Your 2010 Buffalo Bills Preview: Defensive line

Last Year: 2.0 sacks and 56 tackles
You have to give it up to Marcus Stroud for not falling into the trap that Albert Haynesworth had fallen into. Yes, he’s one of the more higher paid players on the team, but when asked to make the switch from a defensive tackle to a defensive end, Stroud didn’t complain and even shed weight to make the transition. Even though Stroud is taking the right steps forward in trying to fit in, the question is whether he can actually be an effective defensive end.

The pros going for Stroud is that his game is all about power and pushing offensive lineman off the ball. Those are two things that you need from your defensive ends to make a 3 down line work. You also want your defensive ends to control the run gaps, and since Stroud has made his money off being able to stop the run, he shouldn’t have that big of a problem in continuing that trend.

However, two things going against Stroud is that he’s getting older and may not be quick enough to make the transition to a defensive end. I would think that you would want your defensive ends to be able to get off the ball with quickness (Think Bruce Smith), and I just don’t see Stroud having that first step to get around the guard or tackle on pass situations. Plus, Stroud is coming off a not so-Stroud like year. He just didn’t seem to have the burst from his previous seasons, not to mention, the Bills front seven was a disaster against the run, and you can only look at your high priced players as a reason for the criticism.

Overall, I think this is going to be a very pivotal year for Marcus. He’s 32-years old and is only a year removed from signing a 2-year, 16.5 million dollar contract extension. Of course, that contract was signed under a different regime and Stroud was playing in a 4-3 scheme. If Stroud struggles at defensive end this year and then you factor in his contract numbers, I think there’s a possibility that he’s not going to make it to year four with the club.

Kyle Williams- Nose tackle (Starter)

Last Year: 4 sacks and 66 tackles

Look, I like Kyle Williams. He was one of the few bright spots for the Bills front seven last year. He’s a blue-collar type of player that plays hard on every down and is actually one of the few draft picks that made sense for Marv Levy. The Bills were smart in giving Williams a 3-year contract extension in 2008, which averaged less than $5-million per year.

With all that being said, I still think the Bills should have traded Williams in the offseason. Like I wrote earlier, most experts felt that Williams was too small to play a legit nose tackle. I just felt that if the Bills were going to overhaul their defensive scheme, they should have done the same with their personnel. Enough of this “Fit a square peg in a round hole” rhetoric that the franchise has used in recent years (Exhibit A: The position swaps of the offensive line from last year).

Well, the Bills didn’t see it my way and decided that keeping Williams was the way to go. The biggest problem for Williams is that even at 300 plus pounds, his game isn’t built around his power, which is something you want out of your nose tackle. KW’s technique is mostly geared around speed and for him to handle the constant double teams, he’s going to need more power than speed. Williams succeeding is key for the Bills to make the transition to a 3-4 work.

Dwan Edwards- Defensiv
e end (Starter)

Last year: 1 sack and 47 tackles
Edwards was the big free agent pick-up for the Bills last offseason and is coming from a loaded defense in Baltimore, where he was counted on to be nothing more than a role player. Now, with the money the Bills have given Edwards, he needs to be more than just another guy.

Edwards is considered to be a high-motored player, who plays well against the run. Again, the Bills seem to have a surplus of lineman that can play well against the run, which is good of course. However, he’s not the type of player that is going to get 10 sacks a year and bring constant pressure on the quarterback. Of the three starters on the defensive line, Edwards seems to be the player that is going to be rotated the most of the lineman.

Spencer Johnson- Defensive end (Back-up)

Last year: 2 sacks and 43 tackles
With the change to a 3-4 defense, Spencer Johnson now moves from defensive tackle to defensive end. Johnson is entering his third year with the Bills and has mostly played on passing downs. Look for that trend to stay the same. Johnson is a high-motored guy, who never seems to give up on a play. Of course, his problem is that he’s a bit undersized and speed isn’t exactly his forte.

