A football post about Aaron Schobel

[Hplarrm]

The watchers who do a great job IMHO of trying to keep TSW somewhat neater and cleaner may well fold this post into one of the couple of threads going on which seem to focus more on the soap opera aspects of his decision and whether dramatic issues of global significance such as whether so and so talked to his wife and can the source be trusted.

 

This is not intended to be a thread about these issues which some find entertaining or whether some reporter got the true story 14 milliseconds quicker than some other hack, I mean this thread to be about the football issues and really would find it hard to care less about the soap opera or which reporter or confidant had the news first.

 

I follow the NFL because I find the game entertaining and I hope this is what this thread is about, the football rather than the soap opera and I encourage the observers who keep the board clean to do whatever the deem useful to keep the conversation flowing,

 

My questions is:

 

Do folks see his highest and best use is as augmenting a DL at the RDE position which won him Pro Bowl honors or instead augmenting the LB position where the shift to the 3-4 makes getting competent OLB help a priority?

 

Unfortunately, I see a difference between where I think Schobel performs best as a player and where I think the Bills needs are. I actually like AS best as an OLB where he has shown an ability to play DE at a weight more typical of an LB. He performed well in the zone blitz and showed the ability even as a DL player to drop back and pass cover in the short and even medium zone. Her was never a bulky guy who made the run difficult merely byhis size. He actually improved his stoutness even while losing weight/

 

The Bills appear to want a DE with athleticism and Schobel may fit this mold. He is getting older but given our thiness at DE may be the best we can do.

[cantankerous]

So you like him more as an OLB than a DE because you've seen him drop into coverage 2-3 times?

[Niagara Bill]

IMHO the Bills would be better off without him.

He is a decent player with no team concept in his head. He is detrimental to the emotion required to play top level football

[Doc]

At 243#, Schobel CANNOT be a DE in the 3-4. So it's OLB for him. And he could have a really good season, if his head and heart are into it, and the body is willing.

[Logical Reasoning]

IMHO the Bills would be better off without him.

He is a decent player with no team concept in his head. He is detrimental to the emotion required to play top level football

 

Had to be said.

[nateodoms'bff]

IMHO the Bills would be better off without him.

He is a decent player with no team concept in his head. He is detrimental to the emotion required to play top level football

 

100% agree. Schobel has let this team down by threatening to retire, and his blatant refusal through his actions to embrace his new position.

 

There is something to be said for a player who through their own actions, doesn't believe they will be successful at their new position. If Schobel sees himself having a season like Aaron Kampman did last season, then by any means trade him away today.

 

I wouldn't look for value either, if all they can get for him is 7th 3 rolls of tape and 1 sock, I'll take it and drive Aaron to the Buffalo Airport myself.

[TheLynchTrain]

The watchers who do a great job IMHO of trying to keep TSW somewhat neater and cleaner may well fold this post into one of the couple of threads going on which seem to focus more on the soap opera aspects of his decision and whether dramatic issues of global significance such as whether so and so talked to his wife and can the source be trusted.

 

This is not intended to be a thread about these issues which some find entertaining or whether some reporter got the true story 14 milliseconds quicker than some other hack, I mean this thread to be about the football issues and really would find it hard to care less about the soap opera or which reporter or confidant had the news first.

 

I follow the NFL because I find the game entertaining and I hope this is what this thread is about, the football rather than the soap opera and I encourage the observers who keep the board clean to do whatever the deem useful to keep the conversation flowing,

 

My questions is:

 

Do folks see his highest and best use is as augmenting a DL at the RDE position which won him Pro Bowl honors or instead augmenting the LB position where the shift to the 3-4 makes getting competent OLB help a priority?

