2006 Bill's Defensive Tackle rotation

[AKC]

Last year at this time I was predicting a drop of 10 to 15 spots league-wide by our run defense based upon the players we had rostered at DT in 2005. The good news is that we didn’t end up last season high enough in run defense for a similar fall this year.

 

 

Our scheme this year that asks for our DTs to get into the middle of running plays before they get a chance to develop instead of shutting down runners already hitting the LOS. One of the keys to playing the new scheme was management bringing in Larry Triplett, a guy who played all but one of his four seasons under Cover 2 Valedictorian Tony Dungy. Tripplett was one of the expendable members of the Indy interior since it’s first of all reliant upon regular rotation among DTs but also because they’re depth is so good that Corey Simon doesn’t even crack their starting roster. Let me promise you that in Buffalo Simon would be on the field from our first defensive snap if we had him on our roster.

 

So the strategy at OBD was to bring in a guy versed in the defense to make the line calls. And Tripplett has proved to have an authoritative voice along the line in our defense doing just that. That said, while I hate to question a player after just our first Pre-season game, I have one major concern about Tripplett based upon that performance Saturday.

 

In the first two offensive series I have some reservations making too much of our 1st team D against a Carolina Offense that came out like they’d never ended the ’05 season. Fully in synch as a unit, their short passes were coming out right on the drop step they were designed for. They doubled our interior linemen on most passing plays and gave little opportunity for the DT’s to penetrate enough to affect 3 and 5-step passes. There was an exception on the third Panther offensive play of the game when Tripplett got a single team by the Carolina RG. Tripplett showed what is attractive about his game, getting off the snap first and gaining leverage on the blocker- pushing the Guard back nearly into Delhomme’s feet on a 5-Step drop. While the ball got out it’s the type of play that DE’s make their living on- a QB with nowhere to move up standing behind his OTs protection. It was definitely Tripplett’s game highlight and would have resulted in a sideline throwaway or sack if there’d been decent downfield coverage.

 

Shortly thereafter though as the game wore on, it sure looked like Tripplett tuckered out. By the 3rd series where Kyle Williams was showing off his gears, there was virtually no help coming from #98 on William’s side. My conclusion from watching all of his plays against Carolina is that Tripplett is not at this time in appropriate condition to face the number of snaps our team has him slated to play in 2006.

 

McCargo in his first outing looked an awful lot like the prototypical “work in progress”; playing too high, drawing little blocking attention and having little impact on the game around him. On his few plays with promise he used his upper body strength well- and he appears to have plenty of it. McCargo has a lot of work to do to coordinate using his body and arms together effectively, and until he does he won’t be much of a rushing threat at this level.

 

Kyle Williams on the other hand and as widely reported does play a hi-intensity game and has no problem at all playing low. His skill set is best at the nose where he can disrupt opponent running plays by putting 2-3 bodies down right in the middle of the field, allowing the speed on the balance of our defense to take out a running back trying to avoid that mess in the middle. Williams also looks as if he’ll be an asset on passing downs since he’s always moving forward, even if it’s on his hands and knees. Another day like that Friday and he’ll cement his starting role. And if it wasn’t clear to our coaching staff before the Panther game, let’s drop the stunts when Kyle is on the field; he’s a point of attack player whose skills are wasted if he’s forced to move laterally down the line or around another Bill.

 

Tim Anderson remains hard to project out as anything more than a member of the interior rotation, and down the list. Physically he simply doesn’t have the wingspan to clear himself room to get upfield, and perhaps even worse he’s very easy for defenders to spin. One awful result for interior defenders is getting your shoulders and body turned away from the ball, and Anderson regularly gets knocked off that axis with simple arm pops. He’s just not now nor unfortunately will he ever be a coveted DT in this league. At the same time he surely should be able to contribute on this team in a rotation to keep the more dangerous guys fresh. This type of scheme needs players like Tim, maybe just not ideally at the investment we have in him.

 

So there’re the 4 guys who the team is counting on as the primary rotation for us inside in 2006. I’d call it a better mix than the one we entered into the 2005 season even though Sam Adams and our other “starter” from the start of ’05 have moved on. There’s better depth behind them at both the LB and DB levels. There’s veteran skill to their sides. If Tripplett is in better condition that he appeared against the Panthers, this will result in an overall improvement from what we suffered last year against the run. It might not be saying much, but it appears that the overall cumulative quality of the position has been upgraded and the result should be an improvement in our ability to slow down opposing running attacks.

[stuckincincy]

Good post.

