Buffalo Bills 2000s All-Decade Team: Offensive Tackle No. 2

by MattRichWarren on May 12, 2010 10:30 AM EDT in Buffalo Bills History

Five players with 25 or more starts at tackle were considered for our first spot on the Buffalo Bills All-Decade squad offensive line. Three of them earned more than 15% of the vote. Jason Peters, won handily though not by as unanimous a decision as I would have expected. Today's vote may be the closest of any position on the team to this point. Here are the nominees:

John Fina
Fina finished his career starting 26 games at LT in the first two years of the decade. The Bills gave up 59 and 46 sacks in those seasons with Rob Johnson and Alex Van Pelt manning the helm. The rushing attack netted 1,922 and 1,686 yards, respectively, in each of those two years.

Jonas Jennings
In the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft, the Bills made a move to replace the aging Fina by selecting eventual replacement Jonas Jennings. After beginning on the right side, he shifted over to the left side following Fina's departure, starting 52 games in total for Buffalo. His Bills teams rushed for between 1,596 and 1,874 yards over Jennings' tenure in Buffalo, and gave up 38 to 54 sacks with Jennings at LT.

Mike Williams
When John Fina left, the Bills addressed the loss again by taking Texas OT Mike Williams with the fourth overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. After 47 starts over four years, Williams got benched and later released. In the three seasons he started 13 or more games, the Bills never gave up fewer than 38 sacks, and rushed for between 1,596 and 1,874 yards.

Langston Walker
After the other failures at right tackle, the Bills made a bold move signing Langston Walker as a free agent in 2007. The team made him their top priority in the period, signing him in the early hours of the first day of free agency. After 32 starts at right tackle, the Bills tried to move the massive man to left tackle following the departure of Peters, but after what was termed a "complete regression," Walker was released prior to the 2009 season. In 2007, the Bills gave up only 26 sacks, the fewest in the decade, and in both years the team rushed for over 1,800 yards.

Now it's your turn to vote on who was the best Bills offensive tackle of the decade after Jason Peters. Leave your rationale in the comments section. We'll do the guards next.
Previous Installments: QB, RB 1, RB 2, WR 1, WR 2, TE, OT 1

Poll

Who was the best offensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills last decade?

John Fina

593 votes

Jonas Jennings

538 votes

Mike Williams

59 votes

Langston Walker

93 votes

1283 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I totally voted Langston Walker. As much as I love John Fina he was injury-prone and lackluster in those last two years. Jennings was average and I think Walker was above-average on the right side of the Bills OL in his two seasons.

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by MattRichWarren on May 12, 2010 10:39 AM EDT reply actions

Arent you glad we had so many players at ever position this decade? How boring would these ‘All Decade Team’ threads be if we had Pro-bowl caliber, staple players at every position…

/sacasm. Haha… but seriously.

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by bflo on May 12, 2010 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Apparently my lobbying did nothing. Shows how much clout I have.

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by MattRichWarren on May 12, 2010 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I voted for Langston Walker.

The guy played pretty good for us at RT. For all the jokes about him and all that… he really didnt play too bad in the right side. Id take him on the right and Peters on the left for the all decade team. Also he blocked a field goal here… That is a pretty cool thing for an OT to come in on the FG block team and do. Being 6’ 8" helps with that too lol.

Plus with him we had the lowest sack total and best avg rushing. Cant believe hes only got 3 votes to Finas 19 and Jennings 16 at this time…

"Ok, its Gudda hoe, all about my Bills like Buffalo."

by bflo on May 12, 2010 10:43 AM EDT reply actions

I feel like Fina is getting credit for years in the 90s.

I think Jennings is the easy choice here.

by Pistol on May 12, 2010 10:44 AM EDT reply actions

I think my vote was heavily influenced by those years. If I had an opportunity to vote again, i’d vote Langston Walker. I still feel he got the shaft, positionally.

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by TheAfghanTwilight on May 12, 2010 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions

I voted Jennings. I thought he was the best player out of the four options, simple as that.

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by kaisertown on May 12, 2010 10:56 AM EDT reply actions

Very discouraging to revisit this position.

It reminds me of complaining about not having a offensive line over the past ten years. Which brings us to today with the conflict between OL and QB. I got to think that even if we did have a franchise QB his time would be up by know with the play we have been getting from the various O-Line allignments. Yes, Fina was much better in the 90’s and that more than likely swayed his voting. Jennings moved on and played well out west.

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by VanScottM on May 12, 2010 10:58 AM EDT reply actions

I voted for Jennings. I think he had the best body of work in this decade. Now the Guard / Center votes are going to be very ugly. I’m guessing Reuben Brown and then….what?

by BlueFalcon on May 12, 2010 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Trey Teague!

