Coach55 Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 I was looking at the talent on the roster and was thinking about the following - if McDermott installs a simple 4-3 defense to allow our players to play (similar to that of Schwartz), we may have a defense as good if not better than 2014. The D-line is basically the same insert Lawson for Williams. Our secondary has been completely revamped and has the potential to be very solid. 2 of our 3 LBs have the potential to also be great. I see us having as many if not more sacks than 14 (especially with the Lorax). I all of a sudden have a glimmer of hope.
Doc Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 I don't know about top-5, but they'll be much better than the past 2 years. The defensive personnel weren't suited to a 3-4 and Ryan (and especially his brother) was a coaching disaster. Thankfully he didn't do too much damage to the DL, keeping the key players and drafting a 4-3 DE in Lawson. And I think they'll be alright at LB with Hodges, Brown, Ragland, and LorAx. The main concern is replacing Gilmore.
Johnny Hammersticks Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 I don't know about top-5, but they'll be much better than the past 2 years. The defensive personnel weren't suited to a 3-4 and Ryan (and especially his brother) was a coaching disaster. Thankfully he didn't do too much damage to the DL, keeping the key players and drafting a 4-3 DE in Lawson. And I think they'll be alright at LB with Hodges, Brown, Ragland, and LorAx. The main concern is replacing Gilmore. Also, IMO, the safety position has been grossly neglected for the past 3-5 years. Hyde is a step in the right direction, but after him? Glorified special teams players.
Doc Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Also, IMO, the safety position has been grossly neglected for the past 3-5 years. Hyde is a step in the right direction, but after him? Glorified special teams players. Hyde was a really good addition. But I'm curious to see what McD and co. saw in Poyer to give him $3.25M/year.
Gugny Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Lack of discipline and execution were a lot of what killed our defense post-Schwartz. So goes it for a D led by a Ryan (or both of them, for that matter - were we all murderers in our past lives? - How dafuq did we deserve that? I digress), I worry about the talent that left the team. A lot. But I'm hoping that some of the replacements, along with better discipline and execution, will result in an immediate and significant improvement to the the defense, overall.
Iron Maiden Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Our DL is good...potentially great....Our secondary..not so much....I might be in the minority but I feel we're going to miss Gilmore....Darby took a step back last year also.....there's going to be a lot of pressure on Hyde to step up his game.... One thing for sure, it will be better than last year....I just don't think it will be at the 2014 level....
Captain Murica Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Our DL is good...potentially great....Our secondary..not so much....I might be in the minority but I feel we're going to miss Gilmore....Darby took a step back last year also.....there's going to be a lot of pressure on Hyde to step up his game.... One thing for sure, it will be better than last year....I just don't think it will be at the 2014 level.... If the DL is able to revert back to even 2014 form our secondary should benefit the most from it. It would help hide some of the defeciencies we have this season.
Roundybout Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 The problem with judging people like Darby is that we don't know how much was scheme affecting his play (a la Mario) and how much was just a lack of talent. I think he for one can bounce back.
JohnBonhamRocks Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Hyde was a really good addition. But I'm curious to see what McD and co. saw in Poyer to give him $3.25M/year. Not that I have reason to doubt Poyer, but I also don't have reason to know why I should like him, so he and the safety position are my biggest ?'s on D. Re: the 2017 defense as a whole, I'm fairly optimistic. The starting Dline should be average at very worst. Depth there could be better, but at least we have Worthy, Washington, and Davis. I'm not too worried about linebacker because, even if there aren't perfect scheme fits, we should be fine between Hodges, Brown, Ragland, Alexander, Humber, and the rookies (digression: wonder if they'll contribute at safety at all). That's a lot of bodies to rotate in, if nothing else, especially considering there will probably be only 2 on the field 60-70% of the time. While I don't think we have a shutdown corner, there appears to be a solid top 4 of Darby, White, Seymour, and Johnson. Even if the opposing WR1 isn't completely shut down, at least we'll be able to cover their WR1-3 decently well.