[Bob in STL]

Last year at this time I was predicting a drop of 10 to 15 spots league-wide by our run defense based upon the players we had rostered at DT in 2005. The good news is that we didn’t end up last season high enough in run defense for a similar fall this year.

Our scheme this year that asks for our DTs to get into the middle of running plays before they get a chance to develop instead of shutting down runners already hitting the LOS. One of the keys to playing the new scheme was management bringing in Larry Triplett, a guy who played all but one of his four seasons under Cover 2 Valedictorian Tony Dungy. Tripplett was one of the expendable members of the Indy interior since it’s first of all reliant upon regular rotation among DTs but also because they’re depth is so good that Corey Simon doesn’t even crack their starting roster. Let me promise you that in Buffalo Simon would be on the field from our first defensive snap if we had him on our roster.

 

So the strategy at OBD was to bring in a guy versed in the defense to make the line calls. And Tripplett has proved to have an authoritative voice along the line in our defense doing just that. That said, while I hate to question a player after just our first Pre-season game, I have one major concern about Tripplett based upon that performance Saturday.

 

In the first two offensive series I have some reservations making too much of our 1st team D against a Carolina Offense that came out like they’d never ended the ’05 season. Fully in synch as a unit, their short passes were coming out right on the drop step they were designed for. They doubled our interior linemen on most passing plays and gave little opportunity for the DT’s to penetrate enough to affect 3 and 5-step passes. There was an exception on the third Panther offensive play of the game when Tripplett got a single team by the Carolina RG. Tripplett showed what is attractive about his game, pushing the Guard back nearly into Delhomme’s feet on a 5-Step drop. While the ball got out it’s the type of play that DE’s make their living on- a QB with nowhere to move up standing behind his OTs protection. It was definitely Tripplett’s game highlight and would have resulted in a sideline throwaway or sack if there’d been decent downfield coverage.

 

Shortly thereafter though as the game wore on, it sure looked like Tripplett tuckered out. By the 3rd series where Kyle Williams was showing off his gears, there was virtually no help coming from #98 on William’s side. My conclusion from watching all of his plays against Carolina is that Tripplett is not at this time in appropriate condition to face the number of snaps our team has him slated to play in 2006.

 

McCargo in his first outing looked an awful lot like the prototypical “work in progress”; playing too high, drawing little blocking attention and having little impact on the game around him. On his few plays with promise he used his upper body strength well- and he appears to have plenty of it. McCargo has a lot of work to do to coordinate using his body and arms together effectively, and until he does he won’t be much of a rushing threat at this level.

 

Kyle Williams on the other hand and as widely reported does play a hi-intensity game and has no problem at all playing low. His skill set is best at the nose where he can disrupt opponent running plays by putting 2-3 bodies down right in the middle of the field, allowing the speed on the balance of our defense to take out a running back trying to avoid that mess in the middle. Williams also looks as if he’ll be an asset on passing downs since he’s always moving forward, even if it’s on his hands and knees. Another day like that Friday and he’ll cement his starting role.  And if it wasn’t clear to our coaching staff before the Panther game, let’s drop the stunts when Kyle is on the field; he’s a point of attack player whose skills are wasted if he’s forced to move laterally down the line or around another Bill.

 

Tim Anderson remains hard to project out as anything more than a member of the interior rotation, and down the list. Physically he simply doesn’t have the wingspan to clear himself room to get upfield, and perhaps even worse he’s very easy for defenders to spin. One awful result for interior defenders is getting your shoulders and body turned away from the ball, and Anderson regularly gets knocked off that axis with simple arm pops. He’s just not now nor unfortunately will he ever be a coveted DT in this league. At the same time he surely should be able to contribute on this team in a rotation to keep the more dangerous guys fresh. This type of scheme needs players like Tim, maybe just not ideally at the investment we have in him.

 

So there’re the 4 guys who the team is counting on as the primary rotation for us inside in 2006. I’d call it a better mix than the one we entered into the 2005 season even though Sam Adams and our other “starter” from the start of ’05 have moved on. There’s better depth behind them at both the LB and DB levels. There’s veteran skill to their sides. If Tripplett is in better condition that he appeared against the Panthers, this will result in an overall improvement from what we suffered last year against the run. It might not be saying much, but it appears that the overall cumulative quality of the position has been upgraded and the result should be an improvement in our ability to slow down opposing running attacks.

745427[/snapback]

 

 

Don't worry, we still have Sape!

[34-78-83]

Thanks AKC!

You were dead on last season and here's hoping we see that improvement this season that you mention the possibility of.

