Overhauling the defense

[BuffaloBillyG]

2 hours ago, appoo said:

So as I see it the bills have 4 guys who are in good spots

 

1) Christian Benford 

 

his back to back concussions are terrifying and he should consider retirement. He looked scary being carted off.  
 

If he can come back full strength he’s a stud cover corner who can play both zone and man. The bills best cover play last night was Christian tracking Hollywood brown across the field and making a play. All-Pro potential with him

 

 2) Terel Bernard - He’s a bit undersized but love his instincts and perhaps better off at the will 

 

3) Ed Oliver. I actually thought he played well last night. He’s never going to be at a stud level on a consistent basis, but he’s generally been pretty good and consistentcy is his issue. But incredibly difficult to upgrade 

 

4) Taron Johnson. Kelce was awfully quiet wasn’t he? Don’t have to say much about him, and still in his prime 

 

I don’t know what think about Milano. Clearly 2 years off from playing has him struggling.  He’s also older now. My first thing is see if Dorian Williams can replace him in his 3rd year but that’s a high bar. You probably give Matt another year 
 

Groot, for the money he’ll command, is not worth it IMO - think you try and replace him in the draft and then also sign someone in free agency 

 

Rasul Douglas. Let him walk. As your second corner you don’t need a stud here. But you need someone better than Kair Elam. There’s gotta be a mid level FA out there 

 

Damar Hamlin - love his grit and mental side but I’d like to see him be a 3rd safety. You can actually find a really good safety capable of starting drafting at 30 or even somewhere in the 2nd round if the bills choose to move up. 
 

Taylor Rapp - on a pretty cheap contract, but he’s also a borderline starter.  You could mess around with playing Cole Bishop as your deep guy and Rapp as your closer to the LOS guy (where he’s more comfort anyways).  But if there’s someone in FA sitting there who’s an upgrade I’d grab him if it’s with a reason contract.

 

Daquon Jones. Clearly fading physically. But he’s someone you should be able to replace relatively straightforward in free agency. 

 

But if I’m prioritizing?

 

1) EDGE

2) EDGE

3) Corner

4) 1T

5) EDGE

6) Safety

7) Linebacker 

 

Offensively the bills are single stud WR away 

I love posts like this. They know everyone who should be replaced and exactly what round and where to find them...but never supply a name. They know exactly what money impending FAs "will command". Well how much do they tell you? 

 

Fill us in on all these details. It's easy to know who needs to go. A bit harder when you try and replace them with phantom players. 

[Niagara Dude]

54 minutes ago, BillMafia716ix said:

 

McDermott is an elite defensive coach. I don’t think Beane has given him enough to work with. Still missing a dominant guy on the edge and interior. They missed on Kair Elam. Beane has to do a better job on his end. I think McDermott has been forced to make chicken salad out of chicken shyt and has been successful but I think KC has proven in the playoffs that our personnel has to be better

Are you serious? McDermott is average at best. 

[BillMafia716ix]

Just now, Niagara Dude said:

Are you serious? McDermott is average at best. 

His defenses have been good enough the last 8 years. Just not against KC. Where are the elite players on this defense? 

[Billz4ever]

1 hour ago, appoo said:

For 90% of the McDermott era the defense has been fantastic 

 

This is the first year where it's been average. 

*until the playoffs which is the caveat basically every single year.

[Sojourner]

1 hour ago, MiracleAtRich1393 said:

320+ lb DT's aplenty at end of R1 & on on day 2, need to walk away with 2 of them plus a WR like Savion Williams or Jalen Royals

Sounds perfect. And for that reason, it won’t happen lol

[BuffaloRebound]

Get better cover guys and better pass rushers and play a more gambling aggressive style defense.  I’ve seen enough of the conservative reactive defense the last 5 years that provides zero resistance to Burrow, Mahomes and even lamar in the playoffs.  

[Billz4ever]

47 minutes ago, DJB said:

I think Groot is fine as a #2 edge guy. But we do need a game changer opposite of him. 
 

I’ve been asking for 5 years for a legit big man 1 tech who can stop the run and be disruptive. 
 

Can we finally address that? 
 

Hamlin is a backup and needs to be replaced and yes we need another corner or two opposite Benford . Those are my needs for this D 

 

I'm not signing Groot when the assumption is he's going to be wanting #1 edge money.

