Jets getting (over?)confident

[The_Philster]

Last season, the revolving door was at left guard. This year, it could be at left tackle.

Unless free agent Mike Gandy rises to the challenge that has presented itself.
The Bills are scrambling to shore up the most important hole on their line after the departure of Jonas Jennings to San Francisco, and have started what could be a long evaluation process by giving Gandy first crack at the job...more

[The Spaz]

Jennings and Gandy are both average IMO so really I don't see there point.

[BuffaloRanger]

Jennings has got to be considered better than Gandy at this point. JJ was a Top FA, Gandy was cut by the bears. I'm not saying the 49ers didn't overpay, but JJ is way better at this point.

This writer really has a high opinion of the Bills players, especially Tucker.

"With Ravens free agent Bennie Anderson and incumbent Ross Tucker, two very good players, competing at left guard, that spot is a lot less cloudy than left tackle."

"Tucker, who has played well at center, could easily slide into the role full time."

[THATHURMANATOR]

I think Gandy will get a chance and if he doesn't pan out it is Teague to LT and Tucker to center.

[don137]

I don't think the writer was a a$$ about it. He seemed very leveled headed and less face it, he basically said what everybody else has been saying and that is we do not have a bonafide solid LT. Maybe Gandy or Peters will develop into a decent LT but that is a question mark. The big difference is we do not have a pure pocket passer this year so while we may have taken a step back in terms of the LT position as it looks right now we took a big leap forward in terms of a mobile QB. What's Abraham and Ellis going to do when then they get by Gandy and see there is no QB in the pocket?

[mysticsoto]

I don't think the writer was a a$$ about it. He seemed very leveled headed and less face it, he basically said what everybody else has been saying and that is we do not have a bonafide solid LT. Maybe Gandy or Peters will develop into a decent LT but that is a question mark. The big difference is we do not have a pure pocket passer this year so while we may have taken a step back in terms of the LT position as it looks right now we took a big leap forward in terms of a mobile QB. What's Abraham and Ellis going to do when then they get by Gandy and see there is no QB in the pocket?

Gandy will probably be very much like JJ - decent while he's in there, but injury prone. But you are right. Not having a statue QB will make a big difference. Mike Williams has apparently lost alot of weight and should therefore be faster. He came in to camp at 400 lbs last year. He normally plays at 360 lbs and did get down to this by the end of the season - but those initial games that we needed better O-line coverage are the ones we lost. I think someone told me he was at 330 lbs for the mini-camp! With both Guard positions solid, I have read some articles saying that should actually help TT in his blocking at Center to have two solid people next to him. So if it's just LT we have to worry about, we can have JP always take some steps to the right...when we are not running that is. But remember, we are a running team and will be doing it often. And when we do pass, a RB, FB or TE can be placed on the left side of JP to help out if Gandy gets beat. If he doesn't get beat, those players are available to swing outside completely for another option for JP to throw to. But he won't need to. Parrish will blow by the LBs to give JP a target to throw to for a 1st down.

[Tatonka]

i agree.. i thought it was a good article.. other than the title.

[Jan Reimers]

I think many of us have taken Gandy too lightly. He was a very good player and a fairly high draft pick out of Notre Dame. He started 30 games for the Bears - 10 at LG and 20 at LT. He was cut because of injury by a team not known to make great decisions.

He's only 26, intelligent, and motivated to show the Bears they were wrong. I think McNally will make him into a player every bit as good as JJ - and maybe better.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Except for the title, I didn't think it was a bad article from someone who primarily writes about another team at this stage of the season.

After reading all of the articles mentioning how the Bills are looking to use JP on roll-outs, etc, it dawned on me the other day that this could, indeed, be one way to minimize the down-side of two of the biggest weaknesses of the Bills' offensive line: M.Williams' pass-blocking and the uncertainty at LT.

