Langston Walker

[Mad Bomber]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6527842

"There are a few NFL teams wondering how can Bills owner Ralph Wilson continue to complain about his small-market stature and his desperate need for revenue sharing after his team pays two offensive linemen, Langston Walker and Derrick Dockery, a total of $70 million. Walker, who would have been paid the minimum by many NFL teams, received a $10 million signing bonus from the Bills.


Dockery is a very good run blocker, but Walker, a right tackle, was a full-time starter on an offensive line that allowed 72 quarterback sacks last season."

Dockery seems like a good, albeit expensive, pickup. I don't follow the Raiders and haven't really seen Walker play. What are your thoughts on this guy (especially at $10MM)?

[Don't Panic]

Paid the minimum? Not so sure about that! Starting RTs (even from the Raiders) are rarely paid the minimum. I'm hoping that the numbers we've been given are a little high, but the minimum is ridiculous.

[gr8slayer]

In Marv we trust.

[Meathead]

once again someone underestimates the wiley mr ralph

woa to foxsports because here what yer fate be:

[RockStar36]

He did start on the worst o-line last year but I have a hard time believing it was all this fault. I only saw a few Raider games but the few I did see involved the entire line collapsing. That whole offense was bad last year. I'll trust Marv and Dick on this one until I can make my own judgement.

[JJamezz]

Very little of what you read about the guy is positive.. My feeling is Walker is a guy that McNally sees something in, his size and athleticism being the main things, and feels he can teach & get a lot more out of him than the Raiders did.

It's definitely a risk, but now that we have a front office that is actually giving McNally some players that he covets, I think its a very educated risk worth taking. There's a reason McNally was successful in his other NFL gigs, and 'not so much' under Donohoe.

I also think he gets a mulligan for last year, I mean top to bottom the Raiders were just horribly coached - and the ENTIRE oline was horrid. And if there's one group of guys who's play, good or bad, affects the play of guys around them, its the oline.

[OpIv37]

I look at it this way- we have Pennington who lacks experience and Walker, who may not be the greatest in the world. But they'll be competing for the position and one or both will step up to the competition. And it gives us good depth.

I will say that I'll be disappointed if we spent $10 million on a guy who rides the pine, but hopefully if that happens it will be because Pennington stepped it up and not because Walker sucks.

[DraftBoy]

To me its three players competing for two spots kinda....

Langston Walker is a natural OG and played much better there than when forced outside, he is not built to be a great RT and handle the end speed rush. I dont see him playing RT for us either imo. We took both Brad Butler and Pennington last year and I think they both will get their shot at this spot. IMO an early OL starting lineup for me is;

LT-Peters
LG-Dockery
OC-Fowler
RG-Walker
RT-Butler

A guy Id like to look at also is OC Al Johnson from Dallas, he'd be an upgrade over Fowler.

[Saratoga Slim]

To me its three players competing for two spots kinda....

Langston Walker is a natural OG and played much better there than when forced outside, he is not built to be a great RT and handle the end speed rush. I dont see him playing RT for us either imo. We took both Brad Butler and Pennington last year and I think they both will get their shot at this spot. IMO an early OL starting lineup for me is;

LT-Peters
LG-Dockery
OC-Fowler
RG-Walker
RT-Butler

A guy Id like to look at also is OC Al Johnson from Dallas, he'd be an upgrade over Fowler.

I think you nailed it on the head DB. If I were to bet money today, I'd probably say that Walker is intended to play RT. But you're right, I think the best scenario would be for either Butler or Pennington to step up and win the RT position, and then play Walker at RG.

[Talk0fNewYork]

once again someone underestimates the wiley mr ralph

woa to foxsports because here what yer fate be:
Ralph's a Beast!

[HHURRICANE]

I believe Walker allowed 10 sacks. The other 62 had to come form somewhere. When a line is this bad even Peters would look bad playing there. I don't think the Bills are that dumb. They saw or knew something.

[Carlton Bailey]

I read something today in an article that said Raider backs ran for the ninth most yards behind the right tackle last year. Thus, I think a lot of people are selling Langston's run blocking skills short. He needs work in protecting the QB, and I'm confident Mouse will do well with the guy in that area. He'll be fine.

[EDS]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6527842

"There are a few NFL teams wondering how can Bills owner Ralph Wilson continue to complain about his small-market stature and his desperate need for revenue sharing after his team pays two offensive linemen, Langston Walker and Derrick Dockery, a total of $70 million. Walker, who would have been paid the minimum by many NFL teams, received a $10 million signing bonus from the Bills.


Dockery is a very good run blocker, but Walker, a right tackle, was a full-time starter on an offensive line that allowed 72 quarterback sacks last season."

Dockery seems like a good, albeit expensive, pickup. I don't follow the Raiders and haven't really seen Walker play. What are your thoughts on this guy (especially at $10MM)?

I just got back from vacation and found out about the various Bills signings. Dockery makes lots of sense as an upgraded starter and Whittle makes tons of sense as an experienced low cost back-up.

Walker does not seem to make alot of sense. Hopefully he proves me wrong but I would have rather they spent the money on another sure-fire starter at guard.

[YardRat]

Please, for the love of pete, put Walker inside. Please.

[Romes]

I believe Walker allowed 10 sacks. The other 62 had to come form somewhere. When a line is this bad even Peters would look bad playing there. I don't think the Bills are that dumb. They saw or knew something.

Good point I did some research on the raiders OL last year by looking at some old articles that were written. OK, so Walker led the raiders in sacks allowed but he was also the only o-lineman to start all 16 games for the Raiders. The other 4 spots then averaged over 15 sacks allowed.

