BillsFanForever19 Posted August 2, 2006 Posted August 2, 2006 I haven't been able to make it out to camp yet. But there's a big question mark at Left Guard. We signed Tutan Reyes to replace Bennie Anderson and they've been talking about Duke Preston at G (although I think they should just keep him training at C and let him compete with Melvin Fowler). But I just read recently that they're trying Aaron Gibson out at Guard. I was wondering if anyone who went to camp has kept an eye on him? He was a former 1st Round OT who had some success starting at RT for Dick Jauron. He's a sleeper that i'd keep my eye on vs. Tutan Reyes.
MadBuffaloDisease Posted August 2, 2006 Posted August 2, 2006 I'd say LG is Reyes' job to lose. And Gibson is working mostly at RG. And "the word" on Gibson is this: HUGE!
SACKMARINO Posted August 2, 2006 Posted August 2, 2006 http://www.billszone.com/coppermine/albums...oto064%7E19.jpg he looks as fat as mike williams if u ask me. look at the dome on this guy.
/dev/null Posted August 2, 2006 Posted August 2, 2006 http://www.billszone.com/coppermine/albums...oto064%7E19.jpg he looks as fat as mike williams if u ask me. look at the dome on this guy. 733729[/snapback] MW is a good player to compare Gibson too. Both never really lived up to their potential and have had weight problems. Hopefully AG has gotten his act together
Mike formerly from Florida Posted August 2, 2006 Posted August 2, 2006 MW is a good player to compare Gibson too. Both never really lived up to their potential and have had weight problems. Hopefully AG has gotten his act together 733997[/snapback] Do ya think for once one of these OL could stand out and take the position outright? Geez. It's never good when the competition is so tight no one stands out.
SACKMARINO Posted August 2, 2006 Posted August 2, 2006 MW is a good player to compare Gibson too. Both never really lived up to their potential and have had weight problems. Hopefully AG has gotten his act together 733997[/snapback] luckily Gibson came at a much smaller price tag!
Pyrite Gal Posted August 3, 2006 Posted August 3, 2006 Do ya think for once one of these OL could stand out and take the position outright? Geez. It's never good when the competition is so tight no one stands out. 734007[/snapback] There is an intense competition on the OL but the good news is that it for the back9up jobs. All I hear is that the consensus on the likely starters is: Gandy - LT- Surprisingly adequate last year and not unreasinable to expect this vet to be at least adequate again and we want him to become actually good. Reyes- LG- Solid starter at RG for a productive Carolina OL who was not resigned because the long term Heir at RG, Mathis was there and the braintrust apparently wanted to start him last year but Reyes was too good to bench. He has played LG before in the NFL and should be able to start her- A clear and probable significant upgrade over a really poor playing Bennie Anderson. Fowler- C- Another player who performed well on the field last year as he took the job to replace multi-time Pro Bowler Matt Birk away from longtime Vike Cory Withrow. Culpepper play is reported not only anecdotally to improved when Fowler got the job, but the Vikes pulled off a six game winning streak with Johnson and Fowler doing the snaps. Interestingly the Vikes and Johnson fell short of the playoffs when Fowler missed the last 3 games due to injury. Yhere was no way that the Vikes were going to pay Fowler starter money with Birk back, so again this is a player who was beaten out but not because he was a bad player. Villarial- RG- He was at least adequate as a player for the Bills last year, but what used to be nicks he would play through are now injuries which bench him. He should start adequately but it is probably a matter of time until he must be replaced, Peters- RT- JMac seems to believe he is the best athlete on the OL he has ever seen and JMac has seen a lot of players. He should be good and was recently extended so the Bills believe. I a pretty certain that this year's starting OL will be much better than last year's starting OL (mot hard when you have stiffs like MW and Bennie and Teague was trying hard but struggling at C- that is unless some one wants to argue for last year's OL. I fully expect that this year's OL will actually impress folks by performing quite well to start this season (Complaints that either Reyes or Fowler were merely rejects simply ignores their real world performance as starters last year and the facts that all were facing competition better than them (Mathis due to age and skill and Birk due to skill) which simply meant that though the market would give them starter money their team's last year would not and shouldn't have. There is a reasomable case to be made that if they were that good there would have been a bidding war. The answer is that they are not great players cause Reyes age and Fowler's injury ussues means they are not long term investments. However, all signs point to them being far better than last year\s Bills group and maybe even good players all season IF they last. Injuries or a different level of play from our five likely OL starters may change all of this, but the likelihood IMHO is that the real challenge facing the Bills is that when an OL starter goes down a third of the way or so into the regular season, will they have the back-ups to fill in for them. Right now, Preston who filled in well for Villarial last year and who is a natural center well regarded when he was drafted appear to be the only back-up we should depemd upon. It is fortunate that these two positions are likely where he could go because Villarial and Fowler strike me as our most likely candidates not to be able to start 16. This leaves Butler and Gibson as the two players who present even some remote likelihood they can start somewhere late in the season or give a starter a rest when he needs one. However, the rest pretty much look like a crapshoot to me. If our WRs show the speed they are capable of and the good hands they have demonstrated early in camo, then with the OL playing simply as they have performed in the past, I think out Offense will suprise many. One of the reasons that I do not think QB performance is going to be such a key to whether we do well initially or not is that my sense is that the OL will get a surprising start, the WRs realy have the speed and talent to allow Fairchild to develop a succesful St. L style O. The other wild card is that WM will need to be the first half of last season WM and not the last half of last season WM. By shedding a few pounds and it being the start of the campaign, I think he may well run out of gas as he did last year, but if things go well with the injury situation out QB's main job will be to make good reads and throw short passes and not to win games on his own. However, in the NFL, I do not see this OL lasting 16 or even 6 games without needing a significant contribution from an OL back-up or two. This is the real challenge I think JMac will face. The competition to start does not appear close but we need some help and players will need to step up at back-up OL.
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