Buffalo Bills: Richie Incognito’s Retirement Creates Major Problem
By Jon Dove
The Buffalo Bills headed towards the 2018 NFL Draft knowing they needed to address the interior of the offensive line, but Richie Incognito‘s retirement creates a bigger problem.
It has been an interesting offseason for the Buffalo Bills offensive line. They have seen Eric Wood forced into retirement, Cordy Glenn traded to the Cincinnati Bengals and now Richie Incognito deciding to call it quits.
This is three established starters who are no longer with the team. Add in the fact that Jordan Mills isn’t a steady performer.
The one long-term piece they have in place is 2nd-year left tackle Dion Dawkins. These developments along the offensive line have created a long list of needs heading into the 2018 NFL Draft.
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It was expected that the Bills would use their collection of picks to move up the draft and grab a quarterback. However, they may need to shift their though process based on the fact they need help at 4 of the 5 offensive line spots.
In the 1st round, Buffalo owns picks No. 12 and No. 22 overall. Some potential options at No. 12 would be Texas’ Connor Williams and Mike McGlinchey. Williams is a more versatile player who could lineup at either guard or tackle.
McGlinchey would be a great fit at right tackle and would give the Bills two young bookends. The 22nd pick offers Buffalo a shot on some top-end interior offensive linemen in Iowa’s James Daniels and UTEP’s Will Hernandez.
Buffalo also has 4 picks in the 2nd and 3rd round which will offer them a chance to address their offensive line needs.
The biggest take away is that Buffalo needs to be a little more cautious when considering packing picks to move up for a quarterback. That young quarterback would be working behind patch work offensive line in that scenario.