chris hairston

[oldno711]

interesting read...and if our front office shares the same sentiment regarding his potential at left tackle, we could be in for an interesting (best player available/impact-driven) draft...

Buffalo Bills: Chris Hairston Has Chance to Shine at Left Tackle

A lot of folks—both fans and draft experts—presume that just because the Buffalo Bills lost Demetress Bell in free agency that the team is going to spend its 10th overall pick in 2012 on a left tackle. However, the Bills may already have Bell’s starting replacement in Chris Hairston.
With their first four picks in the 2011 NFL draft, Buffalo selected defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, cornerback Aaron Williams, middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard and strong safety Da’Norris Searcy. The first three of those players will be defensive starters in 2012, while Searcy provides valuable depth to a quality safety group.
If you ask me, that’s a nice looking four rounds of drafting.
But the Bills weren’t done finding starting-caliber players. They used their second fourth-round pick, acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in the Marshawn Lynch trade, on a hidden gem, former Clemson left tackle Chris Hairston. By shipping Lynch to clear up a crowded backfield, the Bills may have actually found their left tackle of the future.

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[jpdex12]

Re: chris hairston

Good read, thanks.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: chris hairston

Good writeup. I'm down with that.

[TedMock]

Re: chris hairston

Anybody who knows me knows that I was happy with the Hairston pick last year, but I was not happy because I thought he was a steal future left tackle. I honestly like(d) Hairston as the future right tackle. He may still be that. He was thrust into the lineup as a rookie and forced to play LT. I was not thrilled. At times he held his own. More often he did not, but rookies on the OL have a learning curve. I am not opposed to having him sit in as a stop gap on the left an ultimately being on the right and I do not think the team is either, and for that reason alone I do not see a tackle as our pick. Having said that, IF he plays on the left and ends up settling in well, we are in great shape.

Pears is adequate on the right, but not great which is why I would like to see him as a swing guy down the road. Pears has played well as a pass blocker and below average as a run blocker. He shields okay, but gets zero push. At least that was the case last year.

I still say we draft a left tackle this year, but not in the first round. In fact, I always say LT, QB and CB should be drafted somewhere every year. LT's can move to the right and inside if they prove to be valuable there. It's far easier to move left to right or inside than it is from elsewhere on the line to the left tackle spot. The old cliche' is especially true in todays NFL regarding CB's - you cannot have enough decent CB's. As for QB's, I am all for continuing to search for a diamond in the draft. Well, at least until we have to take one early.

[Night Train]

Re: chris hairston

His issue coming out of Clemson was his stuck in mud movement off the snap. Slow as hell. Did our outstanding OL coach, Joe D improve him enough in that regard ? Once he gets his hands on guys, he seems to eliminate them.

Still, the depth chart shows a crying need for LT/OT depth so 1-2 picks this draft seems to be a lock. Competition is always a good thing, especially at such a critical position. Levitre having to fill in spoke volumes.

I like Hairston and root for the guy.

[better days]

Re: chris hairston

Great read. I have been saying unless the Bills can draft Kalil, Hairston will be the starting LT no matter who the Bills draft so it would be stupid to waste the #10 pick in the draft on a guy like Reiff that may be no better than Hairston.

[X-Era]

Re: chris hairston

His issue coming out of Clemson was his stuck in mud movement off the snap. Slow as hell. Did our outstanding OL coach, Joe D improve him enough in that regard ? Once he gets his hands on guys, he seems to eliminate them.

Still, the depth chart shows a crying need for LT/OT depth so 1-2 picks this draft seems to be a lock. Competition is always a good thing, especially at such a critical position. Levitre having to fill in spoke volumes.

I like Hairston and root for the guy.

I still think Hairston has a chance at LT and I think the Bills do too. But I agree with what your saying; we don't have depth or a solid enough starter at LT to ignore the position in the draft.

