OFF SEASON OL SHAKEUP

[Matt in KC]

Do Sobieski, Pucillo, McFarland figure in the mix?

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Sobieski didn't make the final roster (which surprised many). It's hard to beleive Pucillo couldn't win a backup job after being a starter so recently, though I do want our backups to play better than I saw from him on many occasions (before the recent blows to his ego).

 

McFarland seems like he might develop, but who knows. He'll be fun to look for next training camp.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I think most of us will agree the OL is still a concern after 4 years of Teflon Tom's reign.

 

So here are some questions.  What are the answers?

 

Is Jonas Jennings gone?

 

Will Teague take over at LT?

 

Will/can Jason Bannan make the swith to the OL during the off season?

 

Is Tucker the answer at center?

 

Who might be the likely FA O lineman the Bills might pickup?

 

Do Sobieski, Pucillo, McFarland figure in the mix?

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I see too many question marks here to make a prediction or certainly to advocate a line-up and positions for players without some try-outs at the new spots. Ihe OL more than any other football unit is not simply a job of picking the best 5 players as athletes and putting them out there or even the best athletes at the 5 positions and sticking them out there. The key is to find the best five players who coordinate and play well together and put this unit out there. In a good OL the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

 

I think that for discussion sake, seeing folks opinions on who that might be is worthwhile and a key to rooting for the team, but for the most part I think that the various opinions stated about put this player here and that player there are junk. My sense of working with the OL is:

 

1. Players can move and learn new positions, but they are not tinker toys who can easily be slotted in wherever you want them to go. Chemostry is key to the whole being greater than the sum of the individual parts and chemistry comes from repetition and playing together in the same roles as much as possible. In general, the off-season gives you the necessary time to give player a try in new positions and maybe the bye week gives you some time.

 

However, when a team is forced to bring in 2 new players into this unit of 5 or is forced to bring in 1 new player but shift a stand-by to a new position, even if the new 5 are all great players, the OL play as a unit can suck out the wazoo. Figure that we can make 1.5 changes at a time to the OL (one new player and one old player moving to a new position) and anything more than that figure that many sacks will happen and the run game will take a long while to develop.

 

2. The Bills already burning through this 1.5 switches due to injuries and bad play. Stability does allow us to do some neat experiments like bringing Bannan and Adams in the redzone for a few plays. We needed to do them because overall redzone production was horrible and L. Smith at LG has brought unexpected benefits to a position we have been unable to fill but he is not the player (yet e hope) that we want at LG. The injury to Teague and the nicks which have forced out Jennings for a few games makes it fairly impossible to bring in new players in more than a fill-in for the injured player or shift a players position like MW which at best will be an experiment for now.

 

3. The key thing to remember about the success we had with the Bannan surpruse us that he played way less than a dozen plays and that Adams switched in at TE for a couple of plays. The success they had is great but no one should expect them to man a position for a whole game. Their play is freat because it will make opposing DL players review even more tape. However, if we see them at these positions only once or twice for the rest of the season and only for a few plays that is about what should be expected.

 

Overall, I have enough trust in JMac and his experience (it isn't even funny comparing it to the non-experience of Vinky and Ruel) that he should be fine experimenting and fine tuning this OL the rest of this season, but it is going to be the off-season where we see any position changes that make sense. I trust his judgment to put together a good whole, my assesment of individuals is:

 

Jennings- All signs point to him being gone as an FA who wants to go south to home. He is a good player, but his history of injury makes him too much of a risk for us to break the bank on him. I say adios unless he signs incredibly cheaply and even if he can be had incredibly cheaply I still might want to go in another direction as I think the tackle situation is tough but workable without him.

 

Smith- His stepping up saved our butts because as we searched for a replacement for Ruben it turned out that candidates Pacillo, Sullivan and possibly Sobieski were not up to the job. He is a UDFA/PS background player and produces like one. Even this mediocre level is a bonus for us after the candidates we had for replacing Ruben were at the level they were obvious cuts (even with the marked shortage of OL talent in this league neither of these two players has been picked up as an NFL player as best I can tell). Smith is not an adequate LG (witness the redzone problems and the desperation of even switching to Bannan for a few plays) but he has come incredly far from UDFA to starter and with work he may be an adequuate OG next year.

 

Teague- Despite calls for his being cut by some fans after being embarassingly bowled over a few times last season it seemed clear that many OL and offensive coaches felt he has the smarts and the leadership capacity to be a quality center. From my view Teague has shown the ability to make positive line calls, the athleticism to deal with the hulking DTs he faces, and the ability to do shotgun snaps as he started as an adventure at this last year, but learned how to do good snaps. However, though he strikes me as being able to do all of these individual functions, he has shown an inability to multi-task. When the play mandated that he do several things at the same time he sometimes messed up one of them with disastrous results. Still. up until his injury he seemed to be putting it all together and unless there is a better idea out there (we seemed to be committed to him contractually he is our center. If it comes to it, I think he can play LT for us if Jennings goes, however this creates a gap at C which will need to be filled in FA. Dtill its nice to have the flexibility.

