The Tale of Two Walkers

[obie_wan]

I definitely agree there is the POSSIBILITY that Willis is going to be special in the cover-2. I found your pointing out that Urlacher provides a real world example of what it takes in terms of performance from a rookie to be special in a Jauron designed cover-2 at MLB.

 

The Urlacher example does show it is possible that it can be done. However. what it takes to do it is for a player to be judged worthy of the 9th pick in the draft as Urlacher was (by definition if Willis falls to us and we take him he is not a top ten player though he would be close) and he produced a result where he has achieved multiple Pro Bowls and even was NFL Player of the Year.

 

I think even if one is psyched about Willis, asserting this is the standard he will achieve is a bit much for anyone to assert.

 

I agree that at worst he is a marginal starter (and probably actually would prove better than that even though I suspect that learning process would involved some moments of great pain as the rookie learns to be a vet).

 

However, I think that the higher POSSIBILITY for the Bills to get better fastest is to get some more draft resources and look for competition and vet experience to fill our gaps,

 

Specifically, if we can find a deal partner (and several possibilities have been suggested of folks lower than us who may want to trade up) such that we can trade down into a pick in the low 20s we can get multiple 2 and/or 3rd round choices in this draft which would allow us to:

 

1. Take 2 of the RBs deemed worthy of 1st day choices (there are a bunch of Pittman, Irons, Booker, etc types) and these two can vie with A-Train to give us multiple options for a player worthy of the #1 RB slot or give us lots of options at a RB by committee approach if that difficult thing is what we have to do.

 

2. Still allow us to take Pos with a pick at 20 or lower (where the consensus seems to have him going) and slot him in at SLB and use Crowell as MLB who some have doubts about, but given that I think a vet is more likely to read plays better than a rookie and that his stats INDICATE that with his reasonable INT total for an LB each of the last two years (he got 2 last year despite missing a quarter of the season which is less than but comparable to in a truncated seasonthe 4 F-B led NFL LBs with, he finished 3rd on the Bills with tackles despite the shorter season, AND he registered a reasonable number of sacks in each of the last two seasons (his 2 tied F-B for the team lead among LBs again despite the truncated season).

 

While some folks do complain about him taking bad angles tackling and other technical complaints, these are merely reduced to whines folks may be making to sound good unless they can back up these observations with specific cases (siting the at least the game and preferably even the gametime so folks can review taped games if they want) or with stats which are not conclusive but at least are an indicator based in observable data.

 

Folks can merely have the typical fact-free opinions if they wish because us psychotics devote way too much time to this, but they should not be surprised if their whines are viewed simply as that.

 

Crowell may also prove to be a mere reincarnation of Fletcher evoking complaints of him making tackles to deep in our secondary. However, his stats and specific plays he made like a very good INT he got against Miami in the first game to nip a drive in the bud at tne end of the first half are a reasonable INDICATOR that he may step up and produce a game which has good pass coverage and the aggression we want from our LBs as indicated by his sacks and tackles to his credit.

 

3, If we get the right deal and augment our 4 current first day picks with two acquired in trade with the flip flop we may even be able to draft for more depth at MLB to sit on the bech and play ST while he learns the MLB game such as a Buster Davis.

 

If we can pull off a trade down with the #12 I will be very happy as we will have competition to fill our many needs rather than simply hoping that Willis turns out to be the next Urlacher. It could happen but it seems quite risky to bank on it and foolish to assume it will happen.

 

 

 

much better way to build a winner is to get an impact plaeyr when available and as you say fill out the hole at RB with vets- like Chris Brown and a 3rd rounder with upside like Brandon Jackson.