Buffalo Bills have endless possibilities for week one starting offensive line

The Buffalo Bills spent considerable assets bolstering their offensive line in the off-season, but there isn’t a right answer to who starts where.

The Buffalo Bills did precisely what they needed to do in the 2019 off-season. After a season in which their presumed franchise quarterback Josh Allen got sacked 28 times and injured his elbow in 12 games of play, the Bills had to make the offensive line a priority. In both free agency and the NFL Draft, they did just that.

Before free agency or the NFL Draft, the Bills figured out who, from last year’s squad, will be a mainstay as a starter. Only one player stands out as an obvious answer: left tackle Dion Dawkins; a 25-year-old plus run-blocker and developing pass-protector. Outside of the 2017 second-round pick, the rest of the positions were, and are subject to change.

The Bills acted quickly in rebuilding their offensive line. Highlighting their free agency haul is center Mitch Morse — a 26-year-old pass-protecting ace whose guarded for some of the NFL’s best. They also signed on veterans Quinton Spain, Ty Nsekhe, Spencer Long, and La’Adrian Waddle. The first three have plenty of experience as a starter and could do the same in Buffalo.

In the NFL Draft, the Bills were less active in their offensive line overhaul but remained searching. The team brought in Oklahoma’s Cody Ford in the second-round — a pro-ready, first-round touted, physically intimidating lineman with upside to flourish as a guard or right tackle. Ford joins Dawkins and last year’s fifth-round pick Wyatt Teller to form the team’s young nucleus of blockers.

The Bills appear to have their roster complete at the position group — with Jon Feliciano, Russell Bodine, and Jeremiah Sirles battling for depth spots — but, they are far from finalizing their starting lineup.

Currently, we don’t have an idea of what the week one line looks like, but we do have some positional guarantees. Both Dawkins and Morse should be locks to start at their positions, left tackle and center, respectively. Outside of the two, it’s a free-for-all for starting spots.

After organized team activities (OTAs) and mandatory mini-camp, confusion as to who starts where continues to ensue. Due to injuries, the Bills inserted players in and out of the starting lineup; but there appears to be one constant: Ford playing right tackle. The Oklahoma product played the position in college and shined, though most figure he’s best set at guard, the cause is just for a bookend role.

If Ford wins the starting right tackle job, we have two positions without a name assigned to them. The competition for guard spots will be between Spain, Teller, Long, and Feliciano. If Ford doesn’t win the position, he’ll likely take one of those spots — probably the right.

Choosing two of the five to win the job is tough; each is deserving of starting in their own right. However, if we were to imagine the week-one line, mine would look something like this:

• LT: Dion Dawkins
• LG: Quinton Spain
• C: Mitch Morse
• RG: Spencer Long
• RT: Cody Ford

The above offensive line looks the part as the more sure-thing projection. Dawkins, Morse, and Ford have been starting at their respective positions during spring practice. As for Spain and Long, the former, historically has seen success on the left side, the latter is a center/guard hybrid that does his best work as a guard.

It gets messy if Ford doesn’t win the starting right tackle job. Nsekhe — a valuable, quality, swing tackle throughout his career — should be the starter on the right side, as it’s his natural position. Ford would kick inside, most likely at his more comfortable right side. That line would look like this:

• LT: Dion Dawkins
• LG: Quinton Spain
• C: Mitch Morse
• RG: Cody Ford
• RT: Ty Nsekhe

Inserting Spain and Long (in the prior one) is a testament to my veteran bias. If the Bills don’t see it the same way, Teller could be competing against either for their positions. Factoring in Spain’s higher-level play and experience as a left guard, Teller would likely contend for the right side against Long for a starting (if Ford is a tackle) job.

The new, youthful line:

• LT: Dion Dawkins
• LG: Quinton Spain
• C: Mitch Morse
• RG: Wyatt Teller
• RT: Cody Ford

However, Teller played most of his snaps on the left side in 2018, so this is a long-shot to happen unless he progresses mightily. If he does win that job, setting the starting unit gets that much harder.

Inserting at Teller on the left would mean that Long, Spain, and to a lesser extent, Felicano would compete for the right side job. In this scenario, I have Spain switching to the right side, as I value his skillset much higher than Long’s at either position. That lineup would look like this:

• LT: Dion Dawkins
• LG: Wyatt Teller
• C: Mitch Morse
• RG: Quinton Spain
• RT: Cody Ford

We start to go insane if Ford doesn’t win the starting right tackle job and Teller wins the left guard one. In this situation, the Bills rid themselves of the veteran talents of Spain and Long completely. That line:

• LT: Dion Dawkins
• LG: Wyatt Teller
• C: Mitch Morse
• RG: Cody Ford
• RT: Ty Nsekhe

There is the possibility that Nsekhe nor Ford wins the right tackle job; that would send us into never-ending speculation as to who the starters will be.

In all likelihood, the line will probably closely resemble the initially proposed setup. With Dawkins and Ford manning the tackle positions, the Bills have youth at each. Then with Spain, Morse, and Long in the interior, the team will have a high-quality veteran presence.

Ultimately training camp, in five weeks, will tell the tale of the starting Bills offensive line in 2019. Outside of left tackle and center, there is an abundance of exciting positional battles in-store for the future. No matter the outcome, the Bills will surely have a better line than last year’s.