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Edmunds vs the run - a liability?


YoloinOhio

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If the Giants really only had success (pretty much) on that first ugly drive, how then is this criticism really warranted?  If he tightened up his stuff, which he obviously did, after the first drive, is there a problem?  This article is bogus me thinks. 

 

On a side note, did anyone else notice that play where Eli seemed to call out a blitz or saw something from the left side of his formation from the D to call it out?  If I'm correct in what I think I saw (probably not) Edmunds' reaction was awesome.  He very quickly called an audible (?) and was really loud and animated about it.   Then he started looking like he was blitzing with maybe some others but then they back it out to a 4 man rush like they do a lot.  I think he really messed with Eli's head on that one.  I could be wrong but it looked pretty tricky to me.  Maybe Leslie Frasier came up with it to fake them out when they really do catch a disguised blitz.  I don't know.  Frazier is really good at what he does so I guess you never know. 

 

I'm probably totally wrong about what I saw but that's what it looked like to me.  As soon as Eli pointed out something, Edmunds immediately called the changeup and I really thought they were gonna blitz maybe 6 at least.  They do that fake blitzing a lot and I love that because it looks like they really mix up the real rushing and coverage packages.  Again, I could be seeing things all wrong.  I do know this D is for real and Edmunds is looking very good for being so young.  He's barely what 21?

 

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I don't keep track of Edmunds so I can't agree or disagree with any of these comments.  However he's very tall for a MLB.  I know he's very fast but I wonder if that height means he can't be quick, changing directions and accelerating like a shorter man can do (almost all RBs for example).  Some quickness comes from upper and lower body strength, and perhaps he could put on more muscle without slowing himself down.  When I see him I'm not sure what position God meant this guy to play.  Taller than most LBs, lighter than DEs, way too tall to play DB, certainly not a DT.  Well the Bills seem to be doing just fine on D and the MLB is the key to that, so I guess it's been figured out already.

 

I will make it a point to look for him during Sunday's game.

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47 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I mean Edmunds was a big reason for why the Patriots ran for almost 300 yards against us in week 16 of last season. BB exposed him big time in the run game. 

 

I got ripped by fans here all offseason for criticism of Edmunds. He's def reacting quicker to plays but still struggles to shed blocks and gets dragged an extra couple yards when making tackles. 

 

Between him and Star the rushing defense is still a concern. Interested to see how they do against Patriots in a couple weeks.

 

So I agree the Patriots totally exposed and abused him last year. However, Joe B must have had a busy day and turned the all22 off after watching that first drive because Edmunds played a big role in limiting Barkley after that. Through two games Edmunds has been to me, our most consistent player. There have been noticeable big strides. I'll be interested to see him play against the Patriots week 4. That is the ultimate test of how much he has improved or not. 

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They sure tightened up right away after the Giants first TD.  I thought it was going to be a very long day but they did something very un-Billsy and shut the Giants O down basically the rest of the game.  Very un-Billsy.  McDermott and Frasier have something going here, for now at least. 

 

We learned from the Chargers game last year that McD can rescue the D if Frasier has another bad day at the office.  That's pretty reassuring to me.  I don't know what he did but I'm glad he can do that if we're getting whooped again like that. 

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1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

I mean Edmunds was a big reason for why the Patriots ran for almost 300 yards against us in week 16 of last season. BB exposed him big time in the run game. 

 

I got ripped by fans here all offseason for criticism of Edmunds. He's def reacting quicker to plays but still struggles to shed blocks and gets dragged an extra couple yards when making tackles. 

 

Between him and Star the rushing defense is still a concern. Interested to see how they do against Patriots in a couple weeks.

 

He does seem to get himself locked on by blockers at times.  But when he's in his groove, he's pretty slick too.  I've seen him use his shoulder position beautfully to keep blocks off while he's positioning to stuff the hole and crash down on the RB.  Looks pretty natural too when he's in the zone like this.  We just need more of this and less of the bad Edmunds.  He still has an extremely high ceiling.  I for one love to watch him chase down a play.  He's so fast I forget I'm looking at a guy that's 6' 5" and 250 lbs. 

