Bobby Babich

[Shaw66]

Is anyone actually talking about Babich here?  I will.

 

I don't know anything about him, but I watched his presser.   I was impressed.   He's very down to earth, well grounded.   Talks clearly and freely in response to questions, without saying anything too specific or critical about any player.    He genuinely is in the McDermott cult.  He's living the continuous improvement, growth mindset thing that McDermott lives by.  

 

I thought it was clear how excited he is to see McDermott regularly in the defense meeting rooms.   He loves McDermott as a head coach, but he said doing defense is what McDermott really loves.   I'm excited to see what happens to the defense this season.   I think it will be a whole new ball-game.   It will look the same, all the same basics, but I'm expecting the level of achievement to go up a notch.  McDermott lives for that kind of play, fast and tough, and he keeps getting more of those kinds of guys.   That's the story about Bernard and Williams, for sure, and Taylor Ray and Shane Rapp.  They're piling up special athletes, even if some look like they don't fit or they're reclamation projects.  

 

In particular about Williams, he said he has a lot of the things they are looking for.   As for his size, he said the Bills are looking for football players, and that they aren't looking for people who fit molds.   He almost said that if you're a football player, size doesn't matter.  And the implication was that if you aren't a football player, size doesn't matter, almost as though was thinking that Edmunds had all the size and speed anyone could want, but it didn't matter, because he wasn't a football player.   (That's reading between the lines, a lot, but I think it's what they're thinking.)

 

And then he said what I've been saying about McDermott - that they want to put 11 guys on the field who can play all different kinds of ways.   Someone asked whether the Bills might platoon at middle linebacker, have different guys depending on down and distance or something.   Babich clearly aid no, in so many words.  He said success as a player is about repetitions, and if they go MLB by committee, they giving anyone enough repetitions.  He said they want a guy who can play whatever style they need, and their objective (platooning the line aside) is to have 11 guys on the field who never come out, regardless of the situation, because they can stop anything.   Essentially, 11 guys saying, "you cannot beat me."

 

And he said, without naming names, that because that's their philosophy and because they had Edmunds, we - the fans and the media - haven't seen any of their linebackers.  Edmunds got all the reps.   He left it to us to infer that he's not as worried about MLB as we are.  He doesn't know who it will be, and there's no timetable to make a decision, but he seemed confident that middle linebacker will not be a whole in the lineup.   I suppose he's confident because (1) he knows he's going to be picking from some talented football players, and (2) McDermott is now leading the way. 

 

[Free Speech]

58 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

That was my thread!  I deleted it after gettinf shamed by people like @Warcodered because I didn’t meticulously search beyond the second page of this forum for topics on previous threads!  
 

Clearly an unforgivable offense on this forum

[Dunkirk Donski]

Why hasn’t anyone posted a Hank Hill meme yet?

[JoPoy88]

21 hours ago, Free Speech said:

There was a thread that somehow ended up in the wind regarding Bobby Babich, so I watched his press conference. All I'll say is keep an eye on that guy. Pretty impressive. 

I said it in the deleted thread but yeah he’s certainly a very polished speaker and appears to know his stuff inside and out.

[Big Turk]

Now your gonna get it Bobby!

 

[birdo67]

18 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

Now your gonna get it Bobby!

 

Bad spelling but great reference.

[Big Turk]

17 minutes ago, birdo67 said:

Bad spelling but great reference.

 

The Price is Wrong B word!! 😂

[NewEra]

Sounds like a HC

[JohnNord]

20 hours ago, Free Speech said:

Clearly an unforgivable offense on this forum

It literally is.  I’ve gotten suspended for it!!!!

[Mr. WEO]

Is his a feel-good story that would really make me root for him?

[BuffaloBillyG]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:40 PM, Shaw66 said:

Is anyone actually talking about Babich here?  I will.

 

I don't know anything about him, but I watched his presser.   I was impressed.   He's very down to earth, well grounded.   Talks clearly and freely in response to questions, without saying anything too specific or critical about any player.    He genuinely is in the McDermott cult.  He's living the continuous improvement, growth mindset thing that McDermott lives by.  

