What to do at DE next year

[Process]

Bills game plan today was to not blitz Brady and it really exposed how desperate this team is for pass rushers along the DL. Brady had all day all game. Ideally we will have two new starters next year. What do we do with the guys we have and who do we get?

 

Hughes- don't see a reason to cut or trade him. Keep him as a vet situational player but his days as a starter should be over. 

 

Lawson- really hope the bills don't re sign him. He's been solid this year no doubt, but it's also the first year he's really even been noticeable. In a contract year hmm? And right now our d line is full of "solid" guys, our problem is we have no real impact players. He's going to get overpaid, use the money to go out and get some stud playermakers that will really make a difference. 

 

Murphy- he has to go, right? Does anyone have a case for not cutting him? He's completely useless out there. 

 

If Ngakoue makes it to FA he should be our #1 target. We have the cap space, get him. We also need to take a guy rounds 1/2 of the draft. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Process

[ogham26]

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

[Process]

2 minutes ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

Two biggest needs by far

[Locomark]

29 minutes ago, Process said:

Bills game plan today was to not blitz Brady and it really exposed how desperate this team is for pass rushers along the DL. Brady had all day all game. Ideally we will have two new starters next year. What do we do with the guys we have and who do we get?

 

Hughes- don't see a reason to cut or trade him. Keep him as a vet situational player but his days as a starter should be over. 

 

Lawson- really hope the bills don't re sign him. He's been solid this year no doubt, but it's also the first year he's really even been noticeable. In a contract year hmm? And right now our d line is full of "solid" guys, our problem is we have no real impact players. He's going to get overpaid, use the money to go out and get some stud playermakers that will really make a difference. 

 

Murphy- he has to go, right? Does anyone have a case for not cutting him? He's completely useless out there. 

 

If Ngakoue makes it to FA he should be our #1 target. We have the cap space, get him. We also need to take a guy rounds 1/2 of the draft. 

Process I agree on every one of your points. DE is the weakness on this defense. No outside pressure and it was evident again tonight. Jerry is becoming a situational guy and should soon be used like Zo was. We need 2 new DEs. 

[LB48]

The PATS made Murphy play the fool today.  How many times did they give him an inside rushing lane and then run to where he was supposed to be?  He took the bait every time and left our LB's trying to cover for him.     

[LABILLBACKER]

Jerry & Trent are no longer valuable to this team. Not even as depth. They both must go. Lorenzo will be retiring most likely. I'm torn about Shaq? We need to spend alot of the cap on defense (DE/CB2). Draft heavy on offense. Maybe Jonathan Taylor 1st and the best tall wr in the 2nd.

[Mark Vader]

1 hour ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

 

1 hour ago, Process said:

Two biggest needs by far

WR is deep in this year's draft, so I would rather draft DE in the 1st then go WR in the 2nd.

[Kelly the Dog]

1 hour ago, Mark Vader said:

 

WR is deep in this year's draft, so I would rather draft DE in the 1st then go WR in the 2nd.

We need a stud WR though more than a stud DE. Our defense is very good without great LDE play and I think there is a good chance we re-sign Lawson. Let Murphy go. Hughes is still very good. Spend some FA money on a pass rusher and draft a WR high. 

[Xwnyer]

57 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

We need a stud WR though more than a stud DE. Our defense is very good without great LDE play and I think there is a good chance we re-sign Lawson. Let Murphy go. Hughes is still very good. Spend some FA money on a pass rusher and draft a WR high. 

If Hughes could stop getting held or wrapped around the neck his impact could be much better.  What bothers me is the lack of stunting we do on the line lately.  

[BreezeMafia]

With the bounty of talent the Bills have drafted in the last 3 drafts, I would not hesitate to trade to the GMEN 2# 1's and a 2nd for the the #2 overall this year and draft Chase Young.  Chase is a generational talent and will be on rookie contract for 4 years.

[TwistofFate]

4 hours ago, Process said:

Two biggest needs by far

CB is a pretty big need.   Johnson was abused over and over today. 

 

Edge rusher, Wr,  Cb.  Whichever one has highest value for the pick you take. 

