Stamer Vs. Posey

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After reading questions about Posey, I kinda wondered why I've never even heard rumors that his starter status may be in jeopardy. (He's not sacking the QB often, not racking up tackles, not batting down passes... what is he doing!? )

 

I went back and watched the D-Line very closely this weekend while replaying the scrimmage on on my DVR (wife went to NYC).  I learned a bit about our zone blitz. While I knew that it disguised where the extra rusher was coming from, and sometimes lead to weird choices (Edwards in pass coverage?), what I didn't know is that Posey seemed to be the central player. 

 

The key to the way we blitz is for Posey to come up right at (or near) the LOS, outside the LDE, and threaten to rush in.  Half the time he rushes in on these plays, the other half of the time he steps toward the QB (so his rush has to be honored), and falls off into coverage. On running plays, of course he continues to crash in, but is usually a half step behind the DEs, DTs and whoever was called to be the blitzer (so he often does not get the tackle).  Watching closely, I'd say this is not easy, and there is an art in just how much he can come in without leaving too much space behind himself for receivers, dependent on the opposing personnel, and what blitz was called (who's shifting to cover thehole left by the blitzer).

 

I think Posey has many better traits than Stamer for this role: he's more nimble, is taller, has a larger wingspan (wingspan really helps if you may be a few inches too close to the QB when he lobs a pass over you),  and I would guess that he's much more adept at making these reads than Stamer. 

 

I was surprised to see that Ryan Denney seemed to be the other "keeper" who was playing the Posey role in the Scrimmage (Wendell Hunter did too at the end).  Denney is very tall (6' 7''), quick, has experience rushing from the end of the line, and of course he's not a starter so he can fill in for Posey.  Considering these points, I think he's a better choice than Stamer to replace Posey, if we had too. 

 

I am impressed that we seem to have a DE backing up our starting LB (at least for the blitzes).  This is an example of Buffalo customizing their defense based on the strenghths of the players on the team. 

 

I saw 15 plays where Posey played this role very well, and one where Milloy was saying (I think) that he did not fall off fast enough, on one of GB's few completions.

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That's a very astute observation CD! I think you've really laid down a big part of the scheme they use and what makes Posey important for that role. I too saw the play where Milloy was upset. It looked like Posey was supposed to drift to the outside more to cover the out routes.