State of the Bills Offensive Line: Pre-Season Week 3

It’s about time. The preseason is over and the quest to bring A Super Bowl Victory to Bills Mafia begins! Before I dive into what to look forward to from this offensive line in week 1, let’s review the final preseason game versus the Chicago Bears, shall we? Here’s a run-down of the stat sheet that I accumulated from watching film. Just take this into account: the Bills threw the ball 17 times versus just 9 times on the ground with the players below on the field:

Spencer Brown

• 25 Snaps Played (3 series)
• 3 Hurries Allowed
• 0 Sacks
• 0 Penalties

O’Cyrus Torrence

• 25 Snaps Played (3 series)
• 1 Hurry Allowed
• 0 Sacks
• 0 Penalties

Mitch Morse

• 14 Snaps Played (2 series)
• 1 Hurry Allowed
• 0 Sacks
• 0 Penalties

David Edwards

• 20 Snaps Played (2 series)
• 1 Hurry Allowed
• 0 Sacks
• 1 Penalty

Top Thought

While majority of starters played two series, we saw Right Tackle Spencer Brown and Right Guard O’Cyrus Torrence stay in for one more drive. Now, I understand Torrence getting extra reps. When it comes to Spencer Brown it seems like the coaching staff is recognizing his flaws and trying to get him to play it out. If you go back to the first game, he didn’t play many snaps. It was reported he was feeling 100% in that game, so we have reason to believe he could have played more. Although, we’re not always aware to what’s happening in the decision making process. It’s appears that there was a shift in the thoughts about Spencer Brown. Beane and McDermott are showing they are content with him at right tackle.

Spencer Brown

Spencer Brown had a decent outing, for the most part. The more I replay what he does, the more I don’t understand his inconsistency. Sometimes he’ll throw in a beautiful kick slide and keep his feet moving but then we’ll see him get beat by a swim or rip move. He has to work on using his massive frame to find leverage, especially on smaller defenders. On run plays, he has to get low enough and gain enough leg drive under him to bulldoze them over. While he has some things to work on, Brown does look better than last season. He’s starting to remind me of the 2021 Spencer Brown that I raved about. Let’s hope he continues to improve and solidify himself as the future at right tackle.

O’Cyrus Torrence

People have been given Beane a lot to listen to when it comes to not drafting a right tackle, from myself included. But we need to give him credit for what looks like a homerun of a pick. I’ve seen O’Cyrus Torrence play against a 4-3 Colts Defense and a 3-4 defense that was sending blitzes. Now, he plays a 43/Nickel Defense. They threw a couple stunts at him, and he handled every test. Has he had losses this pre-season, but he always bounced back. There weren’t many plays where I questioned his decision making.  Torrence stays low and plays hard. One of the best things about him is that when he is losing early on a pass block, he digs in and stops all momentum for a stalemate. Center Mitch Morse will be able to breathe a lot easier and focus on other things with Torrence by to his right.

Mitch Morse

  When it comes to Mitch Morse, there’s one thing that has plagued him: his struggles against the bull rush. No matter the alignment of the NT/DT. I would guess that this is Morse’s last season in Buffalo, whether its by retirement or by being released due to Ryan Bates ascension. After all, we are seeing more and more snaps at center for Bates. It’s been clear throughout preseason that the Bills see Bates as the center of the future, which is the reason we’re seeing this uptick in snaps with the first offensive line unit.

David Edwards

David Edwards had a rough game. He looked a tad lost at times, poorly progressing to the second level on run plays, but he did thrive in pass protection. There is someone else that I think could start over him, and that’s Connor McGovern. McGovern has shown me a whole new world at left guard for the Bills. After I sat and broke down their play, I saw McGovern with more positives than Edwards. Although, if Edwards was more comfortable with the unit, I might be saying the opposite.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Ryan Van Demerk slotted in at RT.
• Alec Anderson played C and RG.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I was pleased with what I saw from the line as a unit. It’ll be interesting to see how the Bills fill gaps throughout the season. If McGovern can’t play, do they play Ryan Bates at left guard or David Edwards? How much of a leash will they give Spencer Brown? At the end of the day, we can just examine it and take it apart.

On to New Jersey!