but no one who does not have some significant troubles or issues on the OL. Maybe I ask too much and I'm not going to get Walter Jones/Orlando Pace at every position where I can virtually count on 16 starts and usually dominant play (even the best get badly beat sometimes witness how Aaron Schobel used and abused Ogden last year on particular plays the results were real but do not mean that Schobel is always dominant nor does it mean Ogden is anything but very good). However. though there is good upsside to many Bills OL player there is definite downside as well.

 

Anderson- Upside- likely starter at LG and a definite upgrade over Smith who was actually on the PS of the same team season before last. Downside- Yes an upgrade but not a  dominant player at this position though he opened holes for a productive Jamal Lewis and has a record of starting all 16 in 2002 and 15 in 2003 though he got nicked and started only 12 last year.  He's a big boy who should be solid in the center of the OL.

 

Bannan- U- On the roster as a G and was very productive in the red zone last year in place of L. Smith D- likely DT will be the place he makes the roster IF if he makes it at all.

 

Gandy- U- Seemingly bright guy from Notre Dame who has played OK at a number of positions for the Bears. D- It was simply the lowly Bears and he missed a few games due to injury before switching from LT to G and eventually being cut by the Bears after some hammy issues. JMac better see something here if he really is going to step up be our LT starter. Makes more sense to these untrained eyes as the next Marcus Price in a key depth role rather than seeing him as the next Tony Boselli.

 

Geisinger- U- Should make the team as a 05 draft pick D- Will only be on the team on the PS unless he impresses in pre-season. Doubtful we will get much of a contribution from this rookie.

 

Gudmundsen- U- Great dinner guest of JMac's last Xmas. D Great dinner guest of JMac's last Xmas.  Likely camo fodder though maybe he showed something in the JMac gameroom that indicates he will be a great Bill that we don't see yet.

 

Jerman- U- 4 years as a pro mostly in spot duty at G for the Fins, there must be a reason why JMac went out of his way to get him- D- never been outstanding or very notable as a pro. The reason for getting him may be merely because competition is good and he is simply camp fodder.

 

McFarland- U- Made the roster as expected last year but even got into a couple of games last year which was not expected. D- Not dominating at all and only has hope because of oppeness of Bills situation rather than his play demanding time.

 

Peters- U- Tremendously high praise for him at LT from JMac that this "phenomenal" athlete can become a quality LT despite not being used in this role in games at any point in his carreer.  He has demonstrated that he is in fact a phenomenal athlete showing great speed and soft hands as a TE in camp that got him on the PS despite a rediculously low Wonderlic score. In addition, his rep and the potential for opponents to steal him off our PS got him onto our roster and once on the roster he proved unblockable on pass rush and got this job in games for the Bills which led to him blocking a punt and being an athletic enough ballhawk to recover and fall on the ball in the opposing endzone for a TD. Really outstanding. D- However, he seems to be dumb as dirt as he failed to notify the refs when he got into his first game as a TE with a tackles number and we took a penalty.  Nevertheless this excitement leading to bad play is not atypical for even a bright first time player (it happened to RJ last year who took a delay of game call when he failed to control the huddle in mop-up duty his second performance). The question remains how good is he, how quickly will he be trustworthy to guard RJ's blindside and why are the Bills nullifying him as a receiver by our choice.  He struck me as getting a tackles number because he showed great receiving skills and this sent this player (who may well be a mental doofus) a clear message that learning how to block would be the key to him making this game as a TE.  It simply seems like asking more of him than can reasonably be expected that he will be trusted to guard RJ's blindside so quickly no matter how phenomenal an athlete he is.  I expect nothing more than ST contribution from him in 05 and given the injuries to Everett this year and Campell and Euhus last year it may still be TE where he makes his mark for the Bills.

 

Preston- U- Very well regarded player in a deep draft at C and after a couple of rookies made the start for others at C it is not outrageous though quite unlikely he can make the jump to start. However, his making the team as a back-up C is his most likely role and contribution.  He is a bright guy known as a technician who did not make mistakes in the Bills write-up on him. D- No real downsides in reports i have seen though I suspect flexibiity in mastering other position will be a key to him being a true contributor.  As a C he should understand the details of G/T play but he has not done this as of yet because he was such a good C and a durable player he always was the C on his teams.

