D Line rotations vs the Phins ???

[Desert Bills Fan]

For those of you who do more analyses / are better observers:

how was the D Line rotation yesterday?
Rousseau looked good - as always - A grade?

AJ Epenesa - only noticed him a couple times - like I usually do - grade B-
I noticed Von a couple times. He got some good pushes, some whiffs, and that bad Offside call. A C- grade? Some slack for first game after 4 game rest…

I saw Toohill and Ankou got time, but overall how did they do?

Jones? Smoot? Oliver?

TIA

[notpolian]

I noticed Ankou more than I noticed Oliver (who had 1 tackle iirc).

[JerseyBills]

Smoot flashed a few times,  Too hill also..Overall not their best showing. Can't wait to get Carter back. Daquan I barely notice anymore, minus 2 sacks, but he was playing all pro level before injury last year

[Westside]

Oliver disappears way too much. Ankou, a PS player outplayed both Oliver and Jones! 

[JP51]

Oliver and Jones are a problem not only in the run game but in the less than stellar pass rush. They get no push and routinely get blocked 1 on 1 easily allowing DT on our ends. We need massive upgrades there... Was watching the Colts game Buckner and I cant remember his name he wore 90... Holy crap those guys are beasts.  We do not have beasts. 

[bmur66]

No slack for VM. He is a veteran all pro. Ankou brought the juice. Oliver meh. Rousseau started well and is a force. Why wasn't he out there until the very end of their last drive?

I noticed Buckner too. Bills are going to have a tough time with Indy.

[Ray Stonada]

Problem is they put Von in as a pass rush specialist at left end, which is where Rousseau has been playing much better. So having Von back seems to make our defense worse.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

AJ only played 39% of snaps. I think the Bills will be in the market for a DE and DT.

[Toledo Bill]

13 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

Smoot flashed a few times,  Too hill also..Overall not their best showing. Can't wait to get Carter back. Daquan I barely notice anymore, minus 2 sacks, but he was playing all pro level before injury last year

Couldn't agree more about Jones... he was such a force last year and mostly invisible this year.

1 minute ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

AJ only played 39% of snaps. I think the Bills will be in the market for a DE and DT.

He is a below average defensive end.

[ganesh]

11 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

AJ only played 39% of snaps. I think the Bills will be in the market for a DE and DT.

and a LB, Safety, CB2....Yet another churn on the defense.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

12 minutes ago, notpolian said:

I noticed Ankou more than I noticed Oliver (who had 1 tackle iirc).

 

After the 2 BS holding calls, i started watching the line more, and there were several plays where they held oliver.

 

They struggled with some of the screen game, and i felt they played those better as the game went on and achanes speed was just a problem for the dline all day.  Ball was out quick so i didn't expect much pressure.  They also played LBs and S's way off the LOS and gave a ton of light boxes to run into.  Not a run stuff strategy at all, more of a stop the bleeding.  End of the day - Hill and Waddle were fairly afterthoughts, they caused a turnover, and forced a couple of short FGs which i think was largely the goal.  

[The Jokeman]

I'm not saying he's the savior but let's not forget Dwayne Carter has been absent lately and he should be back sometime this season, would I still add a veteran? Sure but question is who do we have to cut to make the roster spot?

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 minute ago, ganesh said:

and a LB, Safety, CB2....Yet another churn on the defense.

 

I don't see a reason to cut milano.  I'm not a big williams fan though as i feel like teams have been attacking him with misdirection and he's just always a little late getting there.  Not sure he has instincts to be a real player at the position. You'd be able to save 10M in the 2025 cap by releasing him, but then you're eating 11M in 2026 so there's a level of balance there.  

 

The defense is better with him there, hopefully he can get healthy this year and make some contributions so the team feels a bit better about him being a player in 2025.  

[MJS]

They need to just roster Ankou. He always seems to play well when they bring him up.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

21 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

AJ only played 39% of snaps. I think the Bills will be in the market for a DE and DT.

Yup. He's almost at the level of healthy scratch.  If Solomon was better all around DE, AJE would be last guy in the rotation.  Toohill and Smoot are already ahead of him in the rotation.  Terrible decision to bring him back by Beane. 

 

Please go get ZaDarius Smith

[JohnNord]

43 minutes ago, Desert Bills Fan said:

For those of you who do more analyses / are better observers:

how was the D Line rotation yesterday?
Rousseau looked good - as always - A grade?

AJ Epenesa - only noticed him a couple times - like I usually do - grade B-
I noticed Von a couple times. He got some good pushes, some whiffs, and that bad Offside call. A C- grade? Some slack for first game after 4 game rest…

I saw Toohill and Ankou got time, but overall how did they do?

Jones? Smoot? Oliver?

TIA

It sounds like the D-line was struggling especially when they had Eli Ankou lined up next to Austin Johnson due to the Smoot injury.  
 

At one point it looked like they tried to pair a starter with a backup and that didn’t work so well either.  
 

Other interesting I heard from Joe B is that since Avon’s suspension the Bills have been lining Rousseau up at LDE which he played in college and he has been doing much better.    He started the game at LDE and had the only sack for Buffalo.  
 

But when Von came in, Rosseau switched back to RDE a position where he’s not as strong in.  Meanwhile Von didn’t do much at LDE.  It sounds like the better idea is to put Rosseau at LDE full-time.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

32 minutes ago, ganesh said:

and a LB, Safety, CB2....Yet another churn on the defense.

I don’t see any of those positions as targets. 

[Brand J]

I’ve long said that Oliver deserved the contract extension and would’ve been the player I paid if it came down to him or Edmunds, but he needs to step his game up. He’s been far too invisible, both he and Jones. When Ankou and the rookie Carter flash more with less reps, you know there’s a problem. 

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

Smoot flashed a few times,  Too hill also..Overall not their best showing. Can't wait to get Carter back. Daquan I barely notice anymore, minus 2 sacks, but he was playing all pro level before injury last year

DQ and Austin are playing poorly.  Toohill & Oliver are serviceable but could raise their game.  Ankou had some moments and played hard.  I'm giving Groot a B and AJE/ Von a C. The Fins ran all over us and the few times Tua passed, there was no pressure. 

[mbowman14]

1 hour ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

After the 2 BS holding calls, i started watching the line more, and there were several plays where they held oliver.

 

They struggled with some of the screen game, and i felt they played those better as the game went on and achanes speed was just a problem for the dline all day.  Ball was out quick so i didn't expect much pressure.  They also played LBs and S's way off the LOS and gave a ton of light boxes to run into.  Not a run stuff strategy at all, more of a stop the bleeding.  End of the day - Hill and Waddle were fairly afterthoughts, they caused a turnover, and forced a couple of short FGs which i think was largely the goal.  

Specifically, Tua's 4th down run that McDermott challenged.  After seeing the holding call on Torrence to negate Josh's rushing TD in the 1st half, the no call on Oliver that 4th down-play was ridiculously bad.