NFL Network's Mike Mayock has Buffalo selecting DRC...

[K-9]

... Unless there's a great DE talent on the board, they've isolated themselves into taking a WR.

 

How, exactly? I didn't know it was possible for a team to "isolate" itself into taking ANY position before a draft. How does that work?

 

GO BILLS!!!

[colin]

How, exactly? I didn't know it was possible for a team to "isolate" itself into taking ANY position before a draft. How does that work?

 

GO BILLS!!!

EASY

 

fans on message boards say so and GMs are powerless to resist.

 

do you think an NFL front office really has the heuvos to go against the sort of semi concensus we have here?

 

NEVER!

[Pyrite Gal]

i

 

it all counts, the DEs help the CBs and the CBs help the DEs. the most important position on any given pass play is the guy covering the wideouts. if uncovered the wideouts will kill you ever time. it's simple, but it's not as simple as only the passrush counts.

The problem is with this point of view if you are interested in DRC is that the CBs in our Cover 2 only cover the wideouts in the shortzone and on the occaisional change-up of our coverage scheme.

 

If one wants to emphasize coverage of the wideouts with the D we use then you need to look to improving safety play or get better reads by your MLB for passes over the deep middle.

 

DRCs chief role in the defense we play is going to be to contain the outside run and to do press coverage in the short zone. Even worse in terms of production for the Bills, if one is worried about getting better coverage of vets like Randy Moss or the cagey Welker then if you are depending on the rookie DRC to shut down these topflight vets then wait until 09 because the rookie year is going to simply be a learning experience as he gets toasted by these vets.

[Bill from NYC]

The problem is with this point of view if you are interested in DRC is that the CBs in our Cover 2 only cover the wideouts in the shortzone and on the occaisional change-up of our coverage scheme.

 

If one wants to emphasize coverage of the wideouts with the D we use then you need to look to improving safety play or get better reads by your MLB for passes over the deep middle.

 

DRCs chief role in the defense we play is going to be to contain the outside run and to do press coverage in the short zone. Even worse in terms of production for the Bills, if one is worried about getting better coverage of vets like Randy Moss or the cagey Welker then if you are depending on the rookie DRC to shut down these topflight vets then wait until 09 because the rookie year is going to simply be a learning experience as he gets toasted by these vets.

 

I suspect that many posters who want a first round corner are too young to remember that the Bills have tried for years to build a team through the secondary, and have simply lost while, and as a result of doing so.

 

In 2002, we had not 1 but 2 first round corners. Have a look at the stiffs on both lines. Did they make the playoffs?

The 07 Bills couldn't convert on nor stop 3rd and short. They are simply not tough enough to waste a top pick on yet another defensive back, especially in the cover-2. Also, cb is not the most important position when you play in the elements, whereas sometimes passing is all but impossible.

 

Imo this team should toughen up and then worry about corners, but little would surprise me.

[Fan in Chicago]

So you'll probably go ape sh-- when they pick Brandon Flowers!

 

[/i]

 

Something about picking a Flowers in Rd 1 makes me cringe.

[LynchMob23]

The problem is with this point of view if you are interested in DRC is that the CBs in our Cover 2 only cover the wideouts in the shortzone and on the occaisional change-up of our coverage scheme.

 

If one wants to emphasize coverage of the wideouts with the D we use then you need to look to improving safety play or get better reads by your MLB for passes over the deep middle.

 

DRCs chief role in the defense we play is going to be to contain the outside run and to do press coverage in the short zone. Even worse in terms of production for the Bills, if one is worried about getting better coverage of vets like Randy Moss or the cagey Welker then if you are depending on the rookie DRC to shut down these topflight vets then wait until 09 because the rookie year is going to simply be a learning experience as he gets toasted by these vets.

 

I disagree with you there PG. If the Cover/Tampa 2 is just run support and then occassional "other" coverages, then why would a guy like Ronde Barber lead CBs in NFL history with sacks? I think we've gotten into the habit of pidgeon-holing what this scheme can do, based on some of the talent at the time used. Traditionally, any T2 team will run the defense as you described, what, a quarter of the time? Especially since we have signed guys like James now who said Perry will use what we have.

 

We have a guy in Stroud that can two-gap and still blow up a guard/center double team in pass rush mode. If we get another big body and make it a 5 man rotation with like a Red Bryant or Rubin, we're not dumping the Tampa 2, we're just changing the front it's being run in.

 

Look at the Cowboys game and the usage of "the creep". That's something that years ago Kiffin said was possible, as he believes the Tampa scheme can be used from any front - it's all about knowing your job. The more talented players we get into the scheme, the more variance I think we'll see. JMO.

[Chilly]

I suspect that many posters who want a first round corner are too young to remember that the Bills have tried for years to build a team through the secondary, and have simply lost while, and as a result of doing so.

 

In 2002, we had not 1 but 2 first round corners. Have a look at the stiffs on both lines. Did they make the playoffs?

The 07 Bills couldn't convert on nor stop 3rd and short. They are simply not tough enough to waste a top pick on yet another defensive back, especially in the cover-2. Also, cb is not the most important position when you play in the elements, whereas sometimes passing is all but impossible.

 

Imo this team should toughen up and then worry about corners, but little would surprise me.

 

Or, people believe that the lines are much improved, and the part that needs improving the most at this point in time is the CB.

[Bill from NYC]

Or, people believe that the lines are much improved, and the part that needs improving the most at this point in time is the CB.

 

Good point. I hate making or stopping first downs. Corner it is!

[UConn James]

Or, people believe that the lines are much improved, and the part that needs improving the most at this point in time is the CB.

 

Good point. I hate making or stopping first downs. Corner it is!

