90 players in 90 days: OL Garrett McGhin

Guess who just got back today?

The Buffalo Bills are in desperate need of depth at tackle. The club entered the offseason with eight offensive tackles on the roster. One retired last week and another suffered a season-ending injury in Saturday’s preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, leaving the Bills in trouble at the position.

There aren’t too many great options available at the end of August, and I fully expect that the team will be active after final cut-downs happen on August 29. In the meantime, though, the team needs bodies at the position.

In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile a player who has been with the Bills twice before. He’s a big, athletic offensive lineman who at least has some familiarity with the system.

Name: Garrett McGhin

Number: NA

Position: OL

Height/Weight: 6’6”, 300 pounds

Age: 27 (28 on 10/13/2023)

Experience/Draft: 1; signed with Buffalo following the 2019 NFL Draft

College: Eastern Carolina

Acquired: Signed with Buffalo on 8/20/2023

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Details of the contract have yet to emerge, but we’re assuming that McGhin signed for the veteran’s minimum, which for a player with his service time, would be $870,000. We’re also assuming there are little or no guaranteed dollars on the deal.

2022 Recap: McGhin had a heck of a run in a pair of non-NFL professional leagues. First, he was drafted by the USFL’s New Jersey Generals, and he played in nine games for them during the season. He was named to the inaugural All-USFL team at guard. Then, upon the completion of the USFL season, McGhin was drafted by the Arlington Renegades of the XFL. The Renegades were just 4-6 on the regular season, but they advanced to the playoffs and defeated the DC Defenders in the XFL title game on May 13, 2023. McGhin played right tackle for Arlington. McGhin didn’t win All-League honors in the XFL.

Positional outlook: McGhin adds depth to a suddenly threadbare tackle position. With Tommy Doyle out for the season after suffering a gruesome leg injury and Brandon Shell having decided to retire from football, Buffalo was left with little behind Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown. Ryan Van Demark, Richard Gouraige, Alec Anderson, and David Quessenberry are the other offensive tackles on the roster.

2023 Offseason: McGhin signed with Buffalo so recently that there’s little to report other than what’s written above.

2023 Season outlook: It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which McGhin makes the roster, but it isn’t terribly surprising that the team would look to add someone with familiarity in the offensive system they run at this stage of the summer. With one preseason game remaining, McGhin will probably have plenty of time to showcase himself, both for Buffalo and for others.

What will be interesting is not so much the snap counts of players like Dion Dawkins or Spencer Brown — who will almost certainly sit most, if not all, of the game — but the snap counts of the other reserves could show Buffalo’s hand with regard to who’s making the roster. If someone like Van Demark, for example, who has been solid in relief of Dawkins, or even Gouraige, who is Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 tackle in the preseason thus far in terms of overall grade, don’t play much, then those might be your backup tackles. Quessenberry’s snap totals, and the positions he plays, will be important to watch, as well.

McGhin is a highly athletic player (his workout totals are included in our 2019 “90 players in 90 days” profile), but he isn’t necessarily someone who I’d bet on making the roster. He may have a shot at the practice squad, though, with a good showing this week.