McDermott wants a ‘nastier edge’ to his Defense post Frazier

[Sargent Hulka]

3 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

I agree with the wall metaphor in drafting G’s.  We also need a WR and a TE.  This is a deep TE class.  Hines needs to reduce his contract if he wants to stay.  We’ll have 10, 11, 12, and 21 personnel.

 

I sincerely hope Benford can convert successfully to S.

I'd like to see Terrel Bernard get a look at safety. His 40 time (4.59) his very close to Jordan Poyer's.

[somnus00]

4 hours ago, london_bills said:

Forget the Nastier edge defence, make the offence better!! Nastier OL

Why not both. He's just specifically addressing defense because he was asked about it here. 

[PBF81]

1 hour ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

A mentality change on the defense is probably the main thing they need. It was always a finesse defense with LF. I’m excited for next year.

 

McD's the one that has kept Frasier on for his full 6 seasons here.  It's taken him 6 seasons to figure out what he wants?  
 

On top of that he promoted Frasier to Asst. Head Coach halfway through as well.  

 

He's passing the buck to a now departed Frasier, deflecting any and all heat away from himself.  It makes one wonder if he and Frasier didn't have a discussion to force Frasier to "step away from football for a year" in a completely unprecedented move, with the intent of trying to start deflecting to keep his own job, and apparently, with the decision seemingly being his (Frasier's) to return after the year is up at his pleasure.  

 

Just sayin' ... 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by PBF81

[LABILLBACKER]

See it to believe it. We've always played the soft bend defense. Then we watch it break in the playoffs.  Without a better pass rush it won't matter what style we transition into. Hope he's sincere in this proclamation. 

[ddaryl]

3 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

See it to believe it. We've always played the soft bend defense. Then we watch it break in the playoffs.  Without a better pass rush it won't matter what style we transition into. Hope he's sincere in this proclamation. 

I'm sure he is as long as we spend major resources upgrading our D this offseason

I got a sinking feeling we are going to short arm the O upgrades most of us view and way past due

Edited March 2, 2023 by ddaryl

[Milanos Milano]

1 minute ago, BuffaloRebound said:

The Bengals exposed the softness of this defense in both games. Was pathetic watching an offense physically manhandle a defense like that.   Milano is really our only guy that consistently brings violence on every hit.  Hamlin too before his unfortunate situation.  Maybe they’re coached to think too much rather than seek and hit.  Maybe there’s too many vets on that side of ball who’ve been paid and wanna walk away from the game without permanent injury.  And all the injuries and the Hamlin episode certainly didn’t help in terms of getting the defense to play more physical.  

There is a reason we are sponsored by Charmin. 

[SCBills]

6 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

If ya can’t beat ‘em, Beat ‘em Up! A bigger challenge if we don’t have Poyer and Edmunds, but a change I’d really like to see. Bend but don’t beak keeps the opponent in the game and our 3 regular season loses were a result of this. Offenses have such an advantage today that kickin’ the crap out of them becomes a necessity!

 

 

 

Love this, but disagree it will be tougher to do without Poyer or Edmunds.   Edmunds isn't a nasty dude... he's a freak athlete who plays a more reactive style and Poyer, unfortunately, looks to be on the back nine of his career.   We can certainly get nastier without them. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

11 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

McD's the one that has kept Frasier on for his full 6 seasons here.  It's taken him 6 seasons to figure out what he wants?  
 

On top of that he promoted Frasier to Asst. Head Coach halfway through as well.  

 

He's passing the buck to a now departed Frasier, deflecting any and all heat away from himself.  It makes one wonder if he and Frasier didn't have a discussion to force Frasier to "step away from football for a year" in a completely unprecedented move, with the intent of trying to start deflecting to keep his own job, and apparently, with the decision seemingly being his (Frasier's) to return after the year is up at his pleasure.  

 

Just sayin' ... 

 

 

I know what you’re saying and where you are coming from, but I don’t believe LF is the fall guy to save his own job. LF came up with the game plans, play calls, not McD. McD has taken over playcalling numerous times over the last 6 years, especially in the beginning, but he’s made it clear he wants to be involved with the offense and defense as a balanced HC while his coordinators run both squads.

