Bills’ Gibson might be offensive line’s X-factor

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, May 19, 2006  |  Comments( 9 )

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With little fanfare, the Buffalo Bills signed 6'7", 370-pound offensive lineman Aaron Gibson to an undisclosed contract last month. The signing probably won't end up as anything but a mere footnote, but Gibson is hoping it turns into much more. The former Detroit Lion, Dallas Cowboy and Chicago Bear signed with the Bills hoping for another chance to prove himself after what has been an abysmal career, and he may have found it.

Gibson was the 27th overall selection in the 1999 NFL Draft for the Detroit Lions, who were left with just one more bust out of the droves that enter the pros every year. Gibson topped out at over 400 pounds, which is much too large for the offensive line position. Although lineman are supposed to be mammoth, it's never in their best interest to weigh that much. Recently, only Ron Stone has been able to get away with breaking the 400-pound barrier in his career, and even he wasn't remarkably successful once he did it.

Gibson has played in 38 games over the course of his six-year career, starting in 34 of them. When he was with the Bears in 2002 and 2003, Buffalo's current head coach, Dick Jauron, was Chicago's head man. That's where the connections between Gibson and the Bills' organization begin and end, unless you count the fact that Bills GM Marv Levy was a play-by-play man in Chicago over the last few years.

Currently, the Buffalo Bills list Gibson as a right tackle on their depth chart. However, it may not be likely that he breaks back into the league at that position. The Bills' best lineman on the roster is perhaps youngster Jason Peters, who happens to be the team's starting right tackle. Even if Gibson has an impressive offseason, it would be difficult to foresee him ever taking Peters' spot. In fact, his best hope might include Peters moving over to the left tackle position and having current left tackle Mike Gandy move over to the left guard position. However, complicating that is the current logjam at left guard, which includes free agent Tutan Reyes, veteran Bennie Anderson and second-year man Duke Preston.

The best thing in Gibson's favor at the moment is the Bills' offensive line coaches, Jim McNally and Larry Zierlein. The tandem has nearly 70 years of coaching experience between them. McNally has been among the preeminent offensive line coaches in the NFL over the last 27 years, while Zierlein recently spent four seasons with the Cleveland Browns. So why does this matter for Gibson? Because McNally has shown countless examples of being able to reform "project" players. On the Bills' roster he helped mold Peters, who was an undrafted tight end from Arkansas in 2004. As mentioned before, Peters is arguably the Bills' best offensive lineman now.

If ever there were a place for the 28-year-old Gibson to turn his career around, it would be Buffalo. If he can, he'd immediately shore up the depth on the Bills' offensive line, and maybe even become a viable starter. If not, Gibson, who has been perceived as lazy in the past, would just be another example of a wasted talent, like ex-Bills first round tackle Mike Williams, who was released in February.

--Connor J. Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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CommentsComments: 9  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Curtis		08:36 AM
05/19/2006
Thanks for the update on Gibson. If anybody can get the best out of him McNally can. Otherwise, he might as well retire.
No.2
Corey		10:13 AM
05/19/2006
Good to see a guy like Gibson on the roster. A player who has something to prove and should he turn heads, he will help improve...
No.3
Pete Gutillo		11:46 AM
05/19/2006
For the life of me I can't understand why Valarial is still considered the starting right gaurd. I read the papers about he and...
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