Red_Tory Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I was really looking forward to seeing Mike Williams have a breakout year this season - is anyone else starting to worry that he may not develop into the type of dominant Lineman we have been patiently expecting? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frez Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 Good morning Chris! I think we are all waiting for big Mike to break out. I'm not sure he's going to do it. It will be interesting to watch Jason Peters get his first start today if he plays in place of big Mike. Jason Peters is raw but I think he can get it done in time. GO BILLS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I think Mike is pretty close. If Greg Jerman has to start today your going to see just how dominent Mike looks in comparison to a backup. Atlanta has some fast de's and Kerney will be licking his chops. Mike is 6' 8" 375 lbs, he may not be as quick as lighting, but once he gets his hands on you your toast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I was really looking forward to seeing Mike Williams have a breakout year this season - is anyone else starting to worry that he may not develop into the type of dominant Lineman we have been patiently expecting? Chris 452615[/snapback] I think he started being very good at the midpoint of last year, and near the end he was starting to dominate at times. I was hoping he'd pick up where he left off, but it's hard to tell after two games. I think overall he's played well, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 Starting to worry??? This has been a real concern from the get-go and rose to the state of really being a worry when he had his near meltdown last pre-season. I think that the case agin him has been overstated by the folks who seem to exist to saY we are DOOMED whenever a problem occurs, but his fits and starts are real and this initial concern prompted by his lofty draft position which became a legitimate worry when he reacted so badly to the death of the Grammy who raised him is simply made worse for us because like it or not we are already committed to paying him the big bucks and the production at that level has simply not been there. My sense of the MW career has been: First year- no immediate signs of him being the next Boselli but though such lofty standards are hoped for by all Bills fans, it is not reasonable to expect it. His first year saw some excellent production from him as the running game with Henry picking up the yards was legitimately deemed at Pro Bolw levels and the passing game though it gave up way too many sacks was also very productive. Individually, he showed signs of the combination of incredible size with good agility that got him drafted so high in the first place. He struggled a bit with the stunts and jukes which are complex for any rookie OL player but did not show any difficulty dealing with outside speed rushers. Still he benefited from having played in college on the right hand side where he guarded the blind side of a lefty QB because in the pros behind thwe righty Bledsoe he had a TE guarding the outside. He had a vet, Sullivan, next to him at RG and though Sully proved not be enough of a player he had the experience to be better than a rook at co-ordination and even the substandard OL position coach Vinky had something to teach him. Given the holdout which set-back McKinnie who was the other T judged worthy of our #4 pick MW was clearly the right choice for the Bills if they were unable to trade down. Second year- The lack of competency from his position coaches (we had moved from the sub-standard Vinky to the worse then standard Ruel at OL coach) began to show. Even worse, Ruel and GW choose to pair MW with Pucillo who just like MW needed a vet next to him to teach him. Instead, MW was asked to teach Pacillo with no good leadership and teaching from his OL coach and several disaster plays cropped up on the right side that year. The good news is that though the O caved in completely in production as Killdrive refused to vary the approach and Bledsoe exacerbated Killdrive's pass happy tendencies with his audibles, the running production with a good year or running by henry at RB was still there. For MW who has laid a reasonable groundwork as a rookie, his second year was one of arrested development at best. Third year- The Bills finally made the right moves as the ascquistion of JMac finally meant an adult was in charge on the OL. In addition, the Bills acquired the steady vet Villarial to play RG. It was not too late potentially to see MW's third year be good enough to see him do well enough to flip to the LT spot which was likely to be vacated by Jennings unless he showed durability to match some good quality play he showed as a youngster (JJ did not demonstrate the durability and in fact SF probably paid him way too much as he is now showing he is downright injury prone beyond even the historic RJ levels this year). The really bad news for the Bills though is that MW missed the "voluntary" OTAs last pre-season as he was rocked when the Grandmother who had raised him passed away. Though dealing poorly with the death of a loved one is more than understandable, it simply is not condonable in the modern world as unfortunately loved ones die and he is paid the big bucks to be a professional in addition to being an adult. He put on weight, lost valuable practice time and showed up at camp not ready to play at all. Fortunately, JMAc and the crew