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by UZ on May 12, 2010 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Chris Villarrial!

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by TheAfghanTwilight on May 12, 2010 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Voted Jennings, this is actually a pretty close vote, exciting!

Seriously though, who keeps voting for Mike Williams?

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by UZ on May 12, 2010 11:19 AM EDT reply actions

I think I figured out whats happening. Guys like Peerless Price, Josh Reed, Mike Williams, JP… they all went into kahoots(sp?) with each other to make sure that none of them are walking away with a 0% on these votes… Thats gotta be it… No one would seriously vote for Mike Williams lol.

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by bflo on May 12, 2010 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

others in the gang: Duke Preston, Pierson Prioleau, and Melvin Fowler. And Im sure there are a few others I forgot. Haha

"Ok, its Gudda hoe, all about my Bills like Buffalo."

by bflo on May 12, 2010 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions

No respect for Langston Walker.

The guy might have failed miserably as an LT, but was a very good RT for us. He played very well in both the passing games and running games. He got my vote.

The more I see, the less I know.

by CanadianBillsFan on May 12, 2010 11:43 AM EDT reply actions

Walker Versus Jennings

Put it this way, who could play LT – Answer = Jennings.

To me this isn’t even close, it is Jennings.

I got nothing.

by Jason from OH-IO on May 12, 2010 1:16 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah but we have Peters playing LT so we need an RT. (In the All Decade Team)

"Ok, its Gudda hoe, all about my Bills like Buffalo."

by bflo on May 12, 2010 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

its the two best tackles this decade. not right and left.

I voted Jennings on the lone reason that Walker was cut as opposed to demoted or thrown back on the right side. How can that guy be the second best this decade? thats horribly sad.

by BillsfanDan on May 12, 2010 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Well stats wise he was… Out of the 4 that are left. When Walker was on the line we had given up the least amount of sacks in a season (26). And had the best rushing avg per season (both years over 1800 yards).

"Ok, its Gudda hoe, all about my Bills like Buffalo."

by bflo on May 12, 2010 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Thats BS reasoning. Walker was cut because he could keep condition wise up with Dick Jauron’s worst idea as a head coach: the no huddle offense. Had we not of ran the no huddle I have no doubt that not only would we have kept him, but that he would have been our starter on the left side.

The more I see, the less I know.

by CanadianBillsFan on May 12, 2010 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Jennings was allowed to leave, too. I don’t see how being cut vs. moved back to the right side is any different.

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by MattRichWarren on May 12, 2010 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions

because being cut means you have no value to the team. At least if he was moved back to the right side its saying he has a specific skill set that is condusive to one side vs the other.

by BillsfanDan on May 12, 2010 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

But Brad Butler was already there. They had done a complete retooling of the OL. His only spot on the team was as a way overpaid swing tackle. Being cut means you have no place on the roster or in another way of speaking, no spot worth what you are being paid. It’s not that he had no value, he was just overpaid for his value.

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by MattRichWarren on May 13, 2010 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I see your point. and it is a very valid one.

But what I have a hard time with is the idea that brad butler was better at RT than a guy who has been there his whole career. Butler was a G before being moved to RT, and I highly doubt that Langston wasn’t at least as good as Butler. And with that said, if one player I highly paid and similar in production as a guy that isnt paid as much, the paid one is going to play. then Butler would have been the swing T.

by BillsfanDan on May 15, 2010 8:13 AM EDT up reply actions

And Butler was a tackle before the Bills moved him to guard. :-)

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by MattRichWarren on May 15, 2010 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions

ok. Im pulling a page out of the “how to deal with my girlfriend handbook”

MRW, you’re right.

:-)

by BillsfanDan on May 15, 2010 9:04 AM EDT up reply actions

thats a good point. ill concede my previous statement and retort with another.

60 seconds with Langston walker was about 3 minutes each episode. that bothered me. Therefore I choose Jonas Jennings.

by BillsfanDan on May 12, 2010 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

60 seconds with Langston walker was about 3 minutes each episode. that bothered me.

Yea, that really bothered me too, mostly because it sucked, but I just can’t not watch something Bills related.

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by thejimbo on May 12, 2010 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m pretty dissapointed that FIna is actually going to win this thing. The guy started for a year and a half this decade and was pretty close to being shot for those couple seasons. You know the decade has gone pretty bad when we could have put Jim Kelly on the QB thing and been like “retired in 1996 (or 97 or whenever it was), didn’t play during the 2000s, but remained in Buffalo.” and the guy would win in a land slide.

by kaisertown on May 12, 2010 7:37 PM EDT reply actions