[John from Riverside]

I said from the very beginning that Kyle Williams would have a bigger impact this year then McCargo would.....

 

- Our biggest free agent signing of the offseason was Larry Tripplett.....so McCargo isn't going to be "The Guy" at that position this year....which is perfect for him. McCargo is young...and needs to get stronger...but he is quick enough and good enough against the run to be a servicible player in a rotation......

 

- At the other DT position though....things are a big differnet....Tim Anderson did not even play his first year....and didn't show a lot in his second.....then we draft Kyle Williams and he IMMEDIATELY looks better then the veteran Anderson.....it is lucky for the bills that they got lucky with Kyle because if not that DT position would be a real sore spot for us right now.....

 

- I would like to see them keep Jason Jefferson on the team....a big guy with some weight to hold the point of attack against the run.

[eball]

I love reading stuff like this. Not because the news is necessarily good (Triplett out of shape, McCargo raw, Anderson just a filler), but because it's logical and allows me to learn more about the game. Thanks AKC.

[Shamrock]

Last year at this time I was predicting a drop of 10 to 15 spots league-wide by our run defense based upon the players we had rostered at DT in 2005. The good news is that we didn’t end up last season high enough in run defense for a similar fall this year.

Our scheme this year that asks for our DTs to get into the middle of running plays before they get a chance to develop instead of shutting down runners already hitting the LOS. One of the keys to playing the new scheme was management bringing in Larry Triplett, a guy who played all but one of his four seasons under Cover 2 Valedictorian Tony Dungy. Tripplett was one of the expendable members of the Indy interior since it’s first of all reliant upon regular rotation among DTs but also because they’re depth is so good that Corey Simon doesn’t even crack their starting roster. Let me promise you that in Buffalo Simon would be on the field from our first defensive snap if we had him on our roster.

 

So the strategy at OBD was to bring in a guy versed in the defense to make the line calls. And Tripplett has proved to have an authoritative voice along the line in our defense doing just that. That said, while I hate to question a player after just our first Pre-season game, I have one major concern about Tripplett based upon that performance Saturday.

 

In the first two offensive series I have some reservations making too much of our 1st team D against a Carolina Offense that came out like they’d never ended the ’05 season. Fully in synch as a unit, their short passes were coming out right on the drop step they were designed for. They doubled our interior linemen on most passing plays and gave little opportunity for the DT’s to penetrate enough to affect 3 and 5-step passes. There was an exception on the third Panther offensive play of the game when Tripplett got a single team by the Carolina RG. Tripplett showed what is attractive about his game, getting off the snap first and gaining leverage on the blocker- pushing the Guard back nearly into Delhomme’s feet on a 5-Step drop. While the ball got out it’s the type of play that DE’s make their living on- a QB with nowhere to move up standing behind his OTs protection. It was definitely Tripplett’s game highlight and would have resulted in a sideline throwaway or sack if there’d been decent downfield coverage.

 

Shortly thereafter though as the game wore on, it sure looked like Tripplett tuckered out. By the 3rd series where Kyle Williams was showing off his gears, there was virtually no help coming from #98 on William’s side. My conclusion from watching all of his plays against Carolina is that Tripplett is not at this time in appropriate condition to face the number of snaps our team has him slated to play in 2006.

 

McCargo in his first outing looked an awful lot like the prototypical “work in progress”; playing too high, drawing little blocking attention and having little impact on the game around him. On his few plays with promise he used his upper body strength well- and he appears to have plenty of it. McCargo has a lot of work to do to coordinate using his body and arms together effectively, and until he does he won’t be much of a rushing threat at this level.

 

Kyle Williams on the other hand and as widely reported does play a hi-intensity game and has no problem at all playing low. His skill set is best at the nose where he can disrupt opponent running plays by putting 2-3 bodies down right in the middle of the field, allowing the speed on the balance of our defense to take out a running back trying to avoid that mess in the middle. Williams also looks as if he’ll be an asset on passing downs since he’s always moving forward, even if it’s on his hands and knees. Another day like that Friday and he’ll cement his starting role.  And if it wasn’t clear to our coaching staff before the Panther game, let’s drop the stunts when Kyle is on the field; he’s a point of attack player whose skills are wasted if he’s forced to move laterally down the line or around another Bill.

