Front Seven projections?

[aristocrat]

I’m cautiously optimistic we could have about the number 10 defense in the league. Being able to actually stop the run should get us there. 

[swnybillsfan]

1 hour ago, John from Riverside said:

I think he is with us one more year

 

Lorax is extremely versitle.

also a huge character guy, mentor, leader, and definitely a "coach on the field". i like having this guy on the team. 

[thebandit27]

2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Hughes, Star, Kyle, Murphy

Alexander, Edmunds, Milano

 

Only way this gets better is if they sign Bowman and move Edmunds to Sam 

[TigerJ]

Hughes - Lotulilei - K. Williams - Murphy

Alexander - Edmunds - Milano

 

While those are the starters, the Bills  are going to use a robust rotation with Shaq Lawson and Harrison Phillips getting a lot of reps on the line (and others to a lesser extent.  On likely passing plays I think Alexander gets pulled in favor of the extra DB, and the Bills are going to try and sub in some other more athletic players, especially for Alexander.  Thus while Alexander might technically be a starter, he could end up with only in the range of 20% of the defensive snaps.  Milano and Edmunds will be 3 down backers, who come out for rest on occasion.

[3rdand12]

6 hours ago, Misterbluesky said:

If Alexander is a starter next September,that will be a problem.The second big wave of releases will be happening soon...we will get another olb...one year deal.

yes please

 If we are relying on Milano as  a starter i have concerns. No knock on him, but i feel he also like Alexander are package players.

 Very very  good situational guys.
 FA needs to drop a couple players for the Bills.
But i sure as heck bet Bills can stop the run this year !!

6 hours ago, Blokestradamus said:

 

I think this is probably how the majority of the snaps shake out. I am interested in how they use Murphy/Hughes on obvious run downs and what kind of role Shaq plays.

all the above

6 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

I think he is with us one more year

 

Lorax is extremely versitle.

I think it is suggested he is a 3 -4  down player. I agree that he should be situational/ rotational player.

 

again , he is a smart player more than a fearsome athlete . But he can get after the ball. and should play that role imho

[Mat68]

Hughes  lotuliea  williams  murphy

  Alexander   edmunds   milano

 

Outside of trading Lawson for a LB, i dont see any changes.  Humber could take the spot from Alexander if they see him as a special teamer and pass rush specialist.  

[Doc]

7 hours ago, 3rdand12 said:

yes please

 If we are relying on Milano as  a starter i have concerns. No knock on him, but i feel he also like Alexander are package players.

 Very very  good situational guys.
 FA needs to drop a couple players for the Bills.
But i sure as heck bet Bills can stop the run this year !!

all the above

I think it is suggested he is a 3 -4  down player. I agree that he should be situational/ rotational player.

 

again , he is a smart player more than a fearsome athlete . But he can get after the ball. and should play that role imho

 

Milano started the final 5 games at WLB last season.  Maybe that was by necessity, but given that they signed/drafted no one to compete with him, I think they like him a lot and I'm sure he's pencilled-in as the starter there again, and I'm fine with that and excited to see what he can do this year.  I've heard he's a hard worker so I'm sure that he hit the weight room hard over the off-season and added strength, if not weight, to the 223# frame he played at last year.  And having his rookie season behind him/a year to learn the system will help a lot as well.  I see him as a 3-down player with Edmunds, and LorAx as being a 2-down player at best. That still doesn't mean they won't look to add players to the LB corps (the DL and secondary are set, IMHO), but I doubt you're going to find someone now to seriously challenge any of them. 

[Green Lightning]

15 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Hughes, Star, Kyle, Murphy

Alexander, Edmunds, Milano

These are who will start, but there's going to be such a heavy rotation on the D-line, it almost doesn't matter who starts. LBs are still the weak link.

[ghostwriter]

Murphy, Lotulelei, Phillips, Hughes

Neal, Edmunds, Milano

 

Kyle and Lorax rotate in on occasion.

[NeverOutNick]

How awesome is it that we have real options on the line! I love the Bills depth at pass rusher and DT now:

 

DT: Kyle Williams, Star Lotouleli, Harrison Phillips, Adolphus Washington

 

Pass Rush: Jerry Hughes, Shaw Lawson, Trent Murphy, Lorenzo Alexander

 

Having Edmunds in the middle on 3 downs and our surprise of last season Nick Milano at WLB the Bills front seven is going to be sick especially with our already top secondary (Tre White, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and Vonte Davis). 

 

Go Bills!

[thurst44]

18 hours ago, Misterbluesky said:

If Alexander is a starter next September,that will be a problem.The second big wave of releases will be happening soon...we will get another olb...one year deal.

Not necessarily. He looked very solid in the last few games and great in the playoff game, so I think calling it a "problem" is an exaggeration, but at 35, yes, it should be a concern. 

Edited May 5, 2018 by thurst44
wishful thinking, i guess :)

[JerseyBills]

I'm very optimistic and like you said, will make our back 7 that much better.

Hoping Adolphus and Shaq step up and reach their potential and we got a great rotation on our hands..

