The Buffalo Bills continue to work on depth for the offensive line by signing former guard Forrest Lamp who recently wore the very logical lightning bolt of the Los Angeles Chargers. Now that Lamp is a Bill, let’s hit the film couch to see if he’s brilliant or if I’ll be throwing shade.
Play 1
Forrest Lamp starts off with a block right in front of him, but a delayed blitz from Mario Addison is the real problem. While Addison gets up close and personal with Justin Herbert, Lamp reacted quickly enough to allow him to get the throw off. Overall, Lamp’s vision was a major asset.
Play 2
One negative for Lamp that crept up on a regular basis was a tendency to turn and follow a defender heading to his side. Kicking to the side rather than turning would allow Lamp to stay in front of the blocker and maintain better leverage. Here it leads to Herbert needing to scramble.
Play 3
One area where Lamp shined was his ability to handle multiple blocks like we see here. This type of repeated light contact from multiple opponents is easily handled by players who can read and react like Lamp.
Play 4
Lamp didn’t come across as a powerhouse, but generally was strong enough to at least put up a fight against the defense. Against one of Buffalo’s better interior options in Ed Oliver, Lamp does just fine.
Play 5
Similar to Play 2, here’s another bad habit related to chasing the defense. Here the flaw is trying to make the block with his shoulder and upper body. With the feet not following the rest of him, it leads to another rotation you’d rather not see.
Play 6
Let’s get back to our positives. Overall I liked Forrest Lamp’s ability to block on the move. This play shows off a high ceiling. Not only does Lamp maintain consistent contact, he times his turn perfectly to cut off his opponent’s chance of getting by. Lamp does get shoved a bit, which narrows the lane but when your running back hits the spot as it’s drawn up that’s not a major issue.
Summary
There’s always a drop-off in talent between starters and depth players and sometimes that drop can be a cliff. The Buffalo Bills are working furiously to make it look more like a curb. Forrest Lamp’s floor is already pretty high. As noted in another recent lineman analysis, Lamp would have walked on to some recent Bills teams and been competing for a starting job. Due to injuries that robbed him of significant time in his first couple seasons, there’s a chance he has a lot of room to grow too. Lamp isn’t a flashy signing, but Bills fans should still be happy with the direction Lamp signals.