McDermott to Call Defense in 2023

[Mace]

McD called two timeouts before each of KC's two 13sec plays, talked to everyone, and still looked like a fool (I could've made the two passes to get them into FG range). I'm not holding out a lot of hope for playoff success but would love to be wrong.

Truth. Maybe he finally wants jim johnson defense again. Maybe he doesn't need to take over a diff defense. Maybe. We can hope.

[Woodman]

His unpredictable coaching defense .... what's it tough to get things straight for an opponent.

Huge benefit as I see it ....... he's gonna be far more aggressive DC than Frazier ever was.

Our opponents will be punting back to us more frequently .... more punts more time for Josh on the playing field and that can't be better for anybody but us.

[Mr. Pink]

It's been his defense since he's been here.

It will look exactly the same as it has

[Woodman]

He ran a much more aggressive attack style than Frazier did.

It will be very different JMO.

In 2015, McDermott’s defense helped lead the way to a 15-1record and trip to Super Bowl 50. Four players – ThomasDavis, Luke Kuechly, Josh Norman and Kawann Short –earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. He was The SportingNews Coordinator of the Year in 2013 as Carolina went 12-4to win the NFC South, their first playoff berth since 2008.He spent his first 12 NFL seasons with Philadelphia, workinghis way up to defensive coordinator in 2009-10. In 2009,he was named the NFL’s top defensive coordinator by ProFootball Weekly.

[Woodman]

A protege of the late Jim Johnson, the Eagles legendarydefensive coordinator, McDermott served as defensiveassistant/quality control coach (2001-02), assistant defensivebacks coach (2003), secondary/safeties coach (2004-06),and linebackers coach (2007-08).He joined the Eagles in 1998 as a scouting administrativecoordinator before being promoted to assistant to the headcoach under Andy Reid in 1999. McDermott worked withseveral Pro Bowlers during his time in Philadelphia, includingHall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins.

[ParanoidAndroid]

They're tangled together. If it was entirely Frazier's D...why did McD presume to insert himself into occasionally running it without the exp to do so ?

This season will clarify a lot.

He picked his DC.

I just don't see the departure of both Frazier and the LB that lynch pinned the 4-2-5 as a coincidence.

I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.

And I think something more resembling the aggression of Carolina's defense, circa 2015-16, is what we get.

[Typ0]

He picked his DC.

I just don't see the departure of both Frazier and the LB that lynch pinned the 4-2-5 as a coincidence.

I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.

And I think something more resembling the aggression of Carolina's defense, circa 2015-16, is what we get.

Sound logic. Way better than doing the same thing over again that just gets frustrating for everyone.

[Woodman]

He picked his DC.

I just don't see the departure of both Frazier and the LB that lynch pinned the 4-2-5 as a coincidence.

I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.

And I think something more resembling the aggression of Carolina's defense, circa 2015-16, is what we get.

Spot on!

[Typ0]

It's been his defense since he's been here.

It will look exactly the same as it has

I think McDermott is a well organized and focused leader but he doesn't rule with a heavy hand like that. The coaching change signifies some big changes. Frazier is out of the mix they are starting to put together the training camp plan with McDermott making the calls on the defense not being an advisor.

That is exactly what he needs to do. Get dirty and figure out what the ****ing problem is and where the difficulty is coming from.

Edmunds was great to watch east - west but struggled north - south. We might be a lot better off without a super freak like that.

[notacon]

He picked his DC.

I just don't see the departure of both Frazier and the LB that lynch pinned the 4-2-5 as a coincidence.

I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.

And I think something more resembling the aggression of Carolina's defense, circa 2015-16, is what we get.

I think the opposite is true. The Bills will rely on the secondary to make up for the loss of Edmunds. The game has passed the logic of using three LB’s. Safeties fill the role of LB's in McDermott’s defense.

It’s all about defending against the pass, which was Edmunds strong suit. His length and speed prevented many passes from even being thrown.

The biggest issue last year was the devastating (and unlucky) state of the whole secondary due to injuries. Some facts courtesy of Tim Graham of The Athletic:

• The Bills’ secondary deployed 12 different starting lineups over 18 games, including the playoffs;
• Their most consistent starting lineup was four straight games, ending with Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in Week 17;
• Bills defensive backs made their first start of the year in Weeks 10, 12, 13 and 18;
• Twelve defensive backs started for Buffalo. By comparison, each of the teams that reached its conference title game used seven starters all season.

KC, Cincy, Philly and SanFran started just four CB’s and three safeties apiece, the Bills started six CB’s and six safeties.

The Bills started the same group in consecutive games only twice before week 15. Their most common crew was a still-unsteady White, perimeter CB Jackson, nickel back Johnson and safeties Poyer and Hamlin.

That quintet lasted four weeks. In a game with seeding implications, Buffalo inserted Dean Marlowe into the starting lineup for the regular-season finale against the NE Pats and for both playoff games. He’d never started in the postseason, playing only eight defensive snaps over four games.

A clue as to how patchwork Buffalo’s secondary was at the end, Marlowe remains unemployed. The Bills traded a seventh-round draft choice for him in November as their secondary eroded.

Milano is still there and is locked in for several more seasons. It’s still unknown if they will draft one of the two LB’s that have any chance of coming close to replacing Edmunds, Drew Sanders and Jack Campbell.

Sanders is the only one that is worth a late first round pick, and if a worthy WR is there at #27, the Bills would probably be better off forgoing Sanders and giving Allen more weapons.

