[positional grouping] Bills Defensive Line

[Ann]

CBS has been ranking the best first round draft picks, 5 per draft slot. Today they got to #1, and while I expected to see a Buffalo Bill at #3 (Manning and Elway were going to be #1 and #2, and they were), I thought it would be OJ. I cannot argue with Bruce, however.

Ranking the best NFL draft picks at #1 ever
 

3. Bruce Smith

1985 NFL Draft: First overall pick (Bills)
Teams: Bills (1985-99), Washington (2000-03)
 

When the Buffalo Bills decided to take Bruce Smith with the first overall pick in 1985, it was somewhat of a gamble and that's because there hadn't been a great track record of success in the NFL with defensive ends selected in the top 10. Fortunately for the Bills, the gamble paid off and they ended up landing one of the best defensive players in NFL history.
 

Although Smith's career got off to a slow start in 1985, he would dominate the NFL after that. In the 13 seasons from 1986 to 1998, Smith hit the double-digit sack mark a total of 12 times and the only reason he didn't make it a perfect 13 is because he missed 11 games in 1991 due to a knee injury.
 

In 1987, Smith tallied 12 sacks even though he only played in 12 games. The next year, he totaled 11 sacks even though he once again missed four games. Smith's productivity got people wondering what he might do if he could stay on the field for all 16 games, and in 1990, everyone found out the answer to that question. In a season that ended with the Bills in the Super Bowl, Smith led the NFL with 19 sacks, which is still one of the highest single-season totals in NFL history. The season ended with Smith winning one of his two career defensive player of the year awards.
 

Over the course of his career, Smith would rack up exactly 200 sacks, which is still the NFL career record for sacks. To give you an idea of how dominant that number is, just consider this: Only ONE other NFL player ever even has more than 160 sacks (Reggie White finished his career with 198).

In an era where the Bills K-Gun offense made all the headlines, Smith anchored a defense that helped propel Buffalo to four straight Super Bowls.
 

[Ann]

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/BradleyGelber/status/1387999523046367234

[Ann]

 

https://twitter.com/NickVeronica/status/1388303717406019591

[stuvian]

it's clear that we are bringing in coachable young guys not big name journeymen 

[Foxx]

9 DEs!

 

As I said in the 2nd RD Basham's thread, there are going to be some casualties here. We usually keep 4 or 5, tops. I can see 6 if they plan on utilizing Rousseau and/or Basham as IDL to an extent. 

 

Assuming Epenesa,, Rousseau and Basham are locks to make the roster, that leaves Hughes, Obada, Addison, Johnson, Love and Cox Jr. probably fighting for 2 spots, 3 max. I'm thinking maybe Addison is a post June first trade to minimize the dead cap hit and to get something back for him or short of that, an outright cut.  Hughes, Obada probably have the inside track to the two remaining spots with Johnson possibly if they do keep 6. One of Love and CoxJr. are practice squad material if not outright cuts.

 

If we are keeping 6 DEs, does that mean we only keep 3 true DTs or do we stay with our standard 4? Oliver and Lotulelei are locks. That leaves Phillips, Butler, Zimmer and Bryant fighting for the other two, possibly one spot. Zimmer looked pretty good last year.

 

I really don't know how it is going to shake out but this is a position group that is going to be fascinating to watch all off-season to see how it shapes up.

 

The trenches are probably my favorite groups to watch, so along with the O-line developments, this is going to be very exciting for me personally.

 

[Koko]

19 hours ago, Foxx said:

9 DEs!

 

As I said in the 2nd RD Basham's thread, there are going to be some casualties here. We usually keep 4 or 5, tops. I can see 6 if they plan on utilizing Rousseau and/or Basham as IDL to an extent. 

 

Assuming Epenesa,, Rousseau and Basham are locks to make the roster, that leaves Hughes, Obada, Addison, Johnson, Love and Cox Jr. probably fighting for 2 spots, 3 max. I'm thinking maybe Addison is a post June first trade to minimize the dead cap hit and to get something back for him or short of that, an outright cut.  Hughes, Obada probably have the inside track to the two remaining spots with Johnson possibly if they do keep 6. One of Love and CoxJr. are practice squad material if not outright cuts.

 

If we are keeping 6 DEs, does that mean we only keep 3 true DTs or do we stay with our standard 4? Oliver and Lotulelei are locks. That leaves Phillips, Butler, Zimmer and Bryant fighting for the other two, possibly one spot. Zimmer looked pretty good last year.

 

I really don't know how it is going to shake out but this is a position group that is going to be fascinating to watch all off-season to see how it shapes up.

 

The trenches are probably my favorite groups to watch, so along with the O-line developments, this is going to be very exciting for me personally.

 

 

I suspect they could stash some of the extra DEs either on the practice squad, or shuffle a few other positions around to keep them on special teams.

[Foxx]

Just now, Koko said:

 

I suspect they could stash some of the extra DEs either on the practice squad, or shuffle a few other positions around to keep them on special teams.

I know Mike (Darryl?) Johnson is favored because of his special teams work. 

 

I do think we will end up with some combination of 10 DL men being kept.

[Foxx]

5 minutes ago, Koko said:

 

I suspect they could stash some of the extra DEs either on the practice squad, or shuffle a few other positions around to keep them on special teams.

A also think we are going to see a form of transformation on how the DLine is operated. Something along the lines of what Greg Tompsett is laying out here.

 

https://twitter.com/GregTompsett/status/1389269905200107522

 

[Alaska Darin]

If your team has tough decisions to make on cut down day, your front office is doing its job.

[Ann]

 

 

https://twitter.com/SalSports/status/1392486482393194499

[Hedge]

 

 

[Hedge]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hedge]

 

 

There are a few more pictures at the link. 

[Hedge]

 

[GG1]

39 minutes ago, Hedge said:

 

 

Thank you @Jack for protecting me from watching the video

 

"The following media includes potentially sensitive content. "

[Koko]

19 minutes ago, GG1 said:

 

Thank you @Jack for protecting me from watching the video

 

"The following media includes potentially sensitive content. "

 

To be fair, watching someone working their ass off could be offensive and triggering to useless assholes.

[Ann]

 

 

https://twitter.com/SportsRoc2/status/1403347384441114630

[Hedge]

 

[Ann]

 

 

https://twitter.com/JonScottTV/status/1404536892855623682

[Hedge]

 

 

And a version of the interview that will embed here: