Derrick Dockery signs with the Bills

Where are you getting this? from your expert opinion or fact from somewhere. everywhere I read there are nothing but positives about Dock. everyone thinks he is a hell of a road grading run blocker. One coach said he was a guy that couldn't be bull rushed. Moves well for a guy that big. i have never heard he can't pull. Imagine that all this comes up when he decides to leave.

The team messed this one up. I am not saying 16 million up front isn't high, it is. But we overpay for everyone we sign in FA. Why not pony up some cash for our own players?

If you watched any games the past few years you would see pulling wasn't exactly his strongest asset.

Just check his Scouts Inc profile:

2006 Scouting Report - Scouts Inc.
Grade: 68 | Key (http://proxy.espn.go.com/nfl/features/scouting#key)
Alert: None

Comment:
Dockery is a big, massive offensive guard who has good size and strength for the position. He has good overall athletic skills and enough versatility to play both OG/OT. In the running game, he is a road grader who best fits a zone-blocking run scheme. He has the ability to come off and get movement in the running game. He can bend and maintain his pad level with good balance and control on both reach and cutoff blocks. He knows how to use his size to position and wall-off between ball carrier and defender when getting position in a short area. He can come off and get movement off combination patterns but struggles at times with his balance and control when maintaining his position on the second level. He can short pull and connect but struggles to play under control off long pulls and in open space. He needs to improve his overall consistency and ability to finish late in games in the running game. In the passing game, he can bend his knees, slide and plays with a wide base off a short set. He matches up better vs. power rushers rather than quick inside edge rushers. He has good long arms and can extend out with a strong stab and punch. He does have some stiffness in his hips, which restricts his ability to adjust vs. quick double move inside rushers. He can drop his hips and anchor vs. power but will get top heavy and overextend vs. speed and quickness. Overall, Derrick is still and young ascending player with a good upside to develop into a frontline starting NFL player. He has shown steady improvement with his technique and footwork over the last few years.

This offseason is reminding me of the nba a few offseasons ago (the cavs gave larry hughes 14/year). i'm glad we didn't resign dock at that figure... even if the market is overpaying, there's no point in screwing your cap for the future. the salaries won't be as bloated for FAs every season.

not worth steve hutchinson money

If you think Dockery's deal is inflated, check what the 49ers gave up for the services of Nate Clements, This is the age of free-agency, and everyone has to over pay.

Just to chime in, if the skins had made this deal, they would be ridiculed from top to bottom by everyone in the league, and lots of folks on this board. The fact is, we can't afford this particular deal for this particular player.

The market for guards is obviously rather inflated right now--teams need o-line help and are flush with cap cash. It's a sellers market. And we don't have the cap space, given our D needs.

Dock is good, and most likely will improve--guess the Bills are betting on the upside there. But recall that Dock had motivation issues and had Buges pushing him, not to mention his best buddy Samuels by his side. Wonder if he'll have the same motivation in Buffalo?

I would have liked to have re-signed Dock last year. But my guess is his agent properly saw where the market was going, and correctly advised his client to wait. Now they are super rich. Best wishes to him, but there was no way we could keep him.

John Clayton mentioned that the draft was extremely deep along the O-Line this year with potential starters being available as late as the third round. For that kind of money, I say let him go, lets take our chances on the draft.

John Clayton mentioned that the draft was extremely deep along the O-Line this year with potential starters being available as late as the third round. For that kind of money, I say let him go, lets take our chances on the draft.


One small problem there. 1st...5th - 7th. no 2nd 3rd or 4th picks.

I agree that Doc is not in the same class at Hutchison . but I would rather pay him 16 mill than AA & B Loyd the 20 mill that they got , * the two draft picks for Loyd . Hope Pucillo can be a nasty MF in that spot . This Organization better get working on Cooley and Taylor , although I would be shocked if Taylor stayed in DC after this year .

If you watched any games the past few years you would see pulling wasn't exactly his strongest asset.

Just check his Scouts Inc profile:

2006 Scouting Report - Scouts Inc.
Grade: 68 | Key (http://proxy.espn.go.com/nfl/features/scouting#key)
Alert: None

Comment:
Dockery is a big, massive offensive guard who has good size and strength for the position. He has good overall athletic skills and enough versatility to play both OG/OT. In the running game, he is a road grader who best fits a zone-blocking run scheme. He has the ability to come off and get movement in the running game. He can bend and maintain his pad level with good balance and control on both reach and cutoff blocks. He knows how to use his size to position and wall-off between ball carrier and defender when getting position in a short area. He can come off and get movement off combination patterns but struggles at times with his balance and control when maintaining his position on the second level. He can short pull and connect but struggles to play under control off long pulls and in open space. He needs to improve his overall consistency and ability to finish late in games in the running game. In the passing game, he can bend his knees, slide and plays with a wide base off a short set. He matches up better vs. power rushers rather than quick inside edge rushers. He has good long arms and can extend out with a strong stab and punch. He does have some stiffness in his hips, which restricts his ability to adjust vs. quick double move inside rushers. He can drop his hips and anchor vs. power but will get top heavy and overextend vs. speed and quickness. Overall, Derrick is still and young ascending player with a good upside to develop into a frontline starting NFL player. He has shown steady improvement with his technique and footwork over the last few years.


Out of all that, I would say the plus side HIGHLY outweighs the fact he struggles pulling. Do you think he has reached his highest potential? I dont think so. Every offensive lineman will have something that sticks out as far as something that can be improved on. no question. my biggest point is the last sentence of that statement. young ascending player with good upside to develop into a frontline starting NFL player. he has shown steady improvement with his technique and footwork over the last few years. Look, I dont think he was worth 16 up front, I wont argue that. But do you think we could have met somewhere in the middle? maybe showed him we REALLY wanted him? I would maybe feel better about it if we would have at least pushed a little harder. I never even heard what we were offering. And going by how quick he jumped at the Bills, I would imagine our offer was not even in the ball park of "OK, thats a start, lets see where we can go from here"

I know the 16 million up front for a player that COULD develop into a front line starter is a lot, but like I said he is NOT a fool for taking it, I think we could have been a little more aggressive like we are with outside FA's.

One thing we need to all get used to: contract values are going to go up every year. The contracts players are getting this year are going to be dwarfed next year.

That said, even in this new world order of higher contracts, Dockery was not worth a $16 million signing bonus. Smart move by the team in exercising restraint. The Bills can have him at that price.