Say goodbye to London

[Max997]

I would guess Indy would be interested with all the problems they've had, I recall reading after the Jax game where they were just shreded that they switched their LBs around including their MLB so it looks like they might be in the market for a new MLB

 

Im not as concerned with losing Flecter as some people are, DT is still a bigger need and until that gets fixed it wont matter who is playing MLB

[Dan]

London Fletcher has been the captain of a defense that has consistently underachieved during his 5 years here. He is king of the tackle 5 or 6 yards down the field and is unable to get off blocks when anyone larger than a slot receiver blocks him. I can think of more game changing penalties on London's part than game changing good plays. The thing that bothers me most about this defense over the years is that when we absolutely needed a late game stop, they came up short 9 out of 10 times and London didn't do anything to help that.

 

"Heart and soul of the defense" means "high motor" if you're not a white second round defensive end pick.

 

London saw the writing on the wall when he wasn't getting a contract extension. Marv is continuing to show that he knows something about the game of football by recognizing a needed upgrade in the middle of the D. Signing Nate and Kelsay would be higher priorities in my opinion.

 

RTB

Precisely.

[Rubes]

I fully expect to hear ESPN wailing on Levy if Fletcher is let go, regardless of what else happens.

[San-O]

This team has a very middle of the road defense, and ranks 29'th against the run.

 

How good can he be? How much can he possibly be missed?

 

I know the middle of the D-line is horrible, but come on.

 

[Max997]

you cant put too much blame on Fletcher for the Bills poor run defense, all you have to do is see the push every o-line gets against this d-line to see where the problem is.

[ATBNG]

I'd expect the Pats to make a serious run at him. Belichick singles Fletcher out before pretty much every game on his TV show; he's an obvious fan of his game. The Pats also need linebacking depth and the strategy all along since Belichick + Pioli since they've come in is to acquire veterans at this particular position.

[San-O]

you cant put too much blame on Fletcher for the Bills poor run defense, all you have to do is see the push every o-line gets against this d-line to see where the problem is.

 

Agree. So save the money spent on him, and draft some D-linemen and a LB.

[scribo]

I'd expect the Pats to make a serious run at him. Belichick singles Fletcher out before pretty much every game on his TV show; he's an obvious fan of his game. The Pats also need linebacking depth and the strategy all along since Belichick + Pioli since they've come in is to acquire veterans at this particular position.

I agree 100 percent. I think this is a very viable option for the Fletcher. I am fine with it. London may get a Pro Bowl out of it, and i will be happy for him, but we are going to beat them out for the division crown next season.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

I'd expect the Pats to make a serious run at him. Belichick singles Fletcher out before pretty much every game on his TV show; he's an obvious fan of his game. The Pats also need linebacking depth and the strategy all along since Belichick + Pioli since they've come in is to acquire veterans at this particular position.

Yeah but the Pats will offer him a lowball contract and he'll go elsewhere. Count on it.

[CT/Fordham Bills Fan]

How is Ellison-Crowell-Spikes faster than Ellison-Spikes-Crowell?

 

Do you think Crowell would be a better MLB than Spikes?

 

I'm not sure about switching Spikes or Crowell to OLB cuz its a bigger switch than you think. All of the audibles and checks and plays go through the mlb and its a big responsibility. Also, playing it is much different from olb. Olb is all about coming in from the angles. MLB, you fight off centers and guards and fullbacks where olb's are more tight ends and fullbacks. They do see pulling guards and stuff but not like mlb's. I hope it would work so we could look elsewhere but I'm just not sure.

[dave mcbride]

that's laughable. if you think fletcher is the king of the downfield tackle, then vilma is the emperor.

why the hostility, dude?

[Oneonta Buffalo Fan]

not yet. We need to give him a good contract and prove to him that this team is good.

[Bob in SC]

IMO we have signed the most important FA, Lindell. I'll settle for Fletcher and Kelsay. Nate is gone, I'm sorry to say.

[ATBNG]

Yeah but the Pats will offer him a lowball contract and he'll go elsewhere. Count on it.

 

They're going to do what they do with every player; assess what his worth is and make an offer on that basis. They did pay linebacker Rosie Colvin quite well back in 2003 when he signed. I think that part of how they do business is the understanding that they need quality experienced linebackers to run their defense effectively; the beginning of last year when they had Chad Brown (veteran, but no longer quality) and Monty Beisel (neither veteran nor quality) playing much of the game in the middle was as bad as their defense has been in six years.

 

I would agree that he is more likely to get a higher offer from a different team, since of course there are 31 other teams that might outbid New England for his services and there is a lot of money floating around out there for this free agent class. They don't "lowball" players though as you suggest; if they truly did, then they'd be a bad team. They manage their money effectively by not overpaying marginal or injury prone guys; that's why they are successful.

