BADOLBILZ

Nice try with the hysterics, Over.... But... 1) Lorax was a LB who rushed the passer a lot........which is exactly the point of wanting Edmunds playing on the edge.. 2) The Bills do not use a "base" DE on the strong side. That player basically profiles as an "edge" player like most 3-4 defenses use. Trent Murphy was an OLB at Washington and is just a lean pass rusher. Lorax filled that role frequently. 6'2" 250# Jerry Hughes has been getting a lot of snaps there with Lorax gone and Murphy sometimes inactive. The assumption was that AJ Epenesa might be that "base" DE.........but he instead appears to be being groomed as the RDE of the future. I don't know for a fact that Edmunds will be a bigger TJ Watt on the edge in Buffalo and put up 14-16 sacks and cause a bunch of turnovers............but what I do know is that guys like Watt......or even Lorax at that spot.........can make a TON of plays and are worth a fortune on the open market. And that's the Bills biggest weakness on defense...........an individual play maker that they likely aren't going to be able to afford in UFA the next couple offseason. Replacing Edmunds in the middle........I don't think that's nearly as difficult..........Preston Brown literally lead the NFL in tackles in this defense in 2017......and in the games that Edmunds has missed entirely or left with injury he has been replaced with little or no drop-off by the likes of journeyman Julian Stanford and first year player Tyrel Dodson. The optics on how much of a difference Edmunds provides in the middle are not that great......it's decision time on his big $ option for 2022 after this season.......and the Bills desperately need a playmaker on the edge to help finish these games.

Lorenzo Alexander 2018 playing "some olb role that doesn't exist" 😆 2 interceptions 9 passes defensed 2 forced fumbles 1 fumble recovery 6.5 sacks 74 tackles 11 TFL 10 QB hits Now imagine putting a player there who can actually physically match up in coverage.

Preston Brown was a sure tackler............that's a pretty low bar.😄

That could be the case. I don't think we really know that his shoulder is "healed" really do we? If it was a rotator cuff issue that's not healing in the season that's a surgery. Maybe they just started mixing in some aderall with his toradol the past few weeks.

He's been a step slow reacting all season.........surprisingly more so in pass defense. His passer rating allowed is a ghastly 132+ and he's allowed 4 passing TD's.......including a play last week where he was all over the receiver but just seemed like he had no idea the ball was coming. The mental aspect of his game hasn't been where you'd expect and thus his reactions have been late and disappointing at times and it's costing him big plays that this defense should be putting him in position to make.

He moved around but 9 of his last 13 starts in Carolina were at MLB in place of Kuechly........he was Kuechly's backup the last two seasons.........his production there got him the contract in New Orleans.

The past few games are probably the only 3 game stretch of Edmunds career where he has played consistently well inside. He typically has a game here or there where he is excellent and gets people's hopes up but then disappears for a month. With his physical gifts he should be a DPOY candidate in this defense. But instead we are told to be overwhelmed by the ordinary. He's capable of creating turnovers and wreaking havoc, IMO. Yet he has 1 interception and 0 forced fumbles in his last 30 games........3 TFL's on the season(compared to fellow 2018 draftee Roquan Smith with 15). I mean he's more talented than this and people who say he's doing great at MLB are selling his talent short, IMO.

Sounds to me like maybe AJ just likes getting chances to rush the passer and shorter routes to wide bouncing RB's etc.. I doubt he wants to go back to playing MLB like he did in Carolina.

I agree with most of that.......especially the part about Allen. The synergy created by having a top QB is so great.........that's why it was so ridiculous for the Bills to be passing on QB's with their first pick for nearly 60 years. But I would not use another early round pick on an off-ball LB unless he had a crazy high ceiling.......those are very rare. I liked the Edmunds pick only because I saw his playmaking ability being a thing on the edge. Then in his first game he had that type play where he got outside and used his long arms to get a strip/fumble against Baltimore. But mostly in the middle he's been catching everything instead of being the one making the impact. He certainly hasn't looked like a $15M per year player that is for sure.

Green Bay hiring McCarthy was a shock in itself. In his last job prior he had been the OC of the 2005 Niners........who finished 30th in scoring and 32nd in yards. It would have been like someone hiring Daboll to be a HC right after 2018 or one of the 3 NFL OC jobs he had been fired from.

After years of being the first destination for reporters in DC........almost exclusively because his contract evoked strong emotions in readers/viewers about him or the organization..........he has to feel like he's Mr. Irrelevant now. Also wonder if Hyde and Poyer saw that $6M contract and thought "look at this f'ing guy" considering how hard they've worked to get similar coin from Beane while Norman had a horrible season in 2019. Not saying they dislike him but maybe are inclined to a little push back on the guy who seems to get everything he wants.

The pass rush from the edge would be a work in progress but I think he has the ability to develop into a stud there. Honestly I expect him to want or perhaps even demand to be moved outside before his contract is up. The money is in playing an edge position and he isn't playing so exceptionally well in that off-ball, sideline-to-sideline role that he would be likely to command top dollar otherwise. It's been said many times(in Edmunds' defense) that the responsibilities of both LB's in this system are about the same. So with Milano or Klein usually out-play-making him regularly.........and Klein being a $6M player and Milano trending toward something similar........a contract in the $18-$20M per season as a playmaking edge like Watt would be a whole lot better outcome for Edmunds and a lot less taxing physically than needing to make 11 tackles per game..

