PFF’s top 32 LBs

[Kirby Jackson]

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-top-32-ahead-of-2025-nfl-season

[RoscoeParrish]

7 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-top-32-ahead-of-2025-nfl-season

An actual terrible list.

 

Not even trying to have Bills bias here, but Greenlaw plays 34 snaps in 2024 and he’s top 5, but Milano playing the second half of 2024 is an honorable mention due to injuries?

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

Surprised Edmunds didn't make the list.

Especially for how young he is.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Dodson #29. Good for the guy. Not thrilled he's a Dolphin now.

[DapperCam]

30 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Dodson #29. Good for the guy. Not thrilled he's a Dolphin now.

 

Not sure why we got rid of him. He would have come in handy when Milano and Bernard were out this season…Dorian Williams wasn’t as good.

[billsfan89]

4 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

 

Not sure why we got rid of him. He would have come in handy when Milano and Bernard were out this season…Dorian Williams wasn’t as good.

 

He was terrible in coverage. McD did an excellent job in hiding that one of McD's better jobs as a coordinator. He got a little more money from Seattle likely more than the Bills were willing to pay for a backup. 

[DrDawkinstein]

4 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

 

Not sure why we got rid of him. He would have come in handy when Milano and Bernard were out this season…Dorian Williams wasn’t as good.

 

He got a great offer from Seattle and we couldnt afford him anymore.

 

We technically could have paid him, but he was getting starter money and we were going to have him as a backup.

 

I thought Beane did a good enough job shoring up the position after the 2023 fiasco, and even with Milano and Bernard out, didnt see the drop off like we had previously.

[JerseyBills]

13 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

 

Not sure why we got rid of him. He would have come in handy when Milano and Bernard were out this season…Dorian Williams wasn’t as good.

He was very solid in 23 with a few starts, I like Williams too though and he's much cheaper as a backup

[GunnerBill]

27 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

He was terrible in coverage. McD did an excellent job in hiding that one of McD's better jobs as a coordinator. He got a little more money from Seattle likely more than the Bills were willing to pay for a backup. 

 

And then Miami claimed him off waivers I think. If he made it through waivers I expected the Bills to try and bring him back.

[dock581]

I thought Bernard was better than a lot of these guys 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Seems like they are prioritizing “thumpers.”

[BillsFanForever19]

1 hour ago, dock581 said:

I thought Bernard was better than a lot of these guys 

 

He definitely should be above a number of guys at the bottom.

 

But this kind of highlights my feeling that we shouldn't have been in a rush to extend Bernard. He took a pretty sizable step back between 2023 and 2024.

 

Between his performance last season and his penchant for getting dinged up (and at a position that isn't a premium one) - I wouldn't have locked in the kind of long term deal he was given until I saw him return to his 2023 form this season. 

 

If he doesn't, I'd have put that money elsewhere and Drafted a replacement. Bernard was easily #5 on the list of guys to allocate cap to retain between him, Benford, Rousseau, Shakir, and Cook.

Edited Wednesday at 11:01 PM by BillsFanForever19

[MasterStrategist]

1 hour ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

He definitely should be above a number of guys at the bottom.

 

But this kind of highlights my feeling that we shouldn't have been in a rush to extend Bernard. He took a pretty sizable step back between 2023 and 2024.

 

Between his performance last season and his penchant for getting dinged up (and at a position that isn't a premium one) - I wouldn't have locked in the kind of long term deal he was given until I saw him return to his 2023 form this season. 

 

If he doesn't, I'd have put that money elsewhere and Drafted a replacement. Bernard was easily #5 on the list of guys to allocate cap to retain between him, Benford, Rousseau, Shakir, and Cook.

Meh, I thought the Bernard deal was perfect.  

 

Pay for upside, otherwise, if he repeats 2023 then that deal is going up. 

 

Bernard, and Milano, played behind an average at best DL LY as well.  Clearly there's a reason we just used 3 of our top 4 draft picks+signed Oji+Hoecht+Bosa.  

 

Put a solid DL in front of Bernard and Milano, watch them create a bunch of splash plays again.

[SCBills]

2 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

He definitely should be above a number of guys at the bottom.

 

But this kind of highlights my feeling that we shouldn't have been in a rush to extend Bernard. He took a pretty sizable step back between 2023 and 2024.

 

Between his performance last season and his penchant for getting dinged up (and at a position that isn't a premium one) - I wouldn't have locked in the kind of long term deal he was given until I saw him return to his 2023 form this season. 

 

If he doesn't, I'd have put that money elsewhere and Drafted a replacement. Bernard was easily #5 on the list of guys to allocate cap to retain between him, Benford, Rousseau, Shakir, and Cook.

Bernard is a good coverage linebacker who excels in shooting gaps on blitzes. 
 

He could be a beast if the DL keeps guys off him, but that’s not anything our FO seems to worry about. 
 

He also makes splash plays.  Some of that is just instinctual and he has that instinct. 
 

 

[Mike in Horseheads]

3 hours ago, SCBills said:

Bernard is a good coverage linebacker who excels in shooting gaps on blitzes. 
 

He could be a beast if the DL keeps guys off him, but that’s not anything our FO seems to worry about. 
 

He also makes splash plays.  Some of that is just instinctual and he has that instinct. 
 

 

Didn't we just sign a few FA DL and then draft a pile more?

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, SCBills said:

Bernard is a good coverage linebacker who excels in shooting gaps on blitzes. 
 

He could be a beast if the DL keeps guys off him, but that’s not anything our FO seems to worry about. 
 

He also makes splash plays.  Some of that is just instinctual and he has that instinct. 
 

 

Not what their offseason moves tell me.  If that was the case they spent 2 of their first four picks on DT and signed Ogunjobi (yes he has a six game suspension).  You can make the case that none are the traditional one technique but it's on paper better than what we had last year.

Edited yesterday at 06:09 AM by Doc Brown

[ganesh]

11 hours ago, DapperCam said:

 

Not sure why we got rid of him. He would have come in handy when Milano and Bernard were out this season…Dorian Williams wasn’t as good.

Dodson got big money to go to Seattle.....and Dorian played very well in place of injured Milano.  

[H2o]

Tyrel Dodson made the list? The guy who washed out and was released by the team who signed him after 9 games? That's pretty funny. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

17 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-top-32-ahead-of-2025-nfl-season

Tyrell Dodson is on this list, but not Terrell Bernard? 😆 One signed a 2 year/6 million dollar contract, the other signed a 4 year 50 million dollar one. Obviously, TB’s skill set is much more valued by the NFL. His 2024 season is one of the greatest I’ve seen in a Bills uniform and trumps anything Dodson’s ever done. 
 

Nick Bolton in tier 4 is a joke also. This whole list sucks to be honest. Both belong in tier 3, but if Bernard can consistently get back to his 2024 form then he will definitely be one of the premier linebackers in the NFL.

 

I am torn on Matt Milano. He was my favorite player in his prime, but his smaller frame & wreck-less abandonment he played seems to finally caught up to him. I wouldn’t bet on him making a come back turning 31 this summer. The other part of me wants to believe as he made some nice plays post-injury.
 

The most realistic outcome to me is he loses a step, but can remain injury free then he could be a solid role player & depth. Milano is a smart player and his instincts are top notch. Even without his quickness he would still be a formidable player based on that alone. 

[finn]

17 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Dodson #29. Good for the guy. Not thrilled he's a Dolphin now.

I wish we could have found a way to keep him. But he wasn't going to start, and he's too good to be a backup. One of the few real weaknesses on the team right now is backup linebacker. Williams is great, but Baylon Spector is either bad or injured.