 

We’ve heard McD say “it starts with me” over and over again. No one outside this MB things McD is micromanaging the defense as the “real” DC or passing blame. Unless this is truly a decision made by LF (and McDs comments make me doubt that), I think McD did what a HC is supposed to do and made a very difficult call. Moving on from a top-5 defensive coordinator will bring backlash, especially given the current social landscape of the country. LF simply isn’t good enough when it matters and the defensive performance in elimination games has been bad enough that warrant a change. 
 

I believe this team respects LF a great deal and the two sides have done each other a favor. I doubt the defense will be elite in 2023, I am curious to see if they are more clutch though. 

[BillsVet]

31 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

McD's the one that has kept Frasier on for his full 6 seasons here.  It's taken him 6 seasons to figure out what he wants?  
 

On top of that he promoted Frasier to Asst. Head Coach halfway through as well.  

 

He's passing the buck to a now departed Frasier, deflecting any and all heat away from himself.  It makes one wonder if he and Frasier didn't have a discussion to force Frasier to "step away from football for a year" in a completely unprecedented move, with the intent of trying to start deflecting to keep his own job, and apparently, with the decision seemingly being his (Frasier's) to return after the year is up at his pleasure.  

 

Just sayin' ... 

 

McD and Beane are masters of spin....they know how to give the fanbase what it wants when there's criticism.  But it's commonly offering a nugget that ends up being fools gold.

 

And unless Frazier has a personal matter to attend to, soon to be 64 year old men don't take a year off from coaching for no reason.  I know people think McD is this great guy who cares (and the Hamlin moment pointed to that) but he didn't get to be a NFL HC being nice.  He's seen the downside of the league being fired in Philadelphia so Reid could hang around another couple seasons.  Because, when expectations aren't met...someone has to be sacrificed.  

[somnus00]

3 hours ago, Herb Nightly said:

Why are you so adamant about Benford moving to safety? The kid showed a bit at corner so why waste THAT development and have him adjust to safety?

Hyde will be back, Hamlin is questionable but I suppose they could bring back Marlowe and Johnson. 

Draft or sign an ACTUAL safety.

I understand what you're saying, and I agree that we should draft or sign another safety, but keep in mind that Hyde and Poyer were both corners before coming here.

 

Benford isn't very fast for a corner. Plus he has the size and ball skills to be a good safety. I'm intrigued to see what he can do back there. But like you said, we still need to draft/ sign one in case. 

[dave mcbride]

5 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

 

McD and Beane are masters of spin....they know how to give the fanbase what it wants when there's criticism.  But it's commonly offering a nugget that ends up being fools gold.

 

And unless Frazier has a personal matter to attend to, soon to be 64 year old men don't take a year off from coaching for no reason.  I know people think McD is this great guy who cares (and the Hamlin moment pointed to that) but he didn't get to be a NFL HC being nice.  He's seen the downside of the league being fired in Philadelphia so Reid could hang around another couple seasons.  Because, when expectations aren't met...someone has to be sacrificed.  

I think it's less about spin than seeing that teams with the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Chris Jones, and Frank Clark get to Super Bowls. The Bills don't have that sort of guy, and McDermott DID have guys like that in Carolina in 2013 (his best defense ever). The problem is that Greg Hardy was a violent criminal. But the Carolina defense that year was utterly awesome. I honestly think that the Carolina folks were traumatized by that event and have tried to avoid guys like that. That may be going out the window now. It brings benefits, but there are real risks too.  

Edited March 2, 2023 by dave mcbride

[MrEpsYtown]

I'm going to keep beating the dead horse, but this is why I love Germaine Pratt. I know he got some heat for calling out his teammate for pushing Mahomes out of bounds. I loved what he did. The play was incredibly stupid and I am glad Pratt called him out. Pratt is like Diggs but on defense. He wants to win. He has an edge, a toughness to him and he will be demanding of his teammates. 

 

McDermott's Carolina teams had guys like Greg Hardy, Thomas Davis, Charles Johnson, and Luke Keuchly. Josh Norman was a bit annoying with some of his antics, but the dude had an edge. We are sorely missing that edge. That super bowl team also had Jared Allen, and Cortland Finnegan. In Philly he had guys like Brian Dawkins, Trent Cole, Jason Babin, and Jeremiah Trotter, just tough nasty players who demanded of each other and other teams feared. 

