Buffalo Bills: 3 questions for the offensive line entering training camp
How many offensive linemen do the Bills keep?
Last year, the Buffalo Bills kept 10 offensive linemen however this year it wouldn’t be surprising if that number is lower. The Bills have great depth at other positions and they may not want to cut good players at those positions for extra offensive linemen.
They also can afford to have fewer offensive linemen because they have a number of players that can play multiple positions. While it wouldn’t be ideal, Daryl Williams can play both tackle and guard positions, Spencer Long and Jon Feliciano can play guard or center, Ryan Bates primarily is a tackle but can play guard, Evan Boehm is primarily a center but could also play guard if the need arose.
This type of versatility allows the coaching staff to address potential injuries that arise but with fewer offensive line.
One potential wrinkle this coming season is that under the new CBA NFL teams can have 48 players active on gameday, however they need to have eight linemen active. If a team has fewer than eight, they will only be able to have 46 active players.
The Buffalo Bills are in a position that they could have only eight offensive linemen and have plenty of depth at the offensive line. The issue is that it doesn’t allow for much wiggle room to account for injuries. The Bills probably won’t have more than the 10 they did last year but they also may not drop too far below that total.