 

[harmonkillebrew]

Rosseau was good, but we need solid pass rushing depth at DE. I'm in favor of extending Rosseau and a big FA contract

DT for sure (probably draft)

CB for sure, hopefully FA and draft

We'll probably role with Bishop in Year 2

 

and still need a #1WR

[appoo]

1 hour ago, BillMafia716ix said:

 

McDermott is an elite defensive coach. I don’t think Beane has given him enough to work with. Still missing a dominant guy on the edge and interior. They missed on Kair Elam. Beane has to do a better job on his end. I think McDermott has been forced to make chicken salad out of chicken shyt and has been successful but I think KC has proven in the playoffs that our personnel has to be better

This is where I'm at

55 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

I love posts like this. They know everyone who should be replaced and exactly what round and where to find them...but never supply a name. They know exactly what money impending FAs "will command". Well how much do they tell you? 

 

Fill us in on all these details. It's easy to know who needs to go. A bit harder when you try and replace them with phantom players. 

I'm not a GM. I'm a fan who's been watching ball for a long time, and who's good at analysis. That's literally the entirely of my credentials when it comes to this. 

 

I mean we're on a msg board for fans, so I'd like to think it's ok to speculate on how to improve a defense that just got torched due to lack of talent

[appoo]

1 hour ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

His combine 40 time was 4.47 and his ball skills are good so maybe entertain moving him to big safety and bringing in some heavier and stronger LBs.

 

I;d like to see him at Milano's Will spot

1 hour ago, Sargent Hulka said:

Not going to win with a Beane picked, McDermott coached defense. Last time everyone blamed Leslie Frazier.  The problem was/is much deeper.

Elite defensive coaches don't lose playoff games in the last 13 seconds. McDermott is mediocre.

literally everyone in the AFC has lost to the Chiefs in the playoffs for every year except one since what, 2019 playoffs? So does that mean EVERYONE is average?

[Augie]

1 hour ago, 808 said:

For how much this team continues to invest in defense what makes you think they get it right this time? 
the defense has always gotten more resources but the results are what? Im not sure i trust them to put it together. It’s year 8 or whatever it is. At what point do you stop letting these dudes cook?

 

What do you want to do? Give up?

 

 I let them keep cooking for a while. 

 

 

 

We just lost to the two-time defending champs by 3 points at their place in the AFCCG. It’s not exactly a tire fire.  A giant run plugging 1Tech would be a fine addition, but the we suck theme is old and ridiculous. It’s frustrating, I know, but let’s not get too emotional.

 

 

[klos63]

1 hour ago, 808 said:

For how much this team continues to invest in defense what makes you think they get it right this time? 
the defense has always gotten more resources but the results are what? Im not sure i trust them to put it together. Its year 8 or whatever it is. At what point do you stop letting these dudes cook?

Other than Taron, not much money spent in the secondary.  

Milano is the only linebacker making decent money and I think he's worth it. 

The dline, after we release Von, will be paying two players significant money.  Oliver and Groot.

We can and need to commit more resources to the defense.

[DapperCam]

Our DBs are pretty rough.

 

- Rapp is just okay, and always hurt.

- Hamlin is pretty meh. He’s usually in the right spot but totally lacks athleticism.
- Bishop had a lot of growing pains.

- Douglas was terrible all year.

- Benford is always injured (and just sustained back-to-back concussions which is usually bad, we’ll see on that).

- Elam is not playable and probably will get cut or traded for peanuts.
 

Even Taron Johnson had a down year compared to his usual standard (likely due to the injury he got the first game of the year).

 

I’m not really sure what the answer is, we have a lot of holes. Every game had receivers just running wide open. It’s a wonder we won as many games as we did.

[BuffaloBillyG]

6 minutes ago, appoo said:

This is where I'm at

I'm not a GM. I'm a fan who's been watching ball for a long time, and who's good at analysis. That's literally the entirely of my credentials when it comes to this. 

 

I mean we're on a msg board for fans, so I'd like to think it's ok to speculate on how to improve a defense that just got torched due to lack of talent

My point is anyone can point and say "that guy isn't great". That's not being "good at analysis". That's being obvious.

 

If you are good at analysis...please enlighten me as to who is available and an obvious upgrade over what we have. Who would work in the budget. Who would be available at our draft spot and most important...how they fit the system. THAT'S analysis. You state that Groot would command big money. Gimme an analysis as to why you think that. What has he said that leads you to believe that. How much is he going to ask for? That's analysis. 

