Could it be this year?
By now, everyone is well aware of the defensive strides and the offensive slides that Buffalo experienced last year. The season was a disappointment to say the least, as they finished 6-10 after preseason promises. Drew Bledsoe blames himself but you have to know that he’s thinking about the beating he took as the offensive line tripped on their shoelaces.
In the off-season, most of the attention has been on QB J. P. Losman, WR Lee Evans, RB Willis McGahee, and of course, the new coaching staff headed by Mike Mularkey. There has also been some excitement surrounding Buffalo’s injection of veteran blood. The additions of CB Troy Vincent and LB Jason Gildon should provide excellent leadership and experience. However, I believe the true issue facing this team is the line play.
The offensive line was number one in sacks allowed last year; not your favorite statistic in which to be number one. During the off-season, so far, the Bills have done little to improve it other than bring in offensive line guru, Jim McNally. The idea is that the talent was there, but the coaching wasn’t.
I hear right guard, Ruben Brown and left guard, Chris Villarrial high-fived eachother going in opposite directions on I-90. Of course, Brown was on his way to Chicago and Villarrial had his GPS set to One Bills Drive. I think Chicago got the better end of that somewhat unintentional deal, but Villarrial isn’t much of a drop-off. Both of these guys are great for a running game.
The biggest questions here are:
1) Will tackles Mike Williams and Jonas Jennings finally become all they’ve been cracked up to be?
2) Who’s going to play left guard?
3) Can McNally work his magic with this set of players?
The answer to question No. 1 can be answered by reading the scale when Williams stepped on it. He came into mini-camp tipping the scales at over 400 lbs.! Besides being way out of shape, he’s had some unfortunate worries in his personal life with an ill relative who has not been identified. Marcus Price has been playing with the first team in his place and looks serviceable. Jennings looks fairly strong and should be effective as long as he puts on enough injury-bug repellant.
As for question No. 2, I think Marques Sullivan should have gotten the left guard job judging from his 2002 performance on the right, but it looks like he’ll back up Jonas Jennings. Mike Pucillo was the proverbial turnstile last year and Ross Tucker doesn’t look ready, but the word is that Pucillo has improved and he’s been named the starter for now. With no impact players brought in, it’s all up to McNally to get these guys revved up. I don’t believe that’s going to do the trick in the span of one off-season. What might help though, is a change in the way the offense runs altogether.
Mularkey and new offensive coordinator Tom Clements have vowed to run the ball more and simplify the passing game. According to earlier interviews with Bledsoe, much of the passing game relied on reading the defense and adjusting receivers’ routes. All year, Drew looked way out of sync with his receivers and was forced to hold onto the ball way too long, putting immense pressure on the line. The line already buckled quicker than Mike Williams’ chair.
This year, Mularkey insists that Bledsoe will be throwing to spots. What this is supposed to do, is pick up the pace of the passing game and allow Bledsoe to get rid of the ball more quickly. Making that a bit easier, is the fact that Eric Moulds is healthy after playing much of last season with a lingering groin pull, and Lee Evans looks ready to make a contribution in his rookie season.
Bledsoe has already sung his praises. He compared Evans to Moulds saying how much he likes a receiver that goes after the ball with his hands rather than waiting on it to come to him. Evans has looked impressive in practice. He ran routes with precision, and with cuts that often left Buffalo’s excellent backfield in the dust, conjuring up a few “oohs” and “ahs” from onlookers. That’s all fine and dandy, but what the Bills need is something to ooh and ah about when the real action starts. A turnover could do that.
