Poz Overrated?? NOT A CHANCE!! This past year was his first FULL year playing every game and he was awesome!! Poz will grow a lot behind the ears and in stature and he WILL be one of the best LB’s in the league, mark my words. I do believe that he belongs on the outside, as he is not the big, bulking guy that can shed blocks and get after the tailback, but the Bills needed him inside and he answered the bell.

Poz is only going to get better with time and he played his tail off this season, lining up the whole defense and making what 120 tackles?? Leave Poz alone and start talking about our LACK OF PASS RUSH.

He better learn to make his presence felt more often.

When I think of great LB’s, I think of the guys who are constantly making plays and giving the O fits. I don’t see Poz being anywhere near that type of player, though I wouldn’t say he’s bad. He’s a solid player that seems a step slow or out of place a lot. He’s a pretty good tackler, but really what else does he do for us?

I hope he gets better because to me, any decent MLB can accrue a bunch of tackles. I want a game changer out there.

i don’t know what else to really expect from him. He isn’t a big time game-changing type player cuz he just doesn’t rush the QB that well and doesn’t blitz enough to do that. Sure more big hits, forced fumbles, INT’s would be nice, but Poz does his job. I think realistically, only playing like 2-3 games his rookie season, getting a full season this last year, playing with a new LB in Mitchell and all Poz did fine. He just needs to play and getting 16 full games in was big for him. Defense is won with the front 7 and the better we can make our DL and OLB position the better Poz and the secondary will be as a result. Lets just hope we can find those playmaking DE’s and one more DT to make that defense really thrive.

But as far as Poz underachieving? I don’t see that.

Well written Matt!

Like I’ve always said Poz just does his job…..he doesnt do it with all the flash and ferociousness of Ray Lewis….well because….there is only ONE Ray Lewis….Poz is more of the London Fletcher type….he just comes to work prepared and does what he needs to do….I have no complaints with him at all (except for maybe just MISSING that pass to Johnny Lee Higgins during the Raiders game……but it was nulled out because of a great last quarter by Edwards and the O……..anyways…..

If people are disappointed in Poz its only because of their own inflated expectations of the guy……He’s more than serviceable and I hope he’s a Bill for the next 10 years.

jumping to the NFL is a huge leap…even if you are a college superstar…only very few players have outstanding rookie seasons (which is what I considered this for Poz)…

one thing that people might not realize is his work ethic…poz will rival anybody for work ethic on and off the field…the kid is smart and strong and if he doesn’t understand he will learn

If i had to pick a defense I would choose him as the LB everytime(not necessarily MLB)…he is a great leader and he is just a class act, he is respectful and a great team player…give him time and freedom and he will show you why he was a two time Bednairk (sp) award winner

you have to remember MLB is a relatively new position for Poz he was an OLB basically his whole career and he just needs time to adjust…I personally believe he is coming along great and I can’t wait to watch this D next season

Nice work, Matt. Put this on the front page, because this is a shining example of what the FanPost section is all about.

And yeah… Poz isn’t exactly an animal with a mic in his face.

He is a great singer.

Simply because of the super high expectations we had of him coming out of college. I think he was expected to come flying out of the tunnel on Sundays with his cape on, making 3 tackles on every down of the game. Lofty expectations of the hearalded backer from the vaunted hall of Linebacker U. Bills fans heard the Shane Conlan comparisons.

Poz is good. A smitten above average at this point. He seems a bit slow and out of position a bit often (scheme?). Coverage skills are lacking IMHO. He just kinda seems….well…there.

Hopefully he can become what we need at LB, a big play maker as he develops and gets more comfortable out there…..(wow…we tend to say that about alot of our guys huh?)

I am one that hopes we go after a MLB in FA and let Poz play in his more natural position. For a first year player in a new position he did fine. But IMO to see his full potential he needs to be outside. He has a good football head and is well respected.

I know that he could have been a bigger play maker, but he finished 24th and 18th in the league in tackles-out of 32 teams each of which have at least 3 starting LBs…So that puts him among the best in making tackles, right?

