Is it time to grow concerned about Greg Rousseau?

[bmur66]

I want him to become the guy that makes a big game changing play when needed. (in the playoffs)

Edited May 14 by bmur66

[86poker]

I feel like people just judge DE's on one stat, sacks.

 

This guy does it all, he disrupts plays in the run game as well as the pass.

 

He could probably get 10+ sacks a year if he just gave up assignments and went all out for the QB, but that's not what he does or what we need.

[BigDingus]

3 minutes ago, 86poker said:

I feel like people just judge DE's on one stat, sacks.

 

This guy does it all, he disrupts plays in the run game as well as the pass.

 

He could probably get 10+ sacks a year if he just gave up assignments and went all out for the QB, but that's not what he does or what we need.

 

No, we definitely needed him to come up with more sacks.

 

Beane literally talked about finding players that can get after the QB, and wanted help chasing down Mahomes. That's why they went back to back Edge with their 1st & 2nd picks.

 

Then because Groot & Boogie weren't good enough, lead to them STILL searching for someone who can sack the QB, so they signed a 33 year old DE to a monster $100+ million contract. 

 

The things you mentioned are nice and all, but what they wanted & tried desperately to add was a player who could get sacks. 

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Fun fact: Buffalo has more sacks than Dallas in 2 of the last 3 years - with a lower blitz percentage in all 3 seasons.

 

GR has 17 career sacks, 30 TFLs and on 1579 snaps.  

Parsons has 40.5 sacks, and 51 TFLs on 2687 snaps.

 

On the same number of snaps that would put rousseau as a projected 29 sacks.  There's some nuance to that data, and split data won't say how many snaps are run v pass, down and distance, etc. 

 

 

Also you extrapolated the data linearly, which is a big assumption. It is very possible that GR would wear down and become less effective with that workload. Also Parsons plays LB and doesn’t rush on as high a percentage of his plays. Taking out pass drops would be a better gauge. 

 

In any event, no one should be touting an edge player averaging less than 6 sacks a year. Not as a pass rusher at least. I’ll note here that GR does a very good job of setting the edge and using his length to contain and shed blockers to make tackles. He’s just never going to be a guy who can get to a QB quickly. He’s a complimentary DE, which is okay. What I can’t fathom is why some people feel like they have to make believe that he’s something more than that. 

[Nextmanup]

His value is greatly overrated in this thread by this board, but that's par for the course.

 

 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

 

Also you extrapolated the data linearly, which is a big assumption. It is very possible that GR would wear down and become less effective with that workload. Also Parsons plays LB and doesn’t rush on as high a percentage of his plays. Taking out pass drops would be a better gauge. 

 

In any event, no one should be touting an edge player averaging less than 6 sacks a year. Not as a pass rusher at least. I’ll note here that GR does a very good job of setting the edge and using his length to contain and shed blockers to make tackles. He’s just never going to be a guy who can get to a QB quickly. He’s a complimentary DE, which is okay. What I can’t fathom is why some people feel like they have to make believe that he’s something more than that. 

 

Correct - but I don't have any split data to get into it further.  Parsons was targeted in coverage 5 times in 2023 vs. 4 for Rousseau.  I'm not sure Parsons is covering particularly often anymore.  

 

I'd agree as "complimentary DE".  He's tied for 37th in total pressures (i'm not going through all those snap counts to determine his... pressure %).  The team was also 4th in the NFL in sacks, and he gave up a lot of primary pass rush snaps to Floyd, while playing on his off side. 

 

End of the day though, the team needs Von to do... something.  

Edited May 14 by Bleeding Bills Blue

[Buffalo_Stampede]

26 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

His value is greatly overrated in this thread by this board, but that's par for the course.

 

 

 Value underrated.

[QBorBust2018]

A big year for him this year.  Many felt this way about Oliver at one point, except he was a top 10 pick vs late 1st 

 

So far I would say it’s what I expected from him. 

Edited May 14 by QBorBust2018

[Eastport bills]

He’s a long, gangly, undersized edge rusher who has not gotten meaningful pressure so far. He tips passes and chases down runners but will he be worth going all in with a 2nd contract? He needs to explode with sacks and game changing plays this year or he’s done here.

[Billl]

3 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

That’s not true. It’s a ridiculous argument and, again, it’s not even true. The first player I looked up was Miciah Parsons who doesn’t turn 25 until later this month. He’s got 40.5 sacks to Rousseau’s 17.0. Asserting that GR is an asset as a pass rusher is a sure indicator of one of two things:

- someone being disingenuous for the sake of being argumentative or

- someone demonstrating a fundamental lack of football knowledge. 

It is true, as I used the qualifier “as of June 1st”.  Also, the post literally started with the words “fun fact” and not “crucial data point”. 
 

That said, it does speak to the misconception that many have regarding how easy it is to find premium pass rushers. They are very rare commodities. 

[SCBills]

Currently, I see Rousseau as a Tremaine Edmunds type player.. but at a premium position. 

