Matt: So contact FEMA, get your emergency alert systems ready, because the Buffalo Bills offensive line is a disaster zone. What a mess. We’ve got guards playing center, guards playing tackle, tackles at guard. We’ve got a giant guy who played guard in college playing defensive tackle. Sometimes I feel like Gailey just puts the o-line names in a jar, shakes it, and pulls them out at random. Boom, your starting 5.
Joe: Do we really have to talk about them? I’d rather talk about who should be the Sabres captaincy and uniforms. They are a disaster. I’m happy they played better against the Jags, but they were missing their top 3 pass rushers so, I’ll hold the applause. Now, I’ll say this about o-line play, I hate scouting the unit. First off, there are things that go into line play that have nothing to do with the 5 fat guys. There is the QB, who has a say in how well they perform. Drew Brees threw over 600 passes one year, but got sacked like 12 times, and yet, his LT was a 4th round selection who no one ever heard of. He didn’t get sacked a lot because of the offense was based on quick strikes. When Fitz took over last year, the sacks allowed went down dramatically from the year before when the team gave up 46 sacks. The reason being had to do with Fitz’s athleticism and how the offense was dictated on quick passes.
Matt: But getting those sacks down even more is important because Fitzpatrick is one of the worst QBs in the league when throwing under pressure. We’ve got a guy who was considered a project three years ago who is still considered a project as our most likely starting LT. That’s frightening.
Joe: Yeah, Bell played better last year, but we saw firsthand what will happen when he plays against a speed rusher (see: Denver preseason game), he gets burned. If the Bills plan on having 4-5 wide sets and not giving Bell any help, they are going to have to shorten their pass routes.
Matt: Bell played better last year but better than maybe being the worst LT ever like he was the year before isn’t saying too much. It was a low bar. He also seems to have regressed this year. One thing I didn’t see happen much last year was him flat-out whiffing on blocks, which I’ve seen routinely this preseason. What’s more, Bell is soft. Maybe that’s self-evident, but what I mean to say is, he takes like 3 weeks to get over a stubbed toe. He’s not a trench warrior.
Joe: He’s also a free agent after this year so you gotta wonder if the Bills would reward him with a new contract. Injuries have been a concern for him, but if he goes down, who do we have left? That’s the problem, this line has no depth. I have no clue why the team continues to ignore the line.
Matt: Levitre isn’t built like a Tackle, and so he isn’t the long-term solution there. But frankly, he performed much more admirably this pas weekend than Bell ever has. Does that carry over to the regular season? Maybe, maybe not. We know he isn’t the long-term solution there, but maybe he is the stop-gap. Bell needs to consider himself lucky to be on this team because I don’t think many other teams would even take him as a backup. Tackles are incredibly important, so sure, they get paid.
Joe: Part of me thinks the Bills have ignored the position because of money. You saw how much Joe Thomas from Cleveland is getting? 84 million! You think Ralph wants to spend money like that? That’s why Jason Peters got sent his walking papers. Tackle is one of the pricier positions in football because it’s the most important, but we continue to treat it like a kicker position.
Matt: Maybe we should try Brian Moorman there, is what you’re saying?
Joe: I just wish they cared. So what about the other tackle? Pears, right? Do we know anything about him?
Matt: He appears to have two arms and two legs — looks like he’s still breathing. He started camp horribly – like, “we need to cut this guy and pull some dude off the street” horribly – but has settled down a bit. I think he’s a definite liability, but I think it’s less egregious if he is because we sort of already expected that. What I mean to say is, with all the time investment into making Demetrius Bell a star, you’d hope he’d be better. We already knew what we had in Erik Pears which was a half-eaten band-aid we are attempting to apply on the wound that is right tackle.
Joe: Ugh. My head hurts. Well, some people have said that Pears is nasty, big and gritty. Maybe they were talking about a pear that was found in a swamp.
Matt: Remember Rich Incognito? He ate puppies between plays.
Joe: He’s actually starting in Miami. Anyway, ok, let’s get to the good part of the line. What about Eric Wood? Everyone likes him. He looks like the kid from the movie Bad Santa. He’s at center now, you like him there?
Matt: I’d rather have him at G and Hangartner at C. I know Hangartner isn’t a Hall-of-Famer or anything, but he was serviceable there. Oh, wait, we cut him. Great…I think we overrate Wood because he is the best we have, which isn’t saying much. But he is a solid C. I think the problem is, Gailey has not yet figured out how to turn Levitre and Wood into 5 different guys.
Joe: If center is more important than guard, then Wood should play there. He did play center in college. Plus, in a division where the Bills have to contend with a number of 3-4 defenses that have stud nose tackles, you’d want Wood to take those guys head-on. I also don’t get why Hangartner is out of a job. If you didnt like him after last season, why didn’t they sign a legit guard?
Matt: It just sort of drives me crazy that we are having to make sacrifices. “Well, center is more important, so we’ll have to sacrifice our talent at guard to move it to center”. Stop! Enough! No more! Just get me 5 guys who can play. Hangartner *can play*. He might not beat the world up, but he can play. But only at center. So we’ve gone from having 3 guys we know we can play to two guys. Ugh.
Joe: Well, Hangartner wasn’t Buddy/Chan’s guy. He’s from the previous regime and Gailey wants bigger guys up front. Again, I agree, he should have been a bridge gap to a better player for next year. What about the other guy? Rinehart, right? These guys are so fricken terrible.
Matt: That’s another thing. I understand that they want to rebuild, but does everyone have to be “their guy”?! Chris Kelsay isn’t their guy. Get rid of that bum. Neither was Demetrius Bell really.
Joe: Well, as Buddy said once, and I’m paraphrasing, “I wish they gave us more draft picks, but they can’t.” You get rid of Bell or Player X, who will be their replacement? A BUM.
Matt: I think that an actual sack of potatoes would only be a slight downgrade from Bell. Sorry Bell. We’ve forgotten to really mention Levitre at all. He was playing second team reps at guard a week ago, then starting at tackle, then back on most people’s depth charts as starting left guard. What the hell is going on with this guy?
Joe: It’s funny, but we thought he was fine, then Gailey had him practice 2nd team reps. Now he stinks. I give up.
Matt: The answer is Mansfield Wrotto. Did they just make that guy up out of spare parts from the field house? My head hurts.
Joe: If the Bills want to make moms proud, they should start with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s mom because she is probably worried about her son getting killed.
Matt: Anything you want to close with Joe?
Joe: I think Bell and Pears should be our tackles. Wood should be our center. Levitre and Hangartner should be our guards, but alas, we didn’t like Geoff. So, Kraih Urbik goes there. I don’t even know much about him either. I also think the Bills need to run the ball more in order to take the pressure off our pass protection. Last year the team ranked 18th in rushing, but it could have been better if Gailey wasn’t so pass-happy at the early part of the year. Bottom line: Besides Eric Wood, everyone else kind of stinks.
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