Is the platooning on the DL philosophical or a product of not enough great players?

[Big Turk]

Perhaps it's also a strategy to limit their production to make their next contracts lower and more affordable for the Bills? If they are playing 25% less snaps, they likely are putting up less production and that means their next contracts won't be as high as others with bigger numbers. At least theoretically.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Big Turk

[BillsVet]

This whole thread can be answered using Occam's razor.  

 

Having a DL rotation ostensibly to keep players fresh isn't the primary reason for continuing to invest there.  It's primarily to support the HC's vision and scheme for defense which he's based off of working for Jim Johnson years ago.  Not saying he's duplicating the scheme exactly because the game's changed, but that's his foundation.  

 

As an aside, from 2020-2022 Buffalo was 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in total defensive spending.  They're 2nd right now for 2023 and spending, devoting about 18-19% of their cap to Edge/DLinemen, and about 13M more than last season.

 

I don't think they'll keep all 11 of their DL/edge under contract, so that number will decrease.  And at the same time, every time they invest a little more in the defense one has to consider how that hinders the ability to support Josh with more OL or skill talent help.    

[3rdand12]

On 6/5/2023 at 6:38 PM, JGMcD2 said:

A lot of teams rotate their linemen.

 

Daquan Jones snap count was highest out of all Bills DL at 61%. 
 

Quinnen Williams was highest out of all Jets DL at 60%.

 

There are a handful that have multiple guys play 80%… JAX, ARI, WAS, NYG, CIN and MÍA had 2+ guys at 80%. 
 

The hyper fixation on here about the defensive line rotation is weird. 

I just read about Jim Schwartz (one of my fav D coordinators ) talking about keeping them running full speed every snap > That is why they platoon the front 4, it  is an attacking defense !

 

[RyanC883]

On 6/5/2023 at 12:08 PM, hondo in seattle said:

I can't remember if McD or Beane said it, but one of them once stated it was very intentional.  He said that being a DLineman is fatiguing since you're battling with full effort every play.  To keep guys fresh, you need to platoon.  

 

the thing I don’t get is wouldn’t that be the same for OL also, yet they don’t platoon?  

[Doc Brown]

21 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

 

the thing I don’t get is wouldn’t that be the same for OL also, yet they don’t platoon?  

Continuity for your offensive line is a lot more important than for your defensive line.  You also expend a lot more energy per play as a defensive lineman than an offensive lineman.