Odd, I'd guess Koa Misi is at the Will and Q is the Sam? I like Koa as the weakside OLB as to my mind he much more of a movement player than a hold the point type.
Still doesn't answer the question at OLB: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if he knew Wake and Francis were closing in fast?
I have to say, if Irish made the move for Ike, and he's a legit starter over our 2nd round rook, I'd like to know, and I can't wait to watch this dude play...Know that this guy has athleticism to the point where he didn't play football til his sophmore year in college, yet still got drafted in the 2rd round, 53rd player overall. That would be an impressive get by our new GM.
I really like Ike and Misi so I'm not sure how to feel about this other than that... Ike seems better in run support and Misi at everything else, so maybe just package related?
Well Deej, I was happy to be right about Ikaika, but tbh this entire situation raises the pucker factor. Step back and look at the Defense: Wake..new OLB Convert Ikaika new OLB convert Clemons..newbie starter Starks newbie NT Jason Allen starting Cb for first time in 2 seasons Crowder..out more than likely Bro, whatever black magic voodoo Nolan has schemed for the Bills had better work as we will see CJ Spiller running the Wildcat and that dude is explosive as a package from Acme..
were gonna find out what our athleticism and speed can do for us while we learn how to play, man up on the outside, bring the pressure, drop a few in the bloodzone, and let them run around..
I wouldn't include Starks and Allen on the list of first time starters. The fact is that Starks played inside quite a bit last year. I counted his inside snaps against Tenn and he was inside 40% of the time and IMO he was more of play maker when he was inside. And Allen has started games at CB, he just didn't do it last season. I disagree with putting Misi on the weakside. I don't think he's a good enough pass rusher to be your weakside guy.
i wouldn't call starks a newbie dt.he has played it before in tennesee and played that position here before we moved him to de.also wake played olb for us last yr,granted not as a starter but he isn't new to it this year and jason allen has played cb the past 2 years just not at the starter position.surprised you didn't mention dansby as a newb(just ribbin ya) for us as well.while not the prettiest of list it was most certainly in need of upgrade and i believe we achieved that.nice youth mixed in with vets who aren't very close to losing a step or being over the hill.
I saw one tweet say that it was Ikaika Alama-Francis and Koa Misi on the field at the same time, with a note saying something like "guess they prefer the edge setting". I think that's the purpose that some people miss when they get caught up in this stuff about Misi and Francis. What I think they're looking at is a three-man approach to the OLB positions. Wake can only play WOLB and Francis can only play SOLB but Misi has the ability to go between both. When he gets these 2nd string reps with Quentin Moses opposite him in practice, where do you think he's lining up? It's at WOLB. Sparano even said so, they want to see him more at WOLB now. What I think you're going to find is sometimes Nolan will put Misi and Wake on the field, sometimes he'll put IAF and Wake on the field, and sometimes he'll put IAF and Misi on the field. Hard to know how those splits will work out until we see it more but my guess is that where Misi and Wake would each get 1000+ snaps if they were doing it alone, the three of them will each have around 650+ snaps. Or maybe Wake and Misi will have 750+ and Francis will have like 500+.
Thank you. Dont get too caught up in who starts. We have some talented pieces. Nolan will use them, and amplify their stong suits.
Someone please pass Boomer the salt....... and a sharp steak-knife as I hear kids are tough these days.
Thanks. Yeah I mean the bottom line is all three are getting significant playing time. This would mean that while Koa won't get the 1000 snaps that I thought (which for all intents and purposes was a symbolic figure not an actual figure, I expected like 850-900 for logistical reasons, OLBs aren't CBs...they need to rotate some), he's not really going to be far from it either. Hard to say what it'll end up being until we see in the games. Personally I don't know why IAF is the guy rotating with the two, I think it should be Moses. But, if IAF isn't getting the job done, they could quickly move to Moses as that guy that rotates with Misi and Wake.
I'd like to see Q get some snaps after his hard work in the preseason. So who's going to match up better in regards to containing Spiller?
What stands out to me is all 4 are also DE's, or have played DE, that gives Nolan tremendous flexibility to run his scheme.
i thought that's where Misi would end up all along based on his size alone ... he doesn't fit the FOs SOLB mold .... so WOLB just fits him better. what really interests me is what this means for Wake ... Ike and Q are the 'bigger bodies' that fit our mold ... neither are spectacular -- and that's 'ok' for SOLB we just need more out of WOLB ... and not sure we're gonna get it outta Wake or Misi, and that's exactly why i still consider OLB a position of need on this team. regarding Starks, Raf is right ... if you look back - Starks has played more than a few snaps over the last 2 years on the inside ... which was why i didn't think it so surprising when they 'announced' he would move over in the offseason .... maybe that was more of a motivational ploy for Soliai really -- and the good news, is it seems to have worked
Not really very many snaps. On my Randy Starks video I captured literally every single snap that Randy Starks played Nose Tackle against the run, or played Nose Tackle from a 3-4 alignment. Every single one. There aren't THAT many plays on that video.
ck ... i would 'guess' that the snaps would be about the same number as McDaniel ... when Fergie was healthy and playing - there wasn't much of a need to move folks around, except on passing downs. the point was that it wasn't unfamiliar ground to either the PHINS or Starks ... i still believe this is a plan b ... much like JT was last year ... consistency and health from Soliai will push some of Starks snaps back outside .... which also 'might' be a reason we didn't feel a need to keep Douglas or Grant.
if spiller is a package from acme the bills are wile e. coyote. you know it's gonna backfire. i actually think they'll be tough...
Interestingly, OmarK has Q Moses listed as the backup Will linebacker behind Cam Wake. And Clifton Geathers is Odrick's backup. Ouch on that one.
This certainly gives them a lot of flexibility moving guys around, confusing opponents as to where & who to look for in various packages. They are all young and relatively untested, so we'll get more chances to see what each has got this way.