ghz in pittsburgh
01-07-2005, 08:36 AM
RG Villarrial - generally solid, better run blocker than pass block. I haven't seen him got beat one-on-one but I saw him victimized by some quick tricky stunts aimed at his left. All in all, I would term it solid. When the Bills need a yard on a running play, running backs usually look for a hole between Villarrial and Williams. That tells you something.
C Teague - very athletic, probably the most athletic center I've seen on the Bills teams, including Hull. It's not often you can ask a center to snap the ball and move outside for an outside run play, but Teague can do that consistently and it became a regular running play for the Bills. He did not got beat often but did have trouble with bull rushers from time to time. He needed help against the nose tackles of those 3-4 defenses. Overall, Teague is a good center that can start for most of the team in NFL. The problem I have is that for Mularkey to model this team after the Steelers, we may need a top flight center that can move whomever in front of him on his own. The Steelers ran well only when they had HOF-to-be Dawson at center and when they had Hartings (converted from guard, paid $3+ million per year) at center. McNally himself even said in the pre-season that he wished Teague were bigger. I don't know what the Bills can do here. They can live with Teague. But if they wanted to be one of the premium teams in the league and go where Mularkey wants to go, they may need an upgrade here. Finding a top center FA is very difficult, but I can see that they may go the way of Dawson and Hartings, both were converted from Guard to Center.
LG Tucker - the biggest asset is his intelligence and the attitude he brings to this line. From Donahoe to Mularkey to McNally, all praised about the toughness he brings to the line. Frankly I think this is something the Bills sorely missed when Rueben left town and when Tucker was not in the lineup - the rest of the O-linemen are just too much business like. Unfortunately Tucker is not very athletic, too slow for pulling plays and has trouble with speed rushers on pass plays. I listened Donahoe's press conference yesterday and he described Tucker (after the praise of his toughness and importance of that to the line) as of not much athleticism. It is not often you can get a guy like Steelers' Faneca who is both athletic and tough with leadership quality.
L. Smith is not much of a run block. I don't think he should be anything other than a backup tackle.
C Teague - very athletic, probably the most athletic center I've seen on the Bills teams, including Hull. It's not often you can ask a center to snap the ball and move outside for an outside run play, but Teague can do that consistently and it became a regular running play for the Bills. He did not got beat often but did have trouble with bull rushers from time to time. He needed help against the nose tackles of those 3-4 defenses. Overall, Teague is a good center that can start for most of the team in NFL. The problem I have is that for Mularkey to model this team after the Steelers, we may need a top flight center that can move whomever in front of him on his own. The Steelers ran well only when they had HOF-to-be Dawson at center and when they had Hartings (converted from guard, paid $3+ million per year) at center. McNally himself even said in the pre-season that he wished Teague were bigger. I don't know what the Bills can do here. They can live with Teague. But if they wanted to be one of the premium teams in the league and go where Mularkey wants to go, they may need an upgrade here. Finding a top center FA is very difficult, but I can see that they may go the way of Dawson and Hartings, both were converted from Guard to Center.
LG Tucker - the biggest asset is his intelligence and the attitude he brings to this line. From Donahoe to Mularkey to McNally, all praised about the toughness he brings to the line. Frankly I think this is something the Bills sorely missed when Rueben left town and when Tucker was not in the lineup - the rest of the O-linemen are just too much business like. Unfortunately Tucker is not very athletic, too slow for pulling plays and has trouble with speed rushers on pass plays. I listened Donahoe's press conference yesterday and he described Tucker (after the praise of his toughness and importance of that to the line) as of not much athleticism. It is not often you can get a guy like Steelers' Faneca who is both athletic and tough with leadership quality.
L. Smith is not much of a run block. I don't think he should be anything other than a backup tackle.