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3 hours ago, Reed83HOF said:

I saw this last night; I haven't watched him that much during run plays; I want to focus on this more next week from a viewing perspective. On passing downs I have been watching him move in a space and he seems to be moving well and get where he needs to go and is covering well. I have to remember he is 21 and is not a complete package yet, definitely something he needs to work on...

 

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Can't say I've really studied him, but I don't think he's been a liability.   Last season I thought he was a problem in the run, but this season.  

 

The guy had seven tackles on Sunday, so he obviously was around the ball a fair amount.   That's 112 on the season, and that's not bad.  

 

Plus, most defensive players get occupied by blockers most of the time.  It's the nature of the game.  No edge rushers beat their man all the time; they don't even do it half the time.   Every once in a while they win the battle and make the play.   Similarly, MLBs.   They don't beat the blocker all the time, anywhere close to the time.   Sometimes they just occupy the blocker, and someone else is expected to make the play.   

 

The question for Edmunds, like everyone else, is whether he's making the play when it's his turn, when he has an edge, and he seems to be doing that.   The other question is he flat out beating his man once in a while, and I think he's doing that, too.   

 

2 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

I watched the all 22 last night. There was one play in particular that struck me where Eli flipped run the play from run right to run left to run at Tremaine. 

 

My read is they'd rather run at him then away where he can pursue. 

 

Just FYI, if you don't have access too it already, my Bills video page does have the All-22 in addition to the condensed games.

 

Along the lines of the topic, I tend to agree with the comments that Edmunds' strengths are what the Bills need from him - someone who can stop a screen pass, a short pass to the TE/RB in the flats, or a quick crossing route deom going 15-20 yards instead 3-5. The DTs we have are really supposed to plug the holes for RB runs up the middle, and our outside LBs are the faster tacklers that are charged with the end runs. That's not really Edmunds' main priority. Doesn't mean he can't be better at it, but it's not exactly a liability. You can say that Jerry Hughes could be better at covering a TE or RB in a screen and you'd be correct. But that's not what we really need him to be great at either.

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Matches what I saw. Thank god they seemed to abandon the run after that first series. I didn't think Oliver had a very good game either. Harrison Phillips OTOH was all over the place. Our Dline is so deep this year.

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19 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Let’s see. Played probably two of the best 4 backs in the NFL and well the entire defense played them well and came away with wins. Limiting the production of these elite backs. 

 

True.  What linebacker hasn’t  Le’Veon or Sequan made a liability at one point or another. 

 

I do think the deliberate rate strategy on opposing offenses is to get a linemen on Tremaine and run at him because his pursuit is good. 

 

Its pretty typical of what offenses do against fast rangy linebackers. 

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3 hours ago, Trogdor said:

I thought the DTs were supposed to occupy blockers and open gaps for the LBs? I swear I heard that non-stop when they over paid for Star.

 

Not all DTs have the same job.

 

As a 1-tech DT, occupying blockers is mostly correct. But you also need to account for the 3-tech DT, who is supposed to pass rush and stop the run in the backfield.

 

Combined, they are used to stop the run upfront, with LBs and Safeties backing them up.

 

Also take into account that Star has not been playing well.

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7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Can't say I've really studied him, but I don't think he's been a liability.   Last season I thought he was a problem in the run, but this season.  

 

The guy had seven tackles on Sunday, so he obviously was around the ball a fair amount.   That's 112 on the season, and that's not bad.  

 

Plus, most defensive players get occupied by blockers most of the time.  It's the nature of the game.  No edge rushers beat their man all the time; they don't even do it half the time.   Every once in a while they win the battle and make the play.   Similarly, MLBs.   They don't beat the blocker all the time, anywhere close to the time.   Sometimes they just occupy the blocker, and someone else is expected to make the play.   

