Offensive line rankings

by Hassanali181 on Jun 21, 2008 4:22 AM EDT Comment 11 comments

Scouts inc. has ranked all 32 teams OL's and the Bills placed a measly 21st. What do you guys think? They have the Browns ranked #1 with lots of depth. Wasn't there rumors about a possible trade of Ashton Youboty to the Browns? Do you think the Bills should trade for an OL, add some depth considering we only picked one lineman in the draft and hes an undersized developmental player, I would love to hear your thoughts,

GO BILLS!!!!!

This FanPost was written by a registered user of Buffalo Rumblings. Its views do not necessarily reflect the views of Rumblings' editorial staff, but are just as valued as our own.

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I think those rankings are a total joke.

They have miami ranked ahead of us????? I think we are at least 7-8 spots higher.

by RustyJones on Jun 21, 2008 8:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Chicken or the egg?

Here’s the article link: http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?id=3447747

Chicken: The top teams on the list of the Scouts article are the ones the author believes will likely be vying for the 12 playoff slots. He therefore decided to rate their lines ahead of the other teams and wrote up justifications accordingly.

Egg: The top teams on the list have the best offensive lines. As such, they’re the no-brainer picks for the 12 playoff slots.

Some of the rankings were curious. The Saints, for example, did a great job of pass protection and a poor job of run blocking. They came in at #9. Some of the teams, like Miami, were rated based on potential. While Jake Long is not likely to be a bust he could turn out to be a guy like D’Brickashaw Ferguson—a competent but not yet spectacular LT.

The author seems to have misinterpreted some articles about Schonert. From what I’ve read the Bills aren’t looking to “throw the ball more this year” so much as throw the ball downfield more this year. I’d be very surprised if Jauron changed the run-pass ratio.

by Ron From NM on Jun 21, 2008 9:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I still don't know what Schonert is really up to

I mean, going back to the Cincinnatti days and Boomer Esiason with Wyche and the ``sugar huddle’’ and all that stuff? I’m not sure if he’s really trying to re-invent the wheel, or just messing with the heads of defensive coordinators, or what he’s really up to. And maybe that’s good. Don’t give Belichick any advantage except what he can glean from last year’s tape.
I’m guessing Edwards can go downfield and Schonert will want him to, although I’m a little skeptical that he has anything like the cannon that J.P. is blessed with (maybe he can go 40 yards with accuracy, but 60? I wonder).
But I was impressed with his ability as a rook to find the underneath guy, the second and third receiver in his progression. He can execute the screen, the short pass to Lynch or Jackson in the flat, and the slant. He’s quick enough that the team only gave up 26 sacks.
I think he can see the field and he makes pretty good decisions if given time. I saw him execute with rhythm several times. He’s not Montana, but there’s a lot of potential there.
If the line performs like it did last year, and Peters makes it onto the field, I think we’re better than 21st. But it all comes down to wins.

by Defensewinsgames on Jun 21, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What impressed me last year

Edwards went three straight weeks without throwing an interception, being sacked, or losing a fumble. (Washington, Miami, Cleveland) Four times in five weeks, when you add in the Philly game.

Putting that into perspective – Tom Brady has never gone two consecutive games without a sack or interception. Manning has gone two games just twice, but never three straight games. (Oddly, both in 2006…)

by Krenn on Jun 22, 2008 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not surprising

Our run game was so-so last year. We had our moments, but too often were denied in short yardage situations and in games where we needed to run the clock (Denver, Dallas) we couldn’t get it done. Melvin Fowler alone is probably keeping our ranking so low.

Pass blocking was strong though. I won’t deny that.

I think these rankings took into account how the offense was able to perform as well. With our O so putrid, putting up few points and struggling to get yards, the OL ranking was probably pushed further down that it should. However, we were supposed to be a power running team and to me, that never really materialized, which can be partially attributed to the inconsistent run blocking.

I’m definitely not upset with where we got ranked. I don’t agree with the Cardinals, Broncos or Texans being ranked ahead of us though. Those lines were pretty poor last year.

by Kurupt on Jun 22, 2008 1:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yup

and it’s all Melvin Fowler’s fault. He single-handedly lost 9 games for us too. I even heard he was driving Marshawn’s SUV as well. What a joke.

"I don't agree with a damn thing you say, but I would die for your right to say it."

by ForeignArrow on Jun 23, 2008 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do you have some alternative belief you’d like to share as to why the Bills struggled in short yardage situations last year?

by Brian Galliford on Jun 23, 2008 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not all Fowler's fault

But he was definitely part of the reason Buffalo lost some close games. You’ve got to be able to run when people know you’re going to run, like at the end of a close game—Denver and Dallas. Some of the time you’ve got to be able to pick up about a yard or less and Fowler is simply useless in those situations. When your QB is running a sneak off of right tackle instead of center you know the center just isn’t getting the job done.

by Ron From NM on Jun 24, 2008 7:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What does your center film evaluation project tell you?

I still can’t believe you are spending X number of hours evaluating 14 of the centers the Bills faced last year, but as long as you’re doing it, how about sharing some of that wisdom with the rest of us?
What exactly is Fowler’s problem – not strong enough, not big enough, not smart enough, what?

by Defensewinsgames on Jun 26, 2008 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Progress has been slow...

I got two of the games (Pitt and 1st Pats) games done last week. This week I have been neck deep in special ed kids. I hit 40 hours sometime on Tuesday evening so I haven’t been able to watch any more of the 12 games. I have two weeks before the next camp begins so I am planning on spending some of the time with those other 12 games. It should actually be fairly relaxing…

I will indeed compile all of the data and share it with the Rumblings community. My initial guess is that we’ll be able to look at it several ways: 11 centers averaged, playoff team centers averaged vs non-playoff teams averaged, particular centers, etc.

What I do isn’t precise enough to determine why a center is good/bad/ugly. All I can tell you is if the player in question (center in this case) was effective on the play. Was it a good play for the center, in which he dominated a defensive player? (Think Walker driving DE Grant completely off of the field in a preseason game.) Was it an average play where the center did a decent job but didn’t particularly advance the play? (Think Peters holding up a DE long enough for a play to develop on the right side of the formation but not doing much more than the minimum required) Was it a bad play where the center was dominated by a defensive player? (Think Fowler letting Wilfork take out Losman’s knee.) Was it a killed play where the center’s bad play was enough to derail the whole thing? (Think Fowler being blown out off the line allowing the DT to tackle Lynch for a 2 yard loss.) I then assign a grade to each play—95 for a good play, 75 for a decent one and 55 for a bad play. The averages were fairly telling and were right in line with the general feelings about how the line performed.

To do more than that would require the game film available to coaching staff. My personal view, and that is all that it is, is that Fowler isn’t strong enough to manhandle DTs. Further, his technique isn’t sharp enough to compensate for his comparitive lack of strength. Again, this is simply supposition on my part. It could be that he benches 700 and does 100 snatches with a 5 pood kettlebell in under a minute.

by Ron From NM on Jun 27, 2008 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually

I would blame much of the OL ills on Fowler. I think he’s that weak. The other 4 starters are all above average, IMO. Fowler plays the position that has an impact on each of the other line positions and his errors tend to have a more significant effect as the line literally collapses in because of him. If we replaced Fowler with a good run blocking Center, I think Marshawn would go well over 1500 yards.

by Kurupt on Jun 24, 2008 10:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs