Layperson's Line Analysis

the front three (Levitre/Hangman/Wood) is much much better than what we had before. It was hard to compensate for a huge hole up the middle, 2/3s of our interior were quite weak & soft. Now we are strong and mean with all three.

Each edge: In the case of Walker vs Peters, we often left Peters out on an island and used the TE on Walker’s side. Now we will use the Fine next to Walker and not leave him out on an island so much. The left side gave up 11.5 sacks last year, with Walker and the new scheme I think we can be better on the left side.

On the right side, I think Butler will do fine. Actually he probably can handle being left on an island himself so it gives us options to spread our TE out in the slot.

I think a lot of our problems last year were a result of a very very weak interior and the improvements we made on day one will go a long way to making us considerably better than last year, even though we are starting two rookies and 4 out of the 5 are playing new positions.

They’ll have 5 pre-season games to figure it out. Because no matter what we all think in April or May, the NE Patriots will have it figured out come Sept. 7th.

Hangartner is much better center than last year and has the ability to get better.

 This years line will be young but strong and posesses loads of potential as a whole and as individuals.

For Center don’t you mean Hangartner vs. Preston/Fowler? also most factors indicate that it would be Levitre playing on the left side as that was his side in college. Which would be too bad because between him and Wood it seems Wood is more ready to start even if it is in a new position. Looking at Levitre’s Senior bowl performance he doesn’t seem ready to start at any position in the NFL until he adds more strenghth. (see this link http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/01/21/senior.bowl.day3/index.html)

In addition to these thoughts are we really ready to sleep on Kirk Chambers the man who took over at both Tackle and guard when Peters was out and Butler was injured. He could be a decent stop gap while they develop Demetrius Bell whom the Bills say will get a shot at the tackle spots and (this is my personal opinion) could be another great development story for the Bills.

Thanks for starting the conversation and analysis.

“The Bills drafted Wood 28th overall and have penciled him into the starting left guard spot in their offense.”

Doesn’t mean he’s right. Also, I agree that we shouldn’t forget about Chambers and Bell.

And what is a Paladin, they-were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne’s court. That gentlemen is your starting Left Tackle. Leave the right side as it is, keep Hangman as center and plug Wood into the LG spot. Pro bowl offensive line men, thanks to the Paladin.

Even if the individual positions as even or worst at 4 of the 5 positions and the only significant upgrade is centre, I see the line as a whole as being much better then it was last year. Good piece Furious, but I’d like to anylise the individuel players as to how they pertain to the line as a unit. Lets go through the positions as is see them.

LT – Walker For starters I think that calling Walker worst is missleading. I mean sure as far as individual talent, Langston is miles behind Peters, but when you take into account work ethic, consistency and dedication to his task and team, I think Langston is better then Peters. While he wont make as many steller run blocks and probably wont dominate as many DE’s as Peters did, I am fully confident in saying Wlaker will be far more consistant and make far less mistakes then Peters did to. Conclusion: Wash.

LG – Levitre – Granted he’s a rookie and we cant be sure of what he’ll do until we see him play, but he has shown good run blocking skills in college. I’ll still give the run blocking advantage to Dock. But I find it hard to imagine him possibly being worst then Dock on pass blocking, especially when you consider that Levitre was a LT in college. I’ll give that advantage to Levitre. Conclusion: Slight upgrade in Levitre.

C – Hangartner Do I really need to explain why I think Hang is better then Preston or Fowler? I think not. Conclusion: Major upgrade in Hangartner.

RG – Wood To me ther is no way that Wood can be an immidiate upgrade over Butler. Butler was simply one of the best RG’s in the league when he was healthy. Wood does show a lot of promiss though, he’s fast for a guard, he’s strong and plays with a deffinate mean streak. He should be a very capable RG this season and may be as good as Butler is by the end of his second season. Conclusion: Downgrade, Butler was better.

RT – Butler Butler played RT in college and proved to be an excellent RG for Buffalo in the last few seasons, and arguably the Bills best lineman last year. He plays with a mean streak and is great when run blocking, better then Walker is in my eyes. My question is will he pass blocking be up to par with what Walker did at RT? time will tell. Conclusion: Wash.

So in my eyes, as far as what the players bring to the unit, ther is only one position that has been downgraded, and that Wood at RG. As far as the cohesive unit is concerned, this year’s OL is a major upgrade over last years. Not only did we get rid of the excess baggage (Dock, Preston, Fowler), but we also changed the philosophy of this line. We are now strong, fast and MEAN. This line is by far and away better then last years.

Mr. Furious credit to you for calling a spade a spade!

Most people won’t want to hear it, but it IS FAIR to take position by position comparison. The offensive line has been discussed so much I am kind of bored of it now, but suffice to say the loss of our best offensive lineman (Peters) at a premium position (LT) creates a domino affect by shifting players to alternate positions, creating at least a perceived downgrade.

As I have said before (and before and before) I love the interior line additions made during the draft and I think Hangartner wil prove to be a very good addition. But for 2009 do not expect any of these players to be significantly above average NFL starters. If the two rookies can just be average, I would consider that a successful season for them. Let us not forget Hangartner was not the everyday starter in Carolina, his starts were the result of injuries.