I was leery at first but reading the articles over at BB.com it looks like he will make the players very well prepared, improve the run D, and improve 3rd downs. If that's true it will make a huge impact on our D. Third downs have driven me crazy for years.
This article talks to Schwartz using the "Wide 9" scheme. But, it does speak to Schwartz being just as aggressive as Pettine.
My only concern is that I do not want to stop blitzing as much as we do. I want to keep the pressure up and continue to attack. But it's not like Avril, Suh, Vanden Bosch and even the rookie Ansah haven't been successful getting to the QB.
The Lions for sacks:
2009- 29th- No players in the top 40
2010- 6th- Suh on the team, had 10 sacks, Avril had 8.5
2011- 10th- Avril had 11, Vanden Bosch had 8
2012- 20th- Avril had 9.5, Suh had 8
2013- 28th- Avril is gone. Ansah, a rookie, has 8
The Lions last year were 23rd against the pass and 6th against the run.
If you look at their depth chart on D:
DE- Bills- Mario over Ansah
DT- Lions- Suh over Kyle
DT- Bills- Dareus over Fairley- Some may argue this but I hate Fairley and Dareus is getting better each year
DE- Bills- Branch over Young
OLB- Lions- Levy over Bradham
ILB- Bills- Kiko over Tulloch
OLB- Bills- Lawson over Palmer
CB- Bills- Gilmore over Houston
S- Bills- Aaron over Quin
S- Bills- Byrd over Delmas
CB- Bills- Mathis over McKelvin
I like our starters on D much better than the Lions starters at almost all positions. But one thing stands out to me, Pettines D was built to be aggressive and heavy on the rush especially at LB. Schwartz's D was built with more beef at LB and favored run stopping.
I think our DL's are fairly similar in style between the two but no we don't have anyone as good as Suh. But they also don't have anyone as good as Mario either. And Hughes may be a push to Ansah. I just see similarities in the make up on the DL.
I feel like our secondary is way better than the Lions as far as talent so he should be much better against the pass than he was with the Lions.
It will be very interesting to see what they do at LB now. Yardie and others have clamored to move Kiko and with Pettine I never thought that would happen. But with a different DC who has a history of stopping the run well I could easily see him wanting to beef up the middle and Let Kiko roam on the outside.
If that train of thought holds water it could change what we do at 9 and/or in FA. A guy like Brandon Spikes becomes a much more real option. And maybe guys like Khalil Mack and Kyle Van Noy, who are both outside roamers, become less of an option. Which could mean at 9 we lean towards a WR or OT and not a LB... Some may look at a guy like Mosley at 9 but I just have never been very impressed with him. He's late to the ball too often for me, washed out too much. I like Bullough better at stopping the run than Mosley but Mosley will go higher because he's a better athlete and can rush the passer.
ILB's I like:
Max Bullough- Mich St
Shane Skov- Stanford
I like Borland but at 5' 11" I really worry about his ability to be great against the run.
Overall I think we may very well see the Bills add a better run stuffer at LB, maybe ILB. That we may also add a run stuffer at OLB since we have pass rushers in Hughes and Lawson. We may add someone to push Bradham as our beefy run stuffing OLB right out the door.
I Don't think we'll see a NT being added. He typically ran 4 man fronts; Shaun Rogers was traded before Schwartz got there. However, he did have Josh Evans and Haynesworth in Tenn even with the 4 man fronts. That may seem to show he likes guys that can play the 3 or 5. But we have that already in Dareus, maybe Kyle and Branch.
This article talks to Schwartz using the "Wide 9" scheme. But, it does speak to Schwartz being just as aggressive as Pettine.
My only concern is that I do not want to stop blitzing as much as we do. I want to keep the pressure up and continue to attack. But it's not like Avril, Suh, Vanden Bosch and even the rookie Ansah haven't been successful getting to the QB.
The Lions for sacks:
2009- 29th- No players in the top 40
2010- 6th- Suh on the team, had 10 sacks, Avril had 8.5
2011- 10th- Avril had 11, Vanden Bosch had 8
2012- 20th- Avril had 9.5, Suh had 8
2013- 28th- Avril is gone. Ansah, a rookie, has 8
The Lions last year were 23rd against the pass and 6th against the run.
If you look at their depth chart on D:
DE- Bills- Mario over Ansah
DT- Lions- Suh over Kyle
DT- Bills- Dareus over Fairley- Some may argue this but I hate Fairley and Dareus is getting better each year
DE- Bills- Branch over Young
OLB- Lions- Levy over Bradham
ILB- Bills- Kiko over Tulloch
OLB- Bills- Lawson over Palmer
CB- Bills- Gilmore over Houston
S- Bills- Aaron over Quin
S- Bills- Byrd over Delmas
CB- Bills- Mathis over McKelvin
I like our starters on D much better than the Lions starters at almost all positions. But one thing stands out to me, Pettines D was built to be aggressive and heavy on the rush especially at LB. Schwartz's D was built with more beef at LB and favored run stopping.
I think our DL's are fairly similar in style between the two but no we don't have anyone as good as Suh. But they also don't have anyone as good as Mario either. And Hughes may be a push to Ansah. I just see similarities in the make up on the DL.
I feel like our secondary is way better than the Lions as far as talent so he should be much better against the pass than he was with the Lions.
It will be very interesting to see what they do at LB now. Yardie and others have clamored to move Kiko and with Pettine I never thought that would happen. But with a different DC who has a history of stopping the run well I could easily see him wanting to beef up the middle and Let Kiko roam on the outside.
If that train of thought holds water it could change what we do at 9 and/or in FA. A guy like Brandon Spikes becomes a much more real option. And maybe guys like Khalil Mack and Kyle Van Noy, who are both outside roamers, become less of an option. Which could mean at 9 we lean towards a WR or OT and not a LB... Some may look at a guy like Mosley at 9 but I just have never been very impressed with him. He's late to the ball too often for me, washed out too much. I like Bullough better at stopping the run than Mosley but Mosley will go higher because he's a better athlete and can rush the passer.
ILB's I like:
Max Bullough- Mich St
Shane Skov- Stanford
I like Borland but at 5' 11" I really worry about his ability to be great against the run.
Overall I think we may very well see the Bills add a better run stuffer at LB, maybe ILB. That we may also add a run stuffer at OLB since we have pass rushers in Hughes and Lawson. We may add someone to push Bradham as our beefy run stuffing OLB right out the door.
I Don't think we'll see a NT being added. He typically ran 4 man fronts; Shaun Rogers was traded before Schwartz got there. However, he did have Josh Evans and Haynesworth in Tenn even with the 4 man fronts. That may seem to show he likes guys that can play the 3 or 5. But we have that already in Dareus, maybe Kyle and Branch.
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