Is MLB our biggest need now?

[Cheddar's Dad]

I agree that the defense needs improvement as well, but the focus might not need to be on Kiko. Certainly it's not the position of biggest need on the team. At least one person that might know a little something about MLBs agrees with me. http://bills.buffalo...dle-linebacker/

 

Perfect. Hard to argue with Brian. These guys that try to impress by talking about gaps, wills, sams etc. want the Bills to mis-position a potentially great MLB. This ain't gonna happen.

[bobobonators]

Perfect. Hard to argue with Brian. These guys that try to impress by talking about gaps, wills, sams etc. want the Bills to mis-position a potentially great MLB. This ain't gonna happen.

 

LOL. I wasn't trying to impress anyone with calling a weakside LB a Will or a strong side LB a Sam - sorry if it came off that way .

 

What I am trying to do is be realistic in my assessment of Kiko. Like I said earlier, it's hard to argue with Brian, but being Devil's advocate: How many games do you think Brian actually watched Kiko play in? Did he just watch highlights? Did he watch every single bills game? What else was Brian going to say about Kiko? He sucks?

[Cheddar's Dad]

While I share your concern over the 28th ranked run defense. I don't feel that LBer is the biggest need or weakest area, as I feel that run defense can be fixed with the current personnel. One player isn't going to change that defense from #28 to a top ten unit by himself.

 

Its a passing league right? So Pettine properly went all out for QB sacks, pressure, and rushing the passer with stopping the run a secondary issue.

 

Consider that 9 of 11 starting players on the current defense are either 1st or 2nd round draft picks. The #4 passing defense, #10 overall, #2 in sacks only got this team to another 6-10 record, same as Wannstedt

 

I have complete faith that Schwartz will fix the run game, as he cut his teeth with the 46 defense. Which stops the run and forces teams into passing situations.

 

 

Still, my take is that Bills defense was on the field way to long to be effective in some games, and were worn down by the 4th quarter. Why? Because the Bills were one of the worst teams in the NFL in sustaining drives. They were something like 31st in time of plays, 22nd in plays, and 28th in drive yards. Now granted that the lack of an experienced QB had something to do with this situation.

 

The meat of the problem was with the run game. Meanwhile Bills OC true to his word ran the hell outta the ball last season to the tune of most attempts in the NFL and the #2 overall team in rushing yards. Yet at the very same time they were #25 in run blocking? This tells me is was more of the Bills star RB's making those yards then the O line making holes.

 

All they did by running so much is they put up good stats, and lost a bunch of games in doing so.

 

When you look at the O line you would see that 3 of the 5 current starters graded in the red against the Patriots. Both LT & C are fine and need no upgrade. Even the RG might be alright with an upgrade at RT.

 

The Bills had penciled Chris Hairston to be the starting RT before he suffered a leg injury, and ultimately went on IR with an undisclosed illness.

 

In my view the Bills are desperate for upgrades at LG & RT, and could even use an upgrade at RG before they draft another LBer. Building up that O line to better protect the QB, and to actually control the line of scrimmage, and clock by running the ball.

 

If you think the depth in the LBer corps is a critical need. Think about the only backups to the O line last season were direct from the waiver wire during the season.

 

In summation think about this. If the Bills could score first and keep the lead it would allow them to really dominate with that current defense just the way it is. If they could start a drive and run the ball down the field by rushing the ball for 5 yards a pop, while controlling the LoS, and clock. That they would wear out the opposing defense just like what happened to the Bills last year.

 

Nice post brother. Those who politic for that 1st. rd. TE or WR or, in this case MLB, chosing to ignore the O-line, point to the 2nd over-all rush stat. They fail to mention the 25th position in run blocking stat. Maybe they don't fully understand what that means?

[thewildrabbit]

Good post man.

 

A concern (slight) that I have is that we've had countless D-coordinators come through here over the last few years and there has been a constant: our run Defense has been atrocious with every single one. So why would Schwartz be different?

 

In 2013, we were 28th vs. the run under Pettine.

 

In 2012, we were 31st vs. the run under Wanny.

 

In 2011, we were 28th vs. the run under Edwards.

 

All three of those lines had KW and Dareus in the middle as will the 2014 line. 2012 and 2013 had KW, Dareus, and MW on the line as will the 2014 line.

 

Common theme during those three years: horrible LB's.

