The Buffalo Bills have moved second-round pick Cody Ford from right tackle to right guard. It’s the first time in his short career they’ve put that on his plate and it comes on the first day of the third set of training camp.
Ford had been the first man in the right tackle rotation from the start of camp, but did take a few reps at left tackle, as well. He’s been battling Ty Nsehke for the right tackle spot while Nsehke is also trying to earn the left tackle spot. Ford hasn’t been terrible, but hasn’t played that well, either.
“There is thought to his position flexibility,” said head coach Sean McDermott on July 26th. “You know with young players, you have to watch how much you put on them early so they can get comfortable at one position and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
So what changed?
Throughout camp, Ford has struggled with speed around the edge and the space it takes to keep his defensive end from the passer. There were many who pegged him as a guard coming into the draft but Buffalo had been adamant he was a tackle.
“That’s yet to be determined right now,” said offensive coordinator Brian Daboll on July 27th in regards to moving Ford inside. “He’s playing right tackle, we are getting his feet wet and trying to get him adjusted to the pro game the best we can. Those guys are smart enough to swing where we need to swing them, but for say early on he’s right tackle.”
When asked specifically if it was because he was a rookie, Daboll continued.
“No, it’s a position thing too. We think he’s a good player too. We have some good guys inside and if we need to bump him inside he’s smart enough to do that but we will focus on right tackle and get him to improve the best we can.”
Interestingly enough, there may be an injury reason for the move as Jon Feliciano and Spencer Long are both out with injuries. Those are the “good guys inside” Daboll was referencing.
More to come...