Does Bills' Newfangled O-Line Equal More Options?
Some new offensive linemen have been introduced to the Buffalo Bills' mix this season, with possibly two new starters and at least two key reserves. How well they work together will have a significant impact on offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey's play-calling confidence in the most crucial situations.
On 3rd-and-3? Last season, there wasn't a whole lot of confidence there in the running game.
This year, having at least the threat to run will go a long way toward taking pressure off quarterback Josh Allen, who led the NFL in tunovers last season. Worse yet, their one-dimensional offense was exposed at home in the snow by Cincinnati in the playoffs.
In the end, the Bills weren't necessarily a poor running team statistically, averaging 5.2 yards per attempt. But when they really needeed it, it wasn't there, other than Allen's improvisations, which they're trying to avoid. Allen led the team with 6.1 yards per attempt on his way to 762 yards, which was good for second on the team behind top running back Devin Singletary (4.6 yards per carry).
For that matter, the pass protection wasn't great either. If not for Allen's extraordinary scrambling ability, he would have absorbed much more than the 33 sacks he did take in the regular season and eight more in the playoffs.
Gone from that squad completely are Singletary, starting guard Rodger Saffold and backups Ike Boettger, David Quessenberry, Bobby Hart and Greg Mancz.
Enter guards Connor McGovern, O'Cyrus Torrence and Alec Anderson and tackles Germain Ifedi and Ryan Van Demark and second-year running back James Cook, stage left.
Rookies O'Cyrus Torrence (left) and Dalton Kincaid could both play pivotal roles for Bills this year.
Anderson and Van Demark were practice-squad members a year ago who are on the regular roster this year and good bets to be active on game day. McGovern has come in from Kansas City and taken over as the starting left guard. Torrence, a second-round draft pick this year, appears to have beaten out incumbent Ryan Bates for the other guard spot.
Van Demark and Anderson have perhaps made the biggest strides.
Anderson played his way onto the team with better understanding of leverage and the ability to play all the spots.
For Van Demark, it was mostly about getting stronger.
"He came in here, I'm going to say at 290 pounds [last year]," general manager Brandon Beane said. "You know, just looked like a basketball player, And [strength coach] Eric Ciano and his staff, they did a great job. I mean, Ciano and his crew did a great job of beefing him up with good weight so that he can anchor. That was probably the biggest thing was a lack of anchor.
And [offensive line coach] Aaron Kromer did a heck of a job too. If you watch his reps from last year, like one-on-ones are the best chance you get to see these guys go against some of our best, and he ... was getting beat a lot."
Not so much anymore.
"He is one of the guys, him and Alec, that just put in a whole offseason," Beane said. "I saw them together a lot and they really worked and worked and worked and I felt, you know, he had a great camp."
The Bills sure could benefit from the continued progression of James Cook and Gabe Davis, but they'll likely only go as far as their offensive line allows.