[Nuncha]

Lawson is the most complete DE on this team...Stick a fork in Hughes and Murphy is well Murphy.

[Qearly2018]

9 minutes ago, Azucho98 said:

Lawson is the most complete DE on this team...Stick a fork in Hughes and Murphy is well Murphy.

We can't lose Murphy and his high motor....

[Meatloaf63]

6 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Jerry & Trent are no longer valuable to this team. Not even as depth. They both must go. Lorenzo will be retiring most likely. I'm torn about Shaq? We need to spend alot of the cap on defense (DE/CB2). Draft heavy on offense. Maybe Jonathan Taylor 1st and the best tall wr in the 2nd.

We can’t let Shaq go, we will be creating too many holes to fill. Lorenzo should retire and Murphy should get cut, that’s enough to replace as it is, we just need to replace Murphy with some real talent. ...

[vincec]

7 hours ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

Unfortunately, given the premium nature of the position, you're highly unlikely to get a stud DE in the second round. Or even the first where the Bills will pick TBH. Best best is a FA acquisition, IMO. Use the 1st and 2nd round picks for WR and OT.

2 hours ago, TwistofFate said:

CB is a pretty big need.   Johnson was abused over and over today. 

 

Edge rusher, Wr,  Cb.  Whichever one has highest value for the pick you take. 

OT. Did you watch the outside rush last night?

[thenorthremembers]

8 hours ago, Process said:

Bills game plan today was to not blitz Brady and it really exposed how desperate this team is for pass rushers along the DL. Brady had all day all game. Ideally we will have two new starters next year. What do we do with the guys we have and who do we get?

 

Hughes- don't see a reason to cut or trade him. Keep him as a vet situational player but his days as a starter should be over. 

 

Lawson- really hope the bills don't re sign him. He's been solid this year no doubt, but it's also the first year he's really even been noticeable. In a contract year hmm? And right now our d line is full of "solid" guys, our problem is we have no real impact players. He's going to get overpaid, use the money to go out and get some stud playermakers that will really make a difference. 

 

Murphy- he has to go, right? Does anyone have a case for not cutting him? He's completely useless out there. 

 

If Ngakoue makes it to FA he should be our #1 target. We have the cap space, get him. We also need to take a guy rounds 1/2 of the draft. 

So Hughes is being paid 9.5 million a year and has 4 sacks and should be kept.  Murphy is getting 8.5 and has 3 and is useless?  

 

Dont see your logic here.  Keep them both and draft a 1st round pass rusher.

[oldmanfan]

Resign Lawson.  He’s the modern Phil Hansen.  Let Murphy and Hughes go.  Sign a better pass rushing guy in free agency and use the rookie Johnson as a pass rusher.

[Aussie Joe]

3 hours ago, BillsinChesterSprings said:

With the bounty of talent the Bills have drafted in the last 3 drafts, I would not hesitate to trade to the GMEN 2# 1's and a 2nd for the the #2 overall this year and draft Chase Young.  Chase is a generational talent and will be on rookie contract for 4 years.

You mightn’t hesitate to do this but there is no chance Beane does it... thankfully..

 

Doubt  that even get it done to move up from 25 to 2...

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

To be honest the way this defense is built I would rather have another good CB playing with White. Our defensive front seems to play very disciplined by design. We do need another DE for depth or if we lose Lawson but I think another good CB makes this defense better. Our only glaring weakness on defense is the CB opposite White and our nickel CB.

 

DE does need to be addressed regardless of who we lose in FA.

[Process]

57 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

So Hughes is being paid 9.5 million a year and has 4 sacks and should be kept.  Murphy is getting 8.5 and has 3 and is useless?  

 

Dont see your logic here.  Keep them both and draft a 1st round pass rusher.

Hughes has been here a while and was a really good player for us for years. Murphy has very little history with the team and has been awful since the day he got here. So yes there is some bias. 

 

Plus Murphy consistently gets abused against the run. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Process

[Luka]

9 hours ago, Process said:

Bills game plan today was to not blitz Brady and it really exposed how desperate this team is for pass rushers along the DL. Brady had all day all game. Ideally we will have two new starters next year. What do we do with the guys we have and who do we get?