 

2011 LB's: Barnett (toward end of his career); Moats (not an NFL starter); A. Davis (end of his career); Kelsay (not even a real LB); S. Johnson (not a real LB); Sheppard (not an NFL starter). That's a HORRIBLE LB corps.

 

2012 LB's: Barnett (end of his career); Bradham (not an NFL starter); Sheppard (not an NFL starter); Morrison (no); C. White (no). Once again, a horrible LB corps.

 

2013 LB's: Kiko (great rookie year); Lawson (solid NFL starter); Bradham (not an NFL starter); Moats (not an NFL starter); Powell (not an NFL starter); Hughes (strictly a pass rusher/situational player)

 

2013 was probably our best year in terms of talent at the LB spot b/c we actually fielded 2 NFL caliber LB's on the field and Hughes was a beast when asked to pass rush. That being said, Kiko's play definitely tailed off towards the last quarter of the season (which is expected from a rookie).

 

We're still short 1 legit starter on that LB unit, IMO. Other than maybe LG, I can't think of any other position on our team where the same can be said. Sure, we could use another WR, but we don't need one with SJ and Wooods. We'll see what happens with Chandler at TE. If he returns, we don't need a TE.

 

I'm looking to build a well-rounded team. It was fabulous that we were beasts at rushing the passer, and if I had to choose, I'd rather be great at rushing the passer than stopping the run in this league. But finishing in the bottom 5 of any category is unacceptable. There will be games where Mario, hughes, and KW won't be able to get to the QB and we can't afford to have a team gash us in both the run and the pass.

 

 

Yup, I know they may be listed similarly, but just LOOKING at Kiko and Urlacher, you see the size difference. Urlacher is much bigger.

A very simple reason that I already stated. Schwartz cut his teeth under Jeff Fisher who learned under the late great Buddy Ryan and his 46 defense. Which primarily stops the run first and forces the team into passing downs.

 

What Schwartz should do is have the SS walk up to the LoS to keep 8 men in the box. Lets not forget that Rex Ryan runs a very similar defense to Pettine and he was able to have the #3 defense against the run.

 

 

Jauron with Perry Fewell as DC built a Tampa Two defense that is predicated on only rushing the front four, so the DT's are supposed to be smaller- quicker players primarily tasked in penetrating thru the gaps and applying pressure on the QB.

 

What exactly Schwartz should do is have the SS walk up to the LoS to keep 8 men in the box

 

Now, Jauron never filled his defense with the proper personnel, never. Even when he had DE Aaron Schobel as a pass rusher he was never able to replace him after he retired. While he drafted Poz for the MLB spot he never found a great weak side linebacker to make that defense work, as the key theme is directing traffic to the weak side.

 

George Edwards was a complete fool who tried to make the transition from a 4-3 to running a 3-4 without the linebackers to run that scheme. That resulted in two years wasted.

 

Dave Wannstedt was also past his time as he wanted to front four to stop the run and rush the passer while not blitzing very much at all. Another wasted year on that fool.

 

Please don't equate those morons to Mike Pettine. As ole Mikey showed what this defense is capable of when the primary task is rushing the passer, and in his scheme his players just weren't that disciplined in controlling their gaps to stop the run.

 

 

As I stated earlier I believe the the best way to improve the defense is to have the offense stay on the field and complete drives, and the only way to accomplish that is to finally spend some top draft picks on upgrading that O line. Last season saw way to many 3 downs and out on the offense.

 

If nothing else the past 14 years have shown that not building a top line will result in more losing seasons, JMO.

[bobobonators]

A very simple reason that I already stated. Schwartz cut his teeth under Jeff Fisher who learned under the late great Buddy Ryan and his 46 defense. Which primarily stops the run first and forces the team into passing downs.

 

What Schwartz should do is have the SS walk up to the LoS to keep 8 men in the box. Lets not forget that Rex Ryan runs a very similar defense to Pettine and he was able to have the #3 defense against the run.

 

 

Jauron with Perry Fewell as DC built a Tampa Two defense that is predicated on only rushing the front four, so the DT's are supposed to be smaller- quicker players primarily tasked in penetrating thru the gaps and applying pressure on the QB.

 

What exactly Schwartz should do is have the SS walk up to the LoS to keep 8 men in the box

 

Now, Jauron never filled his defense with the proper personnel, never. Even when he had DE Aaron Schobel as a pass rusher he was never able to replace him after he retired. While he drafted Poz for the MLB spot he never found a great weak side linebacker to make that defense work, as the key theme is directing traffic to the weak side.