Same with Lee Evans-I know he’s supposed to be a gamebreaker, and we need him to be, but if you look at his yards (19th) and yards per catch (which is hard to figure because you have a lot of 1 and 2 catch guys with 40 yard avgs) he is right up there among the best.

I think we have the starting talent here at a lot of key positions-just no depth.

Now I am getting highlighted and picked on because of my adjectives. Gotta love it.

Poz is a “Good” and “up and coming” young player in this league. He should not even be mentioned in the same sentence with Patrick Willis.

I made a statement yesterday to one of my close friends > ‘If the Bills don’t make the playoffs next year, I might have to chose another team."

I kind of feel bad about that statement but I am VERY FRUSTRATED!!

Is Orakpo worth the #11?? My sources tell me NO.

I like this idea but wonder if Mitchell can be effective dropping back and more importantly can he be the guy calling the D? I like the idea of re-signing Crowell and moving him to middle, shifting Mitchell to SLB and POZ to WLB, does this make any sense?

Tackles really don’t show everything obviously. If that were the case London Fletcher would be a Hall of Famer. The stats do show that he’s average, and so far he has been, but really you have to watch the guy on the field. He’s been great at times and seemed lost at others (see the pic posted last week on here from the Pats game where he thought he’d double cover the FB and let Cassle rush for the first down), which should get better over time.

So far he has been a solid player and I expect him to get better. He will be a leader of the defense and make the plays he is supposed to. For anyone to claim that he’s is going to be a gamechanger and dominant in the likes of the NFL’s top line backs is a little farfetched.

When we do blitz, we instruct five guys to run directly into a blocker hoping to free up one 6th pass rusher (not making this up). It’s infuriating.

Why is that infuriating? It’s called an overload blitz and lots of teams do it. Send more guys than they have to block you and you’re guarenteed to get one guy through.

I’m a stats guy too, Matt, but basing your judgment of poz on his number of tackles is nuts. That’s like basing your judgment of a batter on the number of times he didnt strike out. Yes he made tackles. But he also missed a TON of tackles. Tons. He got juked out of his shoes by Jay Cutler. Twice. He got sidestepped by Chad Pennington. In Each Game. Let’s not ignore the fact that he had zero sacks. ZERO. And it isn’t like he didnt blitz. He’s just horrible at it. He never fills the holes, he never consistently takes bad angles to the ball carrier, he constantly gets manhandled by blockers. You compare him to London Fletcher, the king of bringing down the RB after an 8 yard gain, but he’s not even close to that. Fletcher wouldnt make a play, but he was a solid tackler, and a didnt make a lot of mistakes. Poz makes a ton of mistakes. he’s out of position way way way too often. if we’re judging by tackles, Ko Simpson is our second best DB.

I’m all for a numbers argument, but I think saying that he made a reasonable number of tackles so he’s at least above average is ridiculous. I’m not asking for him to be Ray Lewis, but comparing him to London Fletcher….i was no fan of london fletcher but poz cant shine the man’s shoes.

Poz had 3 tackles for a loss this year.

sorry. that’s no good. You’re not good at playing the run if you tackled the runner in the backfield 3 times in 16 games. That’s fewer than Bryan scott (WHO IS A SAFETY) and Aaron Schobel (WHO PLAYED 5 GAMES).

I do think sometimes we’re too hard on people, but people are wearing Pozgoggles. He’s a nice guy and works hard. He was an extraordinary college player. I believe he can be a good NFL linebacker. But, right now, he is a liability.

Ive been told by Brian’s favorite website at Walter.com that he has phenomenal lower body strength and a great first step, but he is slight of frame, in that he doesn’t excel with his hands or shedding blocks. Thus, he has TROUBLE getting past the guy in front of him on a regular basis. DE I have been told is one of the weaker positions in the entire draft. AND are you going to tell me the Bills take ANOTHER Texas guy with their first pick? How has that worked out? I graduated from ASU in 3 years with a Communications and Business degree. I know a couple of insiders. Wink Wink. Sometimes I have too much fun with it. I just wish I knew a couple of Bills insiders. T