 

Hughes- don't see a reason to cut or trade him. Keep him as a vet situational player but his days as a starter should be over. 

 

Lawson- really hope the bills don't re sign him. He's been solid this year no doubt, but it's also the first year he's really even been noticeable. In a contract year hmm? And right now our d line is full of "solid" guys, our problem is we have no real impact players. He's going to get overpaid, use the money to go out and get some stud playermakers that will really make a difference. 

 

Murphy- he has to go, right? Does anyone have a case for not cutting him? He's completely useless out there. 

 

If Ngakoue makes it to FA he should be our #1 target. We have the cap space, get him. We also need to take a guy rounds 1/2 of the draft. 

 

Stopped reading right there. He got out muscled by a 42 year old QB. Hughes needs to be shipped right out of here the moment it's time to clean out the lockers. He can't play the run, he can't sack the QB. Useless.

 

Lawson will get paid, we'll draft someone and hopefully start throwing that cap money around and bring in someone like Armstead from the 49ers.

[JaCrispy]

8 hours ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

McD has drafted 3 first round defenders and one first round offensive player...curious to see if McD goes against his bread and butter to draft a first round WR...

[Rc2catch]

Shaq was pretty good last year as well. 
I keep hearing this jaguar guy as the upgrade over shaq, one of our posters just showed the other day shaq vs yannick? And shaq is playing better with like 200 less snaps. 
Not sure why he doesn’t start over Murphy but you can tell when shaq steps in the game his impact is almost immediate.  He has gotten better every year here, and has taken it to a new level this season. Contract year or not what has shaq shown to say he’s lazy or won’t play hard once he’s paid? And what has the Jaguar guy shown that says he won’t mail it in once he’s paid? I won’t accept arguments that we should not pay one of our own over a guy who has arguably the same production on a crap defense. 
What are you saying to the team? 
Play well and we will let you hit free agency so we can overpay someone else in free agency who may not even be as good. That’s just silly. If you’re letting shaq walk the player you’re replacing him with better be an upgrade. And I see nothing that says yannick is an upgrade. I went to look and his sacks are against terrible teams. He has no stats against the upper echelon of teams this year. 
We draft, develop and re sign our own. We have flipped out for years we draft guys and let them walk and they show out for their new team. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Rc2catch

[whorlnut]

9 hours ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

Or the other way around.

 

With how much McD loves defense, I could honestly see a first round round DE followed by a second round WR.
 

Last night was proof. He got the lead and instantly went into conservative mode right after Allen hit Brown on the deep td. Instead of riding that momentum, they went run, run, run, punt on the next series and were content on putting it into the defenses hands. 
 

They will draft a DE in the first, which wouldn’t upset me too bad as long as they go offense in the next two rounds. Someone like Gross-Matos would be awesome in this defense. 

[Buffarukus]

the main thing about shaq this year is he is playing very disaplined in his assignment. how many fakes have shaq blown up and you better not try a screen on his side of the field. thats much more then working hard for a contract year and doing everything you can to pump up the sack totals. id def keep him. 

 

im not sure where the hughs hate comes from. hes consistently the one making the qb uncomfortable. he doesnt have the sack totals but when the qb steps up to avoid pressure its because hughs is screaming around the edge causing it. all these dt sacks arent just guys blowing past there guards on there own. its the qb having to step up into them cause the edge pressure is forcing it. i will admit for some reason hughs is soft tackling this season letting qbs get away...not sure whats going on there.

[Rc2catch]

10 minutes ago, Buffarukus said:

the main thing about shaq this year is he is playing very disaplined in his assignment. how many fakes have shaq blown up and you better not try a screen on his side of the field. thats much more then working hard for a contract year and doing everything you can to pump up the sack totals. id def keep him. 

 

im not sure where the hughs hate comes from. hes consistently the one making the qb uncomfortable. he doesnt have the sack totals but when the qb steps up to avoid pressure its because hughs is screaming around the edge causing it. all these dt sacks arent just guys blowing past there guards on there own. its the qb having to step up into them cause the edge pressure is forcing it. i will admit for some reason hughs is soft tackling this season letting qbs get away...not sure whats going on there.