 

George Edwards was a complete fool who tried to make the transition from a 4-3 to running a 3-4 without the linebackers to run that scheme. That resulted in two years wasted.

 

Dave Wannstedt was also past his time as he wanted to front four to stop the run and rush the passer while not blitzing very much at all. Another wasted year on that fool.

 

Please don't equate those morons to Mike Pettine. As ole Mikey showed what this defense is capable of when the primary task is rushing the passer, and in his scheme his players just weren't that disciplined in controlling their gaps to stop the run.

 

 

As I stated earlier I believe the the best way to improve the defense is to have the offense stay on the field and complete drives, and the only way to accomplish that is to finally spend some top draft picks on upgrading that O line. Last season saw way to many 3 downs and out on the offense.

 

If nothing else the past 14 years have shown that not building a top line will result in more losing seasons, JMO.

 

Great post. Sorry I didn't catch your entire meaning the first time. The last 3 seasons the Lions have definitely improved in the run, going all the way from 23rd to 6th this season. Suh/Fairley probably have a lot to do with that, however, along with Tulloch in the middle.

 

 

[Cheddar's Dad]

LOL. I wasn't trying to impress anyone with calling a weakside LB a Will or a strong side LB a Sam - sorry if it came off that way .

 

What I am trying to do is be realistic in my assessment of Kiko. Like I said earlier, it's hard to argue with Brian, but being Devil's advocate: How many games do you think Brian actually watched Kiko play in? Did he just watch highlights? Did he watch every single bills game? What else was Brian going to say about Kiko? He sucks?

 

Maybe he watched Kiko more than you did. Who can know? One thing I'm quite certain of; Brian is light years ahead of any of us in being able to recognize MLB talent. Furthermore, he doesn't need to see 16 games to know what he's looking at. What else was he going to say about Kiko? He could have said nothing. He could have said he thinks the DROY award should go to Richardson. He didn't say any of that. He said what he said, I think, because he believes in Kiko. Why be a "devil's advocate"? Can't you just be happy the Bills found a really good player to play a position where we needed a really good player?

 

Regarding the issue of "thumper", Kiko was not a soft tackler last season. He hits pretty darn hard. He played at 237 lbs. But he's a very young player who is now going through his first off season training and NFL body building process. He's not likely to stay at 237.

 

Regarding over-pursuit; the Bills' D staff was amazed at his instincts last summer. If he was occasionally over aggressive in his pursuit last season, he'll learn and those occasions will be fewer and fewer as his natural instincts are modified and reinforced with experience. He racked up 159 tackles in his rookie year for goodness sake.

[bisonbrigade]

Yes, Buffalo does not have a Major League Baseball team yet. LOL

[bobobonators]

Maybe he watched Kiko more than you did. Who can know? One thing I'm quite certain of; Brian is light years ahead of any of us in being able to recognize MLB talent. Furthermore, he doesn't need to see 16 games to know what he's looking at. What else was he going to say about Kiko? He could have said nothing. He could have said he thinks the DROY award should go to Richardson. He didn't say any of that. He said what he said, I think, because he believes in Kiko. Why be a "devil's advocate"? Can't you just be happy the Bills found a really good player to play a position where we needed a really good player?

 

Regarding the issue of "thumper", Kiko was not a soft tackler last season. He hits pretty darn hard. He played at 237 lbs. But he's a very young player who is now going through his first off season training and NFL body building process. He's not likely to stay at 237.

 

Regarding over-pursuit; the Bills' D staff was amazed at his instincts last summer. If he was occasionally over aggressive in his pursuit last season, he'll learn and those occasions will be fewer and fewer as his natural instincts are modified and reinforced with experience. He racked up 159 tackles in his rookie year for goodness sake.

 

Calm down guy. I never once said I'm not happy with Kiko. I'm strictly addressing how Kiko would best be suited for this team and the new defensive schemes that Schwartz will introduce. And you act like Kiko played MLB all season this year when he was instead lining up all over the place at LB and played plenty of WLB in specific schemes.

[thewildrabbit]

Great post. Sorry I didn't catch your entire meaning the first time. The last 3 seasons the Lions have definitely improved in the run, going all the way from 23rd to 6th this season. Suh/Fairley probably have a lot to do with that, however, along with Tulloch in the middle.

