Beck Water

LOL. "Drink Until your Husband Looks Like Matt Milano" - Erik Turner's wife (and probably many others)

I mean seriously. See the "should we move Milano?" thread. Both Beane and McDermott have been asked that question and said "no, we like Milano as our matchup linebacker" and people come up with all kinds of notions why he really means something else and that's just "coachspeak" and blah blah. I think the long-term plan is Williams, but McDermott and Beane don't want to put too much pressure on him Nick Veronica wrote a pretty good piece where he captures and transcribes about everything Beane has had to say on the subject https://www.wivb.com/sports/buffalo-bills/bills-middle-linebacker-competition-bernard-dodson-spector-williams-klein/ Note: Veronica missed noting a game where Dodson didn't start at MLB, but played the majority of the snaps after Edmunds was injured. He had I believe 2 tackles in that game. My interpretation of this is Beane really wants to see Williams win the job,but also doesn't want to "set him up" to fail by expecting too much too quickly. Overall, this is one of the most careful assessments of the LB possibilities that I've seen, worth a read. My personal take on Dodson is that he played MLB very well against the run, but was "lost in space" vs. coverage. This is why he racked up a nice tally of "thumps" when playing against Pittsburgh and Cleveland, but not so much against the Vikes where he played 64% of the snaps. Now - he came in cold and likely did NOT see starter reps against the scout team that week, but that's my overall take on Dodson, he's become a solid run defender at MLB but he's not so good vs coverage. It's an air traffic control problem that's just kind of a mystery to him. It probably means something that against Detroit, Klein started ahead of Dodson at MLB after being back on the team only a week. I think they like Bernard's instincts and potential, but are disappointed with what they've seen so far (thus the decision to draft Williams). In his limited playing time when he got there he "played small" (as Cosell said) and didn't seal the deal. This isn't a size thing; Poyer, Hamlin, and Taron Johnson are smaller, but they "thump", when they tackle, the guy knows he's been hit. I recall Bernard just getting trucked.

"Superior is, as Superior does".

LOL try to keep up, Alpha, we've already learned that coachspeak doesn't matter and if their plan was to move Milano to MLB: 🙄😅

“Everyone is beautiful….in their own way…..”

This isn't in any sense meant to argue with you since you would know better than I, but while it's clear in some ways not just the two LB but the nickel have interdependent and interchangeable roles in his D (Frazier has talked about this some in pressers), clearly McDermott and Beane both seem to conceptualize Milano and the MLB has having different roles. Beane referred to Milano as a "matchup linebacker" in his post FA presser where he answered the question whether the Bills would consider moving Milano to MLB. Any comment on that?

1) How do Virginia Tech and Tulane compare as far as level of competition/simplicity or complexity of defensive scheme? 2) Edmunds was a rookie in 2018. What was the Bills W-L record in 2018? 3) What were the Bills expectations for the season going into 2018 with Allen and Edmunds as rookies?

LOL pretty much, the roster lists guys combine weights. They have Josh listed at 6'5" 237, hasn't he said the trainers want him at 242 and he's more like 245-247 at times? Though he looks pretty good in that belt

If he has positional flexibility and is willing to sign a come-in-and-compete contract, then I'm For It. Did he have the MCL surgically repaired, anyone know?

He does! AJE, on the other hand, looks like Twiggy. Well, as much like Twiggy as a 6'6" 260 lb guy can look. https://www.buffalobills.com/video/mic-d-up-tyler-matakevich

If Milano still weighs only 223, I'll eat my hair - starting at the roots. I don't think that's what 6'0" 223 looks like. But I don't think a few dozen wings would effect the type of physique change in Williams (or Bernard) we'd like to see.

Couple guys not taking this serious (not wearing gloves) What IS that belt, anyway?

Yeah, I was thinking that, if screwing the Jets is his priority over making the best choices he can make for the Patriots, he really should move along.