 

Pruce- U- Great performance at LT in NFLE in winter of 04 snd 03. D- Likely camp fodder because NFLE and NFL are two different things. Still a big boy at a thin position.

 

Smith- U- Made a huge jump moving from the PS of the Ravens to start at LG for the Bills.  Oddly a better pass blocker than run blocker (usually the other way around for NFL youngsters) and thus saw sme time at LT for the Bills when JJ got injured (again) and also at RG when Villarial got nicked.  Despite disappointment by some Bills fans that he did not become the LG equivalent of Orlando pace for us after we plucked him from the Ravens PS, his big improvement and flexibility give him some prospects that I think Bills fans are silly to discount. D- Was bad enough in redzone he got replaced and production improved. Tucker proved to be a better option at LG so he really got driven out of his position to T rather the quality of his play taking him there. He will need to prove himself to make the roster, but the big jump, the sense he actually is a better blocker in space rather than a roadgrater and his flexibility will give him the chance to win a position if he is tough enough to do so.

 

Sobieski- U- well regarded player who showed good stuff at a number of positions in college and in camp. D- Injury bug has repeatedly interrupted his career and nullified the good skills he showed. Was cut last year when puch came to shove demonstrating the Bills know they cannot count on him, but made it back to the PS demonstrating they do see the flashes of talent.  We are too deep (though not dominately talented) for an inconsistent player and he likely is gone unless he shows he is not injury prone.

 

Teague- U- Great mind and a good athlete. D- Has had trouble multi-taking early with Drew. He can read and make line calls, he is athletic and can put his smallish OL body in the right position for him to excert maximum leverage. he can make the long distance snap in the shotgun.  However, though he can do all the individual pieces he sometimes had trouble doing them all at the same time and the result ended up being he sometimes ended up on his butt.  He does represent one of our last realistic options at LT as he was adequate at this position for Denver (though not great and they let him go to FA), however, if we are forced to do this because Gandy fails, Peters is a year or more away and no one else steps up (Smith, McFarland, Pruce) he can be replaced by Tucker or potentially Preston at C but the tremors of these moves creates new issues be dealt with so the Bills and JMac seem to want to avoid this.  if it happens it will be likely presented as Tucker or Preston demanding PT at C rather than the more likely Gandy/Peters failure to step up to be startigng LT.

 

Tucker- U- Bright guy (PU graduate) who filled in nicely at C when Teague went down to injury and took the starting LG role from Smith. He originally entered the league and surprisingly for an Ivy League stuck as a T so he has great flexiblity for positions. D- Generally good across the board though not dominating at any position.  he is more likely to be part of a great OL unit than to become a great OL player in his own right.  I think he will be great if those around him are great.

 

Vilararial- U- A rock who probably has as much to do with MW becoming better was a solid consistent upgrade to Pacillo.  D- The rock is getting older and though he history allowed the Bills to go without a back-up RG on the depth chart last year, this came back to bite us a little when he missed the Pitts game and we had to press Smith into service at RG after we gave up on him at LG. We'll see how age treats this 10 year vet.

 

Williams- U- He really was on his way to reasonably being called a bust last year mincamp due to the outside impacts of the death of the grandma who was really more like his Mom and the Bills always lining this rookie up next to an RG who actually needed more schooling than him (Sullivan and then Pacillo who were both cut by the Bills). However, he did come back with a vengance last year as he rebounded from the semi-veiled threats of JMac to cost him big FA bucks by moving this wide-body inside to G instead of up the economic chain from RT to LT.  He got high marks from outside obsevers for his RT renewal (he definitely wanted to come back and even hurt himself trying to lose some weight after he missed minicamp having to go to the bike to train was probably his lowest moment to outside observers.  He even got a gameball because of his efforts and this year is a make-or-break for him to show the advancement in hisgame to have the flexibiity to move to the LT position and guard Losman's blindside. D- His past inconsistency and the disruption to team chmistry of having him move probably makes him the RT this year.  His current missing of minicamp and the first two OTAs is potentially troubling as it mimics his problematic attendance last year.  However, JMac and the gang do not seem to be squawking about this excused absence and if he has used this time alone to come into camp with a better body and in control of his weight perhaps this will be the sign that he reasonably may well step up to be the player at the position he was drafted.

