Bills O-Line overhaul conflicts with offseason push for T.O.

by | Sep 8, 2009 | NFL Random Thoughts

When the Buffalo Bills released Langston Walker Tuesday it completed a wholesale shakeup of what had been a reasonably experienced, albeit less than stellar offensive line.

Last year, Walker started at right tackle. He was attempting to move to left tackle to replace Jason Peters, who moved onto Philadelphia during the offseason.

Also gone off of the 2008 line are left guard Derrick Dockery and center Melvin Fowler. Those four have been replaced by rookie guards Eric Wood and Andy Levitre, second-year left tackle Demetrius Bell, and center Geoff Hangartner, who arrives from Carolina where he started 27 games.

The one holdover, Brad Butler, moves from right guard to right tackle.

Other than Jason Peters, the 2008 line was filled with decent to solid but definitely unspectacular players. Melvin Fowler has been a fill-in player for three teams now, starting for a year in Minnesota before joining Buffalo and starting his career in Cleveland. Guys like Fowler, however, are guys coaches are always looking to replace.

Dockery had joined Buffalo under a seven-year deal in 2007 but he, as well as the rest of the line, struggled in 2008. He was cut and then rejoined his previous employer in Washington.

In all likelihood, the 2009 line has more upside than the 2008 one did. Wood and Levitre were high draft picks this year and Bell is in his second year with the team. In the long run guys like Marshawn Lynch  and Trent Edwards will probably benefit from the changes.

But what confuses me about the wholesale changes upfront is that management during the offseason treated 2009 as though the Bills were planning to make a run. You don’t add Terrell Owens to the fold when you’re planning to rebuild.  And that’s understandable, to some degree, because the offense has other offensive weapons in Lee Evans, Fred Jackson and Marshawn.

So the idea of starting three offensive linemen who have yet to ever start a game in the NFL, while perhaps good for the future, seems awfully darn risky in 2009.

Owens has always done a great job in his first year with his new teams before becoming a cancer toward his quarterbacks. If Edwards spends the bulk of his time on his back this season I don’t think it’s going to take a full season before Owens starts burning bridges in Buffalo/Toronto.

And Edwards hasn’t exactly been a Pro Bowler during his first two years with the team. He improved last year but still threw for just 2,699 yards and 11 touchdowns. His quarterback rating was 85.4 but he’s had injury and consistency problems. Throw him behind an inexperienced offensive line and who knows what will happen.

So while some of these moves probably do make sense in the long run, it’s going to take some time for these guys to meld into a unit. As such, you might see some improvement toward the end of the season.

But early on I would expect to see some struggles. It’ll be interesting to see how T.O. reacts to this situation. In fact, while offensive line play rarely makes for sexy headlines, I’d say the ancillary sideshows this overhaul could cause makes Buffalo one of the league’s more interesting teams to watch in 2009.

Passionate Coniglio keeps AFL alive

by | Aug 24, 2009 | American Football League, Hall of Fame

I consider myself fairly well read on the history of the National Football League. I’ve been watching games since I was six and have long been fascinated by the game and the league’s history pretty much ever since.

I think remembering and recognizing the great personalities and players that made the league what it has become today is important for fans and hope it is important to today’s players, who are benefiting from the work done by their older brethren.

That said, as the 50-year anniversary of the American Football League comes along, I have realized I’m not as well read on the NFL’s former rival league. Sure, I knew about the merger and about some of the personalities – Joe Namath, George Blanda, Len Dawson, et al.

And I’d guess I’m not alone. With the merger that followed and the years that have since passed, the AFL has sadly become a footnote in some fans’ minds.

But not everyone has forgotten. Angelo Coniglio has created a Web site, www.remembertheafl.com, aimed at celebrating the AFL’s history and its contributions to the league that resulted from the merger. He established an AFL Hall of Fame that recognizes more than 120 players, owners, and other contributors to the league’s success. And he’s passionate about informing and reminding today’s fans of the impact the AFL had on what the NFL has become today.

Mr. Coniglio agreed to answer some questions from Zoneblitz about his Web site and his memories of the AFL.

Zoneblitz: On your site you recognize something around 125 players, coaches, owners and other officials at the AFL Hall of Fame – describe how you got started on this project?