Campbell is not worth a first-round pick. Either trade back from #27 or trade up from #59 to get him.

The Bills are built on the concept of 4-2-5 and there is little reason (or even close to the talent) to go backwards to a 4-3-4.

It does not make any sense, especially considering the reality of the AFC having the most elite QB’s and dynamic passing offenses.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Both Super Bowl defenses started 3 LBs.

One sentence vs your whole rambling word vomiting.

[Mace]

He picked his DC.

I just don't see the departure of both Frazier and the LB that lynch pinned the 4-2-5 as a coincidence.

I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.

And I think something more resembling the aggression of Carolina's defense, circa 2015-16, is what we get.

I hope you're right...but McD started his clenching in Carolina because he had Kuechly and Davis....he could let Kuechly reliably roam....while taking care of anything else. That was the intention with Edmunds and this is uncharted territory outside his comfort zone. I'd prefer a 3rd lb....suspect he prefers a safety for conservative.

We'lll find out. I don't think McD has the guts to change or he would have entering the 7th year of a process.

[notacon]

Both Super Bowl defenses started 3 LBs.

One sentence vs your whole rambling word vomiting.

How silly. Well thought out and reasoned posts take more than a bumper sticker to explain.

Whether any Super Bowl defenses “started 3 LB’s” or not is totally irrelevant.

In fact, a “KC Nation” site in a preview of the 2022 season had this to say about “starting 3 LBs”...."The traditional, three-linebacker sets are far from the true “base” personnel of the defense; last season, only 27% of their defensive snaps came with four defensive backs on the field — which was still the 10th-highest rate in the NFL, per Football Outsiders."


The FACT is that nickel and dime defenses have been steadily growing as THE defensive go-to for more and more snaps.

In 2008, the percentage of snaps over the whole NFL that had five or more defensive backs averaged 43.4% That steadily increased every year so that by 2015, it was up to 63.4%

In 2021 that percentage was 75%.

The team with the highest percentage of nickel and dime snap count was Dallas at 98%, followed closely by Buffalo with 95%.

The Bills led the league in nickel snap count with 92%.

Nickel and dime defenses are now the overwhelming norm in the NFL and the new “base defense”.

In Buffalo, the idea of taking Taron Johnson, who was their most steady and dependable CB last season, OFF THE FIELD and replace him with a LB that we do not have is absurd beyond measure.

Of course what you stupidly dismiss as "rambling word vomiting” shows unequivocally how the Bills are responding to the loss of Edmunds...concentrating on bolstering the secondary....and the idea that they will abandon the nickel as their “base” defense and regularly have 3 LB’s is not supported by the facts or any kind of reasonable logic or common sense.

The idea that your “one sentence” bumper sticker of irrelevance trumps the well reasoned and accurate analysis backed up with facts is really ludicrous.

[ParanoidAndroid]

*pfft

[notacon]

*pfft

What a snappy response.

ALL the evidence points to 3-LB defenses in the NFL going the way of the leather helmet and the Bills setting up their whole defensive strategy and personal decisions and 95% usage of nickel and dime defenses to NOT going backwards to a 3-LB defense and bucking the NFL trend.

Just because you made a rather uneducated prediction that "I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.” and literally having nothing to refute my astute and accurate analysis...instead of possibly rethinking your premise with the reasonable logic that you may have been...uhhh.....hasty in such a statement.

You come up with “*pfft”.

Wow. The lengths some will go to avoid admitting an obvious mistake never ceases to astound.

[Typ0]

What a snappy response.

ALL the evidence points to 3-LB defenses in the NFL going the way of the leather helmet and the Bills setting up their whole defensive strategy and personal decisions and 95% usage of nickel and dime defenses to NOT going backwards to a 3-LB defense and bucking the NFL trend.

Just because you made a rather uneducated prediction that "I think the 4-2-5 gets phased out and we get back to playing a 3rd LB.” and literally having nothing to refute my astute and accurate analysis...instead of possibly rethinking your premise with the reasonable logic that you may have been...uhhh.....hasty in such a statement.

You come up with “*pfft”.

Wow. The lengths some will go to avoid admitting an obvious mistake never ceases to astound.

pfft is the sound of opening a beer.

[notacon]

pfft is the sound of opening a beer.

No, it’s not. Not on a message board.

[ParanoidAndroid]

No, it’s not. Not on a message board.

We love watching you fling yourself against the cage walls

[ParanoidAndroid]

If we led the league last year in nickel defense, if our DC is out and the LB who allowed us to do so is gone, do you think we might scale that back?

Of course, we actually have to have a LB who can play Edmunds' position. But will we find one? Is it Milano?

There are teams we will have to play mostly nickel against, and others we will not.

If we lead the league again in nickel and fail to limit playoff offenses again, then what?

McDermott likes to play an attacking style of defense and generate turnovers.

Now that he is calling the D, it will be completely his.

Does he view Taylor Rapp as a hybrid capable of playing like an off ball LB with an increased ability to cover shifty WRs?

I don't think we'll get away with Taron Johnson playing so many short yardage downs. I also think he took a beating last year and played through it.

Poyer took a beating, too.

Something tells me Taylor Rapp wasn't brought in to ride the bench and my money says he's an insurance policy against a hybrid S/LB who gets drafted. I don't think Bernard is the guy they were looking for.

[Typ0]

No, it’s not. Not on a message board.

There actually was a very long and involved conversation here on this message board where the question was asked how to voice the sound of a beer opening on a message board. pfft is what they came up with.