Bills needs to find the best five on their O-line

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, August 17, 2007  |  Comments( 42 )

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Aside from the trade of underachieving, outspoken running back Willis McGahee, the biggest story of the Buffalo Bills' offseason was arguably the additions they made to their offensive line. Since the mid-1990s, the end of the Jim Kelly era, the O-line has always been a source of blame for those who follow the Bills. The unit hasn't been good for a 16-game season since midway through Bill Clinton's presidency, and that's a long drought.

Buffalo, to its credit, went out and made an effort to fix the woes in this year's free-agent market. The Bills added left guard Derrick Dockery for seven years and a whopping $49 million. Though he never made a Pro Bowl as a member of the Washington Redskins, Dockery was very good (some might say elite) in all aspects during the first four years of his pro career.

The NFL Network's Brian Baldinger, a longtime O-lineman with the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts, said back in June that Dockery was among the three best guards in the league last year. High praise, indeed.

To accompany Dockery, the team, perhaps surprisingly, splurged on right tackle Langston Walker. The 6-foot-8, 366-pounder surrendered a team-worst 10.75 sacks in Oakland last year, but Bills O-line coach Jim McNally, known as one of the best in the business, honestly believes Walker is a good player who was in a tough situation.

When you add in Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle Jason Peters to join Dockery and Walker, that's three-fifths of the starting line. The other two spots, however, are not 100 percent certain as of yet.

Sure, center Melvin Fowler started all 16 of Buffalo's games last year, and it's nice that he has established a legitimate friendship with quarterback J.P. Losman. At the same time, though, football is about putting your best guys on the field. Honestly, is Fowler one of the Bills' top five offensive linemen right now? The jury's out.

The 28-year-old will miss the Bills' preseason home opener against Atlanta tonight because of a sore ankle, and Duke Preston, whom head coach Dick Jauron and McNally planned for to be the No. 1 right guard this year, will take Fowler's spot. Ninth-year man Jason Whittle, whom Buffalo signed to a one-year, $1 million deal in free agency, will line up at RG instead of Preston.

With that in mind, the question is: What happens if Preston and Whittle play really well tonight with the Bills' first offensive unit?

So far in his Bills career, the third-year Preston has mostly played out of position. He was a fourth-round pick out of Illinois, for which he started at center for three years and was an All-Big 10 honorable mention in 2004. One has to believe Preston will relish the opportunity to line up at his natural spot again. While with the Fighting Illini, Preston was known as a lineman who was solid as both a pass and run blocker while often playing with a mean streak. Though he'll probably never be a great pro center, if given the opportunity maybe he can surprise some people.

Whittle, meanwhile, is the second piece of this evening's puzzle who's worth watching. He has 42 career starts and is a favorite of McNally's, who coached Whittle between 1999-02 with the New York Giants. Last season Whittle, who's known as a solid reserve, started two games for the Minnesota Vikings. Whittle is definitely not great, but he's a so-called lunch-pail guy who does whatever the coaches ask, and he normally fares at least decently.

Right now Bills fans should face the fact that a line with Fowler starting will have a weakness up the middle. He's simply not good enough to once again be a 16-game starter and won't open up holes for rookie Marshawn Lynch and the rest of Buffalo's running backs.

Preston, however, is intriguing. If he and Whittle succeed, Buffalo's coaching staff might want to think twice about Fowler's position on the depth chart and let the best five -- whomever that may be -- play when the Bills open the regular season on Sept. 9.

You can e-mail the writer at cbyrne@realfootball365.com.

Get more on the Buffalo Bills at RealFootball365.com
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CommentsComments: 42  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Husker fan in Beijing		04:02 AM
08/17/2007
I am not a Bills fan per se, but I really admire the job that Marv Levy and Dick Jauron are doing in terms of building the team....
No.2
Ron		09:01 AM
08/17/2007
Since the Bills game won't be on TV here in New Mexico, you won't have to suffer through a play-by-play analysis of the portion...
No.3
Nate		09:04 AM
08/17/2007
Connor you column infers the Bills would have a reluctance to replace Melvin Fowler at center if Duke Preston proved superior....
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