Hughes has always missed on occasion. I would agree with everything you said though. 
We are really nitpicking on some of these guys like there are clear cheaper upgrades to be had all over. 
The way things sound and how some are acting they want Oliver and Jordan Phillips back and replace everyone else via draft and free agency. 

[MAJBobby]

Go into Off-season Buy the DE. Use the Draft on Offense. 

[Pokebball]

10 hours ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

I'd probably reverse the picks, but I agree

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

Hughes has always missed on occasion. I would agree with everything you said though. 
We are really nitpicking on some of these guys like there are clear cheaper upgrades to be had all over. 
The way things sound and how some are acting they want Oliver and Jordan Phillips back and replace everyone else via draft and free agency. 

I hear ya, but Oliver and Phillips are game wreckers.  Our DE’s are middle of the pack.  Lawson probably above average given how good he is at setting the edge combined with his decent pass rushing ability. 

[MAJBobby]

Buy the DE 

[frogger]

I think we need to upgrade the outside pass rush, Ideally I’d get Bud Dupree...he’s having a great year with 9.5 sacks (with 2 games left) sign him for about 15-17 million a year.  In the most recent Todd McShay mock he had Buffalo picking a WR, but still on the board was AJ Epenesa, sign Bud Dupree and draft Epenesa who I think could become Cam Jordan like, raw but big and athletic.  Let Shaq walk, release Murphy and move Hughes to the Lorax role, I think most of his contract is guaranteed so releasing him doesn’t help.

then address the OL in Free agency and get a WR both in Free agency and draft.

 

 

Side note, i know this is an unpopular opinion, but when KC releases Watkins, I’d sign him, with Buffalo’s medical staff they might be able to keep him healthy. A 1 yr prove it deal.
 

Then sign Conklin (9th ranked PFF RT, one time 1st team all pro) and Scherff (6th ranked PFF Guard).

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

7 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

We need a stud WR though more than a stud DE. Our defense is very good without great LDE play and I think there is a good chance we re-sign Lawson. Let Murphy go. Hughes is still very good. Spend some FA money on a pass rusher and draft a WR high. 

The thing is even re-signing Lawson he's way better on the right side so we still need a upgrade on the left side.

[Buffarukus]

2 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

Hughes has always missed on occasion. I would agree with everything you said though. 
We are really nitpicking on some of these guys like there are clear cheaper upgrades to be had all over. 
The way things sound and how some are acting they want Oliver and Jordan Phillips back and replace everyone else via draft and free agency. 

i think we are expecting a mack or watt type performace. at the end of the day you want pressure. making qbs uncomfortable. grabbing a jersey making them move. blowing by and getting a 4 sack night would be great but its just not happening, thats not to say our ends are being stone walled every play. i think cause we see josh under constant duress we want the same but thats a mixutre of holding the ball too long, blitzes that are not picked up and a oline that is in thier first season together with a rookie tackle who mightnot be suited for the play.

 

how many sacks do we have if brady cant toss the ball at his own feet and not get a penalty...we might have had a great night and this topic changes dramatically.  

[NewEra]

10 hours ago, Process said:

Two biggest needs by far

OL imo.  Our OL is much better than last year.  Not hard to do when you have a bottom 2 OL.  I think we’re middle of the pack or maybe bottom 1/3 of the league when we have Ford playing RT.  Nsekhe plays fine when healthy.  He’s 33+ with bad knees.  I don’t think he can be counted on next year as anything more than a swing tackle.  Ford should be at guard.  
 

RT is #1 (followed by WR) on my biggest needs list.  Building a dominant OL for JA would be my #1 goal.  Giving JA another WR (over 6’1) number 2.  Watch the last two offensive plays.  Ford gets blown by on both plays. He’ll improve, but his foot speed is clearly lacking.  Dawkins literally trips over his own feet on the 4th down play. OL couldn’t be counted on when JA needed him most
 

Between Shaq and Murphy, I think one will return and we’ll draft a DE in rd 1 or 2.  