I think Milano plays sideline to sideline in our D. I could be misinterpreting @Buffalo716, but I think he's saying that the role of the LB in McDermott's predominantly 3-2-5 D "maps", or is more equivalent to, the role of the middle backers in a 3-4 where the OLBs take on more of an "edge" role in pass rush and run defense - not that both our LB are playing equivalent roles or playing the inside of the field. If you mean Milano's role may change with changes to the D, that may be - I don't have any insight into how McDermott may adjust the D to compensate for losing Edmunds. I know when they had Klein playing for Milano for 4 games while Milano was on IR, they changed up the roles and responsibilities some. Frazier talked about it in a presser, and it's one of the reasons Klein went from "zero to hero" in about a month (horrible looking play to DPOW). If I were guessing, though, I'd guess that changes to Milano's role will be slight and there will be other changes such as playing more base D or "heavy nickel" or rotating one of the safeties (or all of the aforementioned) But if you mean he actually changes roles and takes on the MLB role for the Bills (which is what I understood you to say in the post to which I responded) and rotates off the field for Klein in running situations - Nah. You can mark my post and I'll take my receipts if it goes down like that.

Intriguing. I haven't followed him enough - has he played any position other than C? Do we know any details about how he broke his fibula and how he tore his MCL? Was he breathing fire and trying to do too much? Beane has been pretty adamant about positional flexibility from backup G. But, we are thin on the ground at C right now - we got into our 3rd string C in several games and it wasn't pretty.

See, I kind of heard the post-draft talk a bit differently, maybe because I was mentally filling in the gaps. Beane said something post draft like "he was the team captain in a simpler scheme, he'll have to adjust to the NFL and learn our scheme, we're going to start him out at OLB for now" and I heard "they expect him to take a minute to master our defense so they're worried about overloading him by plugging him in at MLB right away, but they expect him to play MLB eventually" I think a lot of people missed the "he'll have to adjust to the NFL and learn our scheme" and "for now" and just heard "start him out at OLB" or missed the Team Captain/MLB "QB of the defense" in college part.

This, combined with other things you've posted (that Milano was playing MLB because of where Edmunds lined up, for example) makes me feel you don't completely understand the role of MLB in McDermott's defense. Give the Rome show a listen. Beane actually spells out super-clearly what he implied in his interviews post-draft and what McDermott has said. The MLB is the "QB of the defense". His responsibilities go beyond what he's supposed to do after the snap. He has to understand the role of 10 other players in each defensive call and how they vary depending on what the offense does pre- and post- snap. He has to get all the other players lined up correctly and adjusted if the offense adjusts pre-snap. McDermott earlier and Beane in the Rome show explictly pointed this out. Beane said that Williams, in their view, has the physical tools to play MLB, but he needs to understand the defensive scheme, not only his role but the other players' roles, so that he can fulfill the mental responsibilities, and that they aren't going to put pressure on him to do that right off the bat. This isn't some kind of GM-speak, it's the reality of NFL football. The point of starting him at OLB and having him master that, is he'll need to understand that role intimately to play MLB successfully in McDermott's scheme and it might give him a path to the field in case of injury while he adjusts to a more complicated defense. I think, though, that McDermott must have been favorably impressed with what he already knew or how quickly he grasped stuff when he came through OBD because that's when talk started about him "learning both". That's exactly what I heard.

I'll riff on this take, and say that I believe the fact that the Bills doubled down on the position in back-to-back drafts, and that AFTER they brought the veterans into the building for physical benchmarks and initial OTAs, speaks that they're disappointed in what they've seen from Bernard so far and perhaps disappointed with his off-season. I think the Bills like the prospect of Williams more than Bernard Kind of when they drafted Epenesa and the following year doubled down by drafting Rousseau and Basham then tripled down signing Von Miller as their FA splash Sir, you are a Bad Man. Epenesa would have to put on some weight to suit some folks here

Good post, and fair point. No one could deny that Bobby Wagner has been one of the best in the game for the last decade, or that the Seahawks had one of the best defenses in the league. So if our comparison is top LB in the league and 1st ballot HOF MLB, gotta agree I don't see anyone like that on the roster. That said, I can't give you "best defenses in the last decade". I would say starting about 2017, the defense started to slide. Wagner was still a Beast of course. Did you maybe mean that some years, they had some of the best defenses in the last decade? That last is where I'm pinning my hopes. I point to myself that the Bills had a competent defense in 2017 - not an elite defense, but competent enough to put them in the playoffs - with Preston Brown as their MLB and Ramon Humber and Zo Alexander outside.

