05-31-2018, 11:00 AM
(05-31-2018, 08:24 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: This nails it. Brown will not be the nickel LB, which is our real base formation, and is set nearly 2/3rds of the time. Brown will still have to cover some in base, and while he is not the fastest he is very instinctual. I think the Bills just didn't want to offer him a long term deal for the position he plays without the coverage ability of some of the faster LBs in the league.
That being said, he is a tremendous upgrade over the aforementioned Minter and Maualuga. He will also be very helpful in short yardage defense.
The guy that I would love to see step up is Evans. He has all the athletic ability and I think he has flashed some of his ability when he gets in to the flow of a game. Vigil is as good as those around him. He can't be "the guy" but can be a solid piece around better talent.
It is, still, in my estimation, our biggest question mark.
I'm guessing with Austin, if he follows his philosophy that he used in Detroit, then we won't be in nearly as much nickel coverage that we were in under Guenther. He used more of a 4-3 base set and mixed in varied looks. I actually really really really like Austin as a coach and I think he is finally going to be the guy that uses players in todays NFL as they should be used.
I think we will end up seeing a lot more 3 "safety" looks where Shawn Williams or Illoka are in their specifically to take away the tight ends that have killed us for 20 years now constantly. This will allow Bates to roam like he was drafted for and it lets us put more speed on the field instead of some of these slower linebackers we love to play so much.
This could all be a big giant wish of mine as well and we could just be the normal Bengals, hell I don't know. But after doing a little more digging in on Austin when we hired him, I really liked what we did with a team that had far less talent than he did in Detroit.
