Tremaine Edmunds and the run game

[Do The Reich Thing]

3 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

First off, awesome win by the Bills as they beat a good team and faced a lot of adversity.

 

While there were a lot of positives, there were also a lot of negatives.

 

One of them was Tremaine Edmunds, especially in the run game.

 

Seemed to me like there were a lot of missed tackles, not getting off blocks, and missing the holes.

 

For anyone who knows the game more the game than me, would that be a fair assessment today?

 

Go Bills, huge win at the end of the day.

 

 

The gap recognition and integrity by Edmunds is worrying. Some weeks he shows so much promise and some weeks he is downright awful. This was one of those. 
 

I’m gonna give the defense a break overall because of no preseason right now,  but they need to get it together. The Rams did whatever they wanted for most of the game. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

We all want Edmunds to succeed. I thought he had a chance to be a great linebacker when they drafted him. We have used his age as an excuse for three seasons now. 

He will never be a truly great middle linebacker. He just lacks the instincts.

They have no other options this year but they need to make a change in 2021. 

For 2021 he should be moved to OLB/edge and they should draft or sign a replacement middle line backer. I think he would be an All-Pro at OLB. 

[Estro]

Tremaine Edmunds is consistently poor defending the run.  Hes slow to diagnose and take a lot of bad angles.  The TD pass to Woods should've been a 3 yard gain and tackle by Edmunds, but he took a terrible angle and ran himself out of the play.

 

I know Edmunds gets a ton of love (physical freak, tall, young), but he has a long way to go.  I think Milano is a way more valuable LB and I don't think its close 

[DCofNC]

Oh, where are the people telling me he’s a stud?  The guy has belonged outside his WHOLE CAREER, he is playing out of position.  He’s not Keukley, he’s not Ray Lewis, he’s a joke as an MLB.

[appoo]

Lots of misdirection than the bills struggled with in the run game, but rams running isn’t why the Bulls collapsed in the 2nd half.  That would be the Rams converting down and distance and the Bills struggling getting to Goff 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

In three years not one reporter has ever asked McD or Beane if they would consider moving him outside.

[JohnNord]

I’ve tried pointing this out on Bills Twitter and was given this response “he’s only 21 years old!”  How long can you use this excuse.

 

I’m also not going to give any credence into the shoulder injury.  He missed 2 weeks, not 10 weeks.  He shouldn’t be that rusty. 
 

Bottom line, he just wasn’t very Sunday and you can argue he was the worst player on the defense.  

 

To be honest, the Bills have a HUGE decision coming up on whether to pick up his option.  Remember the Bills want to sign Allen and Milano to long term deals.  Are they going to want to pay top dollar for an MLB who performs the way he did today?

 

I do think there’s a decent chance the Bills keep Milano and let Edmunds walk.  

8 minutes ago, appoo said:

Lots of misdirection than the bills struggled with in the run game, but rams running isn’t why the Bulls collapsed in the 2nd half.  That would be the Rams converting down and distance and the Bills struggling getting to Goff 

Part of the reason they couldn’t get to Goff was because the middle of the field was so wide open and he always had receivers open.  I wonder why....

[LABILLBACKER]

3 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

I’m not sure Tremaine is instinctive or physical enough to stay in the middle. He doesn’t have to be a Ray Lewis intimidating type of presence, but he does need to be a sure tackler and physical. He’s a coverage linebacker and that’s fine, but I’d play him on the outside next season.

Over the last couple years I've seen a concerning tendency from Edmunds on runs.  Alot of the time he refuses to remain in the LB corridor and Immediately runs forward toward a hole he anticipates the RB entering. This is his weakness. This guesswork causes him to constantly get lost in the wash as the RB simply bounces out to another seam. When he stays in the corridor and uses his speed he's 10x more efficient in run stopping. I've always said he's probably better suited on the outside. Sean thinks he's his Keuckly but he's not.

Edited September 27, 2020 by LABILLBACKER

[EmotionallyUnstable]

I’ll say it again for the millionth time: I’ve never seen a LB who’s 6’5 and 245 as soft as Edmunds. He plays on skates at times. 
 

disclaimer: I don’t hate his game. I think he does some things well, but he just had no thud to him. Can’t get off blocks and I’ve never seen him run through a guard to fill a hole

Edited September 27, 2020 by EmotionallyUnstable

[BobbyC81]

3 hours ago, Mat68 said:

The Bills do what they do.  Limit total yards and scoring.  That bogus Int was the only reason LA got back into the game.  That was a lets tighten up the game type call.  Buffalo plays a bend and not break defense.  99.99 perecent of teams abandon the run and plays into Mcdermotts plan.  Mcvay is an offensive genius.  Teams dont ask the wrs to block and take off like that.  The Bills offense is offically legit.  Teams will stuggle playing chase vs our d.

