Buffalo Bills

The Bills threw a whole bunch of money at their offensive line last season and by the end of the season were seeing the payoff. Unfortunately, the minicamp holdout of All Pro left tackle Jason Peters suggests Buffalo will have to back up another Brinks truck just to keep the status quo… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Bills entered last season with three new faces along their line: big-ticket free agent signing Derrick Dockery at left guard, underachieving ex-Raider Langston Walker at right tackle, and right guard Brad Butler, who beat out Duke Preston and Jason Whittle for the gig in training camp. The early returns weren’t all that great, but over the final 11 contests the Bills surrendered just 13 sacks—half their full-season total—and finished with their lowest team total since Doug Flutie was under center back in 1999. Moreover, the unit allowed zero sacks in four of their final five games and saw their passing yardage climb by more than 50 yards per game over the final two-thirds of the season thanks to the improved protection.

The unit returns intact for 2008—excellent news for Trent Edwards, who won’t have to worry about having his spleen dislodged by an oncoming pass rush. Aside from the mountainous Walker, each Buffalo lineman is a better pass protector than run blocker. With this unit back and Edwards developing, downfield receivers like Lee Evans should see more balls come their way—and of course fewer sacks means more pass attempts, with less pressure likely to translate into more accurate passing and ultimately better numbers for the wide receivers. Hopefully, the line’s familiarity with each other will begin to translate into better run blocking as well, something that wasn’t as evident last season. Buffalo running backs averaged 4.0 yards per carry but ranked among the worst in the league in converting short-yardage and goal-line opportunities on the ground—28th according to the Football Outsiders. It’s not necessarily a reason to downgrade Marshawn Lynch—after all, he put up 1,115 yards and seven touchdowns behind this group last year—but don’t go overboard with the positivity.

However, if Peters holds out or this wafer-thin unit suffers an injury feel free to make a beeline for the panic button. Peters had three years remaining on his current contract and is slated to make $3.25 million this year; two of his own linemates make more. Once negotiations commence, expect Peters’ agent to reference Jake Long’s five-year $57.5 million deal, as well as how a 36 percent increase in the NFL salary cap since 2005 would make the $7.5 million deals of Walter Jones and Orlando Pace worth more than $10 million a year today. In other words, the Bills will be setting the market price for left tackles for the foreseeable future… so don’t look for Peters to take a “thanks for developing me from an undrafted tight end into one of the league’s best left tackles” discount. Bills offensive coordinator Turk Schonert has already indicated he would move Walker from the right side if Peters’ holdout stretches into training camp; that’s a dramatic downgrade, as Walker allowed 10.5 sacks his final year in Oakland, and when you factor in the dropoff of Kirk Chambers stepping in at right tackle one shudders for Edwards’ internal organs. The draft yielded massive project Demetrius Bell, who has all the athleticism of his biological father Karl Malone but far more class than his deadbeat dad, but he’s still a work in progress; while Buffalo had success in molding Peters, the process does take time. The Bills are a little more injury-proof inside, with Preston or Whittle capable of filling short-term absences—in fact, Preston took most of the first-team reps during OTAs as Melvin Fowler recovered from offseason shoulder surgery—but this offense isn’t strong enough to withstand a major injury up front. The line play is good enough to allow Edwards and the passing game to develop, and it shouldn’t do anything to prevent Lynch from improving upon last year’s numbers. But if Peters doesn’t get paid or Buffalo loses a starting lineman to injury for any extended period of time, run don’t walk to clear your roster of Bills.

RUN BLOCKING: C
PASS BLOCKING: B
OVERALL GRADE: C+

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