PFW: Bills to lean heavily on DT duo

[Ickybaluky]

From Pro Football Weekly (http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/AFC/AFC+East/Buffalo/WWHI/2008/wwhi042508.htm):


Given the physical toll that D-line play takes on players, most good defensive fronts have a healthy rotation of players coming in and out of the lineup. The way we hear it, the Bills will be looking to buck the theory that a steady rotation is the most effective method, particularly on the interior. According to a team insider, Buffalo envisions DTs John McCargo and ex-Jaguar Marcus Stroud assuming the heavy majority of minutes in 2008. Although technically a reserve in ’07 , McCargo showed enough glimpses of greatness to make coach Dick Jauron confident he’ll be the force the team believed he’d become when they plucked him in the first round of the 2006 draft. Stroud’s lack of consistency and health have some wondering whether he’s best-suited for a part-time role, but evidently that concern isn’t shared by Jauron. McCargo and Stroud are easily the best run-supporting and pass-rushing tackles the Bills boast, so there’s no need to give them any more rest than is needed to keep them operating at a high level.

[OpIv37]

I've got no problems with that as long as they're physically capable of handling it. Kyle Williams hit a sophomore slump after showing some positive signs in his rookie season. Spencer Johnson is a journeyman- granted, being behind the Williams brothers isn't exactly an insult, but he should be used only as necessary until he proves he's worthy of more.

My only concern is that our O is going to struggle to keep the D off the field, so if our DT's aren't fresh, we can expect more 7 minute fourth quarter drives from our opponents while they ram the ball down our throats.

[YardRat]

I'm sure they'll rotate adequately during the season. They're not going to have two fat guys sucking wind in the fourth quarter just because their names appear as starters in the program.

[Confused]

From Pro Football Weekly (http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/AFC/AFC+East/Buffalo/WWHI/2008/wwhi042508.htm):

they also said new england will rely heavily on cheating this upcoming season.

[Tatonka]

that was ****ing hillarious, hoof.

:rofl:

[madness]

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?p=2425574#post2425574

[SquishDaFish]

:roflmao: @ Hoof Good one man

[DrGraves]

hooooooof hahaha

[Goobylal]

From Pro Football Weekly (http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/AFC/AFC+East/Buffalo/WWHI/2008/wwhi042508.htm):
I don't buy it. They signed Spencer Johnson to a good-sized contract for a reason, and I don't think it was to play DE.

[raphael120]

I highly doubt the Bills will all of a sudden ditch the rotational system...they rotate and drop Schobel back into coverage on some downs, and he's just as much of a pro bowler was Stroud is.

This season, expect more of the same from Jauron. Playin close to the vest, protecting leads, keeping his players fresh by rotating them, and always settling for field goals. It's been true in the past 2 years, why should it change now???

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I think the Bills are still going to use a rotational system on their D-line.

But, I also think that what you are seeing with this, with the addition of a bigger OLB in K.Mitchell, and the drafting of L.McKelvin, is the coaching staff making some adjustments to their base Tampa 2 scheme to cope with and, hopefully, counter some of the things that teams' offenses have done to successfully attack the Tampa 2 scheme.

That doesn't mean that they are abandoning the Tampa 2 system as the base scheme of their defense. But, what I do think that they are doing is trying to "tweak" it to allow the Bills defense a chance to better deal with certain things and give the defense more options in certain situations.

And, one of those "tweaks" could very well be that they will try to have McCargo and Stroud on the field in certain key situations instead of rotating them out, even if that means that those two players might play 5% or even 10% more snaps in a given game than they would in the kind of strict rotation that the Bills had the last two years. Doing that would make a lot of sense and is something that I would expect to see happen this season.

I will predict that the Bills will use more blitzes--and more varied blitzes--at times during this season than we have seen the last two years, including corner and safety blitzes. Additionally, I think that they will use the threat of K.Mitchell's blitzing ability to open up some opportunities for Posluzny to blitz the passer, if Poz can stay healthy and get settled into the MLB position.

Also, I think that S.Johnson will play an important role as a situational pass rusher at the DT position in longer passing situations. (By mid-season, C.Ellis may well be doing the same thing at DE as well.)

And, if McKelvin comes along quickly, I believe that the Bills will play more man-to-man and/or mixed man-zone coverages in the second half of the season than they did last season.

Some of these predictions probably will seem obvious, but each is a slight departure from the way the Bills have done things the last two years and, taken together, they also would result in a noticeable "tweaking" of the Bills' base Tampa 2 defensive scheme. The changes in personnel that have taken place on defense this offseason have been very deliberate and all point in that direction.

It's hard to say--especially at this point--just how good the Bills' defense can be this season, even if everyone stays healthy, because they are going to have to integrate so many new people at key positions, but the pieces are being assembled to put together what could be a very tough defensive team in the second half of the season and certainly by next season.

[Captain gameboy]

Lets rotate the entire defense off the field.....By having a pass D that doesn't give up 3rd and 8's all the time in fan hated "bend" mode.

[PECKERWOOD]

I don't believe it word for word but I do think that Stroud and McCargo are going to get 75% of the snaps on defense. K. Williams and S. Johnson can come in for the ocassional breather.

[dasaybz]

Let's hope McCargo can stay healthy. There were times last year when he was playing very beastly.

Maybe even beast-modesque.

[jamze132]

I don't see us rotating as much as in years past as long as McCargo and Stroud can stay healthy. But to say we would abandon the rotation would sound ignorant. I really hope Spencer Johnson is a bright spot.

[madness]

Kollar isn't getting canned so neither is his rotation.

[Confused]

I think spencer is the diamond in the rough.