Buffalo Bills: O'Cyrus Torrence faces tough task in first career start

On Wednesday, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott revealed that second round pick rookie guard O'Cyrus Torrence will get his first start in an NFL regular season game against the New York Jets.

The massive 6'5" 330 lb offensive guard out of Florida, is asked to take on a huge role as he would be facing a Jets defense that was ranked 4th overall in 2022. This is the same defense that forced 45 sacks, allowed only 18.6 points per game, and pressured the quarterback on 25.4% of dropbacks.

The Jets' defensive line consists of veteran Carl Lawson, newly-acquired Quinten Jefferson, who just had a career-high in sacks with Seattle with 5.5 and will now be teaming up with All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, and a very underrated player in John Franklin-Myers.

That doesn't count out the depth of the Jets defensive line, as they also have second-year player Jermaine Johnson, AL Woods, Soloman Thomas, Michael Clemons, Bryce Huff, and Rookie first-rounder Will McDonald IV.

Let's not count out Quincy Williams and second team All-Pro C.J. Mosely at the linebacker position either. They both recorded over 100 tackles last season and they are one of the more underrated positions on this defense.

Torrence will most likely get tested early and often, and it's important to see how well he can perform, especially against a team with a dangerous front seven like the Jets, as well as going to the opponent's home field on national television.

Torrence will probably be in situations where he will be matched up one-on-one with very talented players like Quinnen Williams, Franklin-Myers, or Mosely off a blitz.

The Buffalo Bills will probably either put together some schemes where they can limit those situations as little as possible, or trust Torrence with those situations and see how he can perform and learn from potential mistakes that he may make. From there, the staff will make decisions depending on where they see Torrence in his level of growth.

It's important when evaluating how well Torrence does at this stage due to the Bills' crucial needs at the offensive line. The Bills have failed to draft reliable offensive linemen in recent years.

One of those players is Cody Ford, who's been in a similar position in Torrence by being a second-round pick at the guard position, but overall did not work out too well with Ford and the Bills and was eventually traded.

Maybe it's best to set Torrence up with a challenge early in his career and help him transition to the pro level a bit quicker, help him grow, and solidify his guard spot.

Depending on whether Torrence will start for the remainder of the year, he will be tested through a lot of other talented defenses as well, including the Eagles, Patriots, Commanders, Giants, Broncos, and the Cowboys.

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