 

As much as I was never really a huge Jerry Hughes guy, his attitude brought something to the defense that felt missing this year. 

[Royale with Cheese]

100% percent agree with McDermott.  I think we need to bring in a mid level vet or two who has attitude.  Someone like a 2014 Jerry Hughes.  

Von Miller is a great leader but you also need a leader who will speak up and get in peoples faces.  

 

We have a bunch of Smokey's on defense.  We need a Deebo.

[PBF81]

25 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I know what you’re saying and where you are coming from, but I don’t believe LF is the fall guy to save his own job. LF came up with the game plans, play calls, not McD. McD has taken over playcalling numerous times over the last 6 years, especially in the beginning, but he’s made it clear he wants to be involved with the offense and defense as a balanced HC while his coordinators run both squads.

 

We’ve heard McD say “it starts with me” over and over again. No one outside this MB things McD is micromanaging the defense as the “real” DC or passing blame. Unless this is truly a decision made by LF (and McDs comments make me doubt that), I think McD did what a HC is supposed to do and made a very difficult call. Moving on from a top-5 defensive coordinator will bring backlash, especially given the current social landscape of the country. LF simply isn’t good enough when it matters and the defensive performance in elimination games has been bad enough that warrant a change. 
 

I believe this team respects LF a great deal and the two sides have done each other a favor. I doubt the defense will be elite in 2023, I am curious to see if they are more clutch though. 

 

Quite possibly, but has it ever been made clear, other than in passing remarks during pressers, that LF was really the "brains" behind the D?  I'm not sure it has, everything about how this team runs appears to be shrouded in at least some level of secrecy.  

 

Either way, 6 years in ... 

 

 

[Chandler#81]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

What happened to the last guy who said they were "going to build a bully"?

 

Jeez, he might as well have opened with ""Is this thing on? Because it's getting ready to be on".

 

There's nothing nasty about this Defense.

You answered your own question. We need to be nasty on Defense.

[PBF81]

16 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

 

McD and Beane are masters of spin....they know how to give the fanbase what it wants when there's criticism.  But it's commonly offering a nugget that ends up being fools gold.

 

And unless Frazier has a personal matter to attend to, soon to be 64 year old men don't take a year off from coaching for no reason.  I know people think McD is this great guy who cares (and the Hamlin moment pointed to that) but he didn't get to be a NFL HC being nice.  He's seen the downside of the league being fired in Philadelphia so Reid could hang around another couple seasons.  Because, when expectations aren't met...someone has to be sacrificed.  

 

Agreed, but people should see beyond this as McD's endorsed this for 6 seasons now, despite it having been problematic in three post seasons now, at least.  That's all I'm saying.  As you said, they're masters of spin, but this spin only plays so far, even if believed.  I simply don't think that McD's the right person for the job going forward.  Certainly he knows this D inside and out, and if he cannot affect a change this coming season, then that should be it for him.  He shouldn't "need three more seasons" to "install his D.  

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by PBF81

[Nephilim17]

Thanks, OP. I find the general sports media to just write filler and not ask good questions but this had a lot in it for under three and a half minutes.

Catalana managed to make some suggestions that might rankle a coach (what do you need to change on D, did your offense have an identity?) but did it in a respectful way — plus his demeanor is respectful and just plain nice. John Wawrow, Sully, take note.

[TheBeaneBandit]

4 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Replace Tremaine with Germaine Pratt and that is already a massive step in terms of bringing that edge and nastiness to the D

Add to that bringing a younger safety who is strong at the line of scrimmage and can blitz would be nice. Of course you would have to have at least decent cover skills, but that's where Hyde can compliment him.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

12 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Yea. I think the choir boy/faith based players only stuff has to stop. Time to bring in some mean dudes… even if they do have a history. 

 

Agree, especially through the middle.  

[BillsFan4]

I am hoping/expecting to see a more aggressive defense with Frazier gone. A little more edge would be nice too.