Senior year: 9 sacks and 36 tackles
Look, this isn’t meant to be a knock against Carrington, but anyone who is expecting a rookie from the 3rd round to pay big dividends for the Bills this season, must be reading too many Mel Kiper books. Seriously, there are only a handful of rookies that make a legit impact during their first year and defensive lineman from the 3rd round are hardly on that list.

As for Carrington himself, a lot of draft experts felt that he was the steal of the Bills draft. He definitely seems like the heir apparent to someone like Stroud, who is on the wrong side of 30. Carrington’s biggest strength is his pass rushing ability, which is something the Bills desperately lack. Look for him to be another situational player that gets playing time on passing downs. The biggest question mark involving Carrington is that he played at a small college and the competition obviously wasn’t up to par because of that.

Torrell Troup- Nose tackle (Back-up)

Senior year: 2 sacks and 32 tackles
Troup will probably get more playing time than Carrington because of his draft status and because he’s more of a fit at nose tackle than Kyle Williams. The 2nd round pick out of Central Florida has impressive size and strength. Actually, Troup weighs almost the same amount as Williams, except he’s more even proportion with his weight distribution (I have no clue what that means)

Troup can hold his ground against multiple blockers and is a very physical player, who has an excellent bull rush. From that description, he’s the type of player you want to play at nose tackle. The one thing going against Troup is that he’s coming from another small school and putting on weight has been an issue for him in years past. Troup isn’t going to wow you with his play making abilities, but he is a space eater that the Bills desperately need.

Frankly, I don’t even know why this guy is still on the team. Honestly, you could probably make the case that McCargo is the biggest first round bust in the last 25 years for the Bills. Yes, even bigger than Mike Williams and JP Losman. Think about it, since 1985, the Bills have drafted 25 players in the first round and 23 of them have started an NFL game for the team. Guess which two players haven’t? It’s Aaron Maybin (Who is only going into his second season) and John McCargo. Yes, McCargo still hasn’t started an NFL game. This is the same guy that couldn’t even start in front of Larry Triplett for god sakes.

Anyways, I think it would behove the Bills to just bench this guy and let the other young players (Carrington and Troup) get as much playing time as possible. Plus, he’s a free agent at the end of the year and I doubt the Bills would resign him.

1) The Bills have a nice mix of youth and experience.

2) The starters all play well against the run.

3) They can definitely pull off a nice 6-7 man rotation; keeping their lineman fresh and giving the defense different looks.

1) Marcus Stroud has the most sacks by anyone on the defensive line for a season (6.5 sacks in 2002). Not a good number.

2) Besides Carrington, none of the players are known to be pass rushers.

3) All three starters are playing in a 3-4 defense for the first time in their careers.

4) The defensive line lacks an impact player.

I think the Bills line would work so much better if they had that one guy that offenses had to game plan around. I’m talking someone like Joey Porter in his prime. They have a nice group of role guys, but they just don’t seem like the type of players that are going to put the fear of god into offensive coordinators. They just need another all-pro to make this front seven work. I’ll say this though, I do feel that the defensive line are much more talented than the linebacking core.

Another thing that I am worried about is that the defense is switching over to 3-4 scheme. That transformation takes time. I remember when Gregg Williams came to Buffalo and he decided to overhaul the Bills 3-4 for the “46” defense and it took the Bills two seasons to reap in the benefits of it. BTW, the defense that Williams had from 2001-2002 was just so deplorable against the run and the pass. The defense that Williams had inherited was ranked 4th in the NFL in 2000 and it bottomed out to 29th in points allowed the following year.

I think the defensive line will be much better at stopping the run than in years past, mainly, because it is the 3-4’s speciality. However, I think the line will struggle at getting constant pressure on the quarterbacks. I’m talking, we would be lucky to have a defensive lineman get more than seven sacks this year.

Bottom line: I’m not looking for the defense to set records, but I’d like to see progress from the younger players. I’d like to see Carrington and Troup show signs that they can play at an NFL level; considering that they are the future of the Bills defensive line. Of course, they are rookies and that may be too much to ask for.