 

Unfortunately, I see a difference between where I think Schobel performs best as a player and where I think the Bills needs are. I actually like AS best as an OLB where he has shown an ability to play DE at a weight more typical of an LB. He performed well in the zone blitz and showed the ability even as a DL player to drop back and pass cover in the short and even medium zone. Her was never a bulky guy who made the run difficult merely byhis size. He actually improved his stoutness even while losing weight/

 

The Bills appear to want a DE with athleticism and Schobel may fit this mold. He is getting older but given our thiness at DE may be the best we can do.

 

??????

 

Of all the positions on our defense (our team really), you think we're thin at DE? Do you know what a 3-4 defense is? Currently we have Marcus Stroud, Dwan Edwards (who could be injury prone), Spencer Johnson, John McCargo (he's not playing NT), and our new draft pick Alex Carrington. That's five guys playing at 2 positions, with the possibility of 3 of them (Stroud, Edwards, Johnson) getting a good chance to win the 2 starting spots. Why would we need to throw another guy in the mix, especially somebody that's 40 pounds lighter than them? We're thin at OLB, not DE.

 

 

 

EDIT: I also forgot to add Kyle Williams, who will probably split time between DE/NT depending on what the coaches see in camp. That's 6 players now that would all be above Schobel in a 3-4 DE spot.

[Hossage]

I think Schobel will succeed at linebacker. He has always played well in space. He was a former wide receiver in high school, and has excellent hands. Last year he was more like 260 than 243. He has been as big as 290 in the offseason, but the Bills have required him to come in at a lower weights for the last two years. Aaron has always excelled at diagnosing plays. As a rush end, he will be devastatingly effective.

[Trader]

I think Schobel will succeed at linebacker. He has always played well in space. He was a former wide receiver in high school, and has excellent hands. Last year he was more like 260 than 243. He has been as big as 290 in the offseason, but the Bills have required him to come in at a lower weights for the last two years. Aaron has always excelled at diagnosing plays. As a rush end, he will be devastatingly effective.

 

 

Put me in the camp that thinks he is done as a Bill. This makes it easier to trade him.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

I think Schobel will succeed at linebacker. He has always played well in space. He was a former wide receiver in high school, and has excellent hands. Last year he was more like 260 than 243. He has been as big as 290 in the offseason, but the Bills have required him to come in at a lower weights for the last two years. Aaron has always excelled at diagnosing plays. As a rush end, he will be devastatingly effective.

 

He's never been devastating at anything in his entire career, I don't see how that would change, especially at 33.

[Hossage]

We can debate about my word choice. I would say that rushing the passer to the outside is his strength.

[Hplarrm]

So you like him more as an OLB than a DE because you've seen him drop into coverage 2-3 times?

Among other things. First its been a lot more than 2-3 times he was relied upon for coverage work at DE. It was a lot more often during the Jerry Gray/LeBeau years but if anything one complaint about his DE play is that we had a tendency a little too much to use him pass coverage.

 

As mentioned above his more LB typical playing weight is a negative reason to assign him to the OLB slot.

 

Another negative reason is that strength at the point of attack was never his greatest strength so PLB which can take advantage of the unusual athleticism for a DE he showed and his clear diligence and good persistent motor may also tend to have him cover a lot more field as am OLB.

[BillsPhan]

...Do folks see his highest and best use is as augmenting a DL at the RDE position which won him Pro Bowl honors or instead augmenting the LB position where the shift to the 3-4 makes getting competent OLB help a priority?...

 

The Bills see him as an OLB in the 3-4 base defense, period. Stroud and Edwards each weigh about 50 more pounds then A.S. and they are the starting DE's.

 

Now an interesting point can me made about the job Phil Hansen did playing opposite Bruce all those years in their 3-4 defense. Hansen was not that much bigger then Schoebel is today, although he may have carried about 10 or 15 more pounds. Certainly Schoebel could gain 10 or 15 more pounds and be used exactly the way Hansen was if the Bills coaching staff thought he could do as good a job as Hansen did back in the day. Obviously, that option was not even discussed, and A.S will come back as a stand up LB - if he decides to come back at all.