JerseyBills Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 55BThe two most ireson is Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier. I remember after hiring McDermott I saw a video of him interacting with Panthers and Eagles defensive players during practice and warm ups prior to the game. I instantly got excited and remember thinking that this guy is the real deal. I didn't know much about him at that time but that video instantly sold me . I was extremely impressed at his approach to coaching , that he had a natural ability to coach at the highest level. He was born for this His scheme, coaching and ability to identify the right players for his scheme is phenomenal imo , as well as identifying the correct staff to teach this and i feel we hit a home run with McD as HC and Frazier as DC. The numbers weren't good last year but stats don't tell the full story in many situations. McD had to completely rebuild this defense! Only 3 starters from the Ryan defense will likely remain - Kyle,Hughes and Lorax. That's 8 new starters on defense from when he was hired, 2 seasons, pretty incredible ! Secondary S - The Best safety duo no longer resides in Seattle .. Hyde and Poyer proved they are studs and fit this scheme like a glove. I don't even think it's an argument that there is a better S duo in the league than the one in Buffalo. And the scary part? They should only get BETTER!! That was year 1 , on a totally revamped secondary , and one of the worse pass rushes in the NFL. They can be much better when you factor in all this. CB - This context is important - Buffalo lost their Top CB in FA and traded Darby who was expected to takeover as the #1 CB last year and didn't re sign our #3 CB in Robey. Going into TC almost everyone thought CB and secondary in general would be a huge weakness , possibly worse in the league. Now along with the best S duo we have a #1 that looks like he's going to be a TOP 5 CB for the next decade. To do what he did as a rookie is just so rare for a CB. Lattimore played just as well but Tre was the #1 on a secondary that had ZERO returning starters! Lattimore also had a significantly better pass rush. Both will be Elite but I think Tre will have a better career. I think Tre is the next Revis... We could have re signed but didn't even offer our #2 and 3 CB, replacing Gaines with a very very good CB in Davis. Been a #1 his whole career, if he can return to form , we likely have the best secondary in the NFL. The nickel is up for grabs but like Gaines, we didn't even try to retain Johnson, so McD feels we can upgrade both. FRONT 7 Edmunds , Murphy , Star , Phillips and my sleeper Julian Stanford are all new additions that should have a big impact on the front 7. Our only significant loss on the front 7 was Preston Brown, who we didn't even make an offer to . Reliable but average at best and consistently got picked on in coverage. We're replacing him with a rookie who should at least be an upgrade over Brown and has the potential to be a legit generational talent at MLB. Milano next to him in the nickel is one helluva combination. Lorax is penciled in as the other starter but don't be surprised if Stanford balls out and starts at some point . Depth could be a concern but Lorax-Edmunds-Milano is a big upgrade over last years week 1 starters in Lorax-Brown- Humber. Humber , Stanford coming off the bench. Finally the DL , which had zero significant losses and added 3 likely contributors in Star , Murphy and Dirty Harry. Hughes numbers were not very good but if you watch him play , he's as good as he was when he signed his contract. He just didn't have much help at all but with Star and Murphy I expect his numbers to skyrocket . We also have very good depth at DL , have two legit rota Murphy-Kyle-Star-Hughes is significantly better than overweight Lawson-Adolphus-Kyle-Hughes. We now have Lawson,Lorax , Yarborough as depth at DE and Adolphus and Phillips as DT depth. McD can get very creative with the front 7 now . Edmunds, Milano,Lorax and Stanford can all rush the passer too, McD can add a bunch of new wrinkles to his defense now. . 7
Jay_Fixit Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 (edited) So, uh, what would you say you do here? Edited July 25, 2018 by Jay_Fixit 1
BmarvB Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 You have a valid argument there.I sure hope you're right.
eball Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 I think a lot of us believe the Bills could field a top ten D this season if the newcomers perform as advertised and there are no significant injuries. I look at last season and while the run D and pass rush were not very good, the stats were just slaughtered by that 3-game losing streak in weeks 8-10. Both before and after that they were much better.
