The Defensive shceme

[mrags]

I was thinking of something similar a few days ago while reading one of the "Edwards Sucks" threads. I'm not disagreeing either. My thought would be that we will most likely scrap the 3-4 at the end of this season almost completely and here are a few reasons.

- they will want to get Dareus and Williams in thier most effective positions. We have the making of another great DT team similar to the days of Williams, Washington with these 2. Why try and fight it.

- Edwards will probably be gone or demoted and Wanny will probably take over as the DC. Maybe the 2 of them will swap positions, only time will tell.

- if you think about it, your closer to fielding a good 4-3 scheme than a good 3-4 scheme. Let's look at the needs for the 2 schemes.

4-3 as it is now:

DE- Kelsey, Edwards

DT- Williams, Heard

DT- Dareus, Troupe

DE- Carrington, Johnson

 

LOLB- Rookie 1st rounder, Davis

MLB- Barnett, Batten

MLB- Shephard, Morrison/Rookie

ROLB- Moats/Batten

 

the big thing with this is we keep Merriman and OCCASSIONALLY run with a 3-4 on passing situations and have him be a pure situational pass rusher. This should keep him off the field enough to stay healthy but make an impact.

 

This just seems easier than 2 needs at OLB, another DE, Dareus or Williams out of position.

 

Jist my .02

[Gray Beard]

I like the way the broncos played defense last night and not bc they put a hurting on Sanchez

 

Their middle linebacker was actually in the middle covering those short dumpoffs and crossing patterns that just kill the Bills because their middle linebackers are never there

Why do the Bills leave the middle of the field open? Why don't they leave a linebacker in the middle and tell him to just stay there to cover the dump off passes? This is so frustrating. The other team should not be able to pass the ball 5 to 10 yards right in the middle of the field EVERY TIME. I have no idea how many times my son and I yell at the TV. He was the middle linebacker in high school and a little in college until he blew out his knee. He gets furious. It's almost scary to be in the room with him. WHY WHY WHY can't the Bills cover short passes in the middle?

[Typical TBD Guy]

It blows my mind how much misinformation is in this thread. You can't just haphazardly pencil guys in between 4-3/3-4 schemes and not expect some significant dropoff in production for one of the schemes. Few football players have this versatility at the pro level.

 

Kelsay is the only 4-3 DE on this roster. Guys like Carrington, Edwards, and Johnson are too big and slow to play this position. Guys like Moats and Batten are too small. Davis and Sheppard don't have the range to play 4-3 OLB. Dareus, KW, Johnson, Heard, Barnett, Torbor, and Morrison are the only DL/LB players on this roster who I think have the ability to play somewhere in either formation without any trouble. Almost all of our DL/LB draft picks are specifically 3-4 guys.

 

Look, we are in year two of the 3-4 transition. We are only 1 solid pass rushing OLB away from having a suitable 3-4 defense...2 if you assume Merriman will never return to form. One more draft + free agency period should take care of this. Maybe Coach Edwards sucks. But one thing we know is that his expertise is in the 3-4 defense, and he hasn't been given the full talent to run such a defense. Injuries to KW and Merriman haven't helped. Have a little more patience, people.

[fansince88]

Sorry but I need to know what a shceme is

[Hapless Bills Fan]

We are getting run over in either alignment. Our linebackers are not very good and we need help at DE too.

 

One of the better players this season has been Kelsay and he is on your list of cuts.

 

Kelsey gets cut and I predict he won't last very long on the waiver wire. Can't say the same for Moats, Batten, Coleman, Davis, Morrison, Merriman, and Edwards.

 

What he said.

 

Also, Andra Davis lacks speed as an ILB. No way should he play OLB.

 

I liked what I saw of Edwards last year but agree Spencer Johnson has outplayed him this year.

[Fan in San Diego]

Why do the Bills leave the middle of the field open? Why don't they leave a linebacker in the middle and tell him to just stay there to cover the dump off passes? This is so frustrating. The other team should not be able to pass the ball 5 to 10 yards right in the middle of the field EVERY TIME. I have no idea how many times my son and I yell at the TV. He was the middle linebacker in high school and a little in college until he blew out his knee. He gets furious. It's almost scary to be in the room with him. WHY WHY WHY can't the Bills cover short passes in the middle?

 

Good question.