did a wonderful good cop/bad cop job of managing him. Using threats to his future $ that he was going to be moved to LG (a position where the horrible Pucillo could not make the switch and take) and the carrots of good teaching (finally) and even rewarding him with a gameball a quarter of the way into the season when his game came around, it was clear we lost a year in MWs development but he was back on track to at least be adequate and maybe (JUST MAYBE) become a good enough Tackle to merit the flip to LT next year and even earn the big bucks. The bad thing about the injury is that it really reduces the chance that he will show enough improvement this year to make the investment in him prove to be worthwhile. We will have to see what happens, but at this point he is merely demonstrating that due to the salary cap and the slotting, it simply is not a good strategy anymore to draft in the top 10 picks. For every Manning there is a Ryan Leaf (actually several folks more like Leaf). TD has done the right thing with our first rounders by trading them away for value for the most part and using them creatively to get talents with future potential like McGahee and Losman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frez Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I think he started being very good at the midpoint of last year, and near the end he was starting to dominate at times. I was hoping he'd pick up where he left off, but it's hard to tell after two games. I think overall he's played well, though. 452635[/snapback] He's played ok to me. He's not playing like a 9 million dollar player. Why is a RT making that much money to start with? I bet Peters can do the job just as well if he starts today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I sure the !@#$ hope he holds his own in there or else it might be a long day. I will be the first to say that this scares me. Per KFFL. GO BILLS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I thought Peters was the backup tackle?? Da hell?? OOPs, there's already a thread on this topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 He's played ok to me. He's not playing like a 9 million dollar player. Why is a RT making that much money to start with? I bet Peters can do the job just as well if he starts today. 452642[/snapback] He's certainly not worth 9 million. Not right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frez Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 We want the big Peters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frez Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 He's certainly not worth 9 million. Not right now. 452661[/snapback] I think the same can be said for Eric Moulds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I think the same can be said for Eric Moulds. 452663[/snapback] I agree there, too. Although moulds did take a paycut and is certainly a better player at his position than MW is. One could argue that Losman isn't earning his $$ yet, too. But that's different for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frez Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I agree there, too. Although moulds did take a paycut and is certainly a better player at his position than MW is. One could argue that Losman isn't earning his $$ yet, too. But that's different for sure. 452668[/snapback] I think this is Eric's last year with Buffalo. JMO This game makes me really nervous today Todd. your thoughts on the final score? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I think this is Eric's last year with Buffalo. JMO This game makes me really nervoues today Todd. your thoughts on the final score? 452669[/snapback] Lindell wins it with a FG. 16 - 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I agree there, too. Although moulds did take a paycut and is certainly a better player at his position than MW is. One could argue that Losman isn't earning his $$ yet, too. But that's different for sure. 452668[/snapback] We've definitely seen the best of Moulds. I don't think we've seen anything like the best of JP. The ieda that we've actually seen the best of MW is a deflating thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I thought Peters was the backup tackle?? Da hell?? OOPs, there's already a thread on this topic 452660[/snapback] He is. But, unfortunately for us it's the LEFT Tackle position he's the backup for. I'll say it again. Funny that big Mike can't/won't play Left Tackle because it's too much of a transition for him to make, yet the feeble-minded-former-TE-turned-LT-walkon Jason Peters is quite competent over there after one half season of reps and one half season of riding the short bus. And he's doing it for a lot less than $9,000,000.00 a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_wag Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 I agree there, too. Although moulds did take a paycut and is certainly a better player at his position than MW is. One could argue that Losman isn't earning his $$ yet, too. But that's different for sure. 452668[/snapback] moulds didn't take a pay cut......he restructured, taking salary up front in the form of signing bonus.....he didn't lose a dollar in the cap move............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Fischer Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 No. He's hurt. Almost anyone would have been hurt on that play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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