Bills Defensive Snap Counts are up. I'm surprised.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Watching on TV, can't always get a sense of who is out there.

 

-Looks like Milano and Klein are platooning, with Milano's snap count climbing

-I did not see this: Wallace and Norman seem to be platooning, with Norman's snap count higher than Wallace.

-Harrison Phillips snap counts fell off a bit from last week.  Possibly they view him as more a run or goal-line defender at this point?

 

I wouldn't read too much into this at this time.  I think the Bills view Milano as the better coverage LB and quicker, a more valuable matchup in this game but maybe not in another.  They may likewise view Norman as savvier in the short passing coverage game and his lack of speed as less of a liability.  Or they may view him as ahead of Wallace - though Wallace certainly stated his case with 1 INT and 3 PD.

 

I wish someone in the media would do a dive into the Bills DL situation and how they are using their DLmen, DTs in particular.  I've discovered it takes me too freakin' long from Gamepass.

[Big C]

So is it a platoon situation with Wallace and Norman? We haven’t heard anything about that yet but yesterday was the first time we saw it.

[Captain_Quint]

1 minute ago, Big C said:

So is it a platoon situation with Wallace and Norman? We haven’t heard anything about that yet but yesterday was the first time we saw it.

They both had injuries earlier in the year and both now appear healthy for maybe the first time all year. Neither one is really that talented, so a CB by committee approach is a good one, based on the situation. Keep them fresh and give them the best chance at success. 

[GoBills808]

Speaks to me about staff having a very vet-heavy approach to a big game

 

Consistent with their overall strategy re: bringing the young guys along slower/earning their time

[y2zipper]

The corner platoon could be match up specific also, or it could just be keeping both guys legs fresh. Wallace hasn't been that healthy this year but this is the first time we've seen that Platoon.

 

I'm surprised at some of this and not surprised by some of it. one thing I haven't really seen but that I can see is true now is that Johnson is very much a player that doesn't come off the field when he's healthy. 

 

With the ends and tackles I think that there's a limited amount of guys that they trust right now. we didn't see anybody get the percentage of snaps that Oliver is getting last season. Buffalo played the platoon with star, Oliver, Jordan Phillips and I forget who the fourth player was. but they were running 52/48 in the middle of the defensive line last season. 

 

At end, Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison are obviously the past rushers, but it is really good to see AJ getting more snaps out there. It speaks to how good buffalo utilize their 2020 draft resources when they traded the first round pick for Diggs and four of the five from the second through the sixth round have played double digit games. The only guy between round two and six that hasn't gotten a lot of time is the covid quarterback. Below all that is hodgins, who may or may not make it and was an extra shot pick at wide receiver along with Gabriel Davis and Dane Jackson, who filled in and showed flashes. I think being should get some executive of the year consideration with with this class because I don't think there's a team that has deeper utilization of the 2020 rookies and is as good.

 

 

 

[Doc]

I barely noticed Norman.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

1 minute ago, Doc said:

I barely noticed Norman.

 

Probably a good thing you didn’t.

[Freddie's Dead]

Levi Wallace might have had the best play to appearance ratio, with 2 PD's and the INT.  I don't hold the TD against him, it was a ridiculous seam throw between Levi and Micah Hyde.  Good to see him bounce back from the nightmare in Phoenix.

[Rc2catch]

I don’t dislike Taron and hope he’s ok but I am happy to see Siran play. He’s like my foster Bills player I want to see succeed. 

[Hebert19]

Norman looked pretty good. 

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

I wonder if Star will come right back and start for this team.

[BillsFan130]

The Norman/Wallace one definitely surprises me.

 

I knew Norman got a few series, but it seemed to me like Wallace played more than him.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

wouldn't read too much into this at this time.  I think the Bills view Milano as the better coverage LB and quicker, a more valuable matchup in this game but maybe not in another. 

i was eating Milano cookies 🍪 last night 

 

2 for the sack!!!!

[artmalibu]

Down the stretch the more guys involved the better.  

[TroutDog]

This is indicative, to me, of McDermott’s philosophy: challenge players to be better via limiting their playing time...while talking positively about them personally. Harry was struggling physically at the beginning of the year and they sat him. He has responded. 
 