Yeah, I give kudos to McVay.  I’ve seen many games where a strong running team falls behind by a couple scores in the first half and totally abandons the running game and starts passing out of the spread on every down.

 

 I know the NFL is now a passing league, but if you have a good running game, it’ll eventually wear down a defense, especially in hotter weather.

[WideNine]

Someone posted that the Mike in McD's offense is not expected to play a typical role and that is true as they want a 3-down player who can cover too. But looking at Kuechly in McD's time with the Panthers, he was known not just for his coverage skills, but also for not missing tackles.

 

We have not seen that aspect of the Mike game from Edmunds yet. I am open to being convinced otherwise. His poor positioning and arm tackling also played a role in his shoulder injury. 

 

The kid has a lot of work to do, or the Bills are going to have to re-think his role. And this has not been just a one game knee-jerk critique...we have been here before and have had our share of games where these exact same issues have surfaced then the few where he flashes promise.

 

 

 

[klos63]

4 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

First off, awesome win by the Bills as they beat a good team and faced a lot of adversity.

 

While there were a lot of positives, there were also a lot of negatives.

 

One of them was Tremaine Edmunds, especially in the run game.

 

Seemed to me like there were a lot of missed tackles, not getting off blocks, and missing the holes.

 

For anyone who knows the game more the game than me, would that be a fair assessment today?

 

Go Bills, huge win at the end of the day.

 

 

Edmunds was awful

[Luka]

Edmunds needs to put on 20 lbs and play DE. His body type makes it impossible for him to get his pads lower than a 5' 9" running back. He's excellent in coverage and with his speed he showed he's a tremendous threat from the outside anytime they put him there in a blitz package. Being young just isn't an argument anymore. This is his 3rd season and his gap integrity and tackling has not improved. I'd much rather have Dodson in the middle. Start moving Edmunds around the field. 

[LABILLBACKER]

17 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Yes but he's only 21!!!!!😅

I don't care how young he is. This is the start of his 3rd year. He's got to tackle better. With more violence. He's gotta stop guessing on holes and getting lost in the wash. His cover skills are great but he still has holes in his game. 

[LB48]

4 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

I’m not sure Tremaine is instinctive or physical enough to stay in the middle. He doesn’t have to be a Ray Lewis intimidating type of presence, but he does need to be a sure tackler and physical. He’s a coverage linebacker and that’s fine, but I’d play him on the outside next season.

Agreed.  He spends so much energy running all over the field while but not making big plays.

[RyanC883]

1 hour ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I’ll say it again for the millionth time: I’ve never seen a LB who’s 6’5 and 245 as soft as Edmunds. He plays on skates at times. 
 

disclaimer: I don’t hate his game. I think he does some things well, but he just had no thud to him. Can’t get off blocks and I’ve never seen him run through a guard to fill a hole

 

this is exactly the issue.  he is out of position as a mlb.  he’s an OLB

7 minutes ago, Luka said:

Edmunds needs to put on 20 lbs and play DE. His body type makes it impossible for him to get his pads lower than a 5' 9" running back. He's excellent in coverage and with his speed he showed he's a tremendous threat from the outside anytime they put him there in a blitz package. Being young just isn't an argument anymore. This is his 3rd season and his gap integrity and tackling has not improved. I'd much rather have Dodson in the middle. Start moving Edmunds around the field. 

 

yep.  he simply has the wrong body to play MLB.  he gets destroyed at the point of attack. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

I'll wait to actually see that he was the problem.  I have no idea whats happening on any given play, but the rams had a ton of eye candy motion which freezes backers. He probably didn't play well, but I doubt we watch the all22 and come away saying that he was the only one playing poorly during a 29 point run. Hughes, Murphy, ed... etc. They all sucked in this game 

[Sharky7337]

This was a tough game. The rams depend on screens and play action. Before they gashed us with the run we played more disciplined. But once they busted off a few it got the linebackers to bite more on the run and opened it up.

 

I think with a full week after the injuries and some more reps after being out they will improve.

 

But ya hes not as strong as his draft position would indicate he should be

[BullBuchanan]

Edmunds was getting caught in garbage at the line a lot today, and I've seen it since he was a rookie.

[Penfield45]

4 hours ago, Process said:

Bills 100% should draft a MLB first round next year and move Tre outside. Upgrade two linebacker spots with one move. And don't have to dish out a huge contract to Milano. 

 

Edmunds as a MLB is horrendous.

 

lol right now I’d keep Milano over edmunds . He’s by far the better player 

 

Edmunds has a lot of work to do