Nice post brother. Those who politic for that 1st. rd. TE or WR or, in this case MLB, chosing to ignore the O-line, point to the 2nd over-all rush stat. They fail to mention the 25th position in run blocking stat. Maybe they don't fully understand what that means?

Thanks for the praise guys.

 

While I love Mack, and would like to see him in a Bills uni. It would be simply crazy to not address that O line, and offense in a big way this year.

OG,OT,TE

[NastyNateSoldiers]

Middle Linebacker is a dime a dozen position just like guards & Rb´s . Unless there is Patrick Willis or Kuechly type difference maker coming out u do not use a top 10 pk at mlb. Cj Mosely does not fit into that category. He's a solid player a little smallish and has injury concerns. That's not top pk material...

There is plenty of plug & play MLB´s in free agency. Daryl Smith would be a big pk up for us. DS is 33yrs old so he's not gonna sign a long term contract no more then a 3yr deal for maybe 5mil a yr tops. He's also coming off a big season where he showed no signs of aging with over 133tks, 4sks, and 4pks. If we can't get DS there is a 3 alternatives, players that are young 26yrs old and are coming into there primes Perry Riley, Spikes & Akeem Jordan.

P Riley would be my favorite out of those 3. He didn't play well last season because his dt's couldn't contain at the poa. Riley is a leader type player that can play the run & pass. He can be a stud in our defense and he won't cost much either. I think he fits into the value category the Bills are looking for. A Jordan and B Spikes are both 2 downs thumpers that can play the run at will and both of them wouldn't be bad alternatives

 

So with that being said I believe the Bills are gonna use there pk wisely on players that u can't just find on the street. Ot, Wr, Te and maybe even a pass rusher those are difference maker type positions that u fill via a top 10 pk in the draft.

DW has been on record for saying we are in position to draft the best players regardless of position I feel like this is the time to add difference makers.

Lets go Bills!

[Buffalo13]

CJ Mosley is overrated because he plays on Alabama.

 

I think Shayne Skov and Yawin Smallwood are better prospects, and they may be available in the 2nd-3rd round.

 

I agree that Mosley is overrated. I don't think he's as good as Ogletree or Lavonte David and those guys went later. I would net take Mosely at 9.

 

To me, linebacker is not our biggest need. Our biggest need is to develop EJ Manuel and nothing will speed that process up faster than giving him a legit weapon on offense. Be that a guy like Ebron or a WR like Watkins (who will probably be gone), I think a big, atheletic pass catcher is our biggest need. Bar none.

[reddogblitz]

While LB needs an influx of talent, our biggest hole is WR. We need a major upgrade in talent there. If EJ had the type of talent to throw to as Anthony Dalton or Colin Kaepernick, he would suddenly look a lot better.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

 

 

I agree that Mosley is overrated. I don't think he's as good as Ogletree or Lavonte David and those guys went later. I would net take Mosely at 9.

 

To me, linebacker is not our biggest need. Our biggest need is to develop EJ Manuel and nothing will speed that process up faster than giving him a legit weapon on offense. Be that a guy like Ebron or a WR like Watkins (who will probably be gone), I think a big, atheletic pass catcher is our biggest need. Bar none.

Exactly, We need weapons for our Offense. Watkins would be great if he's there we run to the podium. Even Mike Evans would be a great pk, I dont get the Hardy comparions other then the size  they have nothing in common at all. Evans is superior in route running, hands, agility and body balance. Those attributes are what separates wr's at the next level. Btw 40 times are overrated. What matters is get off (burst) that's what gets separation combined with route running and body positioning. Mike Evans will test very well in those aspects and I believe he will be our pk. Remember DW said big wins! Bills always drop a hint into there intentions leading into the draft.

If we draft Evans I would love to see us get either ASJ or Jace Amaro in the late first via trade. Remember the Bills were in the 30's when they reached into the 10yd line we need some big bodies to punch it in.

[Dean Cain]

While LB needs an influx of talent, our biggest hole is WR. We need a major upgrade in talent there. If EJ had the type of talent to throw to as Anthony Dalton or Colin Kaepernick, he would suddenly look a lot better.

 

 

I believe our needs are as follows: OL, LB, TE.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

 

Asking him to hold up for 16 games playing NFL MLB is ridiculous.

