KeepHopeAlive Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 (edited) The new additions at the linebacker position will be the thing that takes this defense to its full potential. It has pained me for the last few years to watch the lack of talent at the linebacker position funnel our defense to one of the worst in the league. This year with the addition of; Manny Lawson, Kiko Alonso, and Huges to name a few, the bills actually have some talent at the linebacker position. This year the bills defense will be one of the better D's in the league. OH and decent D coach wont hurt either. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I-qW9QiEfg Edited July 7, 2013 by KeepHopeAlive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 QB and WR are markedly better than they have been in years. All three QBs can throw the ball a ton, and there is more speed at Wideout than we've had since Lofton and Beebe were running loose, only now we've got about 4 guys with that brand of fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 (edited) QB and WR are markedly better than they have been in years. All three QBs can throw the ball a ton, and there is more speed at Wideout than we've had since Lofton and Beebe were running loose, only now we've got about 4 guys with that brand of fast. I'm not down on anyone but I don't see how you can say QB is better right now. We don't know what we have yet. Should be better but nothing is certain. PTR Edited July 6, 2013 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I hope you are right. Watching the Bills D has been painful for years. Nothing ever worked. I hated the Tampa two, was glad to see it go but the D actually got worse. Watching Kelsey play LB brought tears to my eyes. I have to admit to drinking the Wannstedt Kool Aid last year. The season openner cured that. All I know about Alonso is watching highlights and what I've read. Never heard of Lawson before the Bills signed him. Didn't know anything about Hughes either, other than he was considered a bust.I hope these guys can play and I hope Pettine can coach. I am sick of watching crappy defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 (edited) I'm not down on anyone but I don't see how you can say QB is better right now. We don't know what we have yet. Should be better but nothing is certain. PTR Kolb and Fitz are not much different then each other. Both have flaws and a limited ceiling. The new additions at the linebacker position will be the thing that takes this defense to its full potential. It has pained me for the last few years to watch the lack of talent at the linebacker position funnel our defense to one of the worst in the league. This year with the addition of; Manny Lawson, Kiko Alonso, and Huges to name a few, the bills actually have some talent at the linebacker position. This year the bills defense will be one of the better D's in the league. OH and decent D coach wont hurt either. Manny Lawson should be better then Nick Barnett but I am not ready to make that call. Hughes might end up playing DE/LB hybrid position. Alonso is a rookie that will struggle early to learn the speed of angles. IIRC he struggled with angles in college from time to time. And remember, for every rookie you start you are going to lose one game. If we start Woods, Alonso, and Manual - I could easily see three losses by their play. If we start the Kicker, four. We were much better poised entering last season with better names and more insight. I could make an argument that DWannstadt was regarded as a better DC then Pettine is at this point - who has only succeeded under Rex. Edited July 6, 2013 by jboyst62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 The addition of Manny Lawson, means nothing until proven otherwise. he was a fringe LB to begin with unless someone can poach some stats on a couple of good games. The LB core why having potential especially the rook, have proven nothing. Hughes being just part of a two team bust swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It would be nearly impossible for the LB's to be worse than last year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExWNYer Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 The addition of Manny Lawson, means nothing until proven otherwise. he was a fringe LB to begin with unless someone can poach some stats on a couple of good games. The LB core why having potential especially the rook, have proven nothing. Hughes being just part of a two team bust swap. ^^^^^ This statement pretty much sums it up. For the OP to state that "the Bills actually have some talent at the linebacker position" and then offer up Hughes' name as an example, won't give most fans a warm and fuzzy. Hughes has been a bust up to this point in his career. Throw in a rookie who's never played a down in the NFL and a free agent vet who's never played a down for this team and there are a ton of question marks with very few provens on the roster. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsrcursed Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 ^^^^^ This statement pretty much sums it up. For the OP to state that "the Bills actually have some talent at the linebacker position" and then offer up Hughes' name as an example, won't give most fans a warm and fuzzy. Hughes has been a bust up to this point in his career. Throw in a rookie who's never played a down in the NFL and a free agent vet who's never played a down for this team and there are a ton of question marks with very few provens on the roster. Time will tell. I'd tend to agree. OP should have started and leaned heavily on the theory that our new D coach will be able to maximize player potential, not just thrown it in at the end of the post. Pettine will be the key here, for better or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 The team is much-improved at many areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swnybillsfan Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 i like the speed and potential of the lb group. i like the attitude and phylosophy of the defense as a whole. and i like the depth of the front seven on paper. what i hope to see when they go out onto the field and start hitting other people is a fast, aggressive defense with a bad disposition that will not let anyone use them as their whipping boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Scheme couldn't possibly have been worse. We'll "improve" everywhere, and not just because of personnel, mostly because Wanny's gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepHopeAlive Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 QB and WR are markedly better than they have been