The Buffalo Bills will continue their trend as a run-first offense and strong guard play is needed to be successful. There are several players who can help.
This year’s Buffalo Bills training camp will be much different than previous years. There is a significant number of young players looking for playing time. McDermott and Beane are in year two of their “process” and they’re getting players that fit their system.
2018 will be known as the year of competition in training camp. There will be position battles, on both sides of the ball, that Bills fans should be paying attention to. I will be writing a series of articles, throughout the month of June, highlighting the four most important battles that will determine where the Bills land in the standings this upcoming year.
Upcoming articles:
(June 17th) Slot Wide Receiver: Andre Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, Ray-Ray McCloud, Austin Proehl
(June 24th) Quarterback: Josh Allen, A.J. McCarron, Nathan Peterman
This article will be about the both guard positions along the offensive line. The Bills will continue their trend as a run-first offense and strong guard play is needed to be successful. Without a consistent push inside, defenses can shoot their gaps and force tackles for a loss.
The retirement of Eric Wood and dismissal of Richie Incognito create huge holes in the middle of the group, so this might be the most obvious position battle this summer. The signing of Russell Bodine might have filled the gap at center (more on this later), so the focus is shifted to both right and left guard.
Let’s look at the candidates.