Left Guard Position Up For Grabs

[The_Philster]

By John Tramontana, buffalobills.com
The Bills have already begun to install their new offense focused on a power running game and better pass protection, however, one piece of the puzzle is still not in place. The offensive line figures prominently in this new design, but only four players have been penciled in as starters, leaving three linemen to compete for the final spot.

Ross Tucker, Mike Pucillo, and Marques Sullivan are all vying for the starting opportunity and all three men are neck and neck at this point....more

Tucker started the final three games in 2003 at right guard.

[Michael82]

Mike Pucillo

[TigerJ]

Well, maybe all this competition and extra work all three guys are doing to try and nail down the position will help all three get a lot better. Maybe Pucillo has enough upside to make a decent starter if he makes those improvements. I wonder if Buffalo is secretly thinking Sullivan is their future left tackle if Jennings departs via free agency next offseason.

[Wolffman]

Shouldn't Varrial (sp?) start at left guard? You'd think that they would want to protect Drew's blind side better.

[TigerJ]

I don't think the blind side issue is as big at the guard position as it is with left tackle. Villarrial is at right guard because he's been there his whole career so far, I think. The younger guys should find it easier to move around all things being equal.

[Samphin1]

Hmmm. Not good news. Hopefully for your guys sake, someone steps up in training camp and runs away with the position. It is never good to have question marks on the line. We had a ton last year, and it hurt us greatly thoughout the season. Who does everyone here think should be the RG? It seems Pucillo isn't a favorite.

[The Spaz]

Originally posted by Samphin1
Hmmm. Not good news. Hopefully for your guys sake, someone steps up in training camp and runs away with the position. It is never good to have question marks on the line. We had a ton last year, and it hurt us greatly thoughout the season. Who does everyone here think should be the RG? It seems Pucillo isn't a favorite.

You guys should worry about your own line. It's a lot worse than ours.

[ScottLawrence]

Originally posted by Samphin1
Hmmm. Not good news. Hopefully for your guys sake, someone steps up in training camp and runs away with the position. It is never good to have question marks on the line. We had a ton last year, and it hurt us greatly thoughout the season. Who does everyone here think should be the RG? It seems Pucillo isn't a favorite.

Yea... Im thinking Tucker will run away with it in training camp.

I'll show you not good news....
:)

Dolphins | St. Clair Working With First-Team Offense - from www.KFFL.com

[The Spaz]

Originally posted by ScottLawrence
Yea... Im thinking Tucker will run away with it in training camp.

I'll show you not good news....
:)

Dolphins | St. Clair Working With First-Team Offense - from www.KFFL.com

The Dolphins fans will come with the it's Vernon Carey's job crap. Well if that wasa the case why the hell isn't he playing there?

[THATHURMANATOR]

Pucillo is horrible. I like Sullivan a couple years back. I thought he was solid.

[Goobylal]

Originally posted by Samphin1
Hmmm. Not good news. Hopefully for your guys sake, someone steps up in training camp and runs away with the position. It is never good to have question marks on the line. We had a ton last year, and it hurt us greatly thoughout the season. Who does everyone here think should be the RG? It seems Pucillo isn't a favorite.

Who will play RG? The guy the Bills signed: Chris Villarrial. He'll be a huge improvement over Pucillo, and is a very underrated player. At center, McNally saw enough in Teague to keep him and let the Bills pay him a $2M bonus, and not pursue his protegee, OC Chris Bober. So that leaves LG as the only position with a big question mark. But McNally has taken undrafted players with the Giants before and turned them into solid starters at OG, so it's not a major concern.