Jump to content

Is Star good or bad?


LabattBlue

Recommended Posts

Last year it was Star sucks, Star is overpaid, I never hear Star's name called, Star doesn't make any plays, etc...

 

Fast forward to this year, the excuses for why the defense is in the bottom 1/3 of the league all seem to revolve around Star's absence.

 

Is he really the difference between what what thought to be Top 5, or at least worst case Top 10, and one that is terrible.

  • Awesome! (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Star played a thankless role. 

 

Eating blocks and commanding double teams against the run so our linebackers could attack.

 

He didn't produce stats, but he made the defense better. 

 

Without him, our defensive tackles are tiny and outmatched against the run, and it shows. 

  • Like (+1) 14
  • Awesome! (+1) 1
  • Thank you (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was one of the more vocal people in saying that Star was overpaid, and I'll stick to my guns. 

 

There was too much turnover on the D-line this offseason to pinpoint how much of an impact Star had. In addition to Star opting out,  we lost J Phillips and Shaq Lawson in free agency.

 

 I thought those three guys would've been easy enough to replace, but here we are. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is Star an amazing 1 tech. No, of course not. But his role is vital. By taking up 2 blockers allows the others to maneuver thru traffic better. We definitely miss him this season. If we don't go out and find a 1 tech guy we'll continue to give up 28 a game. Finding a dumpster dive pass rusher will probably not happen. 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

I was one of the more vocal people in saying that Star was overpaid, and I'll stick to my guns. 

 

There was too much turnover on the D-line this offseason to pinpoint how much of an impact Star had. In addition to Star opting out,  we lost J Phillips and Shaq Lawson in free agency.

 

 I thought those three guys would've been easy enough to replace, but here we are. 

 

I think you can argue $10 mil for a run stuffer is a lot. Saying he's overpaid isn't wrong, but if you fail to replace him like we did and go into the season with no established run stuffing defensive tackles on your roster, you're asking for trouble.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, jrober38 said:

Star played a thankless role. 

 

Eating blocks and commanding double teams against the run so our linebackers could attack.

 

He didn't produce stats, but he made the defense better. 

 

Without him, our defensive tackles are tiny and outmatched against the run, and it shows. 

It is just frustrating that you and I can figure that out but the defensive Masterminds of Buffalo could not foresee this.

Edited by ALLEN1QB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, ALLEN1QB said:

It is just frustrating this you and I can figure that out but the defensive Masterminds of Buffalo could not foresee this.

 

In their defense he opted out at the end of July.

 

Their planning for the season was in March and April.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good.

 

Damn good

 

Not at pass rushing. Not at penetrating. Not at quickness.

 

But though often double-teamed on runs through the middle he was still able to not be pushed back, to go sideways in whichever direction the runner went, to keep blockers off  the LBs.

 

There's a reason they paid him a lot. McDermott's always had a guy like Star in that spot and always been willing to pay for it. He did a job well, a job that McDermott's defense requires be done at a high level. And there aren't that many guys big, strong and enduring enough to do what he does.

Edited by Thurman#1
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

For what it’s worth, Beane thought Star was overpaid too as evidenced by a pay cut.  

 

 

Funny how the people who bring this up never bring up that in exchange the Bills gave him another year and a half of guarantee. Which is big for a player. 

 

Or that the pay cut was $1.5 million on a $50 million contract.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

I was one of the more vocal people in saying that Star was overpaid, and I'll stick to my guns. 

 

There was too much turnover on the D-line this offseason to pinpoint how much of an impact Star had. In addition to Star opting out,  we lost J Phillips and Shaq Lawson in free agency.

 

 I thought those three guys would've been easy enough to replace, but here we are. 

 

 

Star was a hug factor in making those guys better, Edmunds free to run to the ball and defending the run.

 

Oh and Shaq - through 5 games? 1 sack 3 solo tackles.   Phillips after 6 games has 2 sacks and 9 solo tackles.  Phillips is roughly on the same pace he was last year.  Shaq - half of the amount of sacks and not even half of the solo tackles.   Living in SoFla I can guarantee you the conversation has come up repeatedly - why did they pay Lawson what they did and how did Buffalo get so much out of him last year.

 

Star?  He's missed!!

Edited by FlaFitz1
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, jrober38 said:

 

I think you can argue $10 mil for a run stuffer is a lot. Saying he's overpaid isn't wrong, but if you fail to replace him like we did and go into the season with no established run stuffing defensive tackles on your roster, you're asking for trouble.