People tend to overlook his numbers which were actually pretty good:

Year	Team	G	GS	Pen	Yds	False Start	Holding	Sacks Allwd	Yds
2011	Buf	13	7	3	20	2	1	4.00	37.00

I think those numbers compare nicely with a solid starting LT in this league. Yes, we all saw some lapses where he got beat. But it really wasn't very often and many times against many great pass rushers he did his job well.

Personally I'm not convinced there is a top 10 LT outside of Kalil. However, I think theres a big drop off for LT's after you get through Reiff and Martin. And both Reiff and Martin may end up in mid to later round 1 instead of top 10 or 15.

So it's a quandary as to what we should do. I would like us to get some FA insurance like Marcus McNeil but we may not have the cap room anymore to do it.

My guess is we pencil in Hairston as our starting LT and add a mid-round OT who could be a swing tackle type. My hope is that Hairston develops further and becomes a solid but maybe not great LT.

[Patti120]

Re: chris hairston

Hopefully he can man the LT spot but depth is a HUGE concern there given that the injury bug seems to get our team each year and because he's not a tried and tested sure thing. As much as I like Levitre, he has no business at LT so we've got to get some depth there. Whether it's a reach at 10, somewhere else in the draft or someone else that we pick up, we've got to address it somewhere.

[better days]

Re: chris hairston

I still think Hairston has a chance at LT and I think the Bills do too. But I agree with what your saying; we don't have depth or a solid enough starter at LT to ignore the position in the draft.

People tend to overlook his numbers which were actually pretty good:

Year	Team	G	GS	Pen	Yds	False Start	Holding	Sacks Allwd	Yds
2011	Buf	13	7	3	20	2	1	4.00	37.00

I think those numbers compare nicely with a solid starting LT in this league. Yes, we all saw some lapses where he got beat. But it really wasn't very often and many times against many great pass rushers he did his job well.

Personally I'm not convinced there is a top 10 LT outside of Kalil. However, I think theres a big drop off for LT's after you get through Reiff and Martin. And both Reiff and Martin may end up in mid to later round 1 instead of top 10 or 15.

So it's a quandary as to what we should do. I would like us to get some FA insurance like Marcus McNeil but we may not have the cap room anymore to do it.

My guess is we pencil in Hairston as our starting LT and add a mid-round OT who could be a swing tackle type. My hope is that Hairston develops further and becomes a solid but maybe not great LT.

My hope is the Bills can trade down & draft Reiff in the teens or twentys where he should be drafted.

[ThunderGun]

Re: chris hairston

It would be great if we actually saw some benefit to running Lynch out of town.

[Bill Cody]

Re: chris hairston

The same question about whether Hairston is a LT in the NFL is being asked about Reiff. If you draft Reiff at 10 you need to be confident the answer is "yes". I don't believe a RT is worth the 10th pick especially on a team with as many holes as ours. So is Reiff a LT? You tell me.

[TigerJ]

Re: chris hairston

I think Hairston has a chance to be a solid left tackle, but he does need to overcome the "slow feet" issue. I don't know the extent to which Buffalo's strength and conditioning program might address an issue like that, and I'm not sure the Bills do either. It's because of that uncertainty that I think Buffalo must address left tackle in the draft. I don't think they necessarily have to draft a left tackle who can start from day one, because Hairston will be that guy at least this season. I believe they need to draft a guy who could step in if Hairston goes down with an injury, and who has enough upside to possibly start midway through the season if Hairston struggles.

[MattyNH]

Re: chris hairston

I think it is possible the Bills would pass on an OT in round one but they will be getting one fairly early IMO. At the least they need a swing tackle. We have to remember that Levitre can play LT when needed too.

[MattyNH]

Re: chris hairston

My hope is the Bills can trade down & draft Reiff in the teens or twentys where he should be drafted.

I would love this.

[OpIv37]

Re: chris hairston

I'd love for Hairston to become a solid starting LT, but I just don't see it yet and I don't like taking the risk.

We lacked OL depth last year and we already lost Bell. At the very least, we need a backup G/C who can play both and a true backup T so we don't have to rearrange the whole OL because of one injury.