Could Spikes move...

[alohabillsfan]

to middle LB if fletch leaves? He is bigger and may be a tad slower now which seems he may now be better suited for MLB with Crowell at SLB and Ellison WLB? Any thoughts?

[gr8slayer]

I'm not sure why so many people are ready for Fletcher to leave. He is one of the few bright spots on our Defense.

[alohabillsfan]

I'm not sure why so many people are ready for Fletcher to leave. He is one of the few bright spots on our Defense.

Not sure if he is big enough to handle the middle now with the lighter tackles we have, thats all. Spikes is still under contract and may be a better fit in the middle for this system, I agree that fletcher is a good guy and always gives 100% but alot of his tackles are after a gain of 6 yards.

[gr8slayer]

Not sure if he is big enough to handle the middle now with the lighter tackles we have, thats all. Spikes is still under contract and may be a better fit in the middle for this system, I agree that fletcher is a good guy and always gives 100% but alot of his tackles are after a gain of 6 yards.
I do not follow your thinking that Fletcher is too small. But hey, you are entitled to your opinion.

[HHURRICANE]

Not sure if he is big enough to handle the middle now with the lighter tackles we have, thats all. Spikes is still under contract and may be a better fit in the middle for this system, I agree that fletcher is a good guy and always gives 100% but alot of his tackles are after a gain of 6 yards.

Yep, he's a great tackler after the opponent get's the first down. I'm ready for a change but if Marv keeps him I'll support him.

[Spiderweb]

Yep, he's a great tackler after the opponent get's the first down. I'm ready for a change but if Marv keeps him I'll support him.

Agree......Give me someone with Speilman like instincts and toughness. Someone who can actually read a play and get to the hole "before" the RB. Speilman was a true run stuffing MLB. No gains and some losses would be nice.

[mchurchfie]

to middle LB if fletch leaves? He is bigger and may be a tad slower now which seems he may now be better suited for MLB with Crowell at SLB and Ellison WLB? Any thoughts?
I think it would be a great idea. Even though he is struggling this year from a very bad injury which is obviously still giving him problems Spikes is a true playmaker and would make a difference. He has much better instincts.:up:

[mchurchfie]

Agree......Give me someone with Speilman like instincts and toughness. Someone who can actually read a play and get to the hole "before" the RB. Speilman was a true run stuffing MLB. No gains and some losses would be nice.
Its called having football instincts...using your brains, initiative, and having the balls to blow the play open before it gets started instead of biting on every playaction fake or waiting for the DL to suck up all of the blocks before a move is EVEN made. Conlon had them, Cowart had them, Speilman was the master. You NEVER see Fletcher blow up a play even though he has the best position to do it in.


I'm not sure why so many people are ready for Fletcher to leave. He is one of the few bright spots on our Defense.
:shakeno:
Everyone needs to pull their heads out of Fletcher's ass and quit treating this dude like the second coming of Lawrence Taylor. He is NOT the solution, he is one of the problems. Just because he leads the team in tackles means ****. He SHOULD lead in tackles being the middle linebacker for christs sake.

[THATHURMANATOR]

If we lose Fletcher this could be a good move. Crowell stays where he is and They look to upgrade over Ellison at Spike's old spot.

[madness]

I'm not sure why so many people are ready for Fletcher to leave. He is one of the few bright spots on our Defense.

because all his tackles are 5 to 7 yards downfield. :rolleyes:

I'd like to retain him but he has pretty much shown he doesn't expect to be here next year. I think he wants to go play for an instant contender, so I say let him. If his heart isn't in Buffalo anymore then there's no reason to keep him here. Plus, its a perfect opportunity to instantly get younger at the LB position.

If anything, I'm worried about the one thing the Fletcher haters fail to remember. The guy is the QB of our defense, he makes the right adjustments and lines up our D all the time. Who takes over that responsibility? The only one on the roster even close to being able to handle that responsibility is TKO.

[alohabillsfan]

because all his tackles are 5 to 7 yards downfield. :rolleyes:

I'd like to retain him but he has pretty much shown he doesn't expect to be here next year. I think he wants to go play for an instant contender, so I say let him. If his heart isn't in Buffalo anymore then there's no reason to keep him here. Plus, its a perfect opportunity to instantly get younger at the LB position.