Star's contract is big, no question.

 

Is Star THEE reason why the defense is doing so poorly? That might be oversimplifying it, but his loss has had a tremendous negative affect on the defense.

 

As it's been stated, our current defensive linemen are not big bodied run pluggers, and it shows. I really don't know how the Bills can fix this.

 

30 minutes ago, mattynh said:

half the people think he sucks, half think he eats space and does not make plays by design.

That sums up the thoughts of Star around here.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Back the Blue said:

Last year it was Star sucks, Star is overpaid, I never hear Star's name called, Star doesn't make any plays, etc...

 

Fast forward to this year, the excuses for why the defense is in the bottom 1/3 of the league all seem to revolve around Star's absence.

 

Is he really the difference between what what thought to be Top 5, or at least worst case Top 10, and one that is terrible.

Correlation does not Equal causality.  Put the 0/1 tech who’s the best at eating space but can’t penetrate on our DL and the whole defense still sucks.  It’s be different if most of the damage to our defense was inside runs, but I don’t see too many A gap runs.  Teams are attacking our outside gaps and edges.  I’d be nice if there was an easy fix, but it’s not as simple as getting Star back - or finding a good 0/1 tech player.
 

I haven’t rewatched the game but I saw Oliver penetrate the line a lot, but wasn’t run at and wound up chasing the ball carrier to no avail.  I suspect he will grade well for it.  If so it would be a big turnaround as he hasn’t done much in any other game.  Addison was the only other DL that I saw do anything.  I’ll know more when the All 22 is up to watch. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, FlaFitz1 said:

 

 

Star was a hug factor in making those guys better, Edmunds free to run to the ball and defending the run.

 

Oh and Shaq - through 5 games? 1 sack 3 solo tackles.   Phillips after 6 games has 2 sacks and 9 solo tackles.  Phillips is roughly on the same pace he was last year.  Shaq - half of the amount of sacks and not even half of the solo tackles.   Living in SoFla I can guarantee you the conversation has come up repeatedly - why did they pay Lawson what they did and how did Buffalo get so much out of him last year.

 

Star?  He's missed!!

 

Was Star missed last year on the 54% of defensive snaps that he did not play on? 

 

I have a hard time believing a guy that played less than half of our defensive snaps had a sizeable impact. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

Was Star missed last year on the 54% of defensive snaps that he did not play on? 

 

I have a hard time believing a guy that played less than half of our defensive snaps had a sizeable impact. 

 

It's big because 2nd and 8 is a lot better than 2nd and 4.  That's the difference Star makes.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

Was Star missed last year on the 54% of defensive snaps that he did not play on? 

 

I have a hard time believing a guy that played less than half of our defensive snaps had a sizeable impact. 

Do yourself a favor and look at Carolinas defense before and after he left. 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

It's big because 2nd and 8 is a lot better than 2nd and 4.  That's the difference Star makes.

 

So Star played every first down, and every first down was a positive defensive play, leading to easier 2nd/3rd downs and being able to sub Star out?

 

Wow, didn't realize he was even better than Aaron Donald

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

Was Star missed last year on the 54% of defensive snaps that he did not play on? 

 

I have a hard time believing a guy that played less than half of our defensive snaps had a sizeable impact. 

 

 

That's on you. We run a  platoon system. None of our guys played more than 65% last year. The only two guys above 53.9% (Oliver's number) were DEs (Murphy and Hughes). Didn't mean the DTs weren't important.

 

19 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

The guy rarely made plays so people assume that it’s because he’s constantly taking on double teams.
 

I think he’s serviceable at best but clearly he’s going to be overrated because of how the defense is now playing.

 

 

He wasn't constantly taking on double teams. But very often and nearly always on runs anywhere near him.

Edited by Thurman#1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

So Star played every first down, and every first down was a positive defensive play, leading to easier 2nd/3rd downs and being able to sub Star out?

 

Wow, didn't realize he was even better than Aaron Donald

Some of you are still in denial or just can't admit how much he's missed. Some of us said from the beginning this would be an issue, but no...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Process said:

He's a big body, which is what we desperately need right now. 

 

As a player he's nothing special. But him opting out left a big hole in the middle of our line. 

Not for nothing but I believe he opted out because of his heart condition 

  • Thank you (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

So Star played every first down, and every first down was a positive defensive play, leading to easier 2nd/3rd downs and being able to sub Star out?

 

Wow, didn't realize he was even better than Aaron Donald

 

If you're willing to go to extremes for an argument, then there's no point.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...