[Heitz]

How is Ellison-Crowell-Spikes faster than Ellison-Spikes-Crowell?

 

Do you think Crowell would be a better MLB than Spikes?

 

I was just thinking the same thing driving home from Christmas - a lot on my mind

 

I think that Takeo is a savvy enough veteran to handle the *responsibilities* of MLB - I'm not sure if he's suited to play it. Anyone? Still I think that Ellison has proven that he should be out on the field. I'll miss London, he's an incredible player and should be thought highly of in Buffalo. The guy always played hard over - despite all that was going on the last few years.

 

I say sign Nate at all costs and let London go...

[34-78-83]

I'd expect the Pats to make a serious run at him. Belichick singles Fletcher out before pretty much every game on his TV show; he's an obvious fan of his game. The Pats also need linebacking depth and the strategy all along since Belichick + Pioli since they've come in is to acquire veterans at this particular position.

 

You'd think that would clue in us Bills fans that maybe Fletcher is indeed a really good player

 

I would, however, agree that Nate is a higher priority still.

[Oneonta Buffalo Fan]

I just hope we keep him.

[C.Biscuit97]

Fletcher is overrated. He makes a lot of tackles but all middle linebackers do.

 

Um, no. He made the Pro bowl every year like Zach Thomas, he would be overrated. Some #s

 

Urlacher- 134 tacks, 0 sacks, 3 ints, 0 tds, 5 passes defended.

 

Thomas - 153 tacks, 3 sacks, 1 int, 0 tds, 9 pass defended

 

Al Wilson - 101 tacks, 1 sack, 0 int, 0 tds, 4 passes defended

 

Ray Lewis - 95 tacks, 4 sacks, 2 ints, 0 tds, 6 passes defended.

 

Vilma - 108 tacks, 0 sacks, 1 int, 0 tds, 4 passes defended

 

Lofa Tatupu - 115 tacks, 1.5 sacks, 1 int, 0 tds, 6 passes defended

 

"Little" London - 138 tacks, 2 sacks, 3 ints, 2 tds, 7 passes defended

 

Yea, Fletcher is overrated.

 

Honestly, I see this as Travis Henry type situation. Someone flashier is available and we think it is an immediate upgrade. But the truth of the matter is we have a very good player here. Can you honestly say those guys I compared to Fletcher don't have much better lines in front of them? Tim Anderson may be the worst player in the history of football and he is a starter.

 

Personally, I'm a huge Fletcher fan. I would give him a two year deal and upgrade the d-line. You don't build chemistry by letting one of your best players and leaders go. Bigger isn't always better.

[Pyrite Gal]

London Fletcher has been the captain of a defense that has consistently underachieved during his 5 years here. He is king of the tackle 5 or 6 yards down the field and is unable to get off blocks when anyone larger than a slot receiver blocks him. I can think of more game changing penalties on London's part than game changing good plays. The thing that bothers me most about this defense over the years is that when we absolutely needed a late game stop, they came up short 9 out of 10 times and London didn't do anything to help that.

 

"Heart and soul of the defense" means "high motor" if you're not a white second round defensive end pick.

 

London saw the writing on the wall when he wasn't getting a contract extension. Marv is continuing to show that he knows something about the game of football by recognizing a needed upgrade in the middle of the D. Signing Nate and Kelsay would be higher priorities in my opinion.

 

RTB

 

I think this post among others seriously underrates Fletcher in terms of his importance to the Bills and what we will need to do in terms of needing several things all to work out in order to replace him on this team.

 

This is not to say that I think Fletcher is the top LB in the game (since folks seem to love to adopt the same tactic as the modern political media ranters like Fox News or Lou Dobbs and assume the most extreme version of opposing views and attack them as though that undercuts all opposing views), it is simply saying that folks seem to want to assess F-B as being so horrible when the stats and a balanced view does not indicate that is so.

 

Specifically:

 

1. The rant that he makes most of his tackles 5 or 6 downfield is actually a pretty superficial analysis of what this means or in fact if it really is what is happening. Its hard to know where to begin in terms of describing the faultiness of this point as an indictment of Fletcher.

 

A. If he in fact leads the team in tackles but a majority of them happen downfield this is more of an indictment of the DL than F-B. In order for him to make a tackle so far downfield it simply raised the question as to what happened to our DL that he routinely is tackling players relatively deep in the second tier beyond the LOS. Even if he makes his first contact 3 yards deep and is such a bad tackler he gets dragged 3 yards, this view (which is unsupported by an stat I have seen) is far more an indictment of the DL than F-B or the CBs for failing to contain outside runs.

 

B. If in fact he is making contact and racking up tackles downfield unless the players are running right at him this view of him making most of his tackles downfield is actually a compliment to his speed, mobility, and doggidness as he clearly is tracking down runners who have escaped other Bills to tackle them six yards downfield.