Levi? Same. 

Norman after he was body slammed? Same.

Personally, I love how he’s handling this as it is creating results. 

[Bob in STL]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Watching on TV, can't always get a sense of who is out there.

 

-Looks like Milano and Klein are platooning, with Milano's snap count climbing

-I did not see this: Wallace and Norman seem to be platooning, with Norman's snap count higher than Wallace.

-Harrison Phillips snap counts fell off a bit from last week.  Possibly they view him as more a run or goal-line defender at this point?

 

I wouldn't read too much into this at this time.  I think the Bills view Milano as the better coverage LB and quicker, a more valuable matchup in this game but maybe not in another.  They may likewise view Norman as savvier in the short passing coverage game and his lack of speed as less of a liability.  Or they may view him as ahead of Wallace - though Wallace certainly stated his case with 1 INT and 3 PD.

 

I wish someone in the media would do a dive into the Bills DL situation and how they are using their DLmen, DTs in particular.  I've discovered it takes me too freakin' long from Gamepass.

Thanks for the cool data.  
 

Milano is better in coverage than most any LB in the league.  They are bringing him back slowly because Klein is playing good football too. So far it’s  Klein for runs and pass rush, Milano for obvious coverage.   
 

Norman getting more reps really helped Levi to play better when he was out there.  Norman was quietly good.  
 

Taron Johnson’s reps might be a big deal to replace next week. 
 

Poyer, Hyde, Edmunds, White playing 100% of the snaps says a lot about their value.  
 

I like seeing Eppy getting more reps on D and on ST. 
 

 Daryl Johnson has made a lot out of his limited reps.  He was noticeable last night.  
 

 

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

This is pure speculation, but I sensed that Wallace almost got “benched” after that Diontae Johnson drop— the one early in the game where Johnson was wide Open on a crosser that would have gone for a lot. Wallace must have been a good three yards behind Johnson. Right after that, we didn’t see him for several series. 

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Watching on TV, can't always get a sense of who is out there.

 

-Looks like Milano and Klein are platooning, with Milano's snap count climbing

-I did not see this: Wallace and Norman seem to be platooning, with Norman's snap count higher than Wallace.

-Harrison Phillips snap counts fell off a bit from last week.  Possibly they view him as more a run or goal-line defender at this point?

 

I wouldn't read too much into this at this time.  I think the Bills view Milano as the better coverage LB and quicker, a more valuable matchup in this game but maybe not in another.  They may likewise view Norman as savvier in the short passing coverage game and his lack of speed as less of a liability.  Or they may view him as ahead of Wallace - though Wallace certainly stated his case with 1 INT and 3 PD.

 

I wish someone in the media would do a dive into the Bills DL situation and how they are using their DLmen, DTs in particular.  I've discovered it takes me too freakin' long from Gamepass.

 

 

IMO Milano's not being out there so much has more to do with them gradually easing him back into the lineup after injury than it does with situations. Could be wrong about that, obviously. We'll see, but that's what most commentators (Buscaglia, Parrino, the News, etc.) predicted, and it made sense to me before the game that his snaps would be up but he wouldn't be full-time yet.

 

Good post. Interesting.

[Saint Doug]

2 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I wonder if Star will come right back and start for this team.

This has got to really suck for him to watching this from his couch.

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, y2zipper said:

The corner platoon could be match up specific also, or it could just be keeping both guys legs fresh. Wallace hasn't been that healthy this year but this is the first time we've seen that Platoon.

 

I'm surprised at some of this and not surprised by some of it. one thing I haven't really seen but that I can see is true now is that Johnson is very much a player that doesn't come off the field when he's healthy.

 

 

 

Good post, but as for Taron Johnson not coming off the field when healthy, the numbers don't show that.

 

Week by week, he's been out there 48, 57, 60, 54, 37, 63, 48, 49, 44, 73, 76, 60 percent of the snaps before last week. He appears to be a guy who is almost never out there 100%, but is closer to 80% consistently.

 

 

2 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I wonder if Star will come right back and start for this team.

 

 

Little to no doubt about it. He'll see roughly the same number of snaps he saw the last few years. They went up and down a bit, but in run situations he'll be out there a lot.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Thurman#1