Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills have had the same offensive line, and even some of the back ups on the offensive front for a few seasons now. The unit is led by Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins.
Dawkins has gotten better with age, and he takes pride in the fact that they’ve stayed together as a unit.
"I speak in analogies, it’s like having a choir and being able to sing, or play the right instruments to play the right song. That’s what it is: Getting the guys back and having the same group of five and six and seven. The consistency is what’s key," said Dawkins following practice last week.
"When you have an MVP quarterback that’s comfortable in the pocket and knows exactly what his left tackle is going to do all the way to his right tackle, I just think it’s a comfortable feeling for a quarterback. And when it comes down to it, football is all about protecting and effecting the opposing quarterback. If the quarterback comes to the line comfortable, it’s pretty cool."
Dawkins feels it comes down to a mentality and a confidence as a unit.
"It puts us all on the right beat. We know exactly who we are when we touch a football field, we know where we can lean to, we know who we can leave 1-on-1, we know who we can’t, and it just gives the coaches a conformability of calling calls," Dawkins said.
The Bills have won five-straight AFC East division titles and have been in two of the last five AFC Championship games. With that in mind, Dawkins made a comment that might surprise you.
"The whole Buffalo Bills team is underrated except for Josh [Allen]," he said. "Josh is the MVP, but truly, I think the whole team is underrated.
"We’re stuck in the underdog ways, but I love it. Count us out as they always do, or count us in, we’re going to show up because we love playing here.
“We don’t have a bunch of first-round picks or guys that won National Championships every year. We don’t have that. We have a bunch of guys and [Sean] McDermott-likes guys like second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-rounders that become the guys."
Hearing this made me very curious as to where Dawkins feels he’s underrated.
"I think we’re all underrated. I think we’re a bunch of good football players, and where we’re at playing football may have a little bit to it," Dawkins said after a moment to think about it. "We don’t play in [Los Angeles], New York, we don’t play in some of these big, big cities. But we’re loved here, and I’m going to live here for the rest of my life. So I’m going to keep putting one foot in front of another with a chip on my shoulder and play ball, because the mindset is, 'I want to be a starter every year, and I fight for a job every year.' And every year there are new guys in the room, I know that my clock is ticking. I play football as if my job is on the line, so that’s where I see the underrated and overrated stuff."
When you’re talking the middle of the line, you have a swing player in Alec Anderson who can play anywhere inside. Dawkins said that is extremely valuable.
"It’s a hidden gem," he said of Anderson. "And for a guy to be able to do that and stand on the sideline and come in when his number is called and go in without a hiccup, that’s a bonus."
This Sunday is the last Sunday of no NFL football until 2026.
Buffalo opens its regular season campaign next Sunday night at home against the Baltimore Ravens.
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