in years. All three QBs can throw the ball a ton, and there is more speed at Wideout than we've had since Lofton and Beebe were running loose, only now we've got about 4 guys with that brand of fast. Hey this is another reason to be excited I really believe that kolb or emmanuel will bring more to the table than fitz did! Now we actually have some promising young talent at wr as well! go bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepHopeAlive Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 The addition of Manny Lawson, means nothing until proven otherwise. he was a fringe LB to begin with unless someone can poach some stats on a couple of good games. The LB core why having potential especially the rook, have proven nothing. Hughes being just part of a two team bust swap. I really think that the Hughes trade was genius Sheppard had more than enough time to become the player we hoped he would be. From what I have read Hughes didn't get a very good shot to excel in the colt lousy defense. Agressive scheme's and a targeted role in a highly talented front 7 will give this guy a chance to become the impact player sheppard will never be. As for Lawson I admit all I really knew what that he was supposedly a starter on Cincinnati D that alone tells me he is better than the garbage we have had the last several years..every time I watch Cincinnati D I get jealous heheh... And of course you left out Kiko the guy who is going to be the rock solid anchor busting up all kind of plays from the middle >> I believe his youth will actually work to this front 7s favor given all the talented vets he will have around him .. I think he will encourage a We will kick your butt attitude! all three seem to have way more upside than the guys who left .. upside = talent no? I'd tend to agree. OP should have started and leaned heavily on the theory that our new D coach will be able to maximize player potential, not just thrown it in at the end of the post. Pettine will be the key here, for better or worse. I agree that a coach can really hurt or help a teams chances but ultimately it comes down to talent .. we have been missing a few pieces on this defense for a few years and the bills have found the answer where they needed it most(at LB) by bringing in alonso lawson and so on .. add to that effective use of talent and this front seven will be very good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepHopeAlive Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 ^^^^^ This statement pretty much sums it up. For the OP to state that "the Bills actually have some talent at the linebacker position" and then offer up Hughes' name as an example, won't give most fans a warm and fuzzy. Hughes has been a bust up to this point in his career. Throw in a rookie who's never played a down in the NFL and a free agent vet who's never played a down for this team and there are a ton of question marks with very few provens on the roster. Time will tell. Hughes last year was his best .. with the limited playing time he got and the change of defensive systems it is no wonder his first round talent did not shine.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It's nice to see the child-like enthusiasm the OP exudes, if a little Pie in the Sky.. The new FO obviously agrees with everyone here that LB had to be cast out and re-constructed, save for the promising Bradham. ANY scheme which puts more pressure on the QB, whether LB, DB or 5 DL has to help hurry throws, which will make everyone's task a little easier. The old adage 'live by the blitz, die by the Blitz' is an argument I'd look forward to having. IMO, LBs took a little more heat than they probably deserved last year, given the overall pedestrian effort of our interior DL. OL was getting to them far too easily, carving up huge chunks of yardage. We know 'scheme' failed us miserably. ANY change in this regard will be welcome as it can't really get any worse than how we played it last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderstealer Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It would be nearly impossible for the LB's to be worse than last year... Shepherd cant hold his own in this league. I was happy to see him replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It's nice to see the child-like enthusiasm the OP exudes, if a little Pie in the Sky.. The new FO obviously agrees with everyone here that LB had to be cast out and re-constructed, save for the promising Bradham. ANY scheme which puts more pressure on the QB, whether LB, DB or 5 DL has to help hurry throws, which will make everyone's task a little easier. The old adage 'live by the blitz, die by the Blitz' is an argument I'd look forward to having. IMO, LBs took a little more heat than they probably deserved last year, given the overall pedestrian effort of our interior DL. OL was getting to them far too easily, carving up huge chunks of yardage. We know 'scheme' failed us miserably. ANY change in this regard will be welcome as it can't really get any worse than how we played it last year. I felt the linbackers were the weakness of the defense. filling wrong gaps, getting out of postion , poor ball rec. not stacking/shedding blocks re sheppard barnett.To the op , i think ON PAPER we made a major move towards improved linbacker play. But it''s all on Pettine to make this group function well . I think we now have the talent to do well and run Mikes style of defense. very interesting pickups during the off season and draft. Go Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 It would be nearly impossible for the LB's to be worse than last year... No, not nearly. It IS impossible for the LBs to be worse than last year. I have never seen worse positional play from a unit on any Bills team in history. Historically bad play. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan_34 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 The new additions at the linebacker position will be the thing that takes this defense to its full potential. It has pained me for the last few years to watch the lack of talent at the linebacker position funnel our defense to one of the worst in the league. This year with the addition of; Manny Lawson, Kiko Alonso, and Huges to name a few, the bills actually have some talent at the linebacker position. This year the bills defense will be one of the better D's in the league. OH and decent D coach wont hurt either. Im not ready to say anything is improved until this team starts provin it on the field. Rookies are unproven commodities so not drinkin the kool aid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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