For those worried about Bennie Anderson

[Yasgur's Farm]

Bennie Anderson...
YEAR_G_GS_PEN_YDS_FS_HLD_SCKS_YDS
2001_16_13___2___15__1___1___6.50__60.50
2002_16_16___7___67__2___2___3.50__16.00
2003_15_15___7___40__5___1___3.00__17.00
2004_16_12___6___45__4___1___4.00__17.50


Ruben Brown...
YEAR_G_GS_PEN_YDS_FS_HLD_SCKS_YDS
1995_16_16__15__114__6___5___1.50__11.00
1996_14_14__10___73__4___6___3.75__33.75
1997_16_16___8___70__2___6___4.00__19.50
1998_13_13___9___59__6___3___3.00__19.00
1999_14_14__10___71__5___4___1.00___2.50
2000_16_16__12___94__5___3___3.75__23.75
2001_16_16___5___50__2___1___1.50__11.00
2002_16_16___6___35__5___1__10.50__55.50
2003_15_15___9___85__3___4___6.75__45.00
2004__9__9___4___30__2___2___3.50__17.00
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Let's just compare the combined 1st 4 years of each player...

Bennie Anderson...
__YEAR___G_GS_PEN_YDS_FS_HLD_SCKS_YDS
2001-2004_63_56__22__167__12___5_17.00_111.00
Total... minus 278 YDS

Ruben Brown...
__YEAR___G_GS_PEN_YDS_FS_HLD_SCKS_YDS
1995-1998_59_59__42__316__18__20_12.25_83.25
Total... minus 399.25 YDS

Who was voted to the Pro Bowl 8 freakin times?

[Jayhawk]

so in bernies last game ever with us he won't play?

[Yasgur's Farm]

so in bernies last game ever with us he won't play?Sorry but... What? Ahhh... Nevermind... I get it... Ruben sat his last game for the Bills.

[Jayhawk]

ruben didn't play his last game for unspecified reasons (I was living in Lawrence at the time, so didn't have all the skinny)

[Yasgur's Farm]

Yes... Sorry... I edited my last post.

[DMBcrew36]

Bennie has had some penalties, but that is something Mouse McNally can definitely take care of.

[The_Philster]

ruben didn't play his last game for unspecified reasons (I was living in Lawrence at the time, so didn't have all the skinny)

He spoke out about the piss-poor coaching and play-calling and refused to practice

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=35049&highlight=ruben+brown

[BuffaloRanger]

Oddly enough, for as much as I bash the Oline, I think Anderson will do OK. I actually like him - right now. It would be nice to get a stud in there...sure. But I'd rather have a dominant LT and an immovable Center. Which I guess is why I bash the Oline so unmercifully. But the Bills need a kicker too, so it won't be all their fault.

[Jan Reimers]

Anderson is a road grader who should really help the running game. Hopefully, McNally can improve his pass blocking.

[mysticsoto]

Oddly enough, for as much as I bash the Oline, I think Anderson will do OK. I actually like him - right now. It would be nice to get a stud in there...sure. But I'd rather have a dominant LT and an immovable Center. Which I guess is why I bash the Oline so unmercifully. But the Bills need a kicker too, so it won't be all their fault.
My guess is that Gandy is going to be alot like JJ. He will play well when he does play, but will get injured fairly often. B'cse of this, Peters or TT will get alot of play at LT also. If Peters isn't ready yet, TT will have to take the reins and Preston will get more snaps in the middle. I believe he will fit the bill (no pun intended) alot closer of being an unmovable Center like you would like.

[Tinboy]

I also like Anderson, I hope he will be a good addition too the team.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Let's not forget that Baltimore's WR's and passing attack in general didn't scare anybody. Bennie's stats don't bother me.

[BuffaloRanger]

If Gandy plays above average at LT it will be TDs greatest offseason move and the best offseason move by any team for 2005. Yes TKO and Adams, etc were great moves, but we knew they'd be great.

Picking up an inexpensive LT from the trash heap, that was cut by the Bears during last season, and getting solid production out of him at the most critical position on the line would be a steal of epic proportions.

That's why I think it is unlikely. I didn't say impossible - just unlikely.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I think B.Anderson will be okay, too. I think that having a big, mauling, road-grader at LG, combined with C.Villarial at RG, will help T.Teague in dealing with some of the big NT-types that he has had trouble handing in the past. Teague can now get some help in rooting those guys out of the middle, which should help the interior running game by reducing the number of running plays that get stuffed in the backfield--there were way too many of those last season when the Bills tried to run inside the LT.

What I like about Preston is his size. He is already 315 pounds. According to most of the scouting reports that I read about him, he's got a big lower body, but could use to add some upper body strength. If that's the case, he should easily be able to add at least 10-15 lbs., without losing any quickness, as he adds upper body strength. At that size, with his big butt, even the bigger NTs will have difficulty moving him. I don't know how ready he will be to play much this season, but it will be interesting to see the Bills with a guy that big anchoring the center of their offensive line.

[BuffaloRanger]

Does anyone know if Duke can shotgun snap effectively?

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Does anyone know if Duke can shotgun snap effectively?
I don't know that I saw anything about his ability to shotgun snap in the profiles that I read, but I do recall reading that he has some experience as a long-snapper and he mentioned it in a quote about his willingness to play any line position that the Bills ask him to play:

""I'm just ready to do whatever they want me to do ---- guard, center or even tackle or long snapper, whatever," he said. "I just want to contribute and get on the field as soon as I can."
(URL: http://nctimes.com/articles/2005/04/25/sports/professional/42405202452.txt)

The only other information that I have in this regard is the quote from the Bills' scout who evaluated Preston who basically said that, having been a three year starter in the Big Ten, Preston is ready to come in and compete for a job right away and is not a developmental project and a comment in the article about Preston on the Bills' website that said that they are not going to have him doing any long-snapping at this point.

I can't remember seeing Illinois play this past season, but, if Preston has been their starter for the last three years, then, I think he would have been the center when K.Kitner was Illinois' starting QB and I do remember that they ran a fair amount of shotgun with Kitner. I just can't recall whether there were any problems with the shotgun snaps in any of Kitner's games that I saw.

I'm not sure that the fact that a center played in an offense that used the shotgun in college necessarily has any bearing on how effectively that center will be able to shotgun snap in the pros because the speed of the game is so much greater in the pros: the snaps have to get back to the QB faster and be extremely accurate to be effective in the pros--there's more margin for error and/or a slower snap in the college game.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Ahhh this is a good trend... Not so much bashing of TD for not landing an expensive T and more praising him for inexpensive signings that fit the Bills scheme.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict no more than 30 sacks allowed this season.:tomato:

[Ferrygoat]

i think the sacks will decrease by losing Bledsoe, we are already in better shape

[BuffaloRanger]

Oh, I am not praising TD. I think he has shortchanged the Oline and lowballed almost every decent Oline FA that he brought in this offseason. I didn't expect him to resign JJ, but come on. Why not try to solidify your Oline with sure-things rather than longshots?

I feel like Jack Nicholson's COL Jessup in the movie "A Few Good men."

"Tell me you have more than this. Tell me the lives of our QB and RB are not resting on the shoulders of a cast-off LT and a former Tight End. Please tell me you have something, anything."

The success or failure of this team rests in the play of the Oline and the kicker. Those are the big questions. Even more than the the play of our QB. They both can help JP immensely this year with great play.