Gandy shows he can match up with the league's best

[The_Philster]

It's still early in the preseason, but the Buffalo Bills are hoping they have found an answer to the biggest question mark on their revamped offensive line.

Matched up with one of the best defensive ends in the NFL, left tackle Mike Gandy more than held his own against Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila in the Bills' 27-7 preseason victory over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday in Ralph Wilson Stadium. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050821/1043858.asp

[camelcowboy]

I agree, he was beat for the safety play, but that was JP's fault, he should have went down. I watched Gandy, his footwork is great, matched up real well against a pure speed rusher. This shows he has the agilty. Only thing i want to see now is how he matches up on a bigger bull rushing end. Afterall we have one of the best ones in our division. Seymour.

[casdhf]

I think having two surging LTs is definately good for the team. Hopefully, they'll continue to step it up, making the rest of the OL do the same.

[Kerr]

That's good to hear. It's good that he's athletic and all, but can he handle a good bullrush from the likes of seymour?

[don137]

What I liked is when KGB said that Gandy has improved tremendously since playing against him in Chicago. Kudos to McNally and Gandy on his progression!!

[Meathead]

Well we all know things can change dramatically from preseason to the regular season, but right now Gandy looks like he'll be more than the adequate temporary solution that we were hoping for. I doubt he'll be a probowl caliber LT, but neither was Jennings really. So if he even gives us 90% of what JJ did he'll be a fantastic bargain.

We'll have to see what happens in the first quarter of the season, but if he continues to hold up as he has so far this could be one of the most brilliant moves TD and company have ever made.

[Throne Logic]

Also, keep in mind that Losman will make the OL better. Drew made them try and hold off defenders for upwards of 5 - 7 seconds while he stood stationary behind them hands glued to the rock. Mularky already has JP thinking about thowing the ball away if he's in trouble. That's big. Plus, the obvious answer, JP will scramble. JP will be a lot like watching Flutie. Only with a much bigger upside (sorry, pun was initially unintended - but I chuckled, so I'm leaving it in).

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I'll reserve overall judgement on Gandy until a third of the way into the season, but I think he passed a big test by showing well against KGB in the scrimmages and preseason. KGB is the real deal and has consistently been one of the best pass rushers in the league the last couple of years. So, containing him was a good first step for Gandy. This week he should get another good test against Ogunleye and the Bears D.

Gandy's a big guy, so he should be able to hold up better, actually, against a big DE than against a smaller, quicker one, but we will have to see how that goes when the time comes.

Credit has to go to Coach McNally and also to JP for his ability to move and get rid of the ball a lot better than Bledsoe, but some credit should also go to Gandy for working hard to get better and to the Bills' defensive players who have been putting him to the test every day in practice. The guys that Gandy has been working against in practice are pretty good, you know, and working against them every day is going to make him better able to deal with some of the players he is going to have to go against in the regular season.

Still, I want to see where he (and the rest of the offensive line, for that matter!) is after about six games. So far, so good.

BTW: did you notice that WM got his TD on a run to the left side? How many big runs did he have to the left as opposed to the right side last season...?

[mysticsoto]

I'll reserve overall judgement on Gandy until a third of the way into the season, but I think he passed a big test by showing well against KGB in the scrimmages and preseason. KGB is the real deal and has consistently been one of the best pass rushers in the league the last couple of years. So, containing him was a good first step for Gandy. This week he should get another good test against Ogunleye and the Bears D.

Gandy's a big guy, so he should be able to hold up better, actually, against a big DE than against a smaller, quicker one, but we will have to see how that goes when the time comes.

Credit has to go to Coach McNally and also to JP for his ability to move and get rid of the ball a lot better than Bledsoe, but some credit should also go to Gandy for working hard to get better and to the Bills' defensive players who have been putting him to the test every day in practice. The guys that Gandy has been working against in practice are pretty good, you know, and working against them every day is going to make him better able to deal with some of the players he is going to have to go against in the regular season.

Still, I want to see where he (and the rest of the offensive line, for that matter!) is after about six games. So far, so good.

BTW: did you notice that WM got his TD on a run to the left side? How many big runs did he have to the left as opposed to the right side last season...?

Gandy does deserve alot of credit. Many people here were ready to write the Bills season off b'cse of the question marks at our LT position. Gandy had done well in every outing so far. I knew he would prove capable the 1st time I saw him in TC and saw how surprisingly fast he was. I think he will do just fine this season.

As to dealing with smaller, faster DEs...remember what McNally said about Gandy - he is the fastest lineman the Bills have - in terms of reaction/agility fast - not 40 combine fast. I am pleasantly surprised and happy with his performance. Maybe now people will start believing that the Bills FO knew what they were doing when they didn't make trades for lazy has-beens nor panic and take any loser from this past draft. McNally, no doubt, let TD know that Gandy would be fine at the LT position and TD no doubt trusted him and took Parrish to help out on offense. Once Parrish comes back, we'll find out if that was yet another superb decision on TD's part!

[casdhf]

How long did we sign him for?

[mysticsoto]

How long did we sign him for?
2 yrs, I think.

[The_Philster]

2 yrs, I think.That's what I have him down for :up: