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Justin Zimmer...unsung defensive hero?


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8 minutes ago, Dkollidas said:

I think he’s a bit more than that, read the following just to see his athletic freakness...

https://www.stack.com/a/small-school-star-justin-zimmer-might-be-the-most-athletic-300-pound-prospect-in-nfl-history

Wow that's an interesting read!!!!! He's got the measurables to be a star tbh no sar/

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he's an ahtletic freak (see post above).  i mean, really really better than most DTs.

 

His issue is partly his still set (small, not as polished) and some of his other athletic traits (short arms being the biggest) hold him back in a modern NFL setting.

 

he's got more talent than kyle ever had (who also had burst but wasn't tall and long enough) but kyle had just outstanding skills.  LSU DT is generally a great place to learn the trade, and he grew in the NFL too.

 

If he can polish up his ability, he and oliver in the gut can be a nascar package for passing downs.

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6 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

I'd put him a level above that. Certainly not a star or a guy likely to make the big bucks, but a guy who's performed pretty solidly at his role. It's not always so easy to find one.


Meh I’d be surprised if he was on the roster next year. He’s made a few plays here and there but he looks like a fringe roster guy to me.

1 hour ago, Dkollidas said:

I think he’s a bit more than that, read the following just to see his athletic freakness...

https://www.stack.com/a/small-school-star-justin-zimmer-might-be-the-most-athletic-300-pound-prospect-in-nfl-history


This is all well and good but all I really care about is how a guy performs once he gets on the field. 

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He's been a very nice addition.....with still quite a bit of upside....and only happening because Star Lotulelei opted out.

 

He has played some of both 1T and 3T and has had a greater impact at less than a $500K cap hit than the $10M+ per Lotulelei did in 2019.......in nearly half as many snaps.

 

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40 minutes ago, Bangarang said:


Meh I’d be surprised if he was on the roster next year. He’s made a few plays here and there but he looks like a fringe roster guy to me.


This is all well and good but all I really care about is how a guy performs once he gets on the field. 

 

 

DT's can be hard to evaluate but he's not been "meh".

 

His QB hit per snap rate of 1 per 39 is better than Marcell Dareus' 1 per 48 in his first team All Pro 2014 season..........so even closer to Aaron Donalds 1 per 31 this season than that.

 

He's been a playmaker.

 

He might not be a 50%+ of snaps guy going forward but I suspect he will be inked into the depth chart for next season.

 

 

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26 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

DT's can be hard to evaluate but he's not been "meh".

 

His QB hit per snap rate of 1 per 39 is better than Marcell Dareus' 1 per 48 in his first team All Pro 2014 season..........so even closer to Aaron Donalds 1 per 31 this season than that.

 

He's been a playmaker.

 

He might not be a 50%+ of snaps guy going forward but I suspect he will be inked into the depth chart for next season.

 

 


Is this cherry picked number supposed to tell me that Zimmer’s impact is somewhere between an All Pro Dareus from 6 years ago and present day Aaron Donald? You’d think with that kind of impact he’d get more than 34% of snaps on defense.

 

We can ink Zimmer into the depth chart for next year just like we did with Robert Foster. 

 

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3 hours ago, JMF2006 said:

He is one of my new favorites :)

 

I watch for 61 to see if he is out there.

 

Kind of like the Bills new   Meatball Junior.

 

I loved #95 and wish he was on the team to enjoy this :)

 

I posted mine before I read all the responses...I call him Meatball Jr...my GF just laughs she knows #95 is one of my all time Faves :)

I'd love to see Kyle lead the charge out of the tunnel for the Super Bowl.   If there was ever a guy that deserved the chance to play in one it would be Meatball.   Zimmer does remind me of a Kyle Williams light.  

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17 minutes ago, Bangarang said:


Is this cherry picked number supposed to tell me that Zimmer’s impact is somewhere between an All Pro Dareus from 6 years ago and present day Aaron Donald? You’d think with that kind of impact he’d get more than 34% of snaps on defense.

 

We can ink Zimmer into the depth chart for next year just like we did with Robert Foster. 

 

 

 

Just pointing out that nothing he has done this year in his limited sample size has been "meh".

 

You are a ball watcher........plays happen away from the ball too..........but even if some of that effort goes unnoticed.........how do you miss the guy saving the first Patriots game with a strip fumble of Cam and stripping CEH of the ball at the end of the Chiefs game that nearly allowed the Bills to sneak out of that with a win?

 

He has made enough plays that it should be evident that he's been very productive.

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20 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Just pointing out that nothing he has done this year in his limited sample size has been "meh".

 

You are a ball watcher........plays happen away from the ball too..........but even if some of that effort goes unnoticed.........how do you miss the guy saving the first Patriots game with a strip fumble of Cam and stripping CEH of the ball at the end of the Chiefs game that nearly allowed the Bills to sneak out of that with a win?

 

He has made enough plays that it should be evident that he's been very productive.


He’s made plays, I won’t deny that. 
 

I won’t call him the unsung defensive hero because I think that would be foolish. I also wouldn’t say he’s been very productive. He’s a rotational guy playing a third of the snaps on defense. He’s exceeded the low expectations I had but I’m not going to hype him up to be anything more than what he is.