 

Villareal- He is Ruben on the right side for us and has the experience to be a stabilizing force. I assume the bad penalty he took early in the season came from the lack of chemistry. He should last for a couple of years at least and though he does not appear to be the leader we need, merely being solid is good enough if others (Teague in terms of smarts and MW in terms of play) really step it up a notch because they are not there yet.

 

MW- Hmmm. Talk of him being a bust was pre-mature last season but became a real and serious concern when he reacted non-professionally and badly to his Grandmother passing away. As a human being this is understandable since apparently his Grandma raised him like she was his Mother. However, life is tough and he is paid big bucks to be a professional and he was not able to do it this off-season as he allowed himself to get fat and unmotivated.

 

However, so far so good this season as he seems to have heard the wake-up calls with JMac talking about him being moved to G. His injury in the pre-season seemed to come from him working too hard to whip himself back into shape (unfortunate physically but a good sign mentally). He took a bad penalty which cost us a TD in the redzone last week, but this was actually his only penalty so far this season in an OL and team which lacks discipline. Further amidst an OL which gave uop no sacks this week, was incredibly productive in the redzone against one of the better redzone Ds in the league and blocked for a 100 yard rusher, it was Williams who got a game ball.

 

Moving him to guard in midseason may work but merely would be an experiment that may not work well at all either. Particularly with our LT likely gone in the off-season, it makes much more sense to me to keep demanding improvement from MW. Given the lack of solid coaching he has received in his brief career and putting the now of the league Pucillo next to him when he needed a Villareal next to him last year, it strikes me as panicling to call him a bust or to give up on him playing tackle right now. He is a big boy but has shown the athleticism to deal with speed rusher so far in his career.

 

Tucker- He has really shown up for the Bills in Teague's stad and I am more than comfortable with him backing up several positions and pressing Teague for the starting center\s job.

 

Price- He also is great for us to have as a back-up. The idea of making him a starter leaves us two holes to fill in my book as he is able to pull off a rare trick in that he is a credible back-up for both tackle positions.

 

Pucillio- I actually just remembered he ain't gome but is one of our back-up guards. I don't think so and he needs to show some definite improvement or more likely be gone.

 

McFarland- Journey man-

 

Epositio, Pruce, Rodney, Peters- The precence of 4 linemen on our practice squad merely shows how desperate we are. It wouldn't surprise me if one of them is the next Tucker or Smith. In fact one of them had better be or getting a big name FA OL player will be a priority for us in the off-season.

[ICE]

In my oponion, We should draft a Center with our first selection in the draft.

LT:FA or MW

LG:MW or draft pick

C:Draft pick(Ben Wilkerson)

RG:CV

RT:Price

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Scott, Mike williams is TOO SLOW. He is WAY too slow at RT. And you want to move him against the Best/fastest pass rushers? No way brother.

 

I know you are all into "but we spent this much time on him at RT" and all, but his genetics say Guard.

[Lori]

In my oponion, We should draft a Center with our first selection in the draft.

LT:FA or MW

LG:MW or draft pick

C:Draft pick(Ben Wilkerson)

RG:CV

RT:Price

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You know Wilkerson just ruptured a patella tendon last weekend, right? Hafta wait and see how that affects his draft status.

[ICE]

You know Wilkerson just ruptured a patella tendon last weekend, right? Hafta wait and see how that affects his draft status.

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Don't touch him. sorry been there done that and he will need 2 full years before coming back.

 

This means TD would 100% Draft him!

[njsue]

What the hell is taking them so long to kick some of these oline losers to the frigging curb. You wonder why the running game slacks

[respk]

I've said it before the beef has to be in the middle and the athlete on the outside. Assuming they can sign Jennings.

 

LT - Teague

LG - Williams

C - Jennings or FA

RG - Villarial

RT - FA/Rookie

 

Bannan pushes Williams at LG since I don't think Williams has the heart for it.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Scott, Mike williams is TOO SLOW.  He is WAY too slow at RT. And you want to move him against the Best/fastest pass rushers?  No way brother.

 

I know you are all into "but we spent this much time on him at RT" and all, but his genetics say Guard.

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MW got a gameball awarded to him for his work in the last game with the OL giving up no sacks and opening holes for a 100 yard rusher and 2 rushing TDs. What is the basis for the indictment of Williams"

 

He has had obvious problems but they have struck me a mental in that he and Pucillo did not co-ordinate well at all last year as a team and at times his focus seems to dift.

 

In terms of athleticism and speed, he certainly has shown in workouts that he is far more nimble than most linemen and big guys. He put on too much weight when got sad over losing his granny this off-season but has seemed diligent in working off the pounds and getting into game shape.

 

When I have seen him give up sacks and allow pressure it has not been speed rushes (which usually have to go through or circle around the TE position on the right side but it has been stunts that have given him problems.