26CornerBlitz Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 Dominant? They could be very good, but dominant sounds like wishful thinking based on the overall talent level with LB still a question mark.
BillsPride12 Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 There's a huge difference between very good and Dominant... and I do think our defense is trending that way but I would say still 2-3 years away from being Dominant 1
Dablitzkrieg Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 I wouldn't put your expectations too high. Expect a gassed defense based on crappy offensive play. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong.
Matt_In_NH Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 They might have the ability to be dominant but I predict they wont because the offense wont be able to stay on the field consistently. 1
1st Ammendment NoMas Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 14 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said: I wouldn't put your expectations too high. Expect a gassed defense based on crappy offensive play. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong. This is the only fear. I think they could be really good, but special teams will have to aid in field position. If the O suffers, turns the ball over or can't at least string together a bunch of first downs, then it's going to take its toll on the D. I really hope Allen is a franchise QB.
Mr. WEO Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 37 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said: Dominant? They could be very good, but dominant sounds like wishful thinking based on the overall talent level with LB still a question mark. Maybe he meant the will be "dominate".
Luxy312 Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 The defense can only be very good if the offense improves dramatically from where they were last year. There were a lot of games last year where we watched the defense simply wear down as the game progressed, as we watched the offense go three and out multiple times in a row. I would be really interested in the statistics that show the historical relationship between the best defense and the offense on that same team. I haven't done it, but would surmise that we won't see "dominant" defenses with offenses that are near last in the NFL in performance.
metzelaars_lives Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 They SHOULD be a top 15 defense. They COULD be a top ten defense. They are set up nicely in that they can use all of their money and draft picks to bolster the offense next offseason. It's all about 2019. 1
Fadingpain Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 35 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said: I wouldn't put your expectations too high. Expect a gassed defense based on crappy offensive play. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong. This. We are likely to see two different Bills defenses this year. The first half D that is great, and the tired second half D that gives up points. 1 1
White Linen Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 We at times were a dominant defense last year. We had 10 games where we allowed under 200 yards passing and did not allow a 300 yard passer all year. Of those 10 games we lost 4 of them and had to win one in overtime. We had 6 games where we allowed under 100 yds rushing. Of those 6 games we lost 5. This is the reason Tyrod had to go and we had to take the chance that the offense can help the defense. 1
billspro Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 27 minutes ago, metzelaars_lives said: They SHOULD be a top 15 defense. They COULD be a top ten defense. They are set up nicely in that they can use all of their money and draft picks to bolster the offense next offseason. It's all about 2019. I would say they should be a top 10 and could be a top 5. If if you look at a team like the Steelers, I don’t think any of their starters would start on our team. That is a sign of a good D.
Jauronimo Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Dablitzkrieg said: I wouldn't put your expectations too high. Expect a gassed defense based on crappy offensive play. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong. Better get out the heat maps and see how ill timed 3 and outs and crush a defense. Go to the top of the building and turn on the BigCat signal! 1
CardinalScotts Posted July 25, 2018 Posted July 25, 2018 the lack of offense and the defense playing 40 minutes will be the problem at the end of games...really unfair 1
The Red King Posted July 26, 2018 Posted July 26, 2018 That's the interesting part. Despite facing all those terrible stats people mentioned above, we made the playoffs! So, even if our defense is the same as last year, and personally I think they'll actually be better, so long as our offense plays as good as or better then last year (lot of question marks, but not a high bar to cross) then this team could well ride its defense into the playoffs again. The offensive weapons get added this upcoming off-season.
3rdand12 Posted July 26, 2018 Posted July 26, 2018 slow down the run and ya got something 22 minutes ago, The Red King said: That's the interesting part. Despite facing all those terrible stats people mentioned above, we made the playoffs! So, even if our defense is the same as last year, and personally I think they'll actually be better, so long as our offense plays as good as or better then last year (lot of question marks, but not a high bar to cross) then this team could well ride its defense into the playoffs again. The offensive weapons get added this upcoming off-season. that is no place to hang a hat. dumb luck got us there. Now i was as super delighted the curse was broken as anyone ! But still a ton of work to be done to steady the ship
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