Buffalo appears to have a young, talented but anonymous defense. What is its potential and who are its stars?
That's a very fair assessment. My problem with this defense is that I think they're young at the wrong positions - their defensive line is very veteran, with only a few young players with potential. They're not very fast, either, which is a necessity in a Cover 2 defense. As they stand right now as a unit, however, this defense is playoff caliber. They've got a deep nine-man rotation on the defensive line, big, tough, active linebackers, and a heck of a young secondary. This unit has the potential to be a Top 10 unit in 2008, and could be dominant in another year or two if, unlike 2007, they can stay healthy.The biggest defensive star right now is obviously Marcus Stroud, the elite defensive tackle the team acquired from Jacksonville via trade in March. His impact has been immediate, as Buffalo's first-team run defense was superb during the pre-season. Buffalo hasn't ever had a defensive tackle of his caliber or type - he's in the best shape of his life, and it's showed. But as you alluded to, Buffalo has a young defense, and young defenses generally produce stars. The guy on the cusp of becoming elite is strong safety Donte Whitner. Built in the same mold as Bob Sanders, he's not as physical, but can still lay a hit. He's versatile, with the ability to play either safety position or line up in the slot, and he's without doubt the leader of not just this defense, but the entire team. He's a good young player who hasn't produced much in his first two seasons. I expect that to change in a big way in 2008. - Brian Galliford, Buffalo Rumblings
3 months ago
John Morgan
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Stroud has averaged 2.25 tackles a game alongside a stud in John Henderson the last two years.
If Whitner and Stroud, are the two individuals he brings up as names for an other wise “anonymous” defense, they are in trouble.
They have two corners who are better on Special Teams than on Defense. In my opinion there lone bright spot on D, is Schobel who will become obsolete when going up against Walt. Most of the film I have watched on their front seven shows a non-aggresive linebacking corp, and come into problems when Stroud gets double teamed. Zone blocking scheme should be a huge problem. Also I can see a lot of problems with their linebackers matching up with our Tight Ends as they are slow. Scary thing is that their OLB’s are about the same size as Jose Vidro. Same speed too.
I think for us to succeed this Sunday, we need to focus hard on having their linebackers covering someone in the slot, whether thats Putzier/Carlson or rolling Morris/Jones out.
Someone play me in Madden 09. XBOX live gamertag: BANE509
by Christian on Sep 4, 2008 12:58 PM PDT 0 recs









