billsfan_34 Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Capco said: This was predicted years ago. It was just a matter of time. When front 7's get smaller but offensive lines stay the same size, this is what you get. Exactly! Hopefully the Bills can do the same 1
SoTier Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 9 hours ago, oldmanfan said: You may want to consider the concept of tackling. Where the defender does things like wrap his arms around the runner to bring him down, especially around the legs. Big backs frequently drag smaller tacklers, DBs and undersized LBs for 5 or more yards until they're gang tackled. We saw this ad nauseum when Jauron filled the defense with smaller, fast guys in an era where numerous RBs outweighed the smurf defenders on the Bills roster. This was also a reason why there were so many injuries to Bills players. I''m not saying that McDermott is going down that route, but the team has to be prepared to deal with power running backs. A better defensive line would help immensely. 4 hours ago, Capco said: This was predicted years ago. It was just a matter of time. When front 7's get smaller but offensive lines stay the same size, this is what you get. This is the way it always is. The NFL has often been called a copycat league. One team does X on offense and has success, and numerous other teams try to emulate that. Defenses get surprised at first but then 1 or more DCs figure out how to stop it, and the offenses find something else to try. It's an endless game of chess moves. 2
RocCityRoller Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 19 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said: To get there, I see the biggest defensive Needs this way: 1) run defense can’t occasionally randomly get stream rolled for 200 yards 2) need a really solid CB not named Tre White 3) young Tre Ed is to the defense as Josh is to the O. Will need to have taken a monster step 4) Ed will need to adapt to a less familiar role. 5) get better at keeping opponents out of the end zone 6) Force more pressure on opponent QBs, cant be in the 28-32 range in sacks 7) need to force and recover more turnovers see 1-6 above
NoSaint Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 19 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said: To get there, I see the biggest defensive Needs this way: 1) run defense can’t occasionally randomly get stream rolled for 200 yards 2) need a really solid CB not named Tre White 3) young Tre Ed is to the defense as Josh is to the O. Will need to have taken a monster step 4) Ed will need to adapt to a less familiar role. 5) get better at keeping opponents out of the end zone Best way to do 1 is have an effective offense. as much as any player, Manning was a big time part of why the colts Tampa 2 was effective and ours wasn’t. If we can let pass rushers key on the qb, and pull the back 7 out of run support, we have the makings of an excellent group. If the opponent is able to grind on short fields with a lead, it’ll be a long year.
oldmanfan Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 17 minutes ago, SoTier said: Big backs frequently drag smaller tacklers, DBs and undersized LBs for 5 or more yards until they're gang tackled. We saw this ad nauseum when Jauron filled the defense with smaller, fast guys in an era where numerous RBs outweighed the smurf defenders on the Bills roster. This was also a reason why there were so many injuries to Bills players. I''m not saying that McDermott is going down that route, but the team has to be prepared to deal with power running backs. A better defensive line would help immensely. This is the way it always is. The NFL has often been called a copycat league. One team does X on offense and has success, and numerous other teams try to emulate that. Defenses get surprised at first but then 1 or more DCs figure out how to stop it, and the offenses find something else to try. It's an endless game of chess moves. The D line will be integral to be sure. One of the things I like about McD is that his guys on D know how to tackle. The DBs especially use good technique. As much as Gilmore has thrived in pass coverage, when he was a Bill I got tired of watching him just throw a shoulder at a guy and not even try to bring him down. 3
Saxum Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 11 hours ago, teef said: scott and his hard on for edmunds continues... You confuse a hard on with a limp noodle. ...... interesting.
LSHMEAB Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, SoTier said: Famous. Last. Words. A couple of other posters mentioned the Pats going run heavy last season -- and they added another RB in the off season. The Jets have added Le'Von Bell. The Ravens are apparently building a run-first offense and the Lions seem to be trying to give Matthew Stafford a running game for the first time in his career. The Seahawks have always been a run-heavy offensive team in the Pete Carroll era. Power running backs haven't become obsolete, either. Most playoff teams have one -- Todd Gurley, Mark Ingram, Ezekiel Elliott, etc. I don't wholly disagree, but I think the Bills have enough pieces in place to improve their run defense IF Edmunds develops. That is going to be the most important factor as to whether or not the defense can get better in the run game as well as the RZ; a close second will be Murphy's health and Lawson's ability to at least get a little bit better at tackling the QB (regarding RZ D). I would have liked to see them add a Clark or a Clowney, but that ship has likely sailed. I would also say speed/coverage linebackers are fine against the majority of modern running backs IF the defensive line holds up. I'm looking at you STAR(seems ironic). I'd actually prefer speed/coverage linebackers against Bell, but he's a whole different animal. This is a pass first league despite the examples you cited(and they were good ones) so I'm perfectly fine with the "type" of LB's the Bills are assembling. We'll see if Edmunds can improve his recognition. I'm unconvinced. Rarely disagree with any of your posts, so I had to shoot my shot! Edited July 16, 2019 by LSHMEAB 1
Saxum Posted July 16, 2019 Posted July 16, 2019 19 hours ago, Flip Johnson said: 1. This June-July period has been incredibly quiet on the Bills front. Nobody has lost an arm, gotten a DUI, been arrested, run around naked, or threatened a holdout. Tyler Kroft's injury and Tyrel Dodson arrested on domestic violence charge seem to be the big issues while there was a lot of good karma this period.
