Tweet
Offensive Line is salvagable - as is.
I don't believe the OL is as bad as they look. With the current personnel, after some tweeking, I think they could be among the best in the league. Crazy, am I? Maybe. But here's my thought process:
People tend to overlook how complex the OL duties can be. You need reliable and adaptable blocking schemes for both the running plays and for passing plays. There are both distictive and subtle differences between the two. On top of this, you have to factor in ways to pick up blitzes coming from any given defensive position(s). This means that the "OL personnel" must include RB's, TE's and occationally, WR's. That's a whole lot of people to coordinate on the fly, each and every play. If you have shaky and/or overly complex schemes, then you're OL Personnel will spend more time compensating and/or thinking than reacting and blocking.
This is what I've observed (big picture) over the last two seasons from the Bills' OL Personnel: This line has, at times, been outstanding at either run blocking OR pass blocking - rarely both together in the same game. They are very poor at making in-game adjustments. Sometimes individual players look likes Pro-bowlers and sometimes those same players look like pratice squad wannabes.
My conclusions? Well, it should come as no shock that I feel that coaching is to blame. It looks as though they come into a game with a plan (based upon what, I have no idea). From that point forward, regardless of what the other team is doing, they stick to that plan without making ANY adjustments. This is why some players are constantly beat up in some games and are solid in other games. Furthermore, players are misused: Sam Gash, for whatever rediculous reason, is never part of the plan. I don't understand why they consistantly line up TE's in the FB position when Sam is easily the best blocker on the team. We've been wondering what happened to Sullivan all season. Price has been more consistent all over the line than Pucillo - why isn't he starting?
My solution: Very simple. 1) Hire an OL coach who has NFL experience; preferably, positive experience. It's very obvious that our last two OL coaches are newbies. 2) Hire an OC who's offense isn't rediculously dynamic and complex (read Ingtar's article on Gilbride's offense. It's very good). When the OL Personnel aren't relatively sure of where the play will be developing, they have a really difficult time deciding where and how to block.
OK - hit me with your thoughts. . .
People tend to overlook how complex the OL duties can be. You need reliable and adaptable blocking schemes for both the running plays and for passing plays. There are both distictive and subtle differences between the two. On top of this, you have to factor in ways to pick up blitzes coming from any given defensive position(s). This means that the "OL personnel" must include RB's, TE's and occationally, WR's. That's a whole lot of people to coordinate on the fly, each and every play. If you have shaky and/or overly complex schemes, then you're OL Personnel will spend more time compensating and/or thinking than reacting and blocking.
This is what I've observed (big picture) over the last two seasons from the Bills' OL Personnel: This line has, at times, been outstanding at either run blocking OR pass blocking - rarely both together in the same game. They are very poor at making in-game adjustments. Sometimes individual players look likes Pro-bowlers and sometimes those same players look like pratice squad wannabes.
My conclusions? Well, it should come as no shock that I feel that coaching is to blame. It looks as though they come into a game with a plan (based upon what, I have no idea). From that point forward, regardless of what the other team is doing, they stick to that plan without making ANY adjustments. This is why some players are constantly beat up in some games and are solid in other games. Furthermore, players are misused: Sam Gash, for whatever rediculous reason, is never part of the plan. I don't understand why they consistantly line up TE's in the FB position when Sam is easily the best blocker on the team. We've been wondering what happened to Sullivan all season. Price has been more consistent all over the line than Pucillo - why isn't he starting?
My solution: Very simple. 1) Hire an OL coach who has NFL experience; preferably, positive experience. It's very obvious that our last two OL coaches are newbies. 2) Hire an OC who's offense isn't rediculously dynamic and complex (read Ingtar's article on Gilbride's offense. It's very good). When the OL Personnel aren't relatively sure of where the play will be developing, they have a really difficult time deciding where and how to block.
OK - hit me with your thoughts. . .
Comment