Poz Voted Defensive MVP

[shelby]

At the beginning of the 2008 campaign Paul Posluszny was just hopeful he’d make it through a 16-game season after a broken arm robbed him of most of his rookie year. Now with 2008 in the books, Posluszny not only played all 16 games, but looked pretty good doing it as fans voted him the team’s Defensive MVP in a Buffalobills.com online poll.
Posluszny received a third of the vote in a tight race, which saw Kawika Mitchell and Marcus Stroud not far behind in second and third respectively.
There was no debating that Posluszny provided an impact at middle linebacker where he led the team in tackles with 129 according to coaches statistics. He also had almost 40 more solo tackles than his next closest teammates.

more....

[BuffaloBillsStampede]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

I voted for Mitchell, but honestly I don't know if there was a defensive MVP. I thought Mitchell had the most games that I could be like wow he was pretty good today. He also had some games where I could say the opposite.

[don137]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Poz was alright but I was very disapponted in he did not make a bigger impact. I thought he was average at best. The sad part is if the MVP of the defense is an average player that does not say much for the defense.

[jimbohastle51]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

poz is a stud, this was only his second year at middle linebacker (not counting last year cause he only played 2 1/2 games) his senior year in college and this past season and next year i think he is on the road to a pro bowl. maybe never a ray lewis, but he deffinatly has the potential to be a brian urlacher.

[yordad]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Poz will get better moving forward. I think he will be more of an "impact player". He was alright, but I think Stroud was the MVP.

[bigbub2352]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Poz is not a Cover 2 LBer its a shame he plays in this D and he played extremely well considering his first steps always have to be backward for coverage. He is only in his 2nd yr, first real season starting, he didnt make enough plays because the coaching staff doesnt put our Lbers in a position to make plays, half the time they are dropping in coverage instead of reading and reacting the way LBer is suppossed to be played.
Poz is not a problem out there and is developing, get him and Mitchell a helper in the mold of Crowell if healthy, use the 11th pick on one of the best LBer's in the nation or sign a vet in the mold of Bart Scott and get some real DEs in here who can hold their ground and we are talking some business.
Poz will make more plays

[PECKERWOOD]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

I thought that Stroud should've been the MVP, he was a force in the middle and he was keeping the linemen off of Poz and Mitch.

[madness]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Posluszny was the defensive signal caller, responsible for getting the entire unit lined up properly pre-snap with the right check or adjustment. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was impressed with the way his second-year linebacker was able to handle that.
“He managed the game for me as a coach unbelievably this year,” Fewell said. “There were a number of calls this season that he had to get out of because they weren’t good situations and he put us in the better situation of the two calls. And so, he has corrected some things on the field from a game management standpoint.”

I believe this is the biggest factor in why he is easily the defensive MVP for this season. I touched on this subject earlier this month and considering this is pretty much his rookie season, I expect even more out of him next year.

They may have played better but they also have an extra year on him and Poz still had a better year statistically and fundamentally then every LB drafted after him. He also had 23 tackles for a gain of 2 yards or less this year. Bailing out Ellison on a regular basis also should be factored into his play.

Poz's biggest impact, though, goes unnoticed by most fans. His on-field adjustments could be compared to the likes of a seasoned veteran. He was very good at making sure our guys were in the right place and even better audibling out of bad plays. I was very impressed with this aspect of his game and with a couple of seasons under his belt, I feel he will become more outspoken and this defense will really start to reflect his personality just like it did at Penn State. Combine that with some more talent and we'll be looking at a no-nonsense defense that likes to hit offenses straight in the mouth. By "straight in the mouth" I mean offenses right now look at our D and say "try and stop us". Poz's defense will instead be "go ahead and try to move the ball forward".

As much as I originally wanted him on the outside, he's starting to show that he's a MLB through and through.

“It’s about having a feel for what’s coming at us, being at the right spot at the right time,” said Posluszny. “It seemed in a lot of instances I was always just a half a step away or if I took a wrong step in one direction that was the difference between making a play and not. So I will fix those things and that will come. It was tough because it was a first real season, first game time experience playing all 16 games so it will come in time and I think the future will only get better and better.”

He always did seem to be right there even when he didn't make a play and that should change for the better as his game gets faster.

[Typ0]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

someone had to get this honor. Maybe they should have voted the whole defense MVP.

[more cowbell]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

posluszny has to be the most overrated player in the history of the world by bills fans...wow

[Typ0]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

posluszny has to be the most overrated player in the history of the world by bills fans...wow

they are the same people that believe draft position and hype equates to good NFL players.

[xXSpIkes5IXx]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Its funny, Poz had more tackles than Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Keith Bullock and Antonio Pierce in essentially his rookie year, and thats not good enough for some people on this board.

Billszone has turned into a place where everybody complains about everyone and everything about this organization, even the people that dont deserve it.

[don137]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Its funny, Poz had more tackles than Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Keith Bullock and Antonio Pierce in essentially his rookie year, and thats not good enough for some people on this board.

Billszone has turned into a place where everybody complains about everyone and everything about this organization, even the people that dont deserve it.

Tackles are just one part of the equation when evaluating a player. How many of Poz's tackles were over 5 yards past the line of scrimmage vs the others. Also, how many impact plays did Poz have (tackles for losses, forced fumbles, etc.). Need to look at everything not just tackles. That's where Poz looked very pedestrian. That's like just like looking at QB rating for a QB. If you looked just at the QB rating Rob Johnson and JP Losman would look like good QBs.

[xXSpIkes5IXx]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

Tackles are just one part of the equation when evaluating a player. How many of Poz's tackles were over 5 yards past the line of scrimmage vs the others. Also, how many impact plays did Poz have (tackles for losses, forced fumbles, etc.). Need to look at everything not just tackles. That's where Poz looked very pedestrian. That's like just like looking at QB rating for a QB. If you looked just at the QB rating Rob Johnson and JP Losman would look like good QBs.

You do realize how uncommon tackles for losses are for middle linebackers right?
They play behind the defensive tackles, tackles for losses are much more common for outside linebackers, who have the angles to snuff out toss plays. Poz had 3 tackles for loss this year, so did Jon Beason, who made the probowl. He had 1 pick and 1 forced fumble, the same number in both of those categories as Patrick Willis, who also made the probowl.

Please, do some research before you throw someone under the bus.

[yordad]

Re: Poz Voted Defensive MVP

they are the same people that believe draft position and hype equates to good NFL players.

Can you find evidence that supports a higher correlation with some other factor?