 

C. If he is in a hole at the LOS and is being dragged downfield by tacklers this seems to indicate a problem with the Bills D scheme as they are commiting their MLB to line play and leaving the middle to safety coverage amd keep commiting a player some judge as weak for this responsiblity. Actually this view would indicate a real misunderstanding of the scheme as actually F-B has mid zone pass protection duty in the Tampa 2 version of the Cover 2.

 

2. The view of F-B as such a weakness simply ignores the stats. I agree that the tackle stats are not perfect, but they are certainly better than fact free opinion even if they are not perfect and most of these indictments are not supported by any facts or analysis.

 

A. He simply has led the Bills in tackles each year he has been here. This has to mean something but folks simply seem to dismiss it. In fact, he has tied Spielman for the record of most tackles in one season and like it or not it is a demonstration that F-B is in on a lot of plays and has a nose for the ball.

 

B. A look at the stats for tackles this year presents the interesting nugget that the vast vast majority of his tackles are credited as solo tackles. This factoid is important as it is an indicator that maybe he is not the weak tack;er which some folks seem to imply as he brought them down (even belatedly for some) without any help. Even more important for those who wish to blame him for the Bills shortcomings against the run is the fact that if he were not there for this solo tackle then perhaps many of these guys he brought down would still be running since no there Bill got there to even register an assist.

 

C. My recollection is that F-B actually was credited with more tackles than any other player in the NFL for the 5 years ending last season combined. I have yet to see a summary for this year but given his leading the Bills with being credited with what will be approaching 150 tackles likely be in the lead for combining the last 6 seasons. This is not only good praise for his durability but the quality of his work over that time.

 

3. The concept that he is overrated simply flies in the face of the fact he has never made the Pro Bowl despite these glossy stats. An argument that insiders know something we do not know (though I have heard nothing but praise from insiders on the team and opposing coaches like Belicheck) so he isn't that good makes more sense than a claim he is overrated because he simply is not valued as being more than a top 10 LB and not one of the top 5 by pundits.

 

4. The claim he has captained a contiuously failing D ignores the fact the D was actually quite productive statistically for a couple of those years (they were ranked #5 in the NFL statistically in 2003 and #2 in 2004. What explanation do folks give for differences in F-Bs play between the badly performing Ds (2005 and 2006 and actually both phases of the game were bad in 2002 but the D actually carried this RJ led team to even get 3 victories and play a number of close games for 3 quarters til they ran out of gas).

 

5. In addition to the D, F-B has done the unusal for a starter and has been a critical player to the ST several years. In 2003 or 4 (I can't remember which) he was the second leading KO return guy on the Bills behind McGee and fielded the short kickoffs and not only did not fumble but even returned them well for the Bills. Folks who want to badmouth him should acknowledge this reality and contribution.

 

Overall, he is one of the Bills who has his head screwed on straight and is in the game and understands it most of the time. When there is a problem is interesting to see F-b routinely be the one on top of the game situation almost immediately and not only making a point as though he understands what is in the Bills interest but often hitting up the right ref about the debated call right away.

 

6. Even if one judges F-B to be bad, how confident our folks that his likely replacement Crowell (he was a back-up MLB before being forced into the lineup by TKOs injury) is not only going to play this position regularly competently (I think he can) but will also be ready to go at the opening kick as he got IR'ed (who besides the Bills docs have a clear estimation) the same equation comes into play for those who suggest TKO take over for him (he still needs to show he can handle the move to the other side at OLB which apparently was done so he would have to cover less space and now folks want him to range from sideline to sideline as MLB. The other choice seems to be DiGregorio or some unknown FA which may make 07 another learning year for the Bills.

 

7. Complaints about his inability to shed blockers flies in the face of his Bills setting record first season when our DL was so weak. F-B too often had an OL player assigned specifically to block him as our DL could be handled one on one. Further, his stacking up a vast vast majority of solo tackles among his stops speaks to him making the tackle and likely shedding a block if necesaey to make the tackle on his own.

 

Again F-B is not the best LB in the MFL and many years not even in the AFC, but by far he is one of the best D players on the Bills and his lost would move next season backwards as much as losing most individual players on the team.

[generaLee83]

“It's a situation where once the season is over you have to look and evaluate everything," Fletcher said. "They'll do some evaluating and if there is something where both parties feel that it is best that I return, then we will try to get something done."

 

But I don’t think his “party” thinks returning is best.

 

 

A very safe statement by London which worries the hell out of me.

 

Often these safe and dare I say "politically correct" (friggin hate that phrase) statements don't mean good things for folks like us.

 

It seems like a nice way of saying, "pay me bittch or I'm gone"