[Doc]

2 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

I'm very optimistic and like you said, will make our back 7 that much better.

Hoping Adolphus and Shaq step up and reach their potential and we got a great rotation on our hands..

I think Adolphus is what he's shown, which is very little. 

[MrEpsYtown]

1 hour ago, NewDayBills said:

Murphy, Lotulelei, Phillips, Hughes

Neal, Edmunds, Milano

 

Kyle and Lorax rotate in on occasion.

 

They will not be playing a 200 lb safety at SAM. I like Neal, but he does not have the size or length to play there. I think he could be a sub package backer, but won't play there in base imo. I also think Kyle definitely starts. 

[thurst44]

2 hours ago, Green Lightning said:

These are who will start, but there's going to be such a heavy rotation on the D-line, it almost doesn't matter who starts. LBs are still the weak link.

LBs are the weakest part of the defense, but if Edmunds has a quick NFL learning curve, Lorax plays like he did in 2016 and playoff game (admittedly a big "if" at 35), Milano continues to improve, Humber is ok as a 4th, they might not be a liability. I'd still love them to pick up another player and there's a few decent LBs out there.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

34 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

They will not be playing a 200 lb safety at SAM. I like Neal, but he does not have the size or length to play there. I think he could be a sub package backer, but won't play there in base imo. I also think Kyle definitely starts. 

 

 

...do you think the overall menu via starters and rotational backups is strongly promising (sure on paper) so far?...............

[MrEpsYtown]

4 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

...do you think the overall menu via starters and rotational backups is strongly promising (sure on paper) so far?...............

 

I think it is promising. I like the secondary a lot. I like Neal and I think the Johnson kid is interesting. Gaines seems to have some upside as well. The Bush signing assures we won't be playing a street FA safeties like Shamarko Thomas or Trae Elston in critical spots. However, if any of our four starters get hurt, we are still in a pretty risky spot. 

 

I love Edmunds and Milano. That SAM spot is meh. I mean Lorax was bad there and there is pretty much no one else on the roster to play there. We could sign a MIkE and play Edmunds there, but I hate that idea. The Saints did is with AJ Klein last year. He was the Sam in base sets and moved to Mike in Nickel and Dime sets. I don't like the idea of asking a raw rookie to do that. I want to plug Edmunds in at Mike for the next 10-12 years and never look back. I think it makes some sense to add a grizzled vet there. Bowman, Dansby, Cushing (he can certainly help Edmunds bulk up ). Essentially our Sam is only going to play about 30-40 percent of the snaps as a two down player like Lorax did last year, so it's likely they just stick with him. Not sure I love that idea though. 

 

Dline im good with the four defensive ends but I still think we might struggle to create pressure up the middle with only Kyle as a penetrator. Hopefully Phillips can do some of that as well.  I think guys like Lawson or even Lorax  are going to have to rush on guards in sub packages. I kind of wish Washington was better and Palepoi is JAG. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

5 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I think it is promising. I like the secondary a lot. I like Neal and I think the Johnson kid is interesting. Gaines seems to have some upside as well. The Bush signing assures we won't be playing a street FA safeties like Shamarko Thomas or Trae Elston in critical spots. However, if any of our four starters get hurt, we are still in a pretty risky spot. 

 

I love Edmunds and Milano. That SAM spot is meh. I mean Lorax was bad there and there is pretty much no one else on the roster to play there. We could sign a MIkE and play Edmunds there, but I hate that idea. The Saints did is with AJ Klein last year. He was the Sam in base sets and moved to Mike in Nickel and Dime sets. I don't like the idea of asking a raw rookie to do that. I want to plug Edmunds in at Mike for the next 10-12 years and never look back. I think it makes some sense to add a grizzled vet there. Bowman, Dansby, Cushing (he can certainly help Edmunds bulk up ). Essentially our Sam is only going to play about 30-40 percent of the snaps as a two down player like Lorax did last year, so it's likely they just stick with him. Not sure I love that idea though. 

 

Dline im good with the four defensive ends but I still think we might struggle to create pressure up the middle with only Kyle as a penetrator. Hopefully Phillips can do some of that as well.  I think guys like Lawson or even Lorax  are going to have to rush on guards in sub packages. I kind of wish Washington was better and Palepoi is JAG. 

 

 

 

...appreciate the in depth assessment....

[Watkins101]

1 hour ago, NeverOutNick said:

How awesome is it that we have real options on the line! I love the Bills depth at pass rusher and DT now:

 

DT: Kyle Williams, Star Lotouleli, Harrison Phillips, Adolphus Washington

 

Pass Rush: Jerry Hughes, Shaw Lawson, Trent Murphy, Lorenzo Alexander

 

Having Edmunds in the middle on 3 downs and our surprise of last season Nick Milano at WLB the Bills front seven is going to be sick especially with our already top secondary (Tre White, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and Vonte Davis). 

 

Go Bills!

Nick Milano? That's a new one.

[MrEpsYtown]

12 minutes ago, Watkins101 said:

Nick Milano? That's a new one.

Honestly he looks more like a Nick than a Matt.