 

Tim Anderson remains hard to project out as anything more than a member of the interior rotation, and down the list. Physically he simply doesn’t have the wingspan to clear himself room to get upfield, and perhaps even worse he’s very easy for defenders to spin. One awful result for interior defenders is getting your shoulders and body turned away from the ball, and Anderson regularly gets knocked off that axis with simple arm pops. He’s just not now nor unfortunately will he ever be a coveted DT in this league. At the same time he surely should be able to contribute on this team in a rotation to keep the more dangerous guys fresh. This type of scheme needs players like Tim, maybe just not ideally at the investment we have in him.

 

So there’re the 4 guys who the team is counting on as the primary rotation for us inside in 2006. I’d call it a better mix than the one we entered into the 2005 season even though Sam Adams and our other “starter” from the start of ’05 have moved on. There’s better depth behind them at both the LB and DB levels. There’s veteran skill to their sides. If Tripplett is in better condition that he appeared against the Panthers, this will result in an overall improvement from what we suffered last year against the run. It might not be saying much, but it appears that the overall cumulative quality of the position has been upgraded and the result should be an improvement in our ability to slow down opposing running attacks.

745427[/snapback]

 

How well do you think these bodies will go over 16 weeks?

Is someone like a Jefferson, a "big body" as posted below a necessity, although not an ideal Tampa 2 lineman, because he's a "big body"?

As necessity, I mean as an anchor to plug out longer series to allow the front 4 more spells, as the season drags on and nicks accumulate and the nitrogen deficit in your muscles becomes mroe apparent. It's a lot harder to penetrate the play than to sit back and shed the play- use your bulk more than just your muscle.

[AKC]

How well do you think these bodies will go over 16 weeks?

Is someone like a Jefferson, a "big body" as posted below a necessity, although not an ideal Tampa 2 lineman, because he's a "big body"?

As necessity, I mean as an anchor to plug out longer series to allow the front 4 more spells, as the season drags on and nicks accumulate and the nitrogen deficit in your muscles becomes mroe apparent. It's a lot harder to penetrate the play than to sit back and shed the play- use your bulk more than just your muscle.

745787[/snapback]

 

Unfortunatey that has a lot to do with how effective our offense is at putting up first downs. I'm hardly confident that we're ready to open the season stringing together a lot of 20+ First Down Sundays. If our O matures as the season goes on and is able to reach those numbers, the type of opportunistic defense we want to play should be kind to the guys on the interior. If on the other hand we're averaging barely 16 First Downs a game as we did in 2005, you can bet the injury list between our DTs and LBs will very likely be substantial with the primary culprit being playing fatigued.

 

So to answer your question- if we play better on the offesnive side of the ball than we are expected to, the current makeup could be all we need for the season. If the O falters you should expect to see those names like Jefferson finishing games in losing causes. In other words, seeing Jefferson getting reps in our D this year will mean we aren't much fun to watch Sundays.

[faderphreak]

If I did not know any better, I would say Marv is setting up to build a team like the ones that beat the Bills under Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys fielded fast D-Line men that rotated in and out coming at you in waves. Combine that with what we have heard about using power running to set up the vertical passing game and trying to get the tight end more involved. Of course our O-Line is the weak link to that theory because I can't really see how we compare to that line Aikman played behind in his rookie season.

[Shamrock]

Unfortunatey that has a lot to do with how effective our offense is at putting up first downs. I'm hardly confident that we're ready to open the season stringing together a lot of 20+ First Down Sundays. If our O matures as the season goes on and is able to reach those numbers, the type of opportunistic offense we want to play should be kind to the guys on the interior. If on the other hand we're averaging barely 16 First Downs a game as we did in 2005, you can bet the injury list between our DTs and LBs will very likely be substantial with the primary culprit being playing fatigued.

 

So to answer your question- if we play better on the offesnive side of the ball than we are expected to, the current makeup could be all we need for the season. If the O falters you should expect to see those names like Jefferson finishing games in losing causes. In other words, seeing Jefferson getting reps in our D this year will mean we aren't much fun to watch Sundays.

745807[/snapback]

 

Thanks. That's the way that I see it as well. The more the O can do to keep the D off of the field the better.

[Mark VI]

Sharp observations,old bean.

 

I'm thinking Triplett is slightly better but time will tell.

 

The one overwhelming thought I have is this draft was far better than most think. Time will prove me wrong or right. McCargo is very quick off the snap and Williams has been very effective in the pure NT position.

[AKC]

I'm thinking Triplett is slightly better but time will tell.

 

 

745825[/snapback]

 

I'm not questioning his tool bag, but it seemed evident to me that he wasn't in shape to pull the load he was asked to pull last week. Nothing a good month of wind sprints can't cure ;-)