We did not neglect the OL in the draft. We spent a second round pick last year on a guy to be our primary backup/starter this year. Unfortunately, Ducasse just isnt good enough right now. We didnt neglect it, we just made a bad pick from the standpoint of early impact. Maybe Ducasse becomes all-world, but right now, he is a zero for this team.
Doesn't make sense to blame it all on Wayne Hunter. The OL as a whole has played like shit... Slauson and Moore have gotten nothing up the middle all year long in run block, and there was pressure coming at Sanchez from all sides.
We picked Ducass when we could have picked someone with an immediate impact. Enough with the "projects" already.Teams are built to win in the draft now. It's not rocket science that some teams get a monster DT or a monster RB or a mauling G. It's pure draft, and you take the best available. BAP
We did not have the same personnel for today. The O-Line looked very good against Jacksonville before Mangold went out, we were pass protecting and run blocking well. ..and Jacksonville has a very good D-Line.
When there are a couple of weak spots on the o-line, all of a sudden missing one key player can hurt a lot. And Oakland's d-line is good, which hurt even more.
Fuck the Ducasse pick. That guy is a bust. He can't even take over an extremely struggling Hunter, so you know how good Ducasse is. Project pick my ass. This 2nd round player is in his 2nd year and can't even beat out Hunter. He might need 4-5 years to get ready for the NFL, and by that time, he would be playing for the Patriots. No more project picks please. We are a win now team with a good potential for the future, but don't keep on putting that current potential on hold.
Nick Kaczur Max Starks Flozell Adams Leonard Davis Slim pickins' if they went that route. Old, injured, or penalty machine? Take your pick...
I think you have to look at 2 other possibilities for what's happening: offensive scheme and the QB. You guys have two Pro Bowlers on your OL: Ferguson at LT and Mangold at C, plus some other decent players, so it's not like your team is lacking in talent. Yeah, Mangold's hurt, but injuries are part of the game -- and there were "concerns" from fans about OL play before he got hurt. During the Dick Jauron/Trent Edwards era, the Bills had more talented OL players -- on paper at least and individually -- but the collective results were horrible. They couldn't run block and they couldn't pass protect, and the Bills offense averaged about 1 TD a game, so it was obviously a problem with the OL, right? The more I watch the Bills this season, the more I doubt that evaluation of the Bills' OL's past performance. Chan Gailey installed a new offense last season with a much better offensive scheme -- and it was tailored to fit the OL talent he had, such as it was. Although the Bills have a first rounder at center (Wood) and a second rounder (Levitre) at LG, both in their 3rd seasons in 2011, everybody else is a low draft pick, UDFA and/or waiver wire refugee. Pears, Urbik, and Rinehardt are all in their first full season with the Bills. When Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Trent Edwards at QB last season, the offense, including the OL, instantly improved. So far this season, the Bills have been an offensive juggernaut, scoring 106 offensive points in 3 games with one of the top running games and a prolific passing game while Fitzpatrick has been sacked once. Fitzpatrick makes the OL better because he reads and recognizes defenses well, gets rid of the ball quickly, and has real pocket presence. I'm not saying that offensive scheme and/or QB play are causing the OL to play poorly, but when a team that has talented individuals on the OL is still not getting results, it might NOT all on be on the OLers.
Leonard Davis would be my pick out of those 4. Flozell Adams is a penalty machine that ruins drives, vital drives, along with being 36 years old. Kaczur is injury prone. And Im not sure how good Max is, but he's the youngest of all of them in any case. Leonard would be an immediate upgrade over Hunter. Can he play the RT though?
I don't think it's the personnel it's gotta be lockout related. Brick and Thor are in the prime of their careers. Moore is creeping up in age but at 30 he's not necessarily THAT old. The hip is probably an issue though I'm sure. Slauson can only improve as far as I'm concerned and he played quite well last year. Wayne Hunter may have been mauled by Demarcus Ware week 1 but that was to be expected. Hunter is probably a starter on half the teams in the NFL. I don't know if it's conditioning or lack of reps... maybe lack of confidence with the rushing game being pretty weak. Doesn't help that they played against 3 very good front 7's in back-to-back-to-back weeks. Make that 4 with the Ravens coming up. I don't expect the line to get back to form until the bye week. Hopefully by then everyone will be healthy and up to speed both physically and mentally. Turner being back will help too. Who knows with Ducasse..
I like the theory but if you're pegging this on the QB then it doesn't really make sense. Sanchez has been better so far this season than in his second season and especially the first season when they were a ground and pound team. There is absolutely nowhere to run and the blitz is getting to Sanchez consistently so it's gotta be on the line and Coach Callahan. Can't see it being the fault of the WRs, backs, or the QB. Schotty might be to blame too with these long-developing passing routes and bootlegs. Don't see a lot of quick three-step drops and throws. Seems like Sanchez has to be back there for a while waiting for the play to develop and by then it's too late and he's running for his life. It's a good thing he's mobile because he would have been absolutely killed these past 3 weeks.
I don't know about "fixing" the offensive line, but I am confident that it can get better. Moore hasn't looked like his usual self this season, but I hope that his play will improve as he gets further away from his hip injury. Hunter has been an absolute train wreck this season, but we have a good coaching staff and I hope that they can bring him up to speed on the fly. He's never gonna be a pro bowler, but after he played so well in limited duty last year I can't believe that he's this bad as a starter. They do have to get their shit figured out fast though. I am literally terrified of what might happen to Sanchez against Terrell Suggs and the Ravens pass rush next week.
I'm not digging the alternatives. I was VERY disappointed they didn't go after Bryant McKennie when was availiable. Yes, he was TOTALLY out of shape when he was cut, but I think he would have been a decent stop gap until Ducasse or Hunter got better.
Why the hell does everyone blame this shit on the lock-out, these are the same exact players we had last year. Its not like Shitty changed the playbook over the off season. Several people on this board have been saying since the start of free agency that the O line needs help and alomst everyone was well lets see what Vlad does etc etc.... Well Vlad sucks my ball bag, a 2nd round pick that isnt worth shit, yes, we have drafted Brick, and Revis, and the list goes on and on. What the problem is are these damn "project" picks, this team needs to win and win now. When half the world was available as a free agent we said spend the freakin money and others on this board said no lets roll into next year. Well if this team goes 6-10 this year with the franchise in a coma are you gonna still want to think like this. Shit can Vlad and sign someone that can make an impact on this team...
The one good thing is we locked up mangold long term before this injury - if he was to come to the negotiating table after watching this debacle his price would have doubled.
Davis is pretty bad with penalties himself, I think he's like the 5-6th most penalized OL since '05. He did play LT before, so Davis could play outside. He'd be better suited for RT because of his size and runblocking ability. I would liken it to the Woody signing, but Damien didn't have Tackle experience prior to the Jets. I think Starks or Adams gets a call from the Steelers this week with all their lineman dropping like flies...
