Cowher to the Bills... How does the transition to the 3-4 work?

[nateodoms'bff]

Do the Bills have the personnel to make it work?

Maybin as a pass rushing OLB. Poz and Mitchell as ILB, Schoebel or Ellis on the other side at OLB.

A front of Williams/Stroud/Johnson?

The secondary is fine and needs little improvement. If they stick with Whitner at SS, I think he may excel in the 3-4, especially Cowher's system.

Im not crazy about the idea, but I think it could work, and allow the Bills to focus on the offense in the draft and Free Agency.

Thoughts?

[hydro]

The title of this thread can be easily misconstrued.

[nateodoms'bff]

Sorry,

IF Cowher comes to the Bills....

is that better?

[YardRat]

Just IMO....

The team doesn't have the line for a 34, especially the ends.
Maybin and Poz would probably be a better fit for the 34 than where they are currently in the 43.
Schobel will retire before switching positions at this point in his career.

[nateodoms'bff]

I agree.

Here's the thing. There are several guys that could play the line in the 3-4. And I think that the OLB's could be useful. Maybin/Poz/Mitchell/? at LB is impressive IF Maybin plays up to his potential, and can gain some weight and keep it on.

I would love a big NT like McCoy if this is the direction the Bills go in. But also adding McClain to the Middle with Poz and Maybin/Mitchell on the outside wouldn't be bad. Although none of these guys have played in the 3-4 so its all up in the air speculation.

[BILLSROCK1212]

DE Stroud NT Draft or Sign DE Williams/Johnson

OLB Maybin ILB Poz ILB OLB Ellis/Schobel

I think the transition is fairly easy if these players are capable of it.

[nateodoms'bff]

Stroud is a little to big and slow to be a DE in the 3-4 I think.

He's 6-3, 310. He can maul the middle of an O-Line, but doesnt have the mobility to collapse the tackle and guards from the outside. IMO

[casdhf]

I'd move Whitner to corner and start him and McKelvin with Florence in the slot. McGee? I dunno what I'd do with him.

[Prov401]

Stroud would have to be cut IMO. He wouldn't fit in a 3-4.

We'd need 2 more starting LB's, an NT, and a DE to make a 3-4 work.

[YardRat]

Whitner has trouble turning his hips from a safety position....I don't think he could handle a corner spot...too stiff.

[trapezeus]

whitner is terrible in one on one coverage. he'd get eaten up alive. corner is your slot coverage guy. Leodis, florence Mcgee on the outside. byrd and scott/wilson with whitner as backup.

they have the secondary tools

[nateodoms'bff]

I agree.

The Bills have a great secondary. Honestly, they have been the only unit that takes the game over. The Bills have allowed ONE QB to have over a 100 in passer rating. ONE. Brady twice, Brees, Schaub. Thats five games with some of the better QB's in the league. And they shut down the crappy QB's that they face, which is what they are supposed to do.

With a more aggressive front 7, this defense could be dominant.

Add a run game, and all of a sudden this team looks good.

I know, I'm a shameless homer.

[bflojohn]

Your philosophy changes in free agency and the draft. Like the Steelers, you can now draft the tweeners (DE/OLB) like Maybin because they fit the scheme. A nose tackle is sorely needed, however, the draft has two in Terrence Cody and Dan Williams that would fit the bill (no pun) nicely! With the change comes the parting with guys like Stroud, Schobel and Kelsay ( as examples), trade them if you can and collect draft picks. I would like the Bills to be stout from the inside out, so big, nasty ILB's are a neccesity in the 3-4 along with the "massive" NT. I agree that the secondary is set, so front seven is the major focus, going forward.

[nateodoms'bff]

thats a pretty extensive rebuild, when you consider that the offense needs playmakers and a qb.

they are closer on defense than they are at offense. defense wins championships, but you need some offense too.

im not crazy about a switch the 3-4. i feel like its gimmicky now, and without a ball control offense that can score more than 17 points a game, it can fade quickly. look at the broncos and chiefs as examples of teams that made the switch, but dont have the players or offense to be dominant.

with the guys on the roster, the best bet is to look towards LB's and a NT in free agency, and use the draft to build an offense.

[bflojohn]

In a rebuilding mode, I think it's O.K. to choose defense or offense first and go from there. The Bills could rebuild on defense first, to me, because that unit is the closest to NFL standards and could concievably keep the team in games deep into the 4ht quarter, so that the offense can be somewhat sporadic, but find ways to win. I'd say free agency is the route the Bills should take for bolstering the offense this year, and draft young, hungry studs for a championship level "D" in the very near future!!

[Mahdi]

Do the Bills have the personnel to make it work?

Maybin as a pass rushing OLB. Poz and Mitchell as ILB, Schoebel or Ellis on the other side at OLB.

A front of Williams/Stroud/Johnson?

The secondary is fine and needs little improvement. If they stick with Whitner at SS, I think he may excel in the 3-4, especially Cowher's system.

Im not crazy about the idea, but I think it could work, and allow the Bills to focus on the offense in the draft and Free Agency.

Thoughts?
Stroud and Sp. Johnson would be DEs. As far as size goes they are in the mold of 3-4 DEs, obviously they have no experience there but other teams have made the transition with less talented players and have succeeded such as the Broncos.

We have a couple of NT options that were recently signed to the practice squad who can be looked at such as Lonnie Harvey who is perfect size for a NT at 6'3 342 and we can also sign and/or look to the draft for a NT in the later rounds as well as 5-technique prospects to eventually replace Stroud and Johnson. Also, Jason Ferguson, Ryan Pickett and Casey Hampton are FAs this year and would be good stop gap guys for 1-2 years till we fill the position with a young guy.

Poz and Mitchell as ILBs works although I would look to replace Mitchell with someone better at some point but he would do fine there.

Maybin, Ellis, Harris if he can add weight would be options at OLB and MAYBE Schobel but I dont think he is anywhere near fast enough to make the transition. Aaron Kampman struggled big time to adjust to OLB because he didn't have the speed and once he got injured and was replace by Brad Jones they played much better D.

I would be hoping we draft an OLB/DE such as Derrick Morgan with our top pick whether we switch or not.

[trapezeus]

i would focus on the defense as well. get yourLT early in the draft and then just focus, focus, focus on NT, DE, and LB.

The bills offense really needs a QB and a LT and some continuity on the line. I bet the run game improves if we can keep our starting OL healthy. I'm cool with running with the current list of weak WR's and let brohm try.

if the defense gets better and we still suck, then we really just have to address offense the following year and we'll probably pick pretty high again.

We just have to fix something....anything....through next season.