 

Bill, all due respect, and I agree with your sentiments, but at this point with Stroud and Johnson, Mitchell, and Poz coming back from injury, Bills brass may think they've tweaked the D enough along the front 7 to more effectively stop the run. I'd say the most serious ? on the DL is Kelsay, and right now he has one more year to show us he can be a solid DE. As for making 1st downs, the OL doesn't really look like the problem, minus Fowler rating a little lower than we might want at C (given the givens, not much to be done there, tho).

 

Right now, WR, TE and possibly even CB are where we need to spend the prime resources in the draft. Having some solidity at positions so we can concentrate on ones that just need shoring up is a luxury I didn't think we'd have, if you'd told me 2 years ago with Marv's rebuilding. We've been rebuilding for so long... but now it may be time to grab a couple of your hated 'hands/specialty people' as long as we draft in later rounds for depth and FA eventualities at the areas you're pointing out (DT, DE, LB, G, C). All in all, tho, it's not a bad problem to have.

[Bill from NYC]

Bill, all due respect, and I agree with your sentiments, but at this point with Stroud and Johnson, Mitchell, and Poz coming back from injury, Bills brass may think they've tweaked the D enough along the front 7 to more effectively stop the run. I'd say the most serious ? on the DL is Kelsay, and right now he has one more year to show us he can be a solid DE. As for making 1st downs, the OL doesn't really look like the problem, minus Fowler rating a little lower than we might want at C (given the givens, not much to be done there, tho).

 

Right now, WR, TE and possibly even CB are where we need to spend the prime resources in the draft. Having some solidity at positions so we can concentrate on ones that just need shoring up is a luxury I didn't think we'd have, if you'd told me 2 years ago with Marv's rebuilding. We've been rebuilding for so long... but now it may be time to grab a couple of your hated 'hands/specialty people' as long as we draft in later rounds for depth and FA eventualities at the areas you're pointing out (DT, DE, LB, G, C). All in all, tho, it's not a bad problem to have.

 

I hear ya wrt WR and TE, I really do. That said, the lines are thin at many spots. We signed a free agent corner too you know?

 

This draft should be about big guys, and people who can catch the football.

[Pyrite Gal]

I disagree with you there PG. If the Cover/Tampa 2 is just run support and then occassional "other" coverages, then why would a guy like Ronde Barber lead CBs in NFL history with sacks? I think we've gotten into the habit of pidgeon-holing what this scheme can do, based on some of the talent at the time used. Traditionally, any T2 team will run the defense as you described, what, a quarter of the time? Especially since we have signed guys like James now who said Perry will use what we have.

 

We have a guy in Stroud that can two-gap and still blow up a guard/center double team in pass rush mode. If we get another big body and make it a 5 man rotation with like a Red Bryant or Rubin, we're not dumping the Tampa 2, we're just changing the front it's being run in.

 

Look at the Cowboys game and the usage of "the creep". That's something that years ago Kiffin said was possible, as he believes the Tampa scheme can be used from any front - it's all about knowing your job. The more talented players we get into the scheme, the more variance I think we'll see. JMO.

As i said in my post I do not think that the CB ONLY does run contain and ocassional other coverages, but also an important part of his work is press coverage in the short zone. In addition, the fact that other players generally have deep coverage duty on the wideouts actually frees the CB up to do more blitzing than the regular CB who has responsibility for the wideout all over the field.

 

I think what this means is that often 1st round chosen CBs are given this high value because they demonstrated in college they have the ability to cover the wideout all over the field. I simply argue that it would be a waste of resources on our part to spend a high value pick on a player who demands a high value pick specifically because of talents we will not be using a lot.

 

Does the Cover 2 allow you to play a bad player at CB? NO. A good team demands good play at all positions. However, what the Cover 2 allows a team to do is look for a specific type of good player at CB. One who is a big guy (over 6ft compared to some of the shirt athletes who excel at CB in the NFL because they have the speed to cover wideouts all over the field and good jumping ability to make up for the lack of height), a player who is a solid tackler primarily because he is going to called upon to do a lot of contain work and CBblitzing. and a good handfighter because he is going to do a lot of press coverage.

 

H may not have the speed to go deep on a consistent basis or difficulty covering with his back to the QB, but that does not mean he is not good at the other aspects of the game most critical to the Cover 2 CB. Should we spend big bucks or high draft picks to get the best CBs? No. We should be able to find a merely good CB without the talents that often bring a huge contract to a player in the later rounds or even on the FA wire.

 

Spending a 1st on a CB is something we might do because I think the Bills are committed to getting the best player they have on their board as early as the 3rd round (we saw non-need picks in the 3rd round for both Youbouty and Edwards). However, this regime seems to allocate the 1st couple of rounds to get the players they truly want and need (the unorthdox pick of a safety with the #8 pick and trading up to get both McCargo and Pos.

 

I doubt we take a CB in the 1st because first we can likely get what we want at CB elsewhere and second because a player good enough to man the Cover 2 CB can be found at a much lower cost than a 1st round choice.

 

As far as us not playing a Cover 2 more than 25% of the time, when you subtract out the plays in our redzone where the Cover 2 is not the defense of choice as there is no deep zone on a short field and plays which are short yardage and also take into account that some of this estimate is the amount we play a classic Cover 2 and variants like the Tampa 2 may well not count as part of the 25% the fact is that it is our base D and the default for this team.

[UticaBill]

I think we should take the player that will have the greatest impact on the team at the time of the pick... I would accept almost any position except QB honestly.... as long as he is the best available that we can use and hopefully start.

[Steely Dan]

A great backfield can create coverage sacks as well as turnovers.

[UticaBill]

A great backfield isn't worth a warm bucket of spit if they keep running up your gut....