Kirby Jackson Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 The Bills were #28 DVOA last year on defense (thanks Rex). I'm not sure that they can take a leap to the top 5 but I can see them moving closer to the middle of the league. The Bills will get after the QB in this scheme and they always create some turnovers. That's especially nice because they rarely turn it over on the other side of the ball. I believe that the defense has lost some talent but the new scheme will offset a lot of the shortcomings. I expect them to take a step but not from #28 to #5.
Juice_32 Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 So much will depend on T. White. If the dropoff from Gilmore to him is minimal, we could push top 10. Raglands play will also be huge.
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 (edited) Our DL is good...potentially great....Our secondary..not so much....I might be in the minority but I feel we're going to miss Gilmore....Darby took a step back last year also.....there's going to be a lot of pressure on Hyde to step up his game.... One thing for sure, it will be better than last year....I just don't think it will be at the 2014 level.... ....I'm going to guess top 10, with McD returning defense to pre-Wrecks dismantling form......he did learn from THE best, legendary Eagles DC Jim Johnson who succumbed to cancer at 68, LONG before his time.....Rivera was on the '85 Bears SB team as a LB in the 46 and did a good enough job as Chargers DC to earn HC position in Carolina.....McD comes from some pretty good pedigree IMO and I think he'll mesh well with Leslie as his DC...... Edited July 9, 2017 by OldTimeAFLGuy
John from Riverside Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 I dont think we get to top 5 this year....I would be very happy if we made 10th overall
hondo in seattle Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Our DL is good...potentially great....Our secondary..not so much....I might be in the minority but I feel we're going to miss Gilmore....Darby took a step back last year also.....there's going to be a lot of pressure on Hyde to step up his game.... One thing for sure, it will be better than last year....I just don't think it will be at the 2014 level.... Yep. I agree with the group that McD and Frazier will be better defensive coaches than Ryan & Ryan. But I don't see a top 5 secondary here.
Putin Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Our DL is good...potentially great....Our secondary..not so much....I might be in the minority but I feel we're going to miss Gilmore....Darby took a step back last year also.....there's going to be a lot of pressure on Hyde to step up his game.... One thing for sure, it will be better than last year....I just don't think it will be at the 2014 level.... I agree with pretty much everything you said , and I believe will be better against the run , we got shredded last year and pretty much sucked against the pass , the only thing for sure is our secondary will be tested ( often ) Yep. I agree with the group that McD and Frazier will be better defensive coaches than Ryan & Ryan. But I don't see a top 5 secondary here. Top 5 secondary ? are you kidding ? I'd be happy if we were in the middle of the pack to start of with ,
JohnBonhamRocks Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Top 5 secondary ? are you kidding ? I'd be happy if we were in the middle of the pack to start of with , "But I dont see a top 5 secondary here."
Johnny Hammersticks Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 "But I dont see a top 5 secondary here." Really it's TBD because no one really knows what we have in the secondary right now. What can Seymour and White do? What's up with Hyde and Poyer? What's behind those guys? I have no freakin idea.
3rdand12 Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 Nullifying the Rex affect gets back to a middle of the league D in one fell swoop.If Frazier Waufle and Co. can get their mojo workin' on that beastly line, the LB's and secondary are going to have some fun. And so are we Fans. I could see the D Line getting back to Jim's wide 9 stats.
San-O Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 I was looking at the talent on the roster and was thinking about the following - if McDermott installs a simple 4-3 defense to allow our players to play (similar to that of Schwartz), we may have a defense as good if not better than 2014. The D-line is basically the same insert Lawson for Williams. Our secondary has been completely revamped and has the potential to be very solid. 2 of our 3 LBs have the potential to also be great. I see us having as many if not more sacks than 14 (especially with the Lorax). I all of a sudden have a glimmer of hope. Has anybody seen or more importantly given a drug test to or WEIGHED Mr. Big Puff?
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