THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Langston Walker was caught off guard when the Buffalo Bills traded Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters to Philadelphia last month. He wasn't surprised with what came next.

The Bills right tackle anticipated he was the one most likely to switch positions and take over for Peters. So when assistant coach Sean Kugler called shortly after the NFL Draft to broach the possibility, Walker was prepared to accept the new role.

"I have to, and like you said, I had better (embrace it)," Walker said following a recent voluntary mini-camp practice. "I'm a team player. They asked me to do it, and I'm doing it. No arguments. End of story, really."

In some ways it's the beginning of the story for Walker, who has primarily played right tackle during his seven NFL seasons.

"I'm not worried. I've done it before and I'll do it again," said Walker, who filled in on the left side during Peters' off-season-long holdout last year.

It's also a new beginning for the entire line. If all goes as planned, the Bills will open this season with a completely revamped unit with not one starter returning at the same position.

Aside from Walker's switch, right guard Brad Butler is being asked to play right tackle. Fourth-year player Geoff Hangartner was signed in free agency to take over at centre. And then there's Buffalo's two high draft picks, first-rounder Eric Wood and second-rounder Andy Levitre, who are being given the opportunity to start at right and left guard.

"It won't be easy," coach Dick Jauron said, assessing the challenge of getting all five working together by September. "There's no doubt it's a challenge. I believe we have the right group of guys for it."

What's also important is that the Bills are in a better position to groom their line this off-season as opposed to the uncertainty that affected them last year due to Peter's holdout. Unsure of when or if Peters would report to the team, the Bills attempted several options during spring minicamps before finally going with Walker at left tackle and Kirk Chambers at right tackle.

That formation stuck until the second week of the season, when Peters finally ended his holdout.

Jauron didn't want to go through that again, which is why the Bills decided to trade Peters after the two sides failed to renegotiate the player's contract before the draft.

"It was critically important to us," Jauron said of resolving Peters' situation. "He kind of showed us what he thought a year ago, and it was really important for us to have a whole team together for communication reasons and for every reason that you could think of in terms of team-building."

Though the Bills would have preferred to keep Peters, they were already planning to make some changes after the team cut left guard Derrick Dockery was did not re-sign centers Melvin Fowler and Duke Preston. The line play was inconsistent for much of last season in giving up 38 sacks -- 12 more than the previous year -- and struggling in short-yardage situations.

It's been a work in progress so far as the Bills entered their second week of voluntary minicamps. Wood and Levitre are being eased in, getting spot duty with the starting unit, along with Chambers and Seth McKinney filling in at guard.

No worries, quarterback Trent Edwards said.

"Yeah, it's new. Yeah there are some guys out there today that I don't recognize," Edwards said last week. "I have all the confidence in the world those guys are going to be able to do it."

Walker joked that one of the first text-messages he received upon making the switch was from Edwards.

"All of a sudden he wants to be my best friend," Walker said, with a laugh. "I'm not worried. ... I'm going to be challenged, I know that. But that's what I get paid for. I think I'm ready for it."

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NOTES: The Bills opened a four-day voluntary minicamp on Tuesday. ... DE Aaron Schobel and WR Roscoe Parrish were the only two regulars not in attendance. Schobel, who is returning from a foot injury, had indicated last week he doesn't plan to return to Buffalo until the Bills hold a three-day mandatory minicamp June 9-11. ... Second-year CB Reggie Corner made an impressive interception, stepping in front of an Edwards' pass intended for Terrell Owens over the middle.