All-22 year in review: Buffalo Bills G Jon Feliciano

How did he play in 2021?

Buffalo Bills guard Jon Feliciano has been a fan favorite for his attitude on the field, and his fan engagement on social media. Fan favorite or not, he was relegated to reserve lineman status to close the year. That makes my summary easy as the Bills already made it clear that the pecking order has changed at guard. That was a short article. I’ll see you all next time. OK, fine. Here are some GIFs.

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Play 1

As a guard, there’s always the potential to have a little extra responsibility in the form of “silent count guy.” Buffalo seems to like to have this at the left guard spot and Jon Feliciano is trusted with the role. From there, he’s engaged one-on-one and buys Josh Allen enough time. As the GIF notes, he’s trailing a bit so this is by no means a highlight.

Play 2

This one should be considered a highlight. Feliciano is one-on-one (mostly) and there’s zero chance Feliciano’s opponent is pressuring Allen.

Play 3

At the pause, Feliciano is poised to create contact. He bursts pretty deliberately—and watch the direction he makes his shove. By pushing off to his right he isolates his opponent away from the running lane.

Play 4

At the pause, Feliciano’s grasp on his block is tenuous with Jeffery Simmons. Simmons is able to shed the block and the result is less than stellar for Buffalo.

Play 5

This ones goes awry right from the get go. Simmons gets under Feliciano’s pads and wins the leverage game. Any time a lineman bumps his QB that’s a bad rep.

Play 6

This is the spirit that made many fans fall in love with Feliciano. He doesn’t have anyone in front of him immediately, takes a look around and confirms it, then finds someone to slam into.

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Summary

All of the interior lineman articles should be seen as a collective work so forgive me for bringing up other players’ names in this one about Jon Feliciano. Point blank, I agree with the Buffalo Bills. If I have the choice among players from the 2021 roster, I’m in Ryan Bates’s corner as the starter. That said, I’m not upset with Jon Feliciano as the “floor.”

I’m an advocate of the weakest link in the chain philosophy when it comes to teams. As a thought exercise, let’s pretend Feliciano was the weakest link. In the six games he started, the Bills scored 26 points or higher in five of them. The sixth game was the season opener where wacky things often happen. My preference toward Bates should not be misunderstood as dislike of Feliciano. The offense showed they were quite capable with Feliciano on the field.