Should the Bills switch to a 3-4 defense?

[Tipster19]

Between the players we have and the players that we’ll have coming up for new contracts it may be time to change the defensive philosophy. I also think that replacing and/or adding new players will be easier and cheaper to do. Looking at the current roster we already have plenty of the pieces in house. Adding more LBers will be needed but once again they should be pretty easy to find, especially in the draft where 4th and 5th rders can provide great replacements.

[Don Otreply]

What they need to do is have a plan “B” & “C” etc, ready to go when the opponent shows that they have figured out how to beat their defense, during games, and not wait till halftime to implement it. 
 

GO BILLS!!!

[Royale with Cheese]

We have been building a 4-3 defense since 2017 and it would take a complete overhaul to go to a defense never ran before by this coaching staff.

 

[BarleyNY]

20 minutes ago, Tipster19 said:

Between the players we have and the players that we’ll have coming up for new contracts it may be time to change the defensive philosophy. I also think that replacing and/or adding new players will be easier and cheaper to do. Looking at the current roster we already have plenty of the pieces in house. Adding more LBers will be needed but once again they should be pretty easy to find, especially in the draft where 4th and 5th rders can provide great replacements.

What players do you think would fit better in a 3-4? I’ve got two maybes in Oliver and Edmunds. Oliver is on his 5th year option and Edmunds is an FA. So right now we have 1 excellent LB under contract in Milano. But we don’t have another one that’s even starting level. 

 

Since we do not actually play a 4-3 - we play almost exclusively Nickel - why incorporate a 3-4 at all? when would we even want to put that on the field?

Edited February 4, 2023 by BarleyNY

[The Wiz]

6 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

We have been building a 4-3 defense since 2017 and it would take a complete overhaul to go to a defense never ran before by this coaching staff.

 

I agree, but we hardly ever actually play 4-3.

 

They are in nickel all the time so really not a true 4-3.

[frostbitmic]

Instead of fewer defensive linemen, I was thinking more.

 

If they let Edmunds walk, might as well replace him with another DT. Three DT's should help against the run and might produce a better pass rush. 5-1-5

[Buddo]

I suppose we could do. At least that would give a good excuse to use up most of our picks on Defense again.

 

We won the Division and made the playoffs with an awful lot of disruption.

 

Maybe it's time to remember that we are still a good team, and changing the way our D operates, isn't the wisest course.

 

We probably need another guy who can be disruptive on the D-Line, but much of the problems have stemmed from not having all of our best guys available when we needed them to be.

[Tipster19]

37 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

What players do you think would fit better in a 3-4? I’ve got two maybes in Oliver and Edmunds. Oliver is on his 5th year option and Edmunds is an FA. So right now we have 1 excellent LB under contract in Milano. But we don’t have another one that’s even starting level. 

 

Since we do not actually play a 4-3 - we play almost exclusively Nickel - why incorporate a 3-4 at all? when would we even want to put that on the field?

Utilize Rosseau, Lawson and Phillips as DEs, Von and Milano as outside LBs with Benford as a ILB. Draft a hog for DT and a couple of more LBs as well. We play nickel mostly so we have plenty of DBs for the system.

[Chaos]

51 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

We have been building a 4-3 defense since 2017 and it would take a complete overhaul to go to a defense never ran before by this coaching staff.

 

A 3-4-4 would be preferably to the 0-2-5 we run in the playoffs.  It would provide 1 more person in coverage and three more pass rushers. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Chaos

[PBF81]

We don't have three starting caliber LBs to stick into our 4-3, how are we going to find four.  

 

If you're going to point to Beane's drafts, good luck with that.

54 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

I agree, but we hardly ever actually play 4-3.

 

They are in nickel all the time so really not a true 4-3.

 

The reason for that is that we don't have three LBs of starting caliber.  Poor drafting has left us a dearth of talent that needs to be worked around.  

 

But Beane's doing a great job. Sure he is.

[PBF81]

18 minutes ago, Buddo said:

Maybe it's time to remember that we are still a good team, and changing the way our D operates, isn't the wisest course.

 

After all, can't argue with the D's success in the playoffs.  Oh, ... wait ...  😏

[Dopey]

Sexy Rexy is ready for a comeback. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Dopey

[Southern_Bills]

No. Just no. Maybe if you fired the DC and hired a 3-4 guy and he gave assurances that he can make this roster work. Even then he's going to want a few pieces, which in turn takes away from the offense.

 

I really wish we could just hire Jim Schwartz back in all honesty.

[The Wiz]

47 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

The reason for that is that we don't have three LBs of starting caliber.  Poor drafting has left us a dearth of talent that needs to be worked around.  

 

But Beane's doing a great job. Sure he is.

The reason for that is because they have not tried to get a 3rd starting caliber LB because they don't play in a base 4-3.  They play in nickel as their primary defense.  As I already stated.  Why would they waste a pick on another starting LB when they don't play 4-3?

 

Who have they even tried to draft to add as something other than LB depth behind Milano and Edmunds?

 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by The Wiz

[John from Riverside]

We don’t have the linebackers to run that

[JerseyBills]

Our hc isn't going to change a scheme he has been running for decades . Just need more talent getting to the passer.

It now seems Von was a need more than a luxury. An elite pass rusher like Von makes this whole defense wayyyy better. 

[phypon]

This defensive scheme requires elite players all over the field.  That's why it fails miserably at times and especially in the playoffs.  The scheme sucks and is antiquated and figured out.  It's a very stubborn scheme that doesn't work when it matters.  It needs to be scrubbed and changed.  

[Saint Doug]

2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

We have been building a 4-3 defense since 2017 and it would take a complete overhaul to go to a defense never ran before by this coaching staff.

 

This is true, we’ve been building this defense for nearly 6 years. But that in itself is an indictment of the problem. 6 years and we still have a defense that folds like a table at the most important times. I don’t know if we need a completely different defensive philosophy, but something big needs to change. Maybe it’s drafting. Our back-up players or anyone drafted not named Milano or White isn’t cutting it. 

[RichRiderBills]

I feel this defense is fine to build on. Just need to tweak some items. Adjustments. We have to stop tackling high and need a few more studs in the secondary. Obviously, we need the D-line, Miller and Jones back and tweak a couple players to get more of a consistent rush. 

 

If we had an elite penetrating DT this defense would be amazing.

 

Whatever happened versus the Bengals was a shame. I don't have an explanation for the game. Neither the poor call to give such soft cushion in coverage or why our Dline got no push against a weak OL. I felt like our players struggled for footing in the snow, whereas the Bengals did not, a fact that still mystifies me.

 

Frankly, offense has to stop turning the ball over. That puts a lot on the Defense. 

[Royale with Cheese]

1 hour ago, Tipster19 said:

Utilize Rosseau, Lawson and Phillips as DEs, Von and Milano as outside LBs with Benford as a ILB. Draft a hog for DT and a couple of more LBs as well. We play nickel mostly so we have plenty of DBs for the system.

Rosseau and Lawson would be OLB in a 3-4.