Any thoughts on Dorian Williams about to be starting again?

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

McDaniel shows linebackers all kinds of eye candy to suck them in or delay their drops, then Tua drops it in over their heads as they react late.  Williams has been known to take the bait so hopefully his eye discipline has improved…. 

 

Tougher to do a lot of that stuff on the road at least, especially with snap counts.  

 

Bottle up the run game.  Force them into 3rd and longs.  Kill the Quarterback.  

[Stranded in Boston]

5 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

Bottle up the run game.  Force them into 3rd and longs.  Kill the Quarterback.  

LOL, to your list, let me add, "Hear the lamentation of their women".

 

Edited September 16 by Stranded in Boston

[AKC]

18 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Edmunds was always easy to spot out there, he was the big guy. You didn’t need to look at his number, he stood out. 

It was a shame his agent missed the call from Kraft when they were looking for a new Stay Puft spokesman. 

[billsfan89]

I am nervous that Williams will get picked on by McDaniels but I also think that McD also knows how to hide LB's if needed by simplifying the game and reads for them. So overall I think Milano getting a week off and the "mini-bye" is fine. Williams can get the start Shaq and Buffalo Joe plus a PS call up will be there for depth. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

Edmunds was always easy to spot out there, he was the big guy. You didn’t need to look at his number, he stood out. 

I still think he'll be back...

35 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

I am nervous that Williams will get picked on by McDaniels but I also think that McD also knows how to hide LB's if needed by simplifying the game and reads for them. So overall I think Milano getting a week off and the "mini-bye" is fine. Williams can get the start Shaq and Buffalo Joe plus a PS call up will be there for depth. 

Williams is also our most athletically dynamic LBer

[BigAl2526]

I think that the decision to use more 4-3 lineup versus the Bills' typical 5-2 nickel as their base is probably due more to who they are facing.  Everybody knows what Derrick Henry can do to safeties that he outweighs by 50 lbs and can often outrun anyway, but Hall is no slouch most weeks.  Dorian Williams is no Matt Milano when it comes to diagnosing what the offense is doing and covering running backs and tight ends in passing routes.  On the other hand he's faster and more athletic than most linebackers in the NFL and he improved greatly on the mental aspect of his game in 2024 versus the previous year.   Given Miami's offense, I have every expectation the Bills will go with a nickel lineup as their base on Thursday whether Taron Johnson is available or not.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

45 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

Come on.

Bernard runs about a 4.6 - 40.  

 

Edmunds is protoypical size and speed??  Do you know what the definition of prototypical is?

Lol.. Bernard is as fast as Hyde, Poyer, and faster than Hamlin. 

 

Fyi,  Ed Reed 40 time was 4.57.

 

Pretty  sure Kelso's 40 was measured with a sun dial though 

 

[Spiderweb]

On 9/15/2025 at 8:26 PM, MJS said:

Milano hasn't really done much the first two games. He was not good week 1 and went out injured week 2. So, I don't imagine this will impact the defense super negatively. Maybe Shaq Thompson will be ready to go and can contribute, along with Williams.

He was off to a very good start against the Jets as most of us saw......

[EmotionallyUnstable]

15 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I don’t think Bernard is very good (but he does have a nose for the football).

Bernard has the propensity to get lost in the play. He’s ocassionally trying to scrape over or back door a blocker rather than work through it. He just doesn’t have the size or ability to catch the block and disengage without giving up a ton of ground. Too often he either gets washed or locked up, and I think it can be partially because he’s too pigeon holed onto the ball carrier and by the time he’s recognizing a blocker he doesn’t have the skill set to beat them with power or hand technique. It’s what leads to the splash plays, ankle tackles, and the makes him have what appears to be a nose for the ball. 
 

That said I still think he a a good MlB, especially for what they want in regards to being able to move, get into space, etc. 

 

P.S. there was one Jets play where 8 gets absolutely walloped by a TE and the LOS. Just rag dolls him and I think this encapsulates where he can be taken advantage of. Hey it’s the NFL everyone has that happen to them

[julian]

8 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Agree....we won't have the luxury to just let Cook win the game v Miami. Josh will need a good game.

Yeah, luckily if you need a good game out of Josh and you’re putting the Dolphins in his crosshairs… that’s leaning heavily towards another offensive player of the week award incoming.

[Richard Noggin]

8 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

I am nervous that Williams will get picked on by McDaniels but I also think that McD also knows how to hide LB's if needed by simplifying the game and reads for them. So overall I think Milano getting a week off and the "mini-bye" is fine. Williams can get the start Shaq and Buffalo Joe plus a PS call up will be there for depth. 