 

 

Totally ridiculous.

 

Could you imagine asking him to play every defensive snap for a whole season? Just stupid, right?

 

Impossible... How could he ever hold up???

[TPS]

While I share your concern over the 28th ranked run defense. I don't feel that LBer is the biggest need or weakest area, as I feel that run defense can be fixed with the current personnel. One player isn't going to change that defense from #28 to a top ten unit by himself.

 

Its a passing league right? So Pettine properly went all out for QB sacks, pressure, and rushing the passer with stopping the run a secondary issue.

 

Consider that 9 of 11 starting players on the current defense are either 1st or 2nd round draft picks. The #4 passing defense, #10 overall, #2 in sacks only got this team to another 6-10 record, same as Wannstedt

 

I have complete faith that Schwartz will fix the run game, as he cut his teeth with the 46 defense. Which stops the run and forces teams into passing situations.

 

 

Still, my take is that Bills defense was on the field way to long to be effective in some games, and were worn down by the 4th quarter. Why? Because the Bills were one of the worst teams in the NFL in sustaining drives. They were something like 31st in time of plays, 22nd in plays, and 28th in drive yards. Now granted that the lack of an experienced QB had something to do with this situation.

 

The meat of the problem was with the run game. Meanwhile Bills OC true to his word ran the hell outta the ball last season to the tune of most attempts in the NFL and the #2 overall team in rushing yards. Yet at the very same time they were #25 in run blocking? This tells me is was more of the Bills star RB's making those yards then the O line making holes.

 

All they did by running so much is they put up good stats, and lost a bunch of games in doing so.

 

When you look at the O line you would see that 3 of the 5 current starters graded in the red against the Patriots. Both LT & C are fine and need no upgrade. Even the RG might be alright with an upgrade at RT.

 

The Bills had penciled Chris Hairston to be the starting RT before he suffered a leg injury, and ultimately went on IR with an undisclosed illness.

 

In my view the Bills are desperate for upgrades at LG & RT, and could even use an upgrade at RG before they draft another LBer. Building up that O line to better protect the QB, and to actually control the line of scrimmage, and clock by running the ball.

 

If you think the depth in the LBer corps is a critical need. Think about the only backups to the O line last season were direct from the waiver wire during the season.

 

In summation think about this. If the Bills could score first and keep the lead it would allow them to really dominate with that current defense just the way it is. If they could start a drive and run the ball down the field by rushing the ball for 5 yards a pop, while controlling the LoS, and clock. That they would wear out the opposing defense just like what happened to the Bills last year.

You make a good case for taking one of the two OTs (Mathews or Robinson--my pick) at 9.

[4merper4mer]

Totally ridiculous.

 

Could you imagine asking him to play every defensive snap for a whole season? Just stupid, right?

 

Impossible... How could he ever hold up???

 

His play would probably decline as the season wore on and the Bills would probably rank toward the bottom of the league against the run as he could be easily handled by guards. Or we could all wish that we didn't see what we actually saw and that all problems would disappear with magic pixie dust. Kind of like Flutie.

 

Or we could move him to where he belongs and effectively get two players for drafting one. But you're right let's draft clod Evans and his 9.6 forty so we can relive the career of James Hardly.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

 

 

His play would probably decline as the season wore on and the Bills would probably rank toward the bottom of the league against the run as he could be easily handled by guards. Or we could all wish that we didn't see what we actually saw and that all problems would disappear with magic pixie dust. Kind of like Flutie.

 

Or we could move him to where he belongs and effectively get two players for drafting one. But you're right let's draft clod Evans and his 9.6 forty so we can relive the career of James Hardly.

Forty times are the most overrated in the NFL. I guess u think Heyward-Bey is the greatest thing since James Jett. Mike Evans is bigger then Hardy has better hands runs better routes knows how to use body better then Hardy. This is a very unfair comparison to Mike Evans.

[4merper4mer]

Forty times are the most overrated in the NFL. I guess u think Heyward-Bey is the greatest thing since James Jett. Mike Evans is bigger then Hardy has better hands runs better routes knows how to use body better then Hardy. This is a very unfair comparison to Mike Evans.

 

 

Gil Brandt thinks he blows as a rute runner. James Hardly did too. He was also slow. At least he only cost us a second rounder.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

He's still better route runner then Hardy, All Hardy can do is run fly routes.