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He has value.  And he’s played admirably in spurts this year.  Watching the Ravens 300 pound beast at FB made wonder whether Zimmer might get a look at that role in camp

next year.  Every penny and every roster spot counts, and he might offer a bit of flexibility in that area if he sticks around next year. 

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1 hour ago, Bangarang said:


He’s made plays, I won’t deny that. 
 

I won’t call him the unsung defensive hero because I think that would be foolish. I also wouldn’t say he’s been very productive. He’s a rotational guy playing a third of the snaps on defense. He’s exceeded the low expectations I had but I’m not going to hype him up to be anything more than what he is.

Damn near the entire D line is rotational... that’s how McFrazier wants it to be. He is pretty obviously not a jag, he plays at a higher level than that, unsung hero? Not so much imo, 

 

Go Bills!!!

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10 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Damn near the entire D line is rotational... that’s how McFrazier wants it to be. He is pretty obviously not a jag, he plays at a higher level than that, unsung hero? Not so much imo, 

 

Go Bills!!!


I think you see a lot of rotation with our d-line out of necessity. Hughes and Addison are up there in age and there’s not a lot of talent on the interior.
 

Zimmer has been nothing more than a fringe roster guy his entire career. This is the first time he’s actually getting meaningful snaps. There isn’t anything special about what he brings. 
 

He’s like a lot of jags who finally get playing time. They may make a play here and there but it’s not anything you can’t find from a bunch of other guys bouncing around the league. 
 

 

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I think Zimmer has flashed in a number of games this year as more than "just a guy" (the KC game, both NE games, the Miami game, last week he played solidly). I assume, as with most players, that he just needs more consistency in playing at that level, and more experience to take another step in his career. What his true ceiling is (solid rotational guy, starter, stud), who knows. But I do like the player and expect him to stick around the league for quite a while.

 

On the year, Justin has played 26% of the overall team's defensive snaps. (He generally averages 34% of snaps in games he plays---but he did not play in 4 games this year---I can't remember if that was due to injury or if he was a healthy scratch). But here are his stats on 26% of the team's defensive snaps:

 

22 tackles, 1 sack, 8 QB hits, 1 forced fumble (almost two), and 3 tackles for loss

 

And I'm sure he is asked to do some of the dirty work that DTs do as well, so those stats are pretty decent/impactful for his limited opportunities (to be considered an unsung hero as the OP suggests). Hell, just the fumble he got from Cam to seal the first NE game alone puts him in the convo for unsung hero.

 

 

 

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"............Zimmer's amazing results included a 4.85 40-Yard Dash, a 33.5-inch Vertical Jump, a 7.01 3-Cone Drill and a 9-foot-9 Broad Jump. To top it all off, he also recorded a beastly 44 reps on the Bench Press. It's difficult to quantify exactly how impressive these numbers are, but a tool called Relative Athletic Score (RAS) might be a good start.................."

 

OK, those posters saying he is Just a Guy are full of it.   Averge Joe defensive linemen do not have those stats.  Looking at Walter foot ball for the top 4 DT, we have 40 times of 5.22,  4.90,  5.20,   5.60     defensive ends  5.16   5.10   5.04   4.80    interior linebackers:  4.52,   4.54    4.79    4.63   .  My point is that he is very fast for a defensive lineman and almost as fast as ILB who are 60 pounds lighter.    With him and Oliver in the center, we have two penetrating defensive tackles and that is something other teams do NOT see. The defense has the advantage of moving after the o linemen get set and can be in and through the gaps and into the backfield before the o linemen can square up to them.

 

Remember the Ravens game?  The Ravens have big, slow piledriving blocking o-linemen who are good for smash mouth running game.  Our interior d-line was penetrating and getting into their backfield, which closed the running lanes AND got after the QB. Do you remember the play series where the Ravens were penalized for false starts, on 2 or 3 successive plays?  The reason was that they knew that they had to get the best possible jump on the hike to stop our DT.

 

Compare Zimmer's 4.85 second speed with the top 6 offensive guards in the 2020 draft.

 

4.85 for Wirfs.   This guy was drafted #13 overall in the draft

5.08    5.30    5.20   5.30   5.11sec.

 

Note that there is usually only one OG drafted in the first round each year. 2019 #14,,,,2018 #6,,,,,2017 0.....2016 #28,,,,,,,2015 #28.  Only 2 others drafted near this high in that time.

 

Maybe we are on to something as an alternative to the BiG NT guy like Stare who ties up 2 o-lineman with his size and bull rush.

 

 

 

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14 hours ago, BornAgainBillsFan said:

And at $920K next year, his production to cap hit ratio will come in handy. We're going to be relying on players like him for the foreseeable future.

Agree, I think Butler will be cut next year with his large cap hit and he will kept.  Especially with Star coming back.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Bangarang said:


I think you see a lot of rotation with our d-line out of necessity. Hughes and Addison are up there in age and there’s not a lot of talent on the interior.
 

Zimmer has been nothing more than a fringe roster guy his entire career. This is the first time he’s actually getting meaningful snaps. There isn’t anything special about what he brings. 
 

He’s like a lot of jags who finally get playing time. They may make a play here and there but it’s not anything you can’t find from a bunch of other guys bouncing around the league. 
 

 

I think of a jag being more like Winters on our O line, Zimmer has played better than that.  

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