I'd just like to point out that there's a difference between where a player lines up/his role on a specific play vs. playing a different position. A DE is still playing DE if he rotates inside for a play. Sometimes that may seem like a distinction without a difference, but in the case of a player like MLB, the MLB still has the helmet speaker, calls the plays, and makes pre-snap adjustments regardless if he lines up outside the tackles to blitz on a specific play

Questions: 1) when did you see Bernard fail at playing MLB? (The only game he started last season, he played for Milano) 2) when did you see Dodson fail at playing MLB? Strengths/weaknesses? (spoiler: Dodson has played for Milano at times, and also played base D) 3) can you explain the apparent belief that how a player plays, in one game their rookie year or their first game with a team, is predictive of their entire career? (if it were, Josh Allen would not be Josh Allen) I disagree that Milano is the only one with the necessary processing skills. Klein has the processing skills - possibly better processing skills than Milano, from what the players say about him. Whether he has the physical abilities to match the processing skills, or whether they can design a D that will mask them, I can't tell you. Am I mis-remembering, or are you the one who pointed out that the first time you saw Klein on the field for the Bills, you thought he was the worst player in the league and then a month or so later he was FSU and won Defensive Player of the Week? Part of that was how he was used, but part of that was gaining understanding of the scheme so that he could put his processing skills to use to overcome his physical shortcomings. I'll help with Q2. Dodson has played the majority of the snaps at MLB 4 times. 2020 9/20 vs Miami, W 31-28. (next to AJ Klein playing for Milano) 2022 10/9 vs Pitt, W 38-3 (11 tackles, 1 QB hit, 1 sack) 11/13 vs Minn OT L 30-33 (3 tackles) 11/20 vs Browns W 31-23 (13 tackles)

It has to do with roles and responsibilities. The MLB has the responsibility of making defensive calls to react to offensive formation changes. He gets a speaker in his helmet and a green dot. He has those responsibilities (and is playing MLB) if he lines up outside to blitz. Also, one of the reasons the Bills have been a predominantly 4-2-5 team over the last years has been because Taron Johnson is really a "lite linebacker" on the field when needed, enabling them to keep him on the field (or occasionally subbing Siran Neal) on downs where other teams might go to base D. Except it's not "only his opinion". If the Bills coaches and FO thought that Milano could bring his level of play to the MLB spot, I think they shoot straight enough that they'd just say "we plan to move Milano to MLB and hold an open competition in camp between every other LB on the roster to fill Milano's current role" Instead, they've said the opposite, clearly and unambiguously and multiple times. When asked how they can go into the season without someone who has proven they can play MLB, they don't say "hey, in a pinch, Milano at MLB is our fall back option". They say "we have someone on the roster who has proven they can play MLB, AJ Klein can do it.".

I will go on record here saying your crystal ball is cracked in this instance. I can't tell you if Williams will play MLB for the Bills this year or ever. I can say that I don't think the Bills intend to take one of their best defensive players, an every-down player, and platoon him at a different position. Milano is one of our best defensive players. He plays 100% of the snaps unless the starters come off the field or he's hurt. McDermott and Beane have both been asked about moving Milano to the middle, and have both unambiguously said no. Beane also went on record before Milano's FA about Milano being injured more than they'd like. He changed up his playing style at OLB the last 2 years and has been injured less. So you're suggesting that they take a player who has made desired changes to minimize injury and who has been an every-down top defender at his current position, and move him to a position where his injuries are likely to rise and where he'll come off the field on run downs. I think that's a Plan where you Lose Your Hat. And a Plan where you Lose Your Hat is a Bad Plan. Now mind you, I don't think Beane and McDermott speak nothing but the truth or the whole truth, but I do think they shoot straight enough that when they say, repeatedly and straight up, that they do NOT plan to move Matt Milano from his current role, and that they DO plan to have a competition at MLB between Dodson, Bernard, Spector, Klein, and now (maybe) Williams - who did say McDermott told him to learn both the OLB and MLB role - they said what they meant and they meant what they said.

My reading of the coach speak tea leaves is that you can bank on it.

Several on this board have pointed out to you that if one looks at the top 10 ILBs in the NFL today by several criteria - AAV contract (efficient market theory), rankings by several sites etc. - the average weight of these top-35 inside linebackers is literally 235. So let's not write as though it's the coaching staff and "some on this board". It's the trend in the modern NFL where in general, the passing game and stopping it are key. Whether or not you're OK with what is, sounds like a "you" issue.