Watching league wide LB play today really exposing how weak Bills are at that position

[sven233]

We have 2 very good LBs.  Unfortunately, both have been hurt all year. 

 

Milano is great, but can never get through a season healthy.  We've seen Edmunds be great in past seasons, but he was banged up early in the season and is just playing through it.  You can tell he isn't right.  But, he's not healthy right now and may not be all year.  Unfortunately, after those 2, we have below average depth.

 

On top of all that, our D-Line is getting abused most weeks.  Our entire scheme is based on getting to the QB with 4 guys.  There are times we send 6 and still don't even sniff the QB let alone getting home with 4.  We're missing that big force in the middle that can tie up 2 blockers and let Oliver eat.  We have old and un-athletic guys on the edge that can't get home on a regular basis.  Honestly, outside of Oliver and Jefferson, we may need an entire new group of linemen.  You combine a bad front 4 with a banged up LB group and you get what you're seeing on the field so far this season.  This defense is missing a "game-wrecker" and I don't know where you can get one right now.  I'd like to say you can get one in the draft, but that's doesn't help now.  Hopefully Beane is on the phone and can find something in the next couple weeks that can spark this defense.  All that said, our CBs haven't been able to all be on the field together healthy all season.  We have no idea how our top 3 would actually blend together.  We have issues at every level and it's being exposed.  Tomorrow may be real rough on this defense as if last week wasn't bad enough.

 

It's too bad this has to be the year it all falls apart with the offense we have.  But, until they get some stud pass rushers up front and the LBs we have back to 100% healthy, I'm not sure how it is going to get better.

[ILBillsfan]

LB play is often a result of defense line doing there job and well our D line is an issue............everything starts with the Dline

[gobills404]

1 hour ago, billsbackto81 said:

It's the front 4 that's killing this D. The LBs are being exposed because our D linemen and lack of pass rush. These guys just can't get to the QB and Hughes has been non existent all season.

Milano has been great in coverage and Dosdon has been decent despite the lack of pass rush. I'm pretty sure Edmunds and Klein have just been bad.

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

They should let Milano walk, move Edmunds outside and find another option at MLB.

 

[smuvtalker]

43 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea the depth is Dodson - who has made a few plays - but is a second year UDFA and Klein who I am afraid is finished. He was a bad signing.

Agree 100%.  I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I was pretty happy about the Klein signing...I really thought he would come in and contribute right away, like at least a 2 down linebacker, but he has been pretty terrible, to put it nicely.  One of the (very)few swing and misses by Beane.

 

Here's to hoping Beane wheels and deals and brings in a LB before the trade deadline, or FA next year, AND Edmunds and Milano heal up and get back to their old ways....

[Penfield45]

54 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

 

The Klein signing is beyond a head scratcher. Beane, your better than that.

 

Beane has made tons of poor FA pickups 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Penfield45

[JerseyBills]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Its both. They need Phillips and Oliver to improve, get Star back next year, and draft a couple edge players. If Phillips and Oliver are busts it will be very hard to fix the defense in one off-season. This assumes Edmunds is still their chosen one at MLB. They should let Milano walk, move Edmunds outside and find another option at MLB.

They're All In with Edmund's at MLB.

It's a long season. The praise he has gotten from teammates, i totally agree..

[BillsFan692]

Honestly we cant pretend like everything bean does is great. I mean finding allen was great to be sure but you always have misses and beane has his fair share.

 

I see other posters here talking about edmunds "getting back " to his great play. Like when? Edmunds play has been objectively bad since he arrived basically. He maybe flashed a few times at best.

 

Oliver hasnt looked great either but our line sucks so maybe he will get better if our line improves... that alone should tell u that oliver isnt "that guy" who makes it better. 

 

I cant remember a single game changing play the guy (Edmunds) has ever made for us so im not holding my breath on edmunds "coming along". Oliver ehh we'll see.

 

The bad thing is thats two first round picks for the the D and those kind of misses stacking up can derail your plans!  You start looking at guys like epenesa and singletary and u really wonder how good beane is at drafting but then also you have to remember nobody is perfect at drafting.

 

I think we should just be thankful he hit on Allen at this point and hope we can build our defense up over the coming years.

Edited October 19, 2020 by BillsFan692

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

There are things that can be done. Milano is excellent but Edmunds sucks. Trade for a guy that can just take over the middle of this defense and never look back.

[Buftex]

14 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

There are things that can be done. Milano is excellent but Edmunds sucks. Trade for a guy that can just take over the middle of this defense and never look back.

Chances are, Milano is gone.  He is really good...but he is injured far too often to get a big contract from the Bills.

[billybrew1]

3 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

We have good linebackers. We need them healthy and we need Edmunds back to his 2019 form. 

