Excellent Article On Offensive Line Prospects/Coaches

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  • LifetimeBillsFan
    All-Pro Zoner
    • Aug 2004
    • 4946
    #1

    Excellent Article On Offensive Line Prospects/Coaches

    The BillsZone front page has a link to an excellent article by P.Kirwin on the NFL.com website that not only details his assessment of some of the offensive linemen available in this year's draft, but also contains a very interesting reference to Coach McNally and his philosophy regarding the obtaining of O-line talent that I think everyone concerned about the state of the Bills O-line will find of interest:

    NFL offensive line coaches are a breed all to themselves. These men have to manage the largest group of starters in a game and they never situation substitute like other positions. There's a whole group of these O-line coaches who don't want any high draft picks. Renowned line specialists like Alex Gibbs and Jim McNally would prefer second-day picks that they choose themselves. Other coaches complain the front office and head coaches pass over them when top draft picks are under consideration. To say the least, it is critical all the decision-makers at every club need to have a clear understanding of what kind of offensive line coach they have and just what their offense is trying to accomplish.
    In addition, considering the kind of relationships that TD and McNally have had with certain members of the media, like Kirwin, it would not surprise me if McNally was one of the sources refered to in the article.

    As much as I have been saying that I think that the Bills need to use their first pick in this draft (or a trade for Shelton) to improve the talent level of their offensive line, after reading this article, I'm not so sure that they will do that. I don't know if this is another "smoke screen" being put up by the Bills to mask their intentions or not, but, if McNally really doesn't want the Bills to use any high draft picks on an offensive lineman, we Bills fans are just going to have to live with the fact that this is the kind of offensive line coach that the team has and that, in spite of this, over the long haul he has been very successful with that approach. That may not make me very comfortable or the "nervous nellies" here--who want the Bills to have a first round draft pick Pro Bowler at every position--very happy, but it's something that we are going to have to live with and try to understand as long as McNally is the Bills' offensive line coach.

    This article and G.Brandt's assessment of the O-linemen in the draft (URL: http://nfl.com/draft/analysis/expert/brandt/ol) are well-worth the read. I'm not a fan of Brandt, but a lot of people in the NFL (coaches and GMs, etc.) seem to agree with a lot of things that he has to say about talent.
    Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And, thus it was that they surrendered their freedom; not with a bang, but without even a whimper.
    Tags: None
  • Bills 4 life
    Registered User
    • Oct 2004
    • 247
    #2
    GREAT ARTICLE. I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THAT THEORY.
    LET MCNALLY GET WHO HE LIKES LATE.
    "No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills"

    Buffalo Bills fans- "We're all we got"

    Comment

    • The King
      Without me it's just Awe so
      • Jun 2004
      • 42380
      #3
      LBF from ESPN boards?????
      I remember that one fateful day when Coach took me aside. I knew what was coming. "You don't have to tell me," I said. "I'm off the team, aren't I?"
      "Well," said Coach, "you never were really ON the team. You made that uniform you're wearing out of rags and towels, and your helmet is a toy space helmet.
      You show up at practice and then either steal the ball and make us chase you to get it back, or you try to tackle people at inappropriate times."
      It was all       true what he was saying. And yet, I thought something is brewing inside the head of this Coach.
      He sees something in me, some kind of raw talent that he can       mold. But that's when I felt the handcuffs go on.


      Comment

      • Meathead
        Insufferable prick and perpetual crybaby
        • Jul 2002
        • 21349
        #4
        Great observation - the same one I made a year ago. lol.

        With today's salary cap, free agency driving up prices, and all the rules to promote parity, it is impossible to have and keep stars everywhere.

        It appears obvious that the Bills have been counting on the strength of McNally's coaching to keep the offensive line functioning at a high level while saving money by using relatively inexpensive players and allowing those who want to break the bank (Jennings) to leave and be replaced with lower priced alternatives.

        Well we'll see how great McNally is during this upcoming season. He already has done a miraculous job to get the unit to improve so dramatically from the start of last season to the end. Now he's going to have to work his magic again with three-fifths of the line having new faces at their positions, as well as two guys who are switching positions to the offensive line.
        One set of rules for all in the beloved community

        Comment

        • jamze132
          Registered User
          • Jun 2003
          • 29290
          #5
          Bring in "The Nuge"

          Comment

          • LifetimeBillsFan
            All-Pro Zoner
            • Aug 2004
            • 4946
            #6
            Originally posted by MBBedard
            LBF from ESPN boards?????
            Yes, indeed! Good to see you here, MB! How are you doing?

            After the holidays, I went to the ESPN board to try and catch up on everything that I had missed there and got so sick and tired of all of the trolls that I decided to concentrate on posting here instead. I loved exchanging ideas with most of the Bills fans on that board, but theere was just too much garbage from the trolls. There are a lot of great posters here--including a number, like yourself, from the ESPN boards--and the mods don't allow the kind of infantile garbage that the trolls throw up on the ESPN boards all of the time. I just think that this is a much nicer and better board for Bills fans to be able to discuss the team in a serious manner without all of the trolls around.
            Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And, thus it was that they surrendered their freedom; not with a bang, but without even a whimper.

            Comment

            • BuffaloRanger
              WORK HARD. PLAY HARD. LIVE HARD.
              • Mar 2003
              • 2246
              #7
              "There's a whole group of these O-line coaches who don't want any high draft picks. Renowned line specialists like Alex Gibbs and Jim McNally would prefer second-day picks that they choose themselves. Other coaches complain the front office and head coaches pass over them when top draft picks are under consideration. "

              Gibbs is piece of crap. His only strategy as a coach is to have his lineman chop block everyone. He's a dirty bastard.

              What if McNally was given the opportunity to chose any Day 1 pick he wanted? Do you think he would turn it down?
              Buffalo Only and Always.

              Comment

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