 

3. Looking at this crew, it is easy to see from the numbers and the multiple positions that many of these players have held that there is a lot to work with here.  JMac had les to work with in terms of certainly numbers and even in quality last year and our OL production increased.

 

However, the lack of clarity as to who will merit the starting LT role is simply a puzzle. Though there are several potential good answers, they all involve leaps in improvement or trigger other changes which can be dealt with but are additional issues:

 

A. Is there something about Gandy that he merits the startiing LT slot?

Not that I see but it is possible though it seems unlikely

B. Is Peters such a phenomenal athlete that he will trusted to guard Losman's blindside?

Not this year from what I see.  If he has the intellectual problems he seems to have had I don;t expect this jump and if he is such a phenomenal athlete it seems dump to take the ball out of his hands particularly when injuries create TE uncertainty.

C. Would a Teague move create more difficulties than solve problems?

It depends upon Preston's rate of development or Tucker stepping up at C whether Teague leaving is a solvable issue. Teague at LT may be our best option there but it is not guranteed to work either.

 

I actually am disappointed that Shelton did not work out at LT not because I think he is a good player, but because I think his past stengths (strong upper body so if he locked up with a passrusher the play was over but not so good in space) actually lent themselves well to having a team which was going to run first alot and then run it again.  I was more intrigued having a roadgrater at LT than having an athletic guy (though both abilities would be great but I'm just a fan so it is fine for me to be unreasonable) but it appears we will go in the opposite direction.

 

This is my overview and congrats for lasting through it. I am not cliff-noting this one as I really have no conclusion as to how this will work out, but I appreciate the opportunity to think it through by writing about this.

351104[/snapback]

 

I enjoyed your novel except for your calling JP "RJ". Please try not to use the initials RJ in any discussion of JP as it may lead to bad Karma. Thank you!

[BADOLBILZ]

I wasn't talking about any one player.  I guess you think it's a dumb idea.

 

PTR

351129[/snapback]

 

I agree, sign him.

[Ghost of BiB]

I want to say something that some people would find preposterous.  And I don't bring it up as a solution for the Bills in 2005.

 

Has anyone ever seen a Sumo tournamnet?  ESPN shows them in the middle of the night once in a great while.  One of the myths about Sumo is that it is only played by grotesquely fat japanese dudes in diapers.  In fact Sumo is played by many nationalities and all weight classes.  Also, size is not always an advantage is Sumo.

 

I bring up Sumo because I believe all the qualities that go into a top flight Offensive Lineman are exactly the same qualities in a top flight Sumo wrestler.  Balance, agility, quick-thinking, able to fight off a attacker.  I must stress only Japanese Sumo has the fat diaper guys.  International Sumo has guys who look like they are in great shape, and they wear shorts, not diapers.

 

One day I would love to take JMac to a Sumo tourney and get his opinion.  Would it be possible to take a Sumo wrestler and train them to be an O-lineman in 2-3 years?

 

Check out some of these video clips and tell me what you think.

 

http://sumo.cz/tourneys/1998/7thwsc/videos.htm

 

PTR

351107[/snapback]

 

I'm not reading FFS's diatribe. But, I'm in agreement with you on Sumo. I thought about this two years ago. Why don't we just hire 5 Sumo wrestlers, period, to do the O-line? Could probably get all 5 for under two mil. Think of the cap space. The only thing I see being a problem is the clock, we'd have to reduce the taichi and the chirichozu absolutely won't work on a short count, or the 2 minute drill. Might bring up some motion penalties, too...but it HAS potential. Crap, we survived Rueben.

 

Was this an intense football post?

[Simon]

I'm not going to address Sunny's post because 1) I'll wait for rosters to be set and 2)it's 1:00am and I'm half sauced.

But I will say that if you're going to sign Sumo wrestlers to play OLine you better sign about 30 of them. It'd take about 1 series before one of those fat toads ended up laying on the sidelines getting intimate with an O2 mask and you had to run another one in to replace him.

Cya

[Mark VI]

It'd take about 1 series before one of those fat toads ended up laying on the sidelines getting intimate with an O2 mask and you had to run another one in to replace him.

Cya

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