By most accounts Walker had trouble with speed rushers around the corner but if he gets put inside he shouldn't have that problem.

Also, there were a few articles about how Shell implemented an old, outdated blocking scheme that the players struggled to implement.

We probably "overpaid" for Walker, but in the right system with good coaching this could be a good fit.

[Tatonka]

i read what Jauron said.. he said he watched film of 10 of the games from last season and he saw what he needed to see. the guy is very athletic and very big. he said it was not like he didnt get beat on occassion, but they saw what they needed to see. like jj said.. it makes me believe that they feel they can get what they need out of him and make him a good player. clearly they wouldnt take a step BACK from how pennington played last year and could always go back to him. i thought pennington played at least average, if not better for a rookie, so i feel like either walker will be an improvement or he wont play RT, period.

ideally, he plays guard and pennington or butler wins the RG spot.

[Meathead]

these two guys were hand picked by the bills staff to go after. they made a massive committment to both of them which means they fully believe they can make them into players that would justify that investment

could they be wrong? its possible but i sure wouldnt bet against them

when are people going to learn, this is The Marv were talking about

be one with the body of The Marv

[HHURRICANE]

I had read that he played well at RG. I have to believe that Buffalo is looking there. Butler and Pennington both being RTs, this kind of makes sense.

One point. This is a nice problem to have. More players than positions.

[BillsFever21]

John Clayton called Derrick Dockery's 7 million a year contract as one of the biggest suprises of FA this year.

He's a good player but not elite like Hutchinson or Steinbach. He said the Redskins of all teams only thought of him as a 5 million a year player. The Redskins of all teams who overpay for everybody.

Marv has done a terrible job at putting value on a player and ranking them in classes higher then they deserve. Marv isn't a negotiater and by the looks of the other contracts from players around the league he's taking average talent and ranking them higher and basically just giving them the same contract as other players in the league who have been more successful.

Just because we overpaid for some OL doesn't mean our line is set now or that we're going to the playoffs. The only upgrade from the OL signings is Dockery and he's not nearly in the same class as Hutchinson or Steinbach. Dielman is better and he didn't even get 7 million a year like Dockery. Walker has been terrible for 6 YEARS and not 1 year. You can't blame all of his putrid play just on being on the Raiders last year. He wasn't any good before last year either.

Our defense lost 2 of it's best players and even after 75 million spent on the OL we only got an upgrade at the LG spot and he's not even elite and only average. The bad part is he's paid like the top guards in the game now. He could've easily got a draft pick for Clements. He screwed up on that. Any team willing to give him 80 million certaintly liked him enough to give up a draft pick for him too.

Can any of you sit there and say without being a homer that Dockery is in the same class as Hutchinson and Steinbach? Dielman is even better and got less money. Walker is little to none of an upgrade even over Gandy or Pennington. He's just younger then Gandy and has more experience then Pennington. Not a 10 million dollar signing bonus of a player.

This team is still far away from elite. We upgraded 1 spot on the OL at a very costly and over paid price but our defense is severely weaker. We aren't any better then last year.

And now with these grossly overpaid contracts giving out to Dockery, Walker and Kelsay, guys like Schobel and Peters is gonna want a new contract. They have no business making less than them guys.

Every FA Marv has signed in the last two years have been overpaid. He's ranking average players in a higher class of money then they deserve. This isn't a good sign for this team. One upgrade at the guard spot after losing two of our best defensive players doesn't make this team better.

We still won't be any better then a team on the outside of the playoffs or with a few good bonuces scoring the last WC spot only to get kicked around in the 1st round.

I'm happy to go out and get an upgrade at guard but to spend that kind of money on somebody like Dockery it isn't worth it. This team clearly doesn't overrates the value of players.

[BillsFever21]

i read what Jauron said.. he said he watched film of 10 of the games from last season and he saw what he needed to see. the guy is very athletic and very big. he said it was not like he didnt get beat on occassion, but they saw what they needed to see. like jj said.. it makes me believe that they feel they can get what they need out of him and make him a good player. clearly they wouldnt take a step BACK from how pennington played last year and could always go back to him. i thought pennington played at least average, if not better for a rookie, so i feel like either walker will be an improvement or he wont play RT, period.

ideally, he plays guard and pennington or butler wins the RG spot.

That's a great way to look at it. Walker may not even be much of an improvement if at all over Pennington. And if he isn't we just throw him on the bench and let him ride the pine for his 10 million dollar bonus.

The Bills don't understand the value of a player. They are paying them on what they feel they could do in the future if they totally change the way they have played in the past instead of the production they have already given in the present. They must think they have the best coaching staff in the NFL or something.

Most teams pay players on what they have accomplished up to that year. The Bills are overpaying them on potential even after many years in the league they haven't produced to that kind of money.

[BillsFever21]

Every underachiver wants to flock to Buffalo. They will get overpaid on their potential instead of on their production.

[Buffalogic]

Every underachiver wants to flock to Buffalo. They will get overpaid on their potential instead of on their production.
Kind of like McGahee huh?

[Tatonka]

That's a great way to look at it. Walker may not even be much of an improvement if at all over Pennington. And if he isn't we just throw him on the bench and let him ride the pine for his 10 million dollar bonus.

The Bills don't understand the value of a player. They are paying them on what they feel they could do in the future if they totally change the way they have played in the past instead of the production they have already given in the present. They must think they have the best coaching staff in the NFL or something.

Most teams pay players on what they have accomplished up to that year. The Bills are overpaying them on potential even after many years in the league they haven't produced to that kind of money.

i just vomitted in my mouth again.