Yeah I have a friend who was very intelligent and hard working but hated school and just wasn't going to go to college. He was stuck in jobs he hated and constantly complaining that he was better than the "educated" people he was beneath. So I told him to just tell interviewers that he had a degree. Problem solved. He has been an asset everywhere he has been and he even forgave me for prank calling him on a voice changer saying someone had ran up $700 on his Sears credit card. Of course then you have the Jeffery Epsteins who faked school credentials so they ultimately could eventually get creepy massages and entertain others who faked it til they made it.

But ideally you can at least mix it up and still have personnel suited to defend the passing game. When the Bills drafted Edmunds all of the talk was about how athletic he was and his rare potential as a coverage LB. My hope when the Bills signed Klein was that they would eventually put him in the middle.....where he played in Carolina...... and start working Edmunds as a strong side edge player.........where he could cover the TE or rush the passer. I probably won't get to see that......but it's not that big of a stretch to use him more like Pitt uses TJ Watt...........it's not like the Bills employ a base DE on the strong side........they run Hughes and Bam Johnson over there and neither are even remotely stout against the run. With Milano healthy.......*maybe* we get a peak at what that might look like. Edmunds has been playing better but his skill is wasted as a sideline to sideline type and frankly he is not so good in zone coverage.....instincts in general are not his strong suit........he is probably better suited to going man against a TE or even a slot WR or covering the RB on wheel routes etc.. I like him in motion a lot better than flat footed.

I'm pretty sure Norman travels with a collapsible podium...........he lives for attention and the podium is a lot easier to cover, he can keep two hands on it and not get flagged and it won't stiff arm him.

We can only hope.

They definitely can.......especially against the kind of personnel the Niners use........their passing game shouldn't be that hard to contain. Also this is the least important game on the Bills schedule so if they are still going to be trying out things on defense........this is the game. If Kittle were playing it would have been a chance to put one of the LB's over him and see how that might look like against Kelce in a potential playoff matchup.

Pretty sure a very effective cheater came up with that.

I like the Guidry world series pic. That was a 9 inning gem. Game 4.......October 15, 1977 in Los Angeles.......4-2 win for Yanks with a Reggie Jackson HR.

1) $7.8M cap figure to cut him $8.2M cap figure to keep him $600K is the vet min Beane is quite obviously very big on insurance policies.......and he's burned more than a few million cap $ playing that game with the lines....see Spencer Long and the oft-inactive Trent Murphy situations this season. They were going to save a $1.75M off Star's base pay and let it play out.......get his dead money down to a quieter $5M and more than likely dispose of him after this season(hence the injury guarantee that you thought was an "actual" guarantee). Star got the last laugh on their pay cut plan........he got the year off and all he has to do now is show up for activities next spring and summer and collect that base salary. 2) Here's the thing about "space eating"..........that is not really the only job of a 1 tech Too many fans confuse the 1 tech and the nose tackle position. The 1 tech is not aligned over top of the center like a nose tackle........he is in the center/guard gap and that gives him the chance to shoot gaps and get into the backfield. The Bills generally don't use a NT alignment because they want both DT's to have the ability to make plays in the backfield. Having a player with the ability to make plays behind the LOS allows your defense to keep the same personnel on the field regardless of the down and distance situation. The big problems with Star: he flat out can't make plays behind the LOS + he isn't powerful enough or active enough as a tackler to force teams to double team him(they often have not). Too often he was just a 1 for 1 exchange of bodies and the extra OL were able to get on the Bills LB's or the RB ran right past Star without him getting a hand on them. On the same plays Harrison Phillips was getting off those blocks and slowing or tackling backs. Edmunds was often not getting much protection at all from Star. I personally thought they should have cut him and was thrilled to see them pursuing DT's who can actually get to the QB or make a TFL.

Ever count how many major programs are in Texas? Now count how many in Ohio. Or Indiana. Or Alabama. Or South Carolina. It won't be easy for someone to really turn around U of Texas permanently..........the in-state competition for talent is cut-throat and well funded.........you can't own the state like a lot of the current football factories do. And in Texas.......you can't cheat as easily as you can in some places either..........they have a RICH history of blowing each other in for violations...........it's quite comical actually.........and a good reason for Urban to avoid Austin.

Everyone being a free agent and signing one year contracts would be the fairest thing.(Charles O. Finley) But then players would make pennies on the dollar in that much of a buyers market!(Marvin Miller) The tag is a very small concession for a system that promotes yearly average salary increases far in excess of what an open market would produce. In an open market Dupree might have gotten a 5 year contract for the value of the one year contract he is receiving this year.

That's true about them pursuing Reader but he isn't just a space eater........he can play the 1T like Lotulelei did as a rookie......he can force the double or he can split the double. He tackles RB's and can get to your QB. He was the whole package in 2019. Harrison Phillips was turning into that "active" 1T before the knee injury. Hopefully he gets back to that. He was an absolute tackling machine in college.

3 first downs and out has almost replaced 3 and out as a good series. Where does a 1-down guy with very limited mobility fit in a game like that? The answer probably is a defense that is OK with being bottom half of the league......like Seattle at this point.....I don't see McD being ok with that anytime soon.......maybe when he is 70 like Pete Carroll.