 

The question for Edmunds, like everyone else, is whether he's making the play when it's his turn, when he has an edge, and he seems to be doing that.   The other question is he flat out beating his man once in a while, and I think he's doing that, too.   

Good insight 

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12 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

This. He is an elite talent at MLB

1's vs 1's in preseason Tremaine was dominant without opponents necessarily scheming to account for him. If the reason he's not dominant in the regular season is that teams are scheming so as not to have Edmunds beat them, good. As the 2nd youngest player in the NFL - in his second year!! - Edmunds projects to soon be dominating. Whether teams scheme for him or not. 

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10 hours ago, VW82 said:

Matches what I saw. Thank god they seemed to abandon the run after that first series. I didn't think Oliver had a very good game either. Harrison Phillips OTOH was all over the place. Our Dline is so deep this year.

 

I think you should look closer on Edmunds - but I agree on Oliver actually. He still had a couple of nice push the pocket plays but the Giants did swamp him in the run game and just trust that Star wasn't stopping them (because let's be honest when does he stop anybody?). 

 

As for the Giants "abandoning the run" I just don't think that is accurate. The Bills adjusted. After that first drive Barkley was 14 attempts for 50 yards at 3.5 ypa and the Giants spent a lot of time 14 points behind so if you are running at 3.5 yards a clip then eventually you are going to have to throw. Indeed after that first drive on their next four first downs in the game 3 of them were Barkley runs for a combined total of 7 yards. The best way to make a team get away from the run is to put them behind on the scoreboard and then sell out to stop it on 1st down. Once the Bills did that they took away Barkley to a large extent. Good adjustments, excellent coaching and all round team play - the offense putting up points helped the defense shut Barkley down.

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11 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

So I agree the Patriots totally exposed and abused him last year. However, Joe B must have had a busy day and turned the all22 off after watching that first drive because Edmunds played a big role in limiting Barkley after that. Through two games Edmunds has been to me, our most consistent player. There have been noticeable big strides. I'll be interested to see him play against the Patriots week 4. That is the ultimate test of how much he has improved or not. 

 

 

I don't agree with the bolded at all.

 

I didn't want to get into this this early in the season because he's far from the biggest concern they have but he still seems to lack the instincts to be great at the position.

 

Maybe the vast improvement we were promised begins to show up this week?

 

I do agree with the part after the bolded.............that Patriots game is going to be the litmus test for determining how far guys like Edmunds and Allen and a bunch of the other "perceived improved" or new players have come.    McBeane might have to get on the horn with Carolina to see if Luke is available for the right price if the Pats abuse Edmunds again.    

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As I watch him... He seems to be a very disciplined player.   He maintains his gap and doesn't deviate until the RB has committed to a lane.   Most of the defense settled down after the 1st drive agsinst the Giants and did that it seemed.  So, no he's not shooting all over trying to get tackles for loss.  He's playing his positon and ensuring the RB doesn't get by him more than a yard or 2.  By my thinkin, that makes him an excellent run defender.

 

The one thing I have noticed is he has a tell when he's dropping into coverage.  Most plays when he settles into the middle of the line close to the LOS, he would appear to be coming after the QB.  But when he's dropping into coverage at the snap, he stands with his one leg noticeably back in a very open "split-like" stance (kinda to get that extra step back). But when he's going to attack the line he stands with his feet squared to his body to get the initial jump forward.

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This is not a surprise, he's athletic and plays with a lot if finesse. If the Bills at some time add a more traditional type Middle Linebacker, Edmund slides outside and the team is better. Nonetheless, he is good and getting better where he is now.

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20 hours ago, DuckyBoys said:

his body type is long and angular  He is not that thick given how tall/long he is  I'll give up the thump for the insane range the guy has  Its much tougher to find a 6'5" Lber who can run with backs/ends than it is to get a 240 lb thumper who is good for two downs and will never see the field vs a hurry up spread offense

That says it all! Edmunds is not a traditional mlb. But with today’s game as it is he fits pretty good and will only get better! He needs to get that pick6 when it’s there though.

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