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, ddaryl said:

I'm sure he is as long as we spend major resources upgrading our D this offseason

I got a sinking feeling we are going to short arm the O upgrades most of us view and way past due

We absolutely can't short arm offensive additions this offseason.  McD will just have to be frugal and creative in finding defensive guys. 75% of this draft/ FA MUST be offense with emphasis on OL/ WR.

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

You answered your own question. We need to be nasty on Defense.

 

will need a new roster on Defense

[BillsVet]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

I think it's less about spin than seeing that teams with the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Chris Jones, and Frank Clark get to Super Bowls. The Bills don't have that sort of guy, and McDermott DID have guys like that in Carolina in 2013 (his best defense ever). The problem is that Greg Hardy was a violent criminal. But the Carolina defense that year was utterly awesome. I honestly think that the Carolina folks were traumatized by that event and have tried to avoid guys like that. That may be going out the window now. It brings benefits, but there are real risks too.  

 

As others have noted, why does it take 6 off-seasons for this to understand?  Was the "process" that ensued in 2017-19 incapable of meshing the "trust" preached by the HC and having guys who are bully-types?

 

It seems a little too convenient now, and yes it carries risk...which is what happens when your scheme/personnel choices have not succeeded.  

[Rico]

1 hour ago, PBF81 said:

 

Quite possibly, but has it ever been made clear, other than in passing remarks during pressers, that LF was really the "brains" behind the D?  I'm not sure it has, everything about how this team runs appears to be shrouded in at least some level of secrecy.  

 

Either way, 6 years in ... 

 

 

Hard saying, but LF started for the 1985 Bears, you would think he knows something about physical football.

3 hours ago, Dopey said:

 

I've drafted Lukas Van Ness with our 1st round pick on occasion in mock drafts. I think he's going to be a stud. With Von being older and coming off of injury, along with A.J. playing out his last year on contract, it's a need. I also think this is Von's last year with us. That would basically leave us with Groot and Boogie after next season.

Beane mentioned Benford as a safety a few times. I think he'll be a good one. Plus the versatility is helpful if a CB is injured. 

Yeah, let’s get mean & nasty with Lukas Van Ness.

[BillsPride12]

It's one thing to talk about it but they need to do a better job at identifying more physical and aggressive Defensive players in the draft.  I really enjoyed the 30 for 30 on the 2000 Ravens and came away from it thinking this Defense could use a few nut jobs on it.  

[Robert Paulson]

5 hours ago, JGMcD2 said:

I actually think Benford will be a very good safety… but personally have a hard time moving him because he showed flashes of being an above average CB. 

we need to play a more aggressive man corner vs our previous 10 yards off the LOS zone on 3rd and 3.

 

moving benford to safety better suits his skill set vs playing him as man bump n run corner

[Real McClappy]

Lets see if McD can live up to his McNasty nickname then. 

[Solomon Grundy]

Our defense, last season, was called Janet. I want to see it become nasty and call it Ms Jackson. 😎

[PBF81]

42 minutes ago, Rico said:

Hard saying, but LF started for the 1985 Bears, you would think he knows something about physical football.

 

Indeed, which further raises questions as to what's really going on behind the scenes regarding coaching.  At the end of the day we simply don't know, McD has never made it clear.  

 

I do think that fans are growing tired of this secretive approach yet lacking the required results.  Notice we haven't heard much about "The Process" anymore.  

 

 

[RalphWilson'sNewWar]

50 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

 

As others have noted, why does it take 6 off-seasons for this to understand?  Was the "process" that ensued in 2017-19 incapable of meshing the "trust" preached by the HC and having guys who are bully-types?

 

It seems a little too convenient now, and yes it carries risk...which is what happens when your scheme/personnel choices have not succeeded.  

They bet it all on that First Window (2020-2022).

 

It failed and they didn’t win.

 

Since they are all still in their positions, they have to say Something and attempt to re-brand.

[Coach Tuesday]

58 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

 

As others have noted, why does it take 6 off-seasons for this to understand?  Was the "process" that ensued in 2017-19 incapable of meshing the "trust" preached by the HC and having guys who are bully-types?

 

It seems a little too convenient now, and yes it carries risk...which is what happens when your scheme/personnel choices have not succeeded.  