 

Which means he's good enough to get paid and I don't necessarily love that team paying him being us. 

 

I need to see more pass rush ability from him before I sign him long term to a massive contract. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

Currently, I see Rousseau as a Tremaine Edmunds type player.. but at a premium position. 

 

Which means he's good enough to get paid and I don't necessarily love that team paying him being us. 

 

I need to see more pass rush ability from him before I sign him long term to a massive contract. 

 

I see no reason why he'd get a massive contract.  0 all-pros, 0 pro bowls, and pedestrian sack numbers.  His 5th year option is listed right now for 13.3M, and i don't think he would make more than that AAV on a new contract here or elsewhere.  Gross-Matos made 9M AAV, Granderson 13M AAV in 2023, Chase Young 13M.  I'd think somewhere in that range would be appropriate.  

[DJB]

Needs to have an Oliver type breakout this year. 

[LABILLBACKER]

3 hours ago, BigDingus said:

 

No, we definitely needed him to come up with more sacks.

 

Beane literally talked about finding players that can get after the QB, and wanted help chasing down Mahomes. That's why they went back to back Edge with their 1st & 2nd picks.

 

Then because Groot & Boogie weren't good enough, lead to them STILL searching for someone who can sack the QB, so they signed a 33 year old DE to a monster $100+ million contract. 

 

The things you mentioned are nice and all, but what they wanted & tried desperately to add was a player who could get sacks. 

Thank you!  Sacks always have and always will be the greatest contribution stat from your pass rusher.  It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see we have no pass rushers currently on our roster with the skillet to stop Mahomes. I'm sorry, I remained hopeful Von, Groot or even Ep could step up but it didn't happen. Maybe Solomon pans out?, but next year we'll be emphasizing DE.

[Sweats]

 

 

I love Rousseau.......the dudes like a gorilla out there, breaking up plays, creating havoc, etc.

[Rampant Buffalo]

5 hours ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

On the same number of snaps that would put rousseau as a projected 29 sacks.  There's some nuance to that data, and split data won't say how many snaps are run v pass, down and distance, etc. 

 

 

 

Back in the '90s, the Bills had Ted Washington, NT. He did an outstanding job. He'd consume two blockers. Also, if you looked at his stats, you could see the guy was making a lot of plays! Great guy to have. But that came at a cost. The cost was that for him to play at such a high level, he could only play in about half the defensive snaps. He could have played more snaps than that--but not at that level. Same concept applies to pretty much any defensive lineman.

[kota]

no they keep taking him off the field for Von MIller.

[Brand J]

When Beane selected Groot and Boogie back to back, he later told the media “we need to affect the quarterback.” Those two weren’t drafted to set the edge in the run game, they were drafted to disrupt the opponent’s passing offense. From that standpoint, Groot has been a miss up until this point, he doesn’t rush the QB very well or rack up sack numbers. He’s a good player, but not a difference maker and shouldn’t be signed to a contract that values him as such. 

2 hours ago, Rampant Buffalo said:

 

 

Back in the '90s, the Bills had Ted Washington, NT. He did an outstanding job. He'd consume two blockers. Also, if you looked at his stats, you could see the guy was making a lot of plays! Great guy to have. But that came at a cost. The cost was that for him to play at such a high level, he could only play in about half the defensive snaps. He could have played more snaps than that--but not at that level. Same concept applies to pretty much any defensive lineman.

Off the top of my head, I know that Aaron Donald and Maxx Crosby played in over 80% of the snaps for their careers. 

[SoCal Deek]

25 minutes ago, Brand J said:

When Beane selected Groot and Boogie back to back, he later told the media “we need to affect the quarterback.” Those two weren’t drafted to set the edge in the run game, they were drafted to disrupt the opponent’s passing offense. From that standpoint, Groot has been a miss up until this point, he doesn’t rush the QB very well or rack up sack numbers. He’s a good player, but not a difference maker and shouldn’t be signed to a contract that values him as such. 

Off the top of my head, I know that Aaron Donald and Maxx Crosby played in over 80% of the snaps for their careers. 

Well….he’s contributing better than Boogie. 😂

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, Rampant Buffalo said:

 

 

Back in the '90s, the Bills had Ted Washington, NT. He did an outstanding job. He'd consume two blockers. Also, if you looked at his stats, you could see the guy was making a lot of plays! Great guy to have. But that came at a cost. The cost was that for him to play at such a high level, he could only play in about half the defensive snaps. He could have played more snaps than that--but not at that level. Same concept applies to pretty much any defensive lineman.

 

 

This is not correct.   I think you are blending era's here.  Ted Washington played way more than 50% of the snaps as a Bill.   All the Bills DL starters played virtually every snap back then.   It was expected.  This heavy rotation stuff is relatively new.   Take 1997.........they only even rostered 6 DL.   All 3 starters played all 16 games and Marcellus Wiley was the only other one active for more than 10 games.   Shawn Price played in 10 and Jim Jeffcoat 7.