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Posted (edited)

We need depth at Inside Linebacker. With Mario, Hughes, Lawson, and Wynn - I don't know why they felt they needed more pass rush/3-4 OLB depth.

 

My opinion on that is that Lawson is a mediocre player as an edge defender (as opposed to a traditional LB role, where he's fine as a guy that can play 40-50% of your defensive snaps), and I think Wynn is more of a down lineman.

 

Another pure pass rusher is definitely a need IMO...I shudder to think what the defense would look like if either Mario or Hughes goes down for any appreciable period of time.

Edited by thebandit27
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Posted

Camp fodder. Didn't see him shed many blocks, and didn't seem to react very quickly.

Posted

He has signed - per the text from The Bills. They released Punter Spencer Roth.

Uh oh, more tools for Marrone's punter filled roster...

Posted

 

My opinion on that is that Lawson is a mediocre player as an edge defender (as opposed to a traditional LB role, where he's fine as a guy that can play 40-50% of your defensive snaps), and I think Wynn is more of a down lineman.

 

Another pure pass rusher is definitely a need IMO...I shudder to think what the defense would look like if either Mario or Hughes goes down for any appreciable period of time.

That's interesting... my impression of Lawson was formed in 2013, and it is of him being a teriffic edge-setter, and I can imagine many times when a run was bottled up inside, the RB tried to bounce it outside, or there was a quick flare pass to the flat to the RB, or a screen attempted to be run on a quick pass to a slot WR, and with the play in front of him, Lawson was able to skillfully disengage from his blocker and make a sound open field tackle. I think it was this skill alone that allowed him to see the field at all, last year, as a DE. He is about 245-250 I think, and if he weren't great at that, he would have been a major liability against the run.

Posted

That's interesting... my impression of Lawson was formed in 2013, and it is of him being a teriffic edge-setter, and I can imagine many times when a run was bottled up inside, the RB tried to bounce it outside, or there was a quick flare pass to the flat to the RB, or a screen attempted to be run on a quick pass to a slot WR, and with the play in front of him, Lawson was able to skillfully disengage from his blocker and make a sound open field tackle. I think it was this skill alone that allowed him to see the field at all, last year, as a DE. He is about 245-250 I think, and if he weren't great at that, he would have been a major liability against the run.

 

My opinion was similar to yours until the KC game last year :sick:

Posted

That's interesting... my impression of Lawson was formed in 2013, and it is of him being a teriffic edge-setter, and I can imagine many times when a run was bottled up inside, the RB tried to bounce it outside, or there was a quick flare pass to the flat to the RB, or a screen attempted to be run on a quick pass to a slot WR, and with the play in front of him, Lawson was able to skillfully disengage from his blocker and make a sound open field tackle. I think it was this skill alone that allowed him to see the field at all, last year, as a DE. He is about 245-250 I think, and if he weren't great at that, he would have been a major liability against the run.

 

I actually don't disagree with that--I think we only differ in that we're using different terminology. I'm using edge defender to mean a LEO-style defender..i.e. a 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DE. To me, Lawson is not that guy. He's a Sam in a 4-3, where he can play over the TE, cover, and play off of a traditional edge defender to contain. That's the role that, IMO, he played quite well in Pettine's D.

Posted

 

My opinion was similar to yours until the KC game last year :sick:

 

Yes, that was awful. I think his role in Pettine's D was slightly different from his role under Schwartz. I would think Lawson will be in a better position to succeed again under Rex.

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