Doug Marrone has caught a lot of flack of late for his depth chart decisions across the Buffalo Bills offensive line. Wednesday, it seemed like those decisions were getting a second look.
Reporters and fans alike have been questioning the placement of 23-year-old Cyril Richardson at left guard ever since Chris Williams was lost to a back injury a month ago. As we've pointed out, Richardson has ranked in the bottom five among guards in the league in the four games he's played, according to ProFootballFocus, allowing a sack, six QB hits and eight hurries in that time while committing four penalties.
With Richardson practicing with the second-team offense to start Wednesday's workout, however, while veteran Keith Urbik filled for first-team reps, it seems the youngster's time in the hot seat is over.
"He’s got to be ready to step up and go," Marrone said of Urbik Wednesday via Chris Brown of buffalobills.com. "If he gets the call on Sunday I’m sure he’ll be ready to go."
Urbik's abilities at the position, along with his low percentage of penalties throughout his career, make him the obvious choice to replace Richardson Sunday against the Jets. That won't make his job any easier, though.
Gang Green has tallied the fourth-most sacks in the league thus far, and Urbik will likely be dealing with a combination of Sheldon Richardson and Calvin Pace, both former first-round picks who have 6.5 sacks combined through the first seven weeks of the season.