 

See that's the thing. Yes it's a message board for fans and it's nice to point out (as people have done in almost every thread today) who is an issue and should go. But a lot more goes into these types of decisions in the real world. It's not as simple as fans like to talk themselves into it being. That's the point I'm trying to make. 

[appoo]

1 minute ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

My point is anyone can point and say "that guy isn't great". That's not being "good at analysis". That's being obvious.

 

If you are good at analysis...please enlighten me as to who is available and an obvious upgrade over what we have. Who would work in the budget. Who would be available at our draft spot and most important...how they fit the system. THAT'S analysis. You state that Groot would command big money. Gimme an analysis as to why you think that. What has he said that leads you to believe that. How much is he going to ask for? That's analysis. 

 

See that's the thing. Yes it's a message board for fans and it's nice to point out (as people have done in almost every thread today) who is an issue and should go. But a lot more goes into these types of decisions in the real world. It's not as simple as fans like to talk themselves into it being. That's the point I'm trying to make. 

I have not looked at the Free Agent market yet. I have a  bit of a sense of the draft. 

 

As for Groot....Clowney recently signed a 3 year 20M contract. Groot will exceed that by a signifcant margin

[dorquemada]

At the end of the day Im not even sure it's the bodies.  The scheme just has something lacking. The fact that KC scored the most points they've scored all year against us last night is insult to injury.  It always seems like the Bills get burned most of the time when they blitz, and this soft zone BS just gets eaten up by good QBs.  I'd hoped that McDoink would have learned something from the Rams game but alas, HIS SYSTEM CAN NEVER FAIL, IT CAN ONLY BE FAILED

[Trust The Process]

OFFSEASON UFA’s, RFA’s, and ERFA’s

 

2 WR to replace Cooper and Hollins

1 TE to replace Morris

1 RB to replace Johnson

1 FB to replace Gilliam 

3 OT to replace Anderson, Doyle, and Van Demark

1 QB to replace Buechele 

2 CB’s to replace Douglass and Elam 

1 Safety to replace Hamlin 

1 LDE replace Smoot

1 RDE replace Miller (cap release)

3 LDT to replace Jones, Johnson, and Jefferson

1 RDT to replace Phillips

1 Long Snapper to replace Ferguson 

*Total of 19 players

 

7 PLAYERS I EXPECT TO RE-SIGN 

 

Hollins
Ty Johnson 
Gilliam
Anderson
Van Demark 
Smoot 
Ferguson 
 

*Hamlin has a 50/50 chance to get re-signed

Bills are currently 2.5M over the cap, but the good news is Beane can release Von Miller as a post June 1 designation that would save $17.4 million in cap space, and will find ways to create additional cap space
 

Bills potentially have 10 draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft
 

1

2nd round picks 

two 4th round picks

*projected to receive two 5th round compensatory picks for losing Leonard Floyd to the San Francisco 49ers and Gabriel Davis to the Jacksonville Jaguars

two 6th round picks 
 

Beane and company have a ton of work to do to upgrade this team

[BuffaloBillyG]

3 minutes ago, appoo said:

I have not looked at the Free Agent market yet. I have a  bit of a sense of the draft. 

 

As for Groot....Clowney recently signed a 3 year 20M contract. Groot will exceed that by a signifcant margin

In your opinion. And what do you call "significant"? 

 

Chase Young signed a 1 year $8Mish contract. Doesn't have anything to do with Groot, either.

 

He's playing on a his option year next season which is in the $13M dollar range. So that already exceeds Clowney. He won't exceed that in a longer term AAV in my opinion. If they extend him I think it's in the 4yr/ $36m-40M area. 9-10 million for a quality rotational DE is good value. 

[appoo]

6 minutes ago, dorquemada said:

At the end of the day Im not even sure it's the bodies.  The scheme just has something lacking. The fact that KC scored the most points they've scored all year against us last night is insult to injury.  It always seems like the Bills get burned most of the time when they blitz, and this soft zone BS just gets eaten up by good QBs.  I'd hoped that McDoink would have learned something from the Rams game but alas, HIS SYSTEM CAN NEVER FAIL, IT CAN ONLY BE FAILED

Scheme is built around available resources. 

 

I think in a few months people will realize McDermott and Babich very much over achieved with this particular group. 

[SoonerBillsFan]

New DC bringing in an attacking 4-3.  I get a stud pass rusher, a bigger 1 tech, and I increase the size of the LB's.