Week in and week out, the Bills haven’t had the same offensive line on the field at all this season, despite Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott stating before the start of the campaign that he really just wants to have the position group settled and ready to go.
Putting the Bills behind the eight-ball immediately this season in terms of their O-line depth was the loss of Jon Feliciano to a chest injury. Another change could be en route in terms of Buffalo’s offensive line structure come when Feliciano is healthy as well, but that’s a discussion for another day.
The topic at-hand currently is the benching of Quinton Spain in Week 3, who was signed to a contract extension this offseason. Cody Ford was moved to Spain’s spot at left guard, while Brian Winters got his first start with the Bills at right guard.
And it sounds like we’re still only getting started with the musical chairs on the O-line based on what Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said on Monday via video conference. Daboll did not commit to Week 3’s combination at guard sticking around.
“That was just a decision for that game, that week, that we came up with. Have confidence in all three of those guys… how it shakes out going forward, we’ll see. It’s a good group to work with,” Daboll said. “We just felt that was the direction we wanted to go with… and basically that was it.”
Not exactly the most most deceive stance taken by Daboll, which came just a week after McDermott addressed the offensive line shake up against the Dolphins in Week 2. In that game, Spain did start, but the Bills briefly moved to their lineup for the Rams.
A week ago, McDermott downplayed the situation and said it’s just some tinkering around the team was doing. Evidently it was much more than that though, considering the Bills completely removed Spain from the lineup vs. the Rams.
“Just taking a look at [the offensive line] from an offensive strategy standpoint. Looking at some things. The first kind of week, three four weeks, you’re trying to find out who you are as a football team and what gives you the best chance to win, different matchups, different looks. And so that’s where we are at some positions now. In particular because we haven’t had the preseason games to do that,” McDermott said last week.
It’s anyone’s guess what the Bills will go with against the Raiders in their next game in the trenches at this point. While subjective, Pro Football Focus does provide us some context on how Buffalo’s offensive line has played through three games.
At the tackle position? Very well. Daryl Williams clocks in as the NFL’s 13th best tackle to date, while Dion Dawkins lists at No. 30. Williams was even named to the football analytics outlet’s Team of the Week for this past weekend. But inside? It’s been messy all around. Spain clocks in at a 56.3 overall to lead the way, which is a below average grade for PFF. The rest of the interior of the line falls in at: Ford (51.3), Winters (52.2) and center Mitch Morse (55.0). Again, PFF can be taken with a grain of salt… but that’s not a great start.
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