Why?  I’ll say it again: coaching is almost always a symptom of ownership’s level of urgency, for better or worse.

[billsfan89]

The defense is good very good but the scheme needs to take on a different dimension in the playoffs. This zone scheme works so well against mid level or lower QB’s but against elite QB’s in the playoffs they need some other way to play.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

35 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

we need to play a more aggressive man corner vs our previous 10 yards off the LOS zone on 3rd and 3.

 

moving benford to safety better suits his skill set vs playing him as man bump n run corner

 

I think he's alright in press coverage, the challenge is his foot speed and acceleration out of breaks will be tested.  
 

Elam prefers press man, and probably will be the boundary corner to follow. 

 

Tre is an overall good corner with no real weakness in his game other than probably deep ball tracking.  Teams tested him when we started playing more man, and he just wasn't up to the task.  He also seemed to lack some confidence down the stretch. 

 

Dane is an OK zone corner, but he was just a touch late all year long.  Its gotta be so frustrating to know that like... you're there.  You read the route right, you know what you need to do, but you can't break it up.  

Just now, billsfan89 said:

The defense is good very good but the scheme needs to take on a different dimension in the playoffs. This zone scheme works so well against mid level or lower QB’s but against elite QB’s in the playoffs they need some other way to play.

 

The goal originally was pressure - but teams are content to throw underneath against us.  Good coaches then have plans for our defense on 3rd downs.  Reid will isolate you with kelce, bunch, motion, and just find ways to kill you.  

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Dane is an OK zone corner, but he was just a touch late all year long.  Its gotta be so frustrating to know that like... you're there.  You read the route right, you know what you need to do, but you can't break it up.  

 

Not sure it was so much about being a touch late, more that he just had some fantastic catches made on him where he did literally nothing wrong. There was a stretch in the middle of the year where it was one a game and honestly, he couldn't have done much about them. Played the route perfectly, sometimes you just have to put your hands up and say "the other guy gets paid too." There are physical limitations with Dane and they will always be there but he only gave up 59% completion, 3 touchdowns and an 82 passer rating when targeted and that is even with those freak plays against him. 

 

In an ideal world he is our third corner in 2023, Tre comes back to form, Kaiir takes a step forward and you have Dane as a reliable backup. But I think he took more heat off some fans than he deserved in 2022. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

6 hours ago, Gregg said:

 

Pitchforks and knives will be out in full force if the Bills draft any defensive player in the 1st round. Besides I am more interested in who Beane (the guy who has the final say with the draft per TP) is going to draft. 

Then get ‘em ready.

 

MLB or Safety…. Bank on it

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

8 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Not sure it was so much about being a touch late, more that he just had some fantastic catches made on him where he did literally nothing wrong. There was a stretch in the middle of the year where it was one a game and honestly, he couldn't have done much about them. Played the route perfectly, sometimes you just have to put your hands up and say "the other guy gets paid too." There are physical limitations with Dane and they will always be there but he only gave up 59% completion, 3 touchdowns and an 82 passer rating when targeted and that is even with those freak plays against him. 

 

In an ideal world he is our third corner in 2023, Tre comes back to form, Kaiir takes a step forward and you have Dane as a reliable backup. But I think he took more heat off some fans than he deserved in 2022. 

 

I felt like similarly - Tre had a bunch of PI penalties last year, and i felt like there were several bad calls against him.  Just bad luck all around at times for them.  

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

 

nastier edge 

[starrymessenger]

Hard to disagree with what McD said.

I wonder if he has any views regarding the offense?

[McBean]

11 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

If ya can’t beat ‘em, Beat ‘em Up! A bigger challenge if we don’t have Poyer and Edmunds, but a change I’d really like to see. Bend but don’t beak keeps the opponent in the game and our 3 regular season loses were a result of this. Offenses have such an advantage today that kickin’ the crap out of them becomes a necessity!

 

 

🤡🤡

[drummernut74]

It's been his team and his Defense all along.  Why is this some sort of revelation?  His Defenses in Carolina were very nasty with a bully mentality, so why was this not the way of things from the get go?!?!  The problem wasn't with Frazier, the problem rests with Sean.  You have to look under the hood to "solve the problem in the engine"