 

What makes you say the bolded? Seems to me that when McD simplifies the LB/2nd level assignments, it results in predictable zone windows and/or separation vs man. McD (and everyone else, probably) needs LBs who attack the run with the vision and decisiveness of an RB but also drop deep enough against the pass and read the routes and the QB's eyes like safeties. Substandard Bills LBs have been abused, no? 

 

The concern about Williams vs eye candy, motion, cutbacks, and screens is at least reasonable. But you also have to admit the guy is a candidate to dislodge a ball or otherwise physically punish some Dolphins Thursday. 

[Buffalo716]

On 9/15/2025 at 7:51 PM, Simon said:

COuple notes on yesterday:

 

> He wasn't horrible for being tossed into a starting role unexpectedly when Milano went down, although he still has issues with angles and tackling at times. He actually had a pass defended, which may be the first one ever in his career. He also had my favorite play of the game. After he got called for roughing on the sideline while Benford was holding a guy up (the refs screwed up the number on the penalty) watch what he does on what I think was the very next snap; Babich sent him up the A-gap and I think it was Breece Hall that tried to pick him up. It did not go well for Breece.  If you have access, it's worth finding that play just to watch what Williams does to him. 

> How long is Taron out? The Bills might be even more inclined to run more base nickel rather than try Andreesen or a hobbled Shaq Thompson in the 4-3 they've been messing around with the first couple weeks.

> We're flirting with that situation with missing starters on every level of the defense again; you can get away with missing a guy here and there, but this stuff becomes exponentially harder to handle when it gets to be cumulative like this. You can do things defensively to hide soft spots, but those options become extremely limited as those soft spots multiply.

> Thoughts?

I think he's has the best physical tangibles out of our linebackers

 

He has our best blend of size speed and hit power... I think you could absolutely be starting on some other teams around the league but we don't trot out a lot of linebackers 

 

When he's not thinking and just playing he can be good

[ALLinALLEN]

WGR homepage has a quote from McD saying Milano "could return this week". I'm now hopeful this injury is way overblown and he will certainly be good by January (which is all we really need).

[Rousseauisnoschmo]

On 9/15/2025 at 8:11 PM, MasterStrategist said:

Not concerned about Dorian.  Hes not Milano, but is serviceable.

 

Problem is being down potentially Taron and Cam too.  Id feel better if Taron is ready.  But if we are down to our 3rd nickle and Dorian, thats a big concern against a still dangerous offense.

Taron said yesterday hes ready to go for thursday.

[Pete]

One thing I love about Williams is he pops playing special teams and LB.  He hits with power and speed.  He has own style of wrecking ball carriers that really jumps out 

11 minutes ago, Rousseauisnoschmo said:

Taron said yesterday hes ready to go for thursday.

Taron always says that 

[CSBill]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

One thing I love about Williams is he pops playing special teams and LB.  He hits with power and speed.  He has own style of wrecking ball carriers that really jumps out

 

Taron always says that 

Never trust what a player says about their injury. 

[Thrivefourfive]

14 hours ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Tougher to do a lot of that stuff on the road at least, especially with snap counts.  

 

Bottle up the run game.  Force them into 3rd and longs.  Kill the Quarterback.  

Affect the head? Unfortunately for Tua, we’ve done that

[Thrivefourfive]

4 hours ago, ALLinALLEN said:

WGR homepage has a quote from McD saying Milano "could return this week". I'm now hopeful this injury is way overblown and he will certainly be good by January (which is all we really need).

If missing time led to better play than Milano would still be an all pro. Problem here is he looks worse every passing day.

 

[Ayjent]

On 9/16/2025 at 2:28 AM, syhuang said:

 

 

I remember seeing that from the side angle and thought it was Dorian - Hall got blown the f up.  That's how you have to play with Dorian.  Let him get down hill and use his strengths.  Don't make him try to be Milano, let him be what he is good at.  You can't do that every down, and he will need to cover and make plays in other ways, but why not take advantage of his strengths.

[Spiderweb]

On 9/15/2025 at 8:11 PM, MasterStrategist said:

Not concerned about Dorian.  Hes not Milano, but is serviceable.

 

Problem is being down potentially Taron and Cam too.  Id feel better if Taron is ready.  But if we are down to our 3rd nickle and Dorian, thats a big concern against a still dangerous offense.

Physically, Dorian has it in spades, he just needs to get the cerebral part down...