[MDH]

10 hours ago, ogham26 said:

draft a stud wr in the 1st and draft a DE in the second would be ideal imo

 

In general pass rushers are harder to find outside of round 1 while plenty of WRs drafted in the 2nd make an impact. 
 

That said, you can’t approach the draft like that. If a guy doesn’t have value in a round you can’t reach for him because he plays a position you covet.
 

These are defiantly the two biggest areas of need on the team though.

[The Jokeman]

1 hour ago, JaCrispy said:

McD has drafted 3 first round defenders and one first round offensive player...curious to see if McD goes against his bread and butter to draft a first round WR...

Let's see what free agency adds or removes. As we could keep Lawson and Murphy but replace LorAx with someone like Whitney Mercilus that give us added pass rush so need for DE not so much or could adds WR like Allison to give us the size element. This coming off-season going to say a lot about the future of this franchise.

[Rc2catch]

9 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I hear ya, but Oliver and Phillips are game wreckers.  Our DE’s are middle of the pack.  Lawson probably above average given how good he is at setting the edge combined with his decent pass rushing ability. 

I don’t disagree, upgrades can be made. 
Im not cool with cutting Hughes, Star (even though he doesn’t bring a ton the savings isn’t worth it) letting shaq walk.. Too many pieces to lose. Too many new guys to fit into what is already a great group. 
Just me, but I’m keeping everyone minus Murphy. I’m signing shaq, possibly franchising Jordan Phillips, cutting Trent Murphy. And finding someone in the draft to take Murphy’s spot in the rotation. 
I don’t think Murphy is as terrible as some make him out to be, but he’s definitely not making much of an impact given how many snaps he gets. 
My biggest beef or concerns are changing too much. We didn’t pressure Brady last night so I get people being upset and wanting a better rush. But we’re not at a defcon 4 blow up the defensive line status either 

[Real McClappy]

11 hours ago, Process said:

Bills game plan today was to not blitz Brady and it really exposed how desperate this team is for pass rushers along the DL. Brady had all day all game. Ideally we will have two new starters next year. What do we do with the guys we have and who do we get?

 

Hughes- don't see a reason to cut or trade him. Keep him as a vet situational player but his days as a starter should be over. 

 

Lawson- really hope the bills don't re sign him. He's been solid this year no doubt, but it's also the first year he's really even been noticeable. In a contract year hmm? And right now our d line is full of "solid" guys, our problem is we have no real impact players. He's going to get overpaid, use the money to go out and get some stud playermakers that will really make a difference. 

 

Murphy- he has to go, right? Does anyone have a case for not cutting him? He's completely useless out there. 

 

If Ngakoue makes it to FA he should be our #1 target. We have the cap space, get him. We also need to take a guy rounds 1/2 of the draft. 

So your plan is to get rid of all our DE's? Cool story.

 

Keep Lawson and make him a full time starter. Draft Hughes future replacement, train him (develop) like Lawson.

[HOUSE]

A loss to the Patriots can make people crazy. 

[The Jokeman]

7 minutes ago, NewEra said:

OL imo.  Our OL is much better than last year.  Not hard to do when you have a bottom 2 OL.  I think we’re middle of the pack or maybe bottom 1/3 of the league when we have Ford playing RT.  Nsekhe plays fine when healthy.  He’s 33+ with bad knees.  I don’t think he can be counted on next year as anything more than a swing tackle.  Ford should be at guard.  
 

RT is #1 (followed by WR) on my biggest needs list.  Building a dominant OL for JA would be my #1 goal.  Giving JA another WR (over 6’1) number 2.  Watch the last two offensive plays.  Ford gets blown by on both plays. He’ll improve, but his foot speed is clearly lacking.  Dawkins literally trips over his own feet on the 4th down play. OL couldn’t be counted on when JA needed him most
 

Between Shaq and Murphy, I think one will return and we’ll draft a DE in rd 1 or 2.  

My worry is Shaq disappears after getting a pay raise. He's been solid this year but still a depth guy. Yet also have concerns with position long term which makes me look to the draft compared to free agency.