OL: Good starters, NO depth!!!

[WG]

I just made a post in another thread. I'm not sure how many Bills fans realize how far we are from a repeat of '01 in terms of our OL.

We have precious little depth.

Our starters are Jennings, Brown, Teague, Sullivan, and Williams.

Price is the only experienced backup we have.

The other three are:

Pucillo, no experience in only his second season, 7th rounder;

Mike Houghton, no experience only second season, undrafted;

Joey Hollenbeck, no experience only third season, picked up off G.B.'s waivers.

All three of those guys are only 23.

Is anyone else concerned if anyone but Price has to fill in???

If we all think we're gonna skate through the season again injury free, I wouldn't want to wager many ZBs on it!

[WG]

I was hopin' we'd sign Conaty back, but we haven't made him an offer.

[Buffarama]

I think the problem last year was OL coach more than personnel. Now I'm not sure we've fixed that, but we're trying.

[WG]

In any case, if you have an injury, you need to have viable backups.

Do you feel comfortable, regardless of who's coaching, if any of those "other" three backups had to come in for one of our other linemen? Particularly since it will have meant that Price is already filling in for one of them!

I'm highly concerned although I'm sure TD realizes the issue. :D

[WG]

If we're gonna have Drew as our QB, then we don't have the luxury of skimping on our OL!

[Buffarama]

There's only so much mula to go around. I never have a problem of spending $ on OL, who's out there we can afford?

[Novacane]

Price was a great backup last year. Who knows if these other guys can play. They have not had the chance yet. I'm sure if TD does think they are a weak link he will fix it.

[Stewie]

I trust TD to fill in some depth after June 1.

[SoCalBillsFan]

agreed wys, let's get some more depth!

[Dicknoze69]

yea if anyone important goes down for a long time, we're screwed. Altho I'm sure we'll draft some OL and we'll get some after June 1st. TD knows what he is doing.

[BillsMan80]

We absolutely cannot draft OL in Round 1 though...we need a 1st Round Pick that can have an impact.

[Doc]

Whoa, hold on a second. First off, Conaty will likely be back. He hasn't gotten so much as a nibble, so his return seems likely, unless the Bills like someone else. Price can backup at any spot on the O-line, save for probably OC, which again as I said, Conaty can be re-signed to handle. If you're talking multiple injuries, then it's a matter of shifting guys like Teague and Jennings around. Last of all, the coaching should actually be NFL quality this year.

[Bruce is Loose]

i agree wys... i am sure that the OL depth will be addressed. We still have a good amount of cap space i believe.

[SABURZFAN]

i'm sure that there'll be a veteran that needs a home.TD will likely find someone.our starting OL doesn't look too bad when you consider that r.brown is the "old man."i wouldn't mind us drafting j.faine-C-notre dame but i doubt that he falls to the 23rd spot.then again,anything can happen.

[Brian H]

The only reason our O line is under the microscope cause we are young,with 1 year experience under there belt look for some improvements.......

[hintexas]

Are their any free agent Offenisive lineman to bring in for a visit? Is Soloman Page playing for Dallas next year?

[Tatonka]

i saw one draft with us taking kwammie harris in the first.. i wouldnt be upset.. he could be the replacement for brown or if sullivan leaves.. i thnk sullivan is a fA next year

[WG]

Did Sullivan only sign a 3-year contract?

[LtBillsFan66]

Be patient. There is still plenty of offseason left to build depth.

[TigerJ]

Our OL coach is a former GB assistant, isn't he? Maybe he urged the signing of Hollenbeck. If that's the case, I presume he knows something about his abilities. While Houghton hasn't had a lot of opportunity, he did take some snaps during last season. He didn't dominate by any means, but he looked a whole lot better than Farris did the year before, and did not allow a sack at the difficult LT position. Pucillo, I understand was pretty good technically in college. The knock on him was a lack of strength. A year's time should be enough to address that. I think Buffalo probably will try to pick up someone, either in the draft or free agency (maybe after June 1). It's unrealistic to expect Buffalo to have starting caliber players two deep at every position, however. Even if Buffalo did, there would be no guarrantees that a freakish slew of injuries at one position would not cripple the Bills.

[Doc]

Sullivan, if he were to become a FA next year, at worst would be a RFA.

[John from Hemet]

This is where you do your June 1st signing.....getting veteran free agent vets who will play for the minimum......

I also think we should invest our 3rd rounder on a guard....my draft order would go

1st - DE
2nd - WR
3rd - OG

[Ebenezer]

Wys, although I agree that we need depth on the OL you went around screaming for weeks about the help the Defense needed. Let TD do his thing. This team will be fine. He upgraded the Defense...only so many hours in the day my friend. If TD gets some depth on the OL are you going to scream about our back up RB or FB next?? I am more worried about the TE than the OL.

[BillsFanInMass]

relax we will get depth in draft or f/a i think our depth isnt that bad anyway price can play all positions on the line

[BillsNYC]

Originally posted by billsfanone
Be patient. There is still plenty of offseason left to build depth.

best ppst on this thread! we got the big dogs...now its time to fill the roster with the capspace left over....june 1st i'm sure we'll sign some vets....and this is gonna be a helluva training camp!