Phil The Thrill Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 (edited) Since Free Agency started, the Bills lost 2 defensive lineman and signed three new defensive lineman. Many here lamented the loss of Shaq Lawson and some wanted Jordan Phillips retained. Given these transactions do you believe the Bills D-Line is better or worse? Pre-Free Agency Shaq Lawson Star Lotuleile Eddie Oliver Jerry Hughes Jordan Phillips Trent Murphy Daryl Johnson Harrison Phillips (IR)Post Free Agency *Mario Addison Star Lotuleile Eddie Oliver Jerry Hughes *Vernon Butler *Quentin Jefferson Harrison Phillips Trent Murphy Daryl Johnson As you can see they essentially traded Shaq and Jordan Phillips for Addison, Butler, and Jefferson. Edited March 19, 2020 by Phil The Thrill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Much, much better IMHO...the depth as it stands right now is incredible 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Better. No question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatdrought Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I think Butler for Phillips is likely a push. Jefferson for Shaq is an improvement. Addison is gravy. 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I am a little concerned that we have spent so much attention on the defense and, beyond Diggs, left the offense without badly needed reinforcements. The defense was solid last year, the offense, not so much. Where is the investment in the offense beyond Diggs? Yeah, we re-signed a guard and brought on a top notch deep threat and separation specialist at WR but the offense is still behind the defense talent-wise. I guess that will have to happen in the draft. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshAllenHasBigHands Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 1 minute ago, Mickey said: I am a little concerned that we have spent so much attention on the defense and, beyond Diggs, left the offense without badly needed reinforcements. The defense was solid last year, the offense, not so much. Where is the investment in the offense beyond Diggs? Yeah, we re-signed a guard and brought on a top notch deep threat and separation specialist at WR but the offense is still behind the defense talent-wise. I guess that will have to happen in the draft. They have their 3 WRs. They are invested in Knox. After that, the only upgrades would be on OL. There, we have Morse (obviously not gonna replace him), Spain (who they paid to be the starter), Dawkins (The franchise LT), Ford (who is now exiting his rookie season). Maybe they could replace Feliciano, but its not like the available upgrades would really make THAT much of a difference. I guess they could also use an RB2, but that seems like a prime draft candidate. 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonMexico Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Forgetting Harrison Phillips 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloHokie13 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Harry on both lists, Corey Liuget on pre FA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Ammendment NoMas Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 We're deeper. Time will tell if we are better but we seem to have shored up a wave for run defense and added a few sacks on the Edge. The key will be how Klein fits in to the scheme and if V Joseph or Thompson steps up and makes the LB's formidable. That's the weak spot on D now. I think McD gets the most out of the unit and these guys all seem to understand the scheme. One more rock solid CB would be gravy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 18 minutes ago, Mickey said: I am a little concerned that we have spent so much attention on the defense and, beyond Diggs, left the offense without badly needed reinforcements. The defense was solid last year, the offense, not so much. Where is the investment in the offense beyond Diggs? Yeah, we re-signed a guard and brought on a top notch deep threat and separation specialist at WR but the offense is still behind the defense talent-wise. I guess that will have to happen in the draft. We also lost much more on the defensive side 3 major contributors, Phillips, Lawson, and Alexander. Who'd we lose on offense? Frank Gore who I'm sure we could have back if we wanted. The biggest hole we had on offense was at WR which we did address. You have nine offensive lineman from last year all under contract. The only place where I could see a FA helping would be a running back, but even there, maybe the plan is for Yeldon to be the #2, plus signed Jones though mainly for ST and who knows about (can't think of his name) the rugby player. Can't recall was S Perry a FA or is he signed? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil The Thrill Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 37 minutes ago, Mickey said: I am a little concerned that we have spent so much attention on the defense and, beyond Diggs, left the offense without badly needed reinforcements. The defense was solid last year, the offense, not so much. Where is the investment in the offense beyond Diggs? Yeah, we re-signed a guard and brought on a top notch deep threat and separation specialist at WR but the offense is still behind the defense talent-wise. I guess that will have to happen in the draft. True... we still have the draft and without the 1st round pick, it gives us more cap space to spend on Beane’s “second tier” FA’s 35 minutes ago, RonMexico said: Forgetting Harrison Phillips Ah! Thank you. I’ll make the edit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulldog Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 48 minutes ago, whatdrought said: I think Butler for Phillips is likely a push. Jefferson for Shaq is an improvement. Addison is gravy. Agreed - and as it now stands, our depth is improved. A healthy rotation of defensive lineman going after opposing offenses will serve us well. Let them all have playing time & turn them loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rochesterfan Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Not that it impacts much, but you are missing Vincent Taylor and Mike Love on both lists. Very deep and the talent is probably better, but older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushypeaches Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I'm thrilled with where we are on the D-line. Lots of depth, experience, versatility. This should be an area of strength for next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I’ll say deeper for sure. Better or worse remains to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderingsquid Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 That Jefferson signing was huge. We will see that in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Time will tell but it looks better to me. Definitely deeper. I think they’ll be able to rush the passer better and hopefully they’ll be better at stopping the run too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBillsFan Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 39 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said: We also lost much more on the defensive side 3 major contributors, Phillips, Lawson, and Alexander. Who'd we lose on offense? Frank Gore who I'm sure we could have back if we wanted. The biggest hole we had on offense was at WR which we did address. You have nine offensive lineman from last year all under contract. The only place where I could see a FA helping would be a running back, but even there, maybe the plan is for Yeldon to be the #2, plus signed Jones though mainly for ST and who knows about (can't think of his name) the rugby player. It's not who we lost, it's who we don't have. We don't have a solid option at TE. Knox is not solid, maybe he will, maybe we won't. O-line is solid, and WRs are a top 5 bunch. We need a solid receiving RB and another strong RB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEpsYtown Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Also remember that Eric Washington is a HUGE upgrade coach wise. The guy is going to make a huge difference for these guys. Hopefully, he can turn Oliver into the next big thing in the 3 tech world. He’s gotten production out of Addison in both 4-3 and 3-4 defenses and has been with Butler from day 1 of his development. To me, Washington might be the biggest addition to out D line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty75 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I wouldn’t say « much » better but better for sure and we have more depth now ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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