If anything, I'm worried about the one thing the Fletcher haters fail to remember. The guy is the QB of our defense, he makes the right adjustments and lines up our D all the time. Who takes over that responsibility? The only one on the roster even close to being able to handle that responsibility is TKO.


Right, the only thing that you said that bothers me is if he makes the right calls and adjustments it's not working!

[gr8slayer]

because all his tackles are 5 to 7 yards downfield. :rolleyes:

I'd like to retain him but he has pretty much shown he doesn't expect to be here next year. I think he wants to go play for an instant contender, so I say let him. If his heart isn't in Buffalo anymore then there's no reason to keep him here. Plus, its a perfect opportunity to instantly get younger at the LB position.

If anything, I'm worried about the one thing the Fletcher haters fail to remember. The guy is the QB of our defense, he makes the right adjustments and lines up our D all the time. Who takes over that responsibility? The only one on the roster even close to being able to handle that responsibility is TKO.
Everyone who makes a tackle on our Defense makes them five to seven yards down field. What's your point? Our DL sucks balls against the run.

[Saratoga Slim]

Everyone who makes a tackle on our Defense makes them five to seven yards down field. What's your point? Our DL sucks balls against the run.

his point is that MLB is ideally supposed to smell out run plays and get to holes in the DL before the RB, rather than just be very good at chasing the RB down after he gets through the holes.

I don't necessarily agree that all Fletcher's tackles are chase-downs, but I do have to admit that you don't see him in the backfield or plugging a RB at the line of scrimmage too often. I'm fairly ambivalent on Fletcher. I think he plays his ass off, he's a very good MLB, and that he deserves a serious offer unless we have a real stud MLB available to replace him. That said, I do agree that he's no Chris Spielman or Shane Conlan.

[mchurchfie]

his point is that MLB is ideally supposed to smell out run plays and get to holes in the DL before the RB, rather than just be very good at chasing the RB down after he gets through the holes.

I don't necessarily agree that all Fletcher's tackles are chase-downs, but I do have to admit that you don't see him in the backfield or plugging a RB at the line of scrimmage too often. I'm fairly ambivalent on Fletcher. I think he plays his ass off, he's a very good MLB, and that he deserves a serious offer unless we have a real stud MLB available to replace him. That said, I do agree that he's no Chris Spielman or Shane Conlan.
Exactly. Maybe we have this whole thing a little backwards. Maybe he is the one helping to make the DL look so bad or at least he isn't giving them very much help either.

[RedEyE]

That's actually a pretty good idea. Spikes might fit perfectly in that role. He has a nose for the ball and since his injury this might just be what the doctor ordered. The Bills also love their 'Mike' blitzes. I think Spikes would eat that up and I also think he might be an upgrade over London.

[mchurchfie]

That's actually a pretty good idea. Spikes might fit perfectly in that role. He has a nose for the ball and since his injury this might just be what the doctor ordered. The Bills also love their 'Mike' blitzes. I think Spikes would eat that up and I also think he might be an upgrade over London.
Also, just making him "The Man" on defense again would probably bring out that old fire that he used have that has been missing as of late. It has to be a real kick in the ass to him when he gets yanked on third down plays.

[alohabillsfan]

Also, just making him "The Man" on defense again would probably bring out that old fire that he used have that has been missing as of late. It has to be a real kick in the ass to him when he gets yanked on third down plays.

I would like to see it?



WLB MLB SLB
# 56 Lance Briggs #51 Spikes # 55 Angelo Crowell

[SABURZFAN]

didn't spikes spend a little time at MLB,in cincinatti,one year due to injuries?

[YardRat]

I thought one of the reasons Spikes wanted out of Cinci was because of a possible move to MLB there, which he felt would shorten his career.

If TKO can return to 100% next year and Fletch leaves, I'd look for Crowell or Ellison to move to the middle before Spikes. Unless the team uses the move as a round-a-bout way of getting rid of him altogether.

[Mahdi]

If we could get Briggs that would be great.....but I also wouldnt mind seeing Paul Posluszny drafted and placed at WLB with Spikes in the middle and Crowell at SLB. We can take care of OL with Manuwai or Steinbach, keep clements and maybe even sign Daniel Grahaem TE Pats or Eric Johnson who is also on his way out of SF. That would be a good offseason. I think the DT situation is fine despite the problems we had this year. Tripplett, Williams and McCargo will be fine with one year of this system under their belts and having Spikes behind them as opposed to Fletcher would help against the run.