Bills' unsung star named best in NFL in his specialty role

The Buffalo Bills have a lot of stars.

One of their most unsung key contributors recently earned some top recognition.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell singled out Alec Anderson as the best sixth offensive lineman in football.

As you're aware, teams use five offensive linemen in a base package. But the Bills made a frequent habit of sending in Anderson as an extra blocker, and he was really good at it last season.

"Some teams bring extra offensive linemen onto the field in short-yardage and goal-line situations, hoping to use the added bulk to generate more movement at the line of scrimmage," Barnwell writes. "Over the past couple of years, though, the Bills have used the sixth offensive lineman tactic as something close to a core offensive concept."

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According to Barnwell, the Bills used six linemen on first-and-10 93 times last season. The league's other teams did it on average 10 times for the season.

"All of those personnel grouping mismatches look great on paper, but offenses need the personnel to actually pull them off," Barnwell writes. "While the Bills used David Edwards in this role before he moved into the starting lineup in 2024, Anderson has taken it to another level. The 305-pound tackle spent two years on the Buffalo practice squad before making his debut last season. Brady carved out a regular role for Anderson immediately, as he averaged 14 snaps per game, excluding the Week 18 game in which the Bills played their backups against the Pats."

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Barnwell shares that Anderson allowed just one quarterback pressure and zero sacks on his 79 pass-blocking snaps.

Josh Allen doesn't need a bunch of guys out in pass patterns to make a big play. As long as he's upright, good things happen.

And in the running game, James Cook can take advantage of the increased holes given him by an extra lineman. 

So there's no reason to expect the Bills to use Anderson less this season. It clearly works.

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