We need Edmunds much better than 2019 form. We need probowl play from that spot and it’s no where even close.

The from not four are really lacking as well.

No one is playing well.

Im hoping the BilLs show something tomorrow but the chefs are a pretty poor team to hope your defense wakes up against.

 

Everybody is forgetting how terrible our STs played last week.... PU.... And every year, we spend so much money on fixing them...

nutty....

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

4 hours ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Nothing can really be done this year, but I hope the Bills really focus on restocking the shelves this next offseason.

 

So I don't know who might be available or from where, but it would be hopeful if Beane could come up with a couple of guys to take a look at at LB and CB.  We badly need depth.

3 hours ago, smuvtalker said:

Agree 100%.  I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I was pretty happy about the Klein signing...I really thought he would come in and contribute right away, like at least a 2 down linebacker, but he has been pretty terrible, to put it nicely.  One of the (very)few swing and misses by Beane.

 

Here's to hoping Beane wheels and deals and brings in a LB before the trade deadline, or FA next year, AND Edmunds and Milano heal up and get back to their old ways....

 

I agree, I thought Klein was a solid pickup who could contribute at least depth, but I'm not feeling him.

 

 

3 hours ago, ILBillsfan said:

LB play is often a result of defense line doing there job and well our D line is an issue............everything starts with the Dline

 

It would certainly be uuuuge if the DL could sync up and sack up

[DCOrange]

4 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

Agreed. Watching TB/GB and asking myself “why can’t the Bills have that Buc linebacker #54 on their roster?”

He's arguably the best LB in the NFL. Very few teams if any have a player like him. 

[NewEra]

3 hours ago, Penfield45 said:

 

Beane has made tons of poor FA pickups 

Every GM does.  Literally....every.....gm.

[FireChans]

4 hours ago, gobills404 said:

Milano has been great in coverage and Dosdon has been decent despite the lack of pass rush. I'm pretty sure Edmunds and Klein have just been bad.

 

Milano has half of Tremaine's physical ability but has way better instincts and feel for the position.

[gobills404]

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

Milano has half of Tremaine's physical ability but has way better instincts and feel for the position.

He also knows how to tackle

[Fred Slacks]

This defense needs a high end D-lineman. We need to trade picks to get higher. Also corners, corners, and corners. 
 

I do think we need LB depth. But I don’t think that should be higher than DE and Corner. 
 

Edmunds has never been a great run defender. He’s just tall which helps take away some of the easier throws for QB’s. I don’t expect him to dramatically change between this year and next. He seems to fi the wrong hole on a regular basis. I am not sure he has the Instincts for that. But he does have an impressive wing span to bat down passes. 

[Thurman#1]

12 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Its both. They need Phillips and Oliver to improve, get Star back next year, and draft a couple edge players. If Phillips and Oliver are busts it will be very hard to fix the defense in one off-season. This assumes Edmunds is still their chosen one at MLB. They should let Milano walk, move Edmunds outside and find another option at MLB.

 

 

Enough with the Edmunds outside nonsense.

 

One of the few things we have seen this year is that when Milano is out, this defense is noticeably worse. They should do all they possibly can to bring back Milano. Might not be able to with their current financial situation, but it it's possible it should be done.

[Thurman#1]

11 hours ago, BillsFan692 said:

Honestly we cant pretend like everything bean does is great. I mean finding allen was great to be sure but you always have misses and beane has his fair share.

 

I see other posters here talking about edmunds "getting back " to his great play. Like when? Edmunds play has been objectively bad since he arrived basically. He maybe flashed a few times at best.

 

 

See, you're confusing your words there. He hasn't been objectively bad. That may be what you think, but that's precisely what makes it "subjective." If it was objective, absolutely nobody would disagree with you. And most of the world does, though the injury certainly has him playing more poorly than he did last year. Most of the world, including McDermott, Beane, Lorax, Jeremiah Sirles, and a host of people who know the situation an absolute ton better than you and I do completely disagree with you, and that does mean you're probably wrong.

 

And yes, Beane has misses. They all do, what with that "being human" thing. But so far his percentage is a lot higher than most. That's why they're 4-1 and a possible Super Bowl contender, something we haven't seen in decades.

Edited October 19, 2020 by Thurman#1

[Steve O]

13 hours ago, Augie said:

 

I’m afraid playing without ANY LB’s will be problematic. Our backups are backups for a reason, we were hoping not to use them other than ST. I’m generally very positive, but this is a painfully shallow position. 

Marv used to say that depth is great, until you have to use it.

[BillsFan130]

13 hours ago, formerlyofCtown said:

Another guy that knows more than Lorax.  Our LBs looked really good before injuries in the Jets game.  The thing that is missing is Star.

“In the jets game” are the key words there. Who hasn’t looked good against the jets this year league round.