For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

[EDS]

Notice the part where he says the offensive line talent has been down the past two years.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2097888

[DaBillzAhDaShiznit]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

Notice the part where he says the offensive line talent has been down the past two years.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...len&id=2097888

Ok, and how is this supposed to ease our pain? Did I miss something?

[Jan Reimers]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

I think the point is that we wouldn't have gotten a really good tackle with our second round pick, so we were better off taking a speed WR like Parrish and seeing if Gandy is the answer at LT. If not, the 2006 crop of tackles is much deeper and may yield us a better player.

[HAMMER]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

While our O-Line is far from stellar, I don't see why the criticism of them has been so sharp. They did a very solid job in the running game last year. We had a statue behind center that held the ball way too long. How do you protect a QB that the defense knows will be in the same spot every play? Nearly impossible! Defenses knew that if they bull rushed the middle of our line Bledsoe would be standing there. I just don't see our line as being as large a problem as people make it out to be. We will see soon enough.

[Tatonka]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

[BuffaloRanger]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

While our O-Line is far from stellar, I don't see why the criticism of them has been so sharp. They did a very solid job in the running game last year. We had a statue behind center that held the ball way too long. How do you protect a QB that the defense knows will be in the same spot every play? Nearly impossible! Defenses knew that if they bull rushed the middle of our line Bledsoe would be standing there. I just don't see our line as being as large a problem as people make it out to be. We will see soon enough.

THEY DID NOT DO A SOLID JOB IN THE RUNNING GAME LAST SEASON!

Somehow Henry who rushed for over 1300yds the previous 2 seasons couldn't do anything the first 4 games? Did he forget how to run? No. The holes weren't there.

The change to WM made the line look better because he could get to the outside better than TH. There wasn't much running room up the middle. How many times a game did WM get tackled for no gain from a rush up the middle? How many times did he get nailed behind the line, but was able to shake free for 3 or 4 yards? Answers: Way too much.

The line was far from solid. They benefited from playing the worst teams in football during the winning streak. At this point the line is worse now than it was at it's very worst last season. That point cannot be argued because only 3 of them have practiced with pads together as a unit. Yes they will "jell" in training camp. Yes they will improve. But how much and how fast?

But as Jan says "seeing if Gandy is the answer at LT. If not, the 2006 crop of tackles is much deeper and may yield us a better player."

If Gandy is not the answer at LT than there will be no playoffs for the Bills this season. Every egg is in the "Gandy Basket". Shifting TT there mid-season, or playing Peters at LT will be a case of "too little too late".

[Jan Reimers]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

My take on the LT situation is quite simple:

By the time we drafted in the 2nd round, there were no big time, "sure thing" LTs available. Any of them would have been not only a huge gamble, but most probably a waste of that high a pick.

Because of salary cap issues, we did not have the luxury of signing any of the premier, big money, big name LTs available in free agency. We took Gandy, who we viewed to be as good, or better, than any of the LTs available in our price range.

Gandy started 20 games at LT for the Bears in 2002 and 2003, is still young and very bright. We must have watched enough game film to know that he could get the job done better than any LT left in the 2nd round of the draft, or any other free agent in our salary cap range.

I don't look at Gandy as a big gamble. He has been a starter in this league and is a McNally kind of player, or he wouldn't be here. I worry more about injuries with Gandy, but we would have had the same worries with JJ, had we showered millions on him.

[old school]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

we may have a couple compensatory picks from pat/jonus next
draft too....

[ShadowHawk7]

Re: For those of you still crying about the offensive line . . .

If Gandy does tank, which McNally (and me, for that matter) doesn't think will happen, I think moving TT to LT, and replacing him w/ either Duke Preston or Ross Tucker won't be a disasterous move.