Insane Investment Into the Dline Paying Off

[billsfan89]

Looking at the 11 Bills defensive linemen on the roster and you can clearly see that the team since 2018 has massively invested cap and draft capital into it. In 2021 these investments seem to be paying off huge. Breaking down how much has been invested makes you really see how much has been put into the unit.
 

Rousseau and Oliver - 1st round picks

AJ and Boogie - 2nd round picks 

Henry Phillips- 3rd round pick

Addison, Butler and Star - all significant free agent signings with fairly large contracts 

Jerry Hughes - Resigned to a large contract

 

The only two players not fitting into the mold of being a high draft pick or large contract are Obada and Zimmer.

 

I know last season I was beginning to question if the Dline investment was going to pay off, but this off season they invested even more and it now looks to be all coming together. I can’t think of a time in recent Bills memory where this much draft and cap capital was invested into a single unit.

[stevewin]

It really is interesting the approach McBeane took - knowing the way to stop some of these high octane offenses/QBs is to generate pressure with 4 - that they decided to have great depth and rotate constantly vs focus only on 4 top starters

Edited October 12, 2021 by stevewin

[Jauronimo]

Harrison is a healthy scratch, Oliver's 5th year option is major ??, Epenesa has had one good game.  Rousseau looks like he could be the real deal and that will make everything worth it but you could just as easily argue that we have had pedestrian returns for the amount of investment in the D line. 

[Mango]

33 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

Looking at the 11 Bills defensive linemen on the roster and you can clearly see that the team since 2018 has massively invested cap and draft capital into it. In 2021 these investments seem to be paying off huge. Breaking down how much has been invested makes you really see how much has been put into the unit.
 

Rousseau and Oliver - 1st round picks

AJ and Boogie - 2nd round picks 

Henry Phillips- 3rd round pick

Addison, Butler and Star - all significant free agent signings with fairly large contracts 

Jerry Hughes - Resigned to a large contract

 

The only two players not fitting into the mold of being a high draft pick or large contract are Obada and Zimmer.

 

I know last season I was beginning to question if the Dline investment was going to pay off, but this off season they invested even more and it now looks to be all coming together. I can’t think of a time in recent Bills memory where this much draft and cap capital was invested into a single unit.

 

 

Next years DL room looks a lot different-ish. for sure.  Butler, Hughes, Harrison, Addison, Zimmer, Obada are all in the final years of their contracts

 

Hughes might be a guy who is allowed to stay around as long as he wants to play kind of thing. But he is not getting anymore $10M AAV. He will have to take a pay cut and sign short term deal.

 

I think 2 out of the 3 of Butler, Addison, and Philips are not back next year. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by Mango

[nedboy7]

Not seeing any of those absurd comments this week about how McBean doesn't know how to draft 

[First Round Bust]

smart move, you need depth for injury protection, and a mix of vet and youth, and then rotation, nice research and development...does this model work for the OL ?  

[Blank Stare]

McD has been saying he likes a rotation on DL to keep everyone fresh since he got here. With the exception of having the one dominant guy teams have to account for every snap they are on the field (hopefully that’s Rousseau in time), this is a culmination of that philosophy. While he’s been doing the rotation to some degree since he got here, now he actually has the guys to pull it off. “Whole greater than the sum of its parts” sorta thing. 

[maryland-bills-fan]

see also the thread "Are the Bills originating a new trend with such a deep D-line rotation?"

[ndirish1978]

Who is Henry?

[Big Turk]

And just think how much better Rousseau, Basham, Epenesa and even Oliver and Zimmer can get as the season wears on.

 

Oliver has been very noticeable for me on a lot of plays and it's also very noticeable that he has played the highest percentage of snaps of any of the DLineman. His time is coming...he might not ever turn into "Aaron Donald lite" but he is going to be a very good player for a long time.

30 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Harrison is a healthy scratch, Oliver's 5th year option is major ??, Epenesa has had one good game.  Rousseau looks like he could be the real deal and that will make everything worth it but you could just as easily argue that we have had pedestrian returns for the amount of investment in the D line. 

 

Epenesa has had much more than one good game. You should actually try watching what you are viewing. You wouldn't look silly with these type of comments as often.

[RyanC883]

29 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Harrison is a healthy scratch, Oliver's 5th year option is major ??, Epenesa has had one good game.  Rousseau looks like he could be the real deal and that will make everything worth it but you could just as easily argue that we have had pedestrian returns for the amount of investment in the D line. 

 

agree.  We have one standout potential so far in Rousseau.  The ability to rotate above-average talent is what makes the DL investment worthwhile.  once we shed some of the salary on Addison, etc. we may be able to get higher impact individuals.  But the line as a whole is working out, interestingly.  

[Dopey]

25 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Harrison is a healthy scratch, Oliver's 5th year option is major ??, Epenesa has had one good game.  Rousseau looks like he could be the real deal and that will make everything worth it but you could just as easily argue that we have had pedestrian returns for the amount of investment in the D line. 

