Yikes ! Our OL "Depth" Behind The Starters

[Night Train]

3 raw rookies picked on day 2 this April and Duke Preston :puke:

I'm hoping we're working on adding a couple experienced Vets by opening day. :worry:

[Jan Reimers]

I like the potential of Preston, Butler, Pennington and Merz, but they're awfully green. I wouldn't mind a little more experience, with a couple of our rookies developing on the PS.

[patmoran2006]

Potential is one thing..

Getting your ass kicked in because Gandy or Peters going down is another.

[HHURRICANE]

3 raw rookies picked on day 2 this April and Duke Preston :puke:

I'm hoping we're working on adding a couple experienced Vets by opening day. :worry:

I posted this 2 months ago and you would have thought I had shot Jim Kelly or something. I'm really not sure what the Bills are thinking here but we are dangeruosly thin. Plus when has a line gone 16 weeks w/o someone having to sit for a game or 2! Villareal is going to miss time for sure.

[Mad Bomber]

Our O-line is green...

But that's not the thing that bothers me the most. What bothers me is that we are PAPER THIN. A few collisions that take out a knee or an ankle, and we are screwed...

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Depth is certainly a problem for this team. But, it always is for teams that are rebuilding.

I know that the three rookies that they kept are very raw, but after seeing Greg Jerman get eaten up by second- and third-stringers the last couple of weeks, I can't imagine that Brad Butler, as raw and inexperienced as he may be, can be any worse than Jerman. At least Butler and Pennington have the potential to get better--Jerman had two preseasons and all of last year to show that he could get better and he never did.

If anything happens to Gandy, it now appears likely that Peters will shift over to LT. According to C.Brown's blog on BB.com, when Gandy went down briefly in practice last week, Peters moved to LT until Gandy returned. So, regardless of what the depth chart says, if anything happens to Gandy, it would be Peters, not Pennington stepping in at LT, with Butler likely to step in for Peters on the right side. At least, that is likely to be the scenario early on in the season.

As for Villarial, Preston would be the guy to replace him. That much has been clear all preseason with Preston working at both guard positions as well as getting some reps at center. The problem would be if the Bills were to sustain multiple injuries in the middle of their offensive line and would need to use someone else in addition to Preston. It would appear that, then, they would have to go with Merz.

At this point it appears that the coaching staff is going to gamble that they can make it to mid-season--or at least to the one-third mark--without suffering any major injuries to their offensive linemen that would force them to use their rookies on a regular basis. If they can do that, by mid-season the rookies should be ready to see some action--that's the only way that they are going to be able to test them to see how good they really are and whether they will be able to be major contributors to the team down the road. Butler, who came in with some pretty good techniques, should be alright. The question is going to be how fast Pennington and Merz progress.

But, yeah, this team is very thin. On both lines. And, at LB as well. If you think about it, they have two rookies in their 4-man DT rotation on the defensive line and their top OLB sub and their only MLB sub are rookies as well. But, then again, the only way that inexperienced, unproven players become experienced, proven players is by playing and, at some point, the Bills might as well get these guys some playing time and see what they have to offer in a season when the expectations for the team aren't very high.

Obviously, this coaching staff has decided that they would rather give an inexperienced young rookie that they think has some potential a chance to prove himself as a backup, rather than relying on a veteran with a couple of years of experience that they know is mediocre and is never going to get any better. It's a risky strategy: relying on the mediocre vet is certainly a lot safer. But, it also offers a higher reward if the rookie with a higher upside than the vet can develop faster and put himself in a position of challenging for a starting position more quickly. We'll just have to see how it works out.

[ParanoidAndroid]

I would like to see an upgrade over Merz.

[justasportsfan]

With our staff going with youth especially at depth , it's safe to say they are willing to risk this season for the future. If we crap out because of inexperience at depth, who's picked us to go anywhere anyways with the starting line up?

I guess they're hoping to build a cohessive unit with homegrown raw talent. That's the way the bills of the 90's was created.

[~CHIEF~]

I'm not two worried......

[justasportsfan]

I'm not two worried......
three?

[~CHIEF~]

Being sarcastic!

[Turf]

The entire NFL is plagued by having no depth. It's a game of being lucky enough to stay healthy if you have a legitimate starting lineup. That's where coaching kicks in, something we haven't had in years.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The reason is really simple: a shift in O-Line blocking philosophy and this is really a re-building year (whether they admit it or not). The new zone blocking scheme means those heavy, slow guys they drafted in the past are toasts. In the new regime's eyes, they are no better than the rookies.

The O-Line is going through a transition and it won't be done overnight. They got one guy Fowler this year who could be a long stay as a Bill. Gandy is in his last year. Reyes is signed for one year only. Villarial is just about being replaced by Preston any game now.

The way things are set up, they are trying to get as much as they can from the current group -- also the best group they can get onto the field right now; in the meantime, they are grooming the replacements, the future of the line. Hopefully at the end of the year they know which rookies can play and which position they need to get help from the FA pool. In my view, next year you will see a line more of a stable stay in Buffalo Bills.

[John Doe]

If continuity is as important for an offensive line as we have been told, the Bills now have a group of 7 offensive linemen (maybe 8 if they can work out a deal with Gandy) that will be together for a good long while.

[G. Host]

With our staff going with youth especially at depth , it's safe to say they are willing to risk this season for the future. If we crap out because of inexperience at depth, who's picked us to go anywhere anyways with the starting line up?

I guess they're hoping to build a cohessive unit with homegrown raw talent. That's the way the bills of the 90's was created.

Thats exactly how I see the Bills developing. They signed some free agents with experience (i.e. Royal, Fowler, Kiwaukee Thomas, Tripplett, etc) so that they could develop their young talent and have them come into their own at same time. If they loae a veteran they expect a younger player to step up depending upon others on squad to help them. It is why they dumped so many of the 2nd and 3rd year players - not enough time to develop them and not enough shown to be starters.