Coniglio: I remember the Buffalo Bills of the All-America Conference – a league that was scoffed at by the NFL, which did not accept the Bills when the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) folded. But the Cleveland Browns of that “inferior league” won the NFL championship in their first year in the league, and dominated it for years. When the AFL came along, I became a Bills and an AFL fan, and heard the same disparaging remarks about the AFL by the established league that they had made about the AAFC, and I figured they were just as wrong. (answer continued)
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Vikings fans might want to temper Favre expectations

by | Aug 18, 2009 | NFL News, NFL Random Thoughts

While it appears the on-again, off-again love-fest between Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings front office is on again, hopefully Vikings fans recognize that this move alone doesn’t guarantee a trip to Miami.

Assuming Favre’s bicep is sound, does he provide an upgrade at quarterback for the purple? Most likely yes.

But is this the Brett Favre of a few years ago who could seemingly at will pull rabbits from his helmet to produce victories for the Green and Gold? Not even close.

Let’s look at the game logs from the 2008 season. Everyone talks about the five game stretch that closed Favre’s campaign. It was a gross display of football, which reportedly coincided with the injured arm everyone is banking on being fixed.

Starting with the November 30 game against Denver, his last five games produced two touchdowns and nine interceptions, barely 1,000 yards passing, and four losses in five games.

So lets give him the benefit of the doubt on that final third of the season – it’s not like the rest of his season was stellar.

In fact, after a solid-to-sterling first four games, he spent the second quarter of the season playing almost as poorly as he did in the last five – before any reports surfaced of arm issues.
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Comical Raiders becoming life’s third sure thing

by | Aug 18, 2009 | NFL Random Thoughts

They say the only things you can count on in life are death and taxes. That’s no longer true, however. The new, third sure thing in life is that the Oakland Raiders will provide an annual (or more) dose of comedy.

For the last few years it’s been the coaching carousel. Since Jon Gruden did his four year tour under Al Davis, which ended in 2001, the Raiders have had, I think, 36 head coaches. It’s gotten so weird that Davis has been turned down by guys with legitimate prospects elsewhere and has had to settle on guys like current boss Tom Cable. If it goes on much longer, Davis may have to reclaim the position himself.

Last year, it was a free agency spending spree that netted a collection of overpriced stiffs like Javon Walker, Kwame Harris and William Joseph. Just about all of them are gone, as are the bonus dollars Davis paid out to them. The year 2008 also brought the amusing in-season firing of then-coach Lane Kiffin, who clashed with Davis from the start, and whom Davis called a “flat-out liar” and claimed to have fired with cause.

This year started off just as humorously on draft day when the Raiders pounced on Darrius Heyward-Bey a half-a-round before most teams would have taken him while passing on the more acclaimed Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin, then took safety Michael Mitchell, a guy who was not invited to the NFL Scouting combine and who was considered by most a second-day pick.

Not that Heyward-Bey doesn’t have some potential, but Crabtree still considers the selection such a slight that he is (foolishly) holding out to get Heyward-Bey money despite being chosen three picks later.

But all joking aside, the latest signs that the Raiders’ organization may be spiraling frighteningly out of control are multiple reports that current coach Cable cold-cocked assistant Randy Hanson about two weeks ago at the team’s training camp headquarters.

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Zoneblitz Hall of Fame experience

by | Aug 9, 2009 | Football Road Trips, Hall of Fame

CANTON – After months of anticipation and countless hours on the road, Zoneblitz.com finally arrived in Canton, Ohio for the centerpiece of this week-long road trip.

It coincided with the opening of a new Lamar Hunt Super Bowl exhibit and the celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the American Football League.

I loved the new Lamar Hunt Super Bowl gallery, which included video clips from all the games, a Super Bowl trophy located behind glass that was a popular photo opportunity for the thousands of fans milling about the building and other keepsakes.

I also always remain impressed with the photo galleries located in the hallway between the entrance to the hall and the Hall of Fame gift shop.  Among the photos this year was a great shot of NFL Referee Garth DeFelice inadvertently punching St. Louis Ram Kenneth Darby–and as we walked by the picture, we realized that DeFelice himself was there taking it in.

Incidentally, a shout out to Trey Wingo, who was spotted smiling and granting photographs to fans in the gift shop. Athletes and television personalities are often panned when they act like big shots. So it’s only fair that they are acknowledged for doing right.

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