On roll-outs, JP, being right-handed, will be moving to his right. The RT, instead of moving back to receive the rush of the DE (which is where M.Williams most often gets beaten by the speed rushers that he has trouble with), fires out at the DE, in somewhat the same manner as he would on a running play, and rides him to the outside or seals him off to the inside (which the DE must try to avoid). Because this is similar to the way that he would block on a running play to his side and M.Williams is a better run-blocker than pass blocker, this would minimize the negative impact of the weakest part of his game--especially since Williams is capable of riding a smaller DE as far to the outside as he would like and can hold his own face-up to his man.

At the same time, because JP is moving away from the RDE, the RDE has further to go to get to the QB, which gives the LT more time and opportunity to "chip" the RDE off of his path to the QB. As long as the LT doesn't miss the RDE completely (whiff) or let him get through to the inside, he has a much better chance to knock the RDE off of his path to the QB than he would if the QB were standing stationary in the pocket. Because the distance that the RDE has to go is greater and he has to anticipate the path that the QB is going to take on his roll-out, the LT does not have to hold his block for nearly as long--all he has to do is hold the RDE up for a part of the time and knock him off of his path to where the QB is moving to in order to be effective. This means that the LT doesn't have to be quite as gifted as he would have to be in order to protect a QB who is throwing from the pocket--although he does have to be smart about the way that he goes about disrupting the RDE's rush. This puts less pressure on the LT to make and hold a good block on the RDE and is less demanding of the LT, which, considering that the LT position is the weakest part of the Bills' offensive line, should help whoever is playing the position to be more effective in pass blocking.

Now, I'm not saying that I know that the Bills LT--whoever it might be--is going to be good because of this or that this is going to work every time the Bills pass the ball--because I seriously doubt that they will have JP rolling out on every pass play!--but it should make it easier for the Bills' offensive line to protect JP and help to minimize two of the biggest weaknesses of the O-line over the course of the season. If JP can be effective and accurate passing the ball on the run while rolling out, it would make the offensive line's task even easier because the defense would have to respect that and protect against it, which would slow down the pass rush that they would be able to get from their DEs when JP does throw from the pocket as well.

It strikes me that the coaching staff may really be on to something with this--if JP can make it work effective when he throws out of the roll-outs. It would be something that those who are able to go to or watch the games might want to look for, especially in the preseason and early on in the season.

[ddaryl]

I think Gandy will get a chance and if he doesn't pan out it is Teague to LT and Tucker to center.

That's pretty much the way I see it to. IMO Teague would be the better choice but the bills want to keep the continuity of the line together as much as possible.

[Jan Reimers]

That's pretty much the way I see it to. IMO Teague would be the better choice but the bills want to keep the continuity of the line together as much as possible.

Actually, I think Gandy may have started as many games at LT for the Bears as Teague did for the Broncos. Teague also had the benefit of playing on a Broncos line that is always very cohesive and tends to mask individual weaknesses.

The Broncos let Teague go without a fight when he became a UFA, which says perhaps he was not that great an LT. And the Bills have used him exclusively at center. For all these reasons, I think some Zoners overvalue him as a tackle.

Teague has become a good center who should be left there, barring a complete disaster at LT.

[BuffaloRanger]

Because we have a mobile QB that can roll out I guess we don't need as strong an Oline.

But wouldn't it have been nice to have a mobile QB and a strong Oline so JP didn't have to roll out?

How nice would it be to say...

"The Bills have a dominant Oline and a QB that can throw on the run!"

instead of

"Our QB will avoid the rush by rolling out almost every play."

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Because we have a mobile QB that can roll out I guess we don't need as strong an Oline.

But wouldn't it have been nice to have a mobile QB and a strong Oline so JP didn't have to roll out?

How nice would it be to say...

"The Bills have a dominant Oline and a QB that can throw on the run!"

instead of

"Our QB will avoid the rush by rolling out almost every play."

I think the table is being set for you to get your wish--although you may not see it the entirely way you want it until the 2006 season. Let's just see what this offensive line looks like in the middle third of the season....

[TigerJ]

The title was a bit inflamatory/condescending toward the Bills. When you're in the media market for a rival team, titles are supposed to be that way to get people to read the article.

I thought the article was very balanced and objective.