Evan Boehm was signed by the Buffalo Bills and is projected to be a reserve lineman on the interior. With experience at guard and center, he fits the versatility mold that Buffalo has coveted of late. Let’s check the tape to see what he brings to the table.
Play 1
For the GIFs I stuck with the two games he played against Buffalo last year, but previewed film against other opponents as well (most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers). The idea was to allow Bills fans the luxury of knowing the quality of competition Evan Boehm faced.
The first time the team saw Evan Boehm he was playing center. This is a bit of an upside look but it’s a pretty nice upside. Boehm directs Jordan Phillips away from the pocket and out of the throwing lane. That’s a pretty nice result.
Play 2
This play is closer to the “loss” side of the ledger. Even still, he’d have delayed Star Lotulelei pretty well, which isn’t a bad result. I liked this play a lot because of the tenacity to keep the arm up and continue making a play while getting chopped down. Against both Phillips and Lotulelei, Boehm’s day could easily be characterized as “you win some, you lose some.” Again, that’s not a bad result by any means.
Play 3
This is the second meeting and one of the “you lose some” match-ups. Protecting for 2.5 seconds in and of itself isn’t a bad loss in most instances and is often plenty of time to get the job done as it was here. Had the play or quarterback gone more toward the right guard’s assignment it could have gotten ugly.
Play 4
So here’s another upside clip. This is an excellent play as Boehm helps out on a first block then solos a second one. This is about as good of a result as you can ask for linemen.
Play 5
Then we have this play to show the other end. A cardinal sin in any shoving contest is to fail to provide resistance to how you’re being shoved. Jordan Phillips comes in and takes over the lane with little trouble.
Play 6
And this is the GIF I want you to remember best. Regardless of whether he was at center or guard, Miami tried to have Evan Boehm work in tandem with a teammate on a frequent basis. This is, and should be, true for most linemen but Boehm’s usage did appear to be at a higher clip. Being fair to Boehm, not everyone can even successfully do this and he was in general very successful when blocking as a pair.
Summary
I was pleasantly surprised watching Evan Boehm. As stated above he’s going to be fighting for a reserve role but has a chance to stick as an interior depth option. Even if pressed into starting duty thanks to injury, Buffalo could do far worse (as we’ve seen before). Boehm fits well into the McDermott philosophy of “iron sharpens iron” as well as the Beane strategy of “signing a bunch of linemen and maybe flipping them for draft picks later on.”