Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Quinton Spain has a new belt that he’s showing off.
Eric Ciano, the Bills’ head strength and conditioning coach for the past 11 years, created an offseason competition for players on the team to compete for during the offseason when he joined the club. It’s called the “Iron Bills Games” and Spain took home the prize… or belt… this offseason.
Spain showed it off on his social media account via Twitter recently:
Had a great offseason can’t wait till i can put them pads back on pic.twitter.com/kvK8ItALH8
— Mr. Undrafted (@quinton_spain) June 25, 2020
En route to winning it, Spain, who re-signed with the Bills this offseason, dropped from 351 pounds to 331, according to the Buffalo News. The Bills brought Spain back in part of an effort to continue building some continuity on their roster.
In 2019, the Bills had four new lineman and Spain was the last addition of the group. Dion Dawkins was the only returner, while other new faces included Mitch Morse, John Feliciano and a split between rookie Cody Ford and Ty Nsekhe at right tackle. Buffalo is hoping the chemistry this group built last season can help the unit be even better in 2020.
While solid in their first year together, this group still has room to improve. Overall, Pro Football Focus ranked the Bills’ offensive line last season the 21st best in the NFL. Middle of the pack, but not at the bottom of the barrel like years prior. The Bills were reeling in the trenches in 2018 after the sudden retirements of Eric Wood and Richie Incognito at the time.
While subjective, PFF’s individual grades on Spain indicate that the 28-year-old might be listening to an extent. His overall mark was a poor 55.4, while his pass-blocking grade was solid at 70.4 Naturally, that points to his run-blocking grade, which was a brutal 45.8.
Yes, the continuity can help the Bills O-line overall, but it’s good to see Spain taking matters into his own hands. Dropping this weight could certainly help Spain as a run blocker, especially when he’s trying to get to the second-level of the defense.
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