Sisyphean Bills Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 The way Nix has talked up all the street free agents and practice squad fodder he brought in to plug holes in the dikes last year, it seems like he's content with the OL at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoner7 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 If we get a good Rt maybe that will help us run the ball more and more effectively, keeping our 32nd ranked run D off the field longer, thus improving our run D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob's House Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I think we could effectively address both sides of the ball. I like the idea of drafting Quinn/Miller at 3 (or trading back and still getting one of them) and taking the best OT on the board in rd 2. That addresses our two biggest needs: a pass rusher and a RT. Then take BPA at areas of need through the rest of the draft. Another NT and DE would be nice, but I expect to see more out of Troup and Carrington this year, and with KW and D Edwards, I don't think we're that far off on the DL. But to go yet another year without substantially beefing up the OT position is more than I can bear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderweb Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 If Bell struggles to run block at LT facing RDE's, how we he fare against stouter LDE's as a RT? Bell is not a powerful blocker in the mold of a Jon Runyan type RT who moves people. He's more of a finesse blocker, and even at that not strong at the point of attack. While your assessment seems accurate, Bell was a very raw prospect who has picked up his game considerably this past year. He did this primarily in pass blocking and penalty reductions, but he also was coming off knee surgery and his strength training was acknowledged as almost non-existent over the previous off season due to his rehabbing. This off season much is expected from Bell in improving his strength. Toward the end of the season, Bell seemed a bit out of gas as well as he allowed a few sacks late in the year after having given none thru a good chunk of the year. A healthy, stronger Bell makes our LT issues much less than they have been. I also see Bell as a LT, not a RT. The Bills definitely could use help at RT and I wasn't impressed with Pears, although Gailey seems to have given him favorable reviews. We definitely could use another RT. Depth is also a concern at Tackle. With Urbik and Rinehart, we seemed to have picked up depth and a possible new Guard so inside we appear better off now than when 2010 began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllib olaffub Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 In response to the 3-4 comments - part of Buffalo's current problem with draft selections, aside from missing on talent altogether, is that players can be found in any round of the draft, and after in college F.A., if the GM knows how his team is supposed to look. A guy like Parcells goes into a team knowing how he wants his defenses to look. He likes big linebackers, hard hitting safeties, and big, fast D-linemen (I know that is simplified, but he knows how he wants his OLB's and ILB's to look), so, he can identify a guy who might play for a small school as a DE, and say "this guy has all the physical tools I'm looking for in a OLB" and then draft him in a later round, maybe - but the point is, there is plenty of talent in every draft class, the hardest part is knowing what the pieces you need look like. With the switch to a 3-4, I kind of got the impression (and, I keep telling myself I don't know what I'm talking about and that Nix, Gailey, and Co. have a ton of experience and know what they're doing) that Nix and Gailey decided they wanted a 3-4 because it was better suited for the NFL. Just a plain, generic 3-4. They go out and get a coordinator who isn't a specialist in that scheme. They mainly stick with the personnel they had from a small Tampa 2 defense - and our defense got killed against the run to a historical degree. If Nix knew what his 3-4 was supposed to look like, down to the size of the various players and their attitude and on-field responsibilities, then he could have found bigger guys and brought them in as LB's last year, and we might have gotten a stereotypical NT. Now, with the addition of Wanndstadt, I'm scratching my head. I know I'm glad we have his expertise on staff, but I don't know if their "Hybrid" defense is a matter of being master-minds and knowing that such a defense, envisioning one specifically, can be great, or, if it just a matter of them not being able to part ways with players who don't fit a good 3-4, and so instead just having a handicapped combination that doesn't do either excellently? There is talk from guys like Bellicheck that the 4-3 is going to come back because the 3-4 has become so predominant and teams are designing offenses to attack the 3-4. Now, I can only hope our coaches are trying to put together a unique defense that can manhandle any team. I can say this: we fans know what we need for our defense to be better. We need bigger LB's - at least an OLB and an ILB, we need a more traditional NT, unless Troupe has added a bit of weight and strenght, and we need another DE. That's just the front seven, and that should be addressed this offseason if they're serious about being competitive. As for the O-line, we got handled by some teams last year, and did o.k. in other games. Either way, we're not dominant. If our staff believes we are still a year or two away from competing, they should get their lines in order now, so going forward there is consistency. I mean, the lines need to be solid in order to function any scheme. Let's hope they get it done this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I don't think Nix values the OT position like most NFL teams do, but even if he does, it seems like every year Buffalo has more important needs somewhere else on the field. And let's be honest the reason for this is moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4 last off-season. When you look at a guy like Mike Tomlin, he was a 4-3 guy who went to Pittsburgh and kept the 3-4, which is what the Steelers were built for. The Bills created additional needs by deciding they absolutely need a new defensive scheme, which precludes them from improving the 2 most important OL positions: LT and RT. It's one thing to have a huge rebuild ahead of you as an incoming GM and HC. It's another to add to the task, which is my major criticism of the new regime because rebuilding doesn't have to take 3 off-seasons. Right on. The switch to 3-4 has made the rebuild harder but maybe it will pay dividends soon? We did not have a great defense with the 4-3 either (although they were better than last years unit) I just hope we stop wasting critical draft picks on guys like McCargo, Maybin, and Hardy ... guys that cannot get on the field. Looks like we will be replacing Whitner so there goes another wasted #1 along with Lynch. Honestly, there's been TONS of criticism of the Bills attempted switch to a 3-4 scheme. But the overwhelming sentiment on this board before last season was that the Bills should switch to a 3-4 defense. So to those criticizing the switch to the 3-4, were you also advising against the switch before it happened? For the record, I liked the idea of going to the 3-4 but was aware of the very few who pointed out that we were late in getting up on that wave and would have a hard time competing for the unabundant 3-4 talent. A very few people here pointed out the great success of defenses like Minnesota's 4-3 in arguing that it's not the scheme, it's the players. But again, I heard almost zero concerns about switching to a 3-4…and now I'm hearing lots of criticism of the move. Back on topic, this would be a great year to take an offensive tackle in the 2nd round. One or more of the top-rated tackles WILL slide to our pick at #34. Last year, the Rams drafted Rodger Saffold at #33. He started every game for them at LEFT tackle…even though there were concerns pre-draft that he was not athletic enough to play left tackle. There was the usual conventional thinking that he would be a right tackle or a guard due to what was perceived as not having good enough footwork for the blind side. Saffold was so good that he forced Jason Smith (drafted #2 overall in 2009) over to the right side. Just because AJ Smith and Nix didn't draft OTs early doesn't mean that Nix won't do so this year. While there are few if any OTs ranked as elite this year, there are a bunch that have good grades. Our pick at #34 is virtually a late first round pick. A good O-tackle will slide to us. Will the Bills recognize him and take him? Who might be this year's Rodger Saffold? The Rams loved Saffold last year. I heard Bill polian state that he should have taken him in the first round. (Yes, Bill misses on some picks too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 The Rams loved Saffold last year. I heard Bill polian state that he should have taken him in the first round. (Yes, Bill misses on some picks too). Yeah, he publicly stated that it was a mistake to draft Jerry Hughes in favor of Saffold. But 31 other teams are kicking themselves too and like I said, there might be another Rodger Saffold this year when we pick at #34. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repulsif Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 - the best DL, LB - then the best DL, LB - then the best OL - then the best TE - then I don't care thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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