I mean, if you must argue, ok. The OP said Oliver was a major investment in that we spent a 1st round pick on him. Seeing the numbers put up by this defense and more important, watching the d line play this year, you could easily argue the plan is working just fine and the investments are worth every penny. I'm seeing major returns, but that's JMO.

[RyanC883]

2 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

And just think how much better Rousseau, Basham, Epenesa and even Oliver and Zimmer can get as the season wears on.

 

Oliver has been very noticeable for me on a lot of plays and it's also very noticeable that he has played the highest percentage of snaps of any of the DLineman. His time is coming...he might not ever turn into "Aaron Donald lite" but he is going to be a very good player for a long time.

 

if these younger guys have a year 3 breakout (knox like), then we will have the scariest DL in the league.  

[Jauronimo]

10 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

McD has been saying he likes a rotation on DL to keep everyone fresh since he got here. With the exception of having the one dominant guy teams have to account for every snap they are on the field (hopefully that’s Rousseau in time), this is a culmination of that philosophy. While he’s been doing the rotation to some degree since he got here, now he actually has the guys to pull it off. “Whole greater than the sum of its parts” sorta thing. 

A rotation is great and all, but if we had any all pros on this line I think we would find that rotation doesn't apply to superstars.  Aaron Donald and Chase Young play a lot of snaps.  

3 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

And just think how much better Rousseau, Basham, Epenesa and even Oliver and Zimmer can get as the season wears on.

 

Oliver has been very noticeable for me on a lot of plays and it's also very noticeable that he has played the highest percentage of snaps of any of the DLineman. His time is coming...he might not ever turn into "Aaron Donald lite" but he is going to be a very good player for a long time.

 

Epenesa has had much more than one good game. You should actually try watching what you are viewing. You wouldn't look silly with these type of comments as often.

Haven't missed a game in years but great point.  The onus is on you.  How many good games has he had? How many great games?

1 minute ago, Dopey said:

I mean, if you must argue, ok. The OP said Oliver was a major investment in that we spent a 1st round pick on him. Seeing the numbers put up by this defense and more important, watching the d line play this year, you could easily argue the plan is working just fine and the investments are worth every penny. I'm seeing major returns, but that's JMO.

If the plan was to spend day 1 and day 2 picks amassing a bunch of unspectacular rotational D lineman then the plan f@#$ing sucks.

[Dopey]

1 minute ago, RyanC883 said:

 

agree.  We have one standout potential so far in Rousseau.  The ability to rotate above-average talent is what makes the DL investment worthwhile.  once we shed some of the salary on Addison, etc. we may be able to get higher impact individuals.  But the line as a whole is working out, interestingly.  

Interestingly, it's almost like Mcbeane had a plan and it's working. Imagine that. You're saying what the OP said, yet agree with an opposing thread.

[RyanC883]

Just now, Dopey said:

Interestingly, it's almost like Mcbeane had a plan and it's working. Imagine that. You're saying what the OP said, yet agree with an opposing thread.

 

I think the "opposing" thread was stating that the goal was to get an impact player, but didn't.  I think Bean believed that one or more of those picks, esp. Oliver and AJ would be a game changers.  When that didn't happen, it was keep drafting DL for a rotation and/or to hit on someone.  So both are correct, in a weird way.  

[Dopey]

4 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

A rotation is great and all, but if we had any all pros on this line I think we would find that rotation doesn't apply to superstars.  Aaron Donald and Chase Young play a lot of snaps.  

Haven't missed a game in years but great point.  The onus is on you.  How many good games has he had? How many great games?

If the plan was to spend day 1 and day 2 picks amassing a bunch of unspectacular rotational D lineman then the plan f@#$ing sucks.

Again, it's easy to argue the OPs thread, if that's your cup of tea. He's not wrong in any way, shape or form. Ah, yes, Chase Young and that awesome defense he mans. OK.

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, RyanC883 said:

 

I think the "opposing" thread was stating that the goal was to get an impact player, but didn't.  I think Bean believed that one or more of those picks, esp. Oliver and AJ would be a game changers.  When that didn't happen, it was keep drafting DL for a rotation and/or to hit on someone.  So both are correct, in a weird way.  

 

I think Rousseau is going to be that player.

 

He is basically Josh Allen raw on the defensive side...played one year of college football and dominated but didn't really know what he was doing.

 

Imagine how good he is going to be once he actually knows all the one and outs?

Edited October 12, 2021 by Big Turk

[Dopey]

10 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

A rotation is great and all, but if we had any all pros on this line I think we would find that rotation doesn't apply to superstars.  Aaron Donald and Chase Young play a lot of snaps.  

Haven't missed a game in years but great point.  The onus is on you.  How many good games has he had? How many great games?

If the plan was to spend day 1 and day 2 picks amassing a bunch of unspectacular rotational D lineman then the plan f@#$ing sucks.

I think the plan was to build a heck of a d line and d line rotation. Mission accomplished. Sometimes those guys who get paid to build a team know better than we do. If this is your idea of a plan that ***** sucks...

[WhoTom]

So I guess it wasn't insane, then.