The 2023 Buffalo Bills Offensive Line: An Overview

Article written by Antonio Rodriguez

Coming into the 2023 free-agency period, there were many questions surrounding the Buffalo Bills offensive line:

“Who will play left guard?”

“Who will play right guard?”

“Are we really not going to do anything to fix our right tackle situation?”

The answers to these 3 questions are a little more convoluted than a basic answer.

Last season PFF ranked the Bills O-line at #23. Not only did they not pass the eye test, they were one of the worst units in the league on paper.

The biggest culprits of last season were Roger Saffold (43.7 overall, 51 pass blocking, 43.1 run blocking grades via PFF) and Spencer Brown (51.4 overall, 49.4 pass blocking, 53.7 run blocking grades via PFF). The depth was also lacking as Ryan Bates took a majority of the snaps at right guard. The Bills had a mess that needed to be fixed with the priority being protecting Josh Allen.

Brandon Beane addressed these concerns by signing, LG Connor McGovern to a 3 year deal, drafting O’Cyrus Torrence in the 2nd round and making depth moves in signing free agents and UDFAs to compete in camp.

The first question I’ll start with is the dreaded “Spencer Brown again?!”. From watching Bills games over the past two seasons, Spencer Brown is a man of two halves–Pre-back injury and post back surgery. In 2021, Spencer Brown played a total of 726 snaps, allowing only 1 sack! He graded as a beast in run blocking, but had his struggles in the pass game.

Although he had his struggles, as a fan and as a guy who loves all things O-Line, I seriously felt like we hit the jackpot with Brown–a player with massive stature, tenacity and a kid who would continue to become comfortable.

Then came the dreaded 2022 season. Coming off offseason back surgery, I felt that Brown rushed back way to quickly and this theory was proven correct by his play last season.  In 845 snaps, he allowed 4 sacks, 9 hits and a total of 42 pressures. I 100% admit he was downright terrible but am willing to give a mulligan due to circumstances of coming off a back surgery so quickly. I project a healthy Spencer Brown to rank near the middle of the pack for right tackles in the NFL.

Speaking of right tackles, how about Brandon Shell hitting the retirement button mid-preseason? I did a review of his film from the week 1 preseason game and he looked quite slow. I’m happy he at least recognized it, unlike the great Roger Saffold last season.

My dark horse to end up getting the right tackle position is Richard Gouraige who I absolutely fell in love with on film, although he was slotted at Left Tackle vs the Colts.

I feel like Richard Gouraige and O’Cyrus Torrence have chemistry from Florida that can be built upon in Buffalo.

RT2 will go to either David Quessenberry or Tommy Doyle. It’ll be an interesting battle for sure!

Speaking of Mr. Torrence, I know we love to overreact here sometimes, but Beane might’ve knocked it out the park with this one. Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2023 draft, O’Cyrus Torrence was graded near/or at the top of his position on most teams’ big boards. At 6’5, 330lbs, he started 11 games in ‘22 with first-team All-American honors and first-team All-SEC. That is not an easy feat to do, and he did it after transferring from a non-power conference school, so he’s essentially proved his game everywhere he has played. Watching Torrence on film versus the Colts, I saw a kid who was big, hungry and whenever he lost his assignment or had no one to block, he found ways to recover. His motor never stopped, which was huge. I felt he had a good game on both the pass and run plays, but the biggest test will come week 1 right out of the gate. If Torrence starts, this would allow Ryan Bates to move into the role he’s best suited for, Mr. Versatility.

Injuries happen, right? Whether it be a Mitch Morse concussion, a Spencer Brown back issue when someone needs a breather, we need a guy who can step right in and not miss a beat.

Ryan Bates is that person and then some and probably the most valuable lineman on this team. In 945 snaps, Bates gave up 1 sack and only 28 hurries. He played 810 snaps at RG and 135 at center, not missing a beat. The Torrence add has made Bates that much more of a key to this o-line in 2023. We know Bates has the potential to fill in at all 5 spots and some of us thought that he’d end up getting a permanent home at LG.

Connor McGovern was a very interesting sign for the Bills. In the first couple of years of his career he was more of a balanced LG, but in 2022 where he took 909 snaps (most of career), he graded as a pure pass blocker at LG. He’s only 25 and maybe last year might be an anomaly of a season, but it was such a stark difference in grades (74.8 pass, 42.7 run via PFF).

Bates is guy who has a decent reputation across the league, but the Bills got very mixed reviews on this signing. I personally like it because the name of the game is PROTECT JOSH ALLEN.

While the O-Line will continue to be fluid, I will go back and watch film and write about everything I’ve seen, noticed and have an opinion on. I will also drop my lineman of the game each week of the regular season!