 

I thought it was clear how excited he is to see McDermott regularly in the defense meeting rooms.   He loves McDermott as a head coach, but he said doing defense is what McDermott really loves.   I'm excited to see what happens to the defense this season.   I think it will be a whole new ball-game.   It will look the same, all the same basics, but I'm expecting the level of achievement to go up a notch.  McDermott lives for that kind of play, fast and tough, and he keeps getting more of those kinds of guys.   That's the story about Bernard and Williams, for sure, and Taylor Ray and Shane Rapp.  They're piling up special athletes, even if some look like they don't fit or they're reclamation projects.  

 

In particular about Williams, he said he has a lot of the things they are looking for.   As for his size, he said the Bills are looking for football players, and that they aren't looking for people who fit molds.   He almost said that if you're a football player, size doesn't matter.  And the implication was that if you aren't a football player, size doesn't matter, almost as though was thinking that Edmunds had all the size and speed anyone could want, but it didn't matter, because he wasn't a football player.   (That's reading between the lines, a lot, but I think it's what they're thinking.)

 

And then he said what I've been saying about McDermott - that they want to put 11 guys on the field who can play all different kinds of ways.   Someone asked whether the Bills might platoon at middle linebacker, have different guys depending on down and distance or something.   Babich clearly aid no, in so many words.  He said success as a player is about repetitions, and if they go MLB by committee, they giving anyone enough repetitions.  He said they want a guy who can play whatever style they need, and their objective (platooning the line aside) is to have 11 guys on the field who never come out, regardless of the situation, because they can stop anything.   Essentially, 11 guys saying, "you cannot beat me."

 

And he said, without naming names, that because that's their philosophy and because they had Edmunds, we - the fans and the media - haven't seen any of their linebackers.  Edmunds got all the reps.   He left it to us to infer that he's not as worried about MLB as we are.  He doesn't know who it will be, and there's no timetable to make a decision, but he seemed confident that middle linebacker will not be a whole in the lineup.   I suppose he's confident because (1) he knows he's going to be picking from some talented football players, and (2) McDermott is now leading the way. 

 

Thank you for the excellent recap. I love the point he makes about Edmunds getting all the reps and fans really not being able to see what the staff sees in the MLB spot due to that. Very good point. 

 

While it's it's only natural for fans to be skeptical about the unknown (or even worse...having limited knowledge about a player/players) these guys and what they can bring to the table are very well known to the staff. Time will tell if their assessment is right.

 

I think Williams profiles as the exact type player that McDermott wants in the middle of his defense. Good instincts, fast and physical. And when he hits someone they go down. I think that pick more than any other defensive acquisition this off season resembles what a McDermott run defense will be. 

 

Regarding Babich specifically, my best guess is that this year he will have a lot of new responsibilities. Media sessions could potentially be one going forward as well. Would not surprise me in the least if this year he is attached to McDermott's hip and groomed and readied to take over the defense next season in the mold that McDermott shows this year. 

[Shaw66]

29 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Thank you for the excellent recap. I love the point he makes about Edmunds getting all the reps and fans really not being able to see what the staff sees in the MLB spot due to that. Very good point. 

 

While it's it's only natural for fans to be skeptical about the unknown (or even worse...having limited knowledge about a player/players) these guys and what they can bring to the table are very well known to the staff. Time will tell if their assessment is right.

 

I think Williams profiles as the exact type player that McDermott wants in the middle of his defense. Good instincts, fast and physical. And when he hits someone they go down. I think that pick more than any other defensive acquisition this off season resembles what a McDermott run defense will be. 

 

Regarding Babich specifically, my best guess is that this year he will have a lot of new responsibilities. Media sessions could potentially be one going forward as well. Would not surprise me in the least if this year he is attached to McDermott's hip and groomed and readied to take over the defense next season in the mold that McDermott shows this year. 

Interesting stuff.  Thanks.   

 

I agree that Williams is the type of guy McDermott envisions in the defense.  Babich was frank in saying that it remains to be seen whether he will stay attached to receivers as well and play as physically now that he has moved up to the big leagues.