Buffalo Bills: 3 Positions on offense to improve this offseason

Interior Offensive Line

Closely linked to any rushing attack is the performance of that offensive line. Compared to the offensive line that Allen had in his rookie year, the 2020 Buffalo Bills offensive line was pretty good. This group had a particularly great year in pass protection, but not so much in run blocking.

Part of the reason for the success in pass protection is linked to the play of Daryl Williams who had an excellent year at right tackle. Additionally, as poor as run blocking was during parts of the season, it improved considerably once Jon Feliciano was healthy enough to join the starting lineup.

However, both Williams and Feliciano are free agents this offseason, and the Bills will have to decide if they can afford to re-sign either of them, just one of them, or both. The decision to re-sign Williams and/or Feliciano will be closely tied to the decision of re-signing Matt Milano.

Furthermore, after the injury to Cody Ford that sidelined him for the remainder of the season, the Bills looked to Ike Boettger to fill the void at left guard. Boettger did a great job as a replacement at left guard, but he is definitely not the long term solution for that position. As for Ford, he certainly hasn’t lived up to his second round draft position from just two years ago.

In addition to all these aforementioned concerns, the Bills should definitely start thinking about depth behind Mitch Morse. Morse got a concussion this year that kept him out for multiple weeks. Beane signed Morse in free agency two years ago with full knowledge of Morse’s concussion history. It would be smart to add young depth behind Morse in case of disaster.

Looking towards the future, if the Bills improve the interior offensive line it will likely be through the draft due to salary cap restrictions. The top prospects to look at include Creed Humphrey, Wyatt Davis, and Trey Smith. It seems unlikely that the Bills use an early pick on one of these three guys, but it’s certainly a possibility considering the strengths and weaknesses of this Bills roster heading into the offseason.

However, if the Bills are looking to use a mid-to-late round pick on the interior offensive line Quinn Meinerz could be the perfect fit. Meinerz had a great week of practice at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, and showed he has the versatility to play both center and guard which could make him even more appealing to the Bills on draft day.