Buffalo Bills 2010s All-Decade team: Right guard

From left tackle to center, the Buffalo Bills’ offensive line was relatively stable (and featured a few high-quality starters) over the past decade. At right guard and right tackle, as we’ll see, the situation wasn’t quite as laudable. No Pro Bowl appearances to speak of, and to make the decision less clear cut, we’re removing Eric Wood from eligibility. Wood began the decade at right guard, but played most of his career at center.

Here we have three candidates to lead this group. Which one deserves recognition?

Kraig Urbik

Originally a third-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Urbik didn’t pan out with his original team, and the Bills brought him in on a waiver claim in 2010. He began as an interior backup, but eventually turned into the team’s full-time starter at right guard. He also made occasional fill-in appearances at center and left guard. In all, Urbik started 57 games for the Bills and appeared in 84. From 2011 to 2013, he was the starting right guard, he flipped to left guard in 2014, then started four more games at right guard in the 2015 season.

After that year, the Bills cut Urbik, and he played one more season with the Miami Dolphins.

John Miller

The Bills drafted Miller out of Louisville in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. For the Bills, Miller would start 47 games over four seasons.

Miller claimed the starting role out of the gate of his rookie season. It had its ups and downs, with Miller dealing with a groin injury and missing four games, but he played well enough to enter 2016 as the unquestioned starter. That was probably his best year, with Miller starting a full 16 games as a quality member of the offensive line.

In 2017 the Bills changed to a new coaching staff, which included the hiring of Rick Dennison and Juan Castillo. Castillo’s preferred techniques were a poor fit for Miller, who regressed in his third year. After four games, the Bills made him a healthy scratch, replacing him with street free agent Vladimir Ducasse. Miller returned to the starting fold in 2018, and played 15 games at right guard.

After his rookie contract was up, Miller entered free agency, and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He started 13 games in 2019, but the Bengals cut him at the end of the season. He’s now playing with the Carolina Panthers.

Jon Feliciano

Feliciano was another one of Buffalo’s free-agent reinforcements in the 2019 season, signed to a modest two-year contract. The team installed him as their starting right guard, with Feliciano claiming the role over Spencer Long (and rookie Cody Ford, who the team was interested in playing at right tackle). In that season, Feliciano started 16 games. He was also the team’s preferred backup center whenever Mitch Morse had to leave the field. The season started especially strong for Feliciano, but his play regressed to the mean later in the year.

For the time being, Feliciano is pegged as the team’s starting right guard for 2020, unless there’s action with Ford or a free agent like Daryl Williams.

And so, there are your three candidates. Which one was the best? Place your vote!

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