Inside The Bills

Walker was surprised by Dockery release

Langston Walker knows change happens in the NFL. He just didn’t see the release of Derrick Dockery coming at the start of the free agency period.

“I was pretty surprised by that, but to reiterate it is a business,” said Walker. “Football is a game. The NFL is a business. It’s just what happens.”

The shock was likely due to the fact that Dockery had a long term contract, but it was difficult to justify Dockery’s performance with the size of his contract and a difficult decision was made.

Of course filling that left guard spot is an open ended situation though Kirk Chambers and Demetrius Bell will be given an opportunity to fill it.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bills used a 2nd or 3rd round pick on an interior offensive lineman to shore that position up even further. Having Terrell Owens and Lee Evans outside won’t mean a whole lot if Trent Edwards doesn’t have time to throw.

Dockery visiting Detroit

Bills cast off Derrick Dockery has hit the ground running as he is reportedly visiting with the Detroit Lions.

Dockery could follow the path of other former Bills to the Motor City like TE Michael Gaines and RB Shawn Bryson.

How’s this for irony?

According to Washington Post, the Redskins are interested in bringing Derrick Dockery back after the Bills released him Thursday.

Washington is the team that drafted Dockery back in 2003 in the 3rd round. He played his first four NFL seasons there.

Dockery’s contract didn’t fit the performance

Derrick Dockery’s contract proved to be his undoing after just two years. Getting paid an average of $7M a year with a two-time Pro Bowl tackle immediately to his left, did not make it easy for him to succeed. That being said Dockery’s play was inconsistent, particularly in 2008.

The guy was a hard worker, often staying late after practice, but it just never translated to the field.

Whether the Bills choose to address the Jason Peters contract situation remains to be seen. It likely won’t happen in the short term with free agency on the horizon and more needs to fill with the release of Dockery and Robert Royal.

It’s crazy to think that right now the only returning interior lineman under contract right now is Brad Butler.  The Bills likely have to invest in more talent at those positions before renegotiating with Peters.

Running right productive

As a follow up to our video report on the Bills resurgent run game I thought I would also add the stats of running left, middle, right thus far this season.

Running to the left (behind Dockery and Peters) is what Buffalo has done the most with 108 total carries. They’ve averaged 4.1 yards per carry with 2 touchdowns.

Running to the right (behind Butler and Walker) hasn’t been done as often with just 61 carries, but the production has been good as they’ve averaged 4.6 per carry with a touchdown to their credit.

The most touchdowns have come from rushing up the middle this season (5). Naturally running up the middle involves a lot of short yardage plays, which is why the average is just 2.7.

So one might think it’s wise to run to the right a bit more often in light of the half yard improvement in yards per carry average to that of the left.

But 15 percent of the time, Buffalo has been stuffed when running to the right (meaning no positive yardage). Running to the left they’ve only been stuffed 11 percent of the time.

A marginal difference on the surface, but when you consider they’ve run to the left 47 more times this season and that percentage is still lower, odds are running to the left will yield more.

Personally I think Jason Peters is playing some of his best football. His last three games have been outstanding, so I’m all for continuing to run to the left and wouldn’t be surprised by season’s end if the yards per carry average to the left catches up with the average running right.

Bills Pro Bowl contenders

After 10 games played and Pro Bowl voting open for over a month, six Bills players are in the top five at their respective positions in the fan voting, but that’s not enough to get them to Hawaii. They’ll need a lot more votes to rank in the top 2 or 3 at their position.

Here’s the list of Bills players in the running in terms of fan voting, where they rank at their position and how many players are taken for the Pro Bowl roster in February. Remember to vote.

DT Marcus Stroud – fan vote rank (3rd) – DTs taken (3)

RB Marshawn Lynch – fan vote rank (4th) – RBs taken (3)

SS Donte Whitner – fan vote rank (4th) – SS taken (1) – total safeties (2)

P Brian Moorman – fan vote rank (4th) – P taken (1)

Returner Roscoe Parrish – fan vote rank (5th) – Returners taken (1)

G Derrick Dockery – fan vote rank (5th) – G taken (3)

Player radio appearances

Here are the Bills player radio appearances for Thursday in Buffalo, Cleveland and nationally.

In Buffalo

Kyle Williams – Kiss 98.5 FM; Janet and Nick @ 7:15 AM

Jabari Greer – WGR 550 AM; Howard Simon Show @ 7:45 AM

In Toronto

Lee Evans – The Fan 590AM; Morning Show @ 7:45 PM

In Cleveland 

Donte Whitner – ESPN 850 WKNR in Cleveland; after 2 PM

Nationally

Derrick Dockery – Sirius NFL Radio; Tim Ryan & Ross Tucker – between 4:30-5 PM

Dockery on boosting the run

While the offense hasn’t been struggling to put points on the board, they’re still not where they want to be running the football. Getting Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson to the second level has been a struggle, with gap penetration an issue at times.

Standing 23rd in rushing with the longest carry covering 22 yards this season, the linemen know those numbers have to improve with the weather set to turn colder soon and nastier.

“I think we just have to be consistent,” said Derrick Dockery. “It’s a tough division that leads around running the football game. Because coming into the game, as an offense you know you have to run the ball and as a defense you know you have to stop the run. And so I think teams have done a very good job early of getting extra guys in the box to stop the run, so we have to find ways to get Marshawn (Lynch) to the second level. We have to do a better job up front with our technique and just finishing blocks. I believe that pretty soon that he’ll hit stride and we’ll hit stride and we’ll get the running game going.”

The coaches have talked about finishing blocks before. Everyone in the locker room knows Lynch has to average more than 3.5 yards a carry and you can’t pin it on Lynch all that much. The guy runs hard all the time. Hopefully it turns.

The next four run defenses they face are currently ranked 12th (Miami), 4th (NYJ), 19th (NE) and 26th (Clev).

Player autograph signing Tuesday

For those Bills fans big on getting autographs you’ll want to make time Tuesday evening to stop by the Bills Store at One Bills Drive.

From 6-7pm (Oct. 21), Ryan Denney, Derrick Dockery and Marshawn Lynch will all be signing Bills ‘Billieve’ pink logo merchandise as part of the Billieve Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.

Fans can purchase Billieve pink logo merchandise including mini-helmets, t-shirts, caps and knit hats at the store that night or bring Billieve pink logo merchandise they already purchased.  The Bills players will be signing Billieve pink logo merchandise exclusively to support the campaign. 

Five dollars from the sale of each Billieve pink logo item will benefit the Western New York Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Presenting sponsors include the Buffalo Bills, Kaleida Health, the WNY Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Delaware North Companies.