TigerJ Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 12 hours ago, SoTier said: Except that the Bills haven't proven they can score "lots of points" against anybody under McDermott. They mostly have lots of points scored against them. It's why their points scored differentials have been massively negative in both of McDermott's first two seasons. Last season they not only couldn't score "lots of points", they gave up "lots of points", too. Hopefully experience helps Edmunds and the other young LBs improve. Unfortunately, the laws of physics are pretty immutable: when a bigger body smashes into a smaller body, it's the smaller body that gets knocked off its trajectory while the bigger body's course is frequently unaffected by a smaller body smashing into it. You're right on the offense, of course. The first year of McDermott's tenure was pretty much a waste on the offensive side of the LOS. Buffalo still had a starting QB who is better described as a place holder than a franchise QB. Moreover, they had an old school west coast OC who didn't have the creativity do do anything with the sub par collection of offensive players he had. They weren't terrible on offense, but they weren't really very good either. Then last year, they had a raw rookie QB behind a terrible offensive line. I don't think we saw enough to really know what we have in Brian Daboll as OC, and we haven't seen what we hope Josh Allen will become. A few flashes have been encouraging, but he's got a long ways to go. On defense, I don't think the Bills are THAT undersized. Ed Oliver is clearly on the small side as a DT. It remains to be seen how that will play of. Harrison Phillips is also somewhat undersized as a nose tackle in relief for Star Lotulelei. Lotulelei is not huge, but he's big enough, and pretty strong, while Jordan Phillips is huge for a 3 tech. Jerry Hughes is not the biggest DE in the league, but he's far from the smallest. Murphy and Shaq Lawson on the other side are fine. The only starting LB who is undersized this season is Milano. Edmunds is a freak in his combo of size strength and speed. That could change in 2020 assuming Lorax retires. The DBs are fairly average in size, maybe a little below average but nothing alarming. 1
Bill from NYC Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 On 7/16/2019 at 6:54 AM, SoTier said: Famous. Last. Words. A couple of other posters mentioned the Pats going run heavy last season -- and they added another RB in the off season. The Jets have added Le'Von Bell. The Ravens are apparently building a run-first offense and the Lions seem to be trying to give Matthew Stafford a running game for the first time in his career. The Seahawks have always been a run-heavy offensive team in the Pete Carroll era. Power running backs haven't become obsolete, either. Most playoff teams have one -- Todd Gurley, Mark Ingram, Ezekiel Elliott, etc. Lets also remember Derrick Henry and his 238 yard/4TD game. This game was against the Jags and he was knocking them down like bowling pins and shaking off tacklers. I am not saying that he did this every week but I do speculate that he would come close to it if defenses were not addressing him. A power running game (and of course blocking) takes untold pressure off of a QB, especially a young one. I hope that we have one this season. PS: Imagine how a healthy Derrick Henry would do on the Bills!!! 1
SoTier Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 1 hour ago, Bill from NYC said: Lets also remember Derrick Henry and his 238 yard/4TD game. This game was against the Jags and he was knocking them down like bowling pins and shaking off tacklers. I am not saying that he did this every week but I do speculate that he would come close to it if defenses were not addressing him. A power running game (and of course blocking) takes untold pressure off of a QB, especially a young one. I hope that we have one this season. PS: Imagine how a healthy Derrick Henry would do on the Bills!!! A good running game is absolutely a young QB's best friend. There's no way that Mahomes or Wentz or Goff would have been so successful so quickly without having had great running games to give them reliable options. Going back a few years, both Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson had tremendous success as rookies by relying on strong running games. 1
Rocket94 Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 On 7/15/2019 at 11:10 PM, Augie said: Unless you are playing the Patriots, who realize you have a bunch of 228# LB’s and pound the ball down your throat. Be ahead of the curve for once. Not the standard set, but have the guys to stand up against it. That's what bothers me the most...the run defense. Of course the Patriots will continue to employ the run until we prove that we can defeat it. 1
Pete Posted July 17, 2019 Posted July 17, 2019 On 7/16/2019 at 12:16 AM, FeelingOnYouboty said: I keep coming back to how good Devin Singletary and Dawson Knox looked in OTA’s. I think they’re going to be sparks for our offense in Year 1. I'm considering both for my last 2 picks in fantasy. With Bills D with my 3rd to last pick
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