Name Buffalo's Three Most Important New Starters

Spot on as always Brian, if these three new additions produce and stay health we instantly have improved are defense as well as are team as a whole around instantly which should result in and improvement in the win column

1. Shawne Merriman – you can’t play a 3-4 defense if you dont have pass rushing linebackers. When hes Lights Out, hes the best in the business not named DeMarcus Ware. More than anyone else on the defense, a Shawne Merriman playing like Lights Out instantly makes our defense better.

2. Marcell Dareus – The best player in the April draft for a team that wanted defensive help against the run playing for the worst run defense I personally can remember watching. He is beyond crucial to this team.

3. Kraig Urbik – If Urbik’s power and strength can shine through and make him an asset in the running game this team will have three young interior lineman who can be a cornerstone of this team for a decade. The offensive line on this team is one of the worst in the league. If Urbik can man up it makes the situation look a whole lot better.

I think long term we have to consider Sheppard, Searcy and Williams a little more but for 2011 those three are far and away the most important and prob in that order too.

We assume the 4 new defenders are going to Merriman, Wilson, Dareus and Barnett.

But like you alotted to last week was that you think Davis will be released that makes a new 5th starter. That also is a very very important position when it comes to:
1.) Stopping the run
2.) Helping Nick Barnett do his job.

That being said I would only argue this point in favour of George WIlson being very important. There were 2 things this defense SUCKED at last year,
1.) Stopping the run
2.) Covering TE’s up the seam – This is where George Wilson comes in in my books. If he can perform at a level higher then Donte Whitner, This alone improves this defense. We have all seen first hand what a good SS can do for a defense (Eric Berry, Troy Palamalu, Ed Reed) if we get above average SS play our defense will improve!

Merriman
-create the pass rush sense of urgency for qb
Barnett
-better coverage than poz hard nosed football player
-if you watch him practice, he practices hard… Last night cracked spiller in a hole
Dareus
-fills holes penetrates with number 95 leaves Merriman room

I EXPECT Merriman and Barnett to improve our defense. I expect at mimimum better than last season. So that would lead me to think that our most important new starters would be Dareus, Pears and Chandler. Dareus needs to hold on for the whole season and learn and progress each week, tough to ask for from any rookie. Pears and Chandler, neither has the following of Merriman or Barnett, there is a level of what to expect here. Those two will be key’s to pass protection and run blocking into the second level.

Our Right Tackle and Tight End positions a year ago were unknown. We rotated guys in and out all season for various reasons. These two guys whether you like them or not represent the stability this offense needs. That in itself proves very important to me. The fact that there is little to know depth at RT makes that spot even more important. Our offense should be improved this year but it should be expected to be largely improved if these two guys can step forward and close the door on those two spots. This is a good topic to argue. Barnett, and Merriman are huge additions and we have been focused on when they will get injured more than what they bring as healthy players.

How is Dareus doing in camp? Haven’t heard too much about him.

I think the most interesting thing about this article is that we found out Brian has friends – huh – who knew? ;)

1 merman
2 Barnett
3 pears/irbil tie
5 dareus

Troup and carrington and johnson are going to play a ton, and the first two could be way better this year.
Spelling apologies, new technologies….

Gobills

So Barnett is an injury risk. So was Pozslusny. They’ve missed roughly the same amount of games in their careers, haven’t they? And Poz has not been in the league as long. Barnett is an upgrade apples to apples.

I think OLine has got to be better, but I feel like Fitz may/should be able to overcome inconsistent play with his knowledge of the system. That is, Fitz should be able to find hot reads, know where his outlets are, and above all, know where the pressure is coming from on D. Fitz’s communication with Wood or Hang will be crucial in that regard as well. Therefore, I think Fitz’s experience in the system alleviates the ‘pressing’ need for improved RT play (although would it have killed us to bring Gaither into camp?).
Regarding Barnett, I’m hoping that better DLine play from Dareus in the run game and better pass rush from Merriman/Batten/whomever can lead to less pressure on the pass D. I think that the importance of the level of play at his position at ILB, like the RT, will be determined by the level of play of those around him.

Is Dareus really 340 Lbs? Is that really the ideal weight?

it’s tough to not include Urbik, Pears, or even Bell (who I still feel needs to prove he is our LT of the future). However Dareus is a lock because since his name has been called at the draft he has been expected to come in and fix this 32nd ranked run D.

Merriman will be very important because it seems like the team is putting all their eggs in 1 basket hoping he creates the pass rush we so desperately need. Hopefully he stays healthy and has a great year.

I agree with you putting Barnett 3rd over the aforementioned offensive lineman because he has some pretty big shoes to fill. Yes Poz was the starting ILB and captain of the league’s worst run D but he also was the team’s leading tackler and that’s not any easy void to fill. If Barnett stays healthy then I think we will be fine and won’t even miss Poz, but if Barnett goes down for any length of time that leaves us with 2 rookies, a very aged Andra Davis, and an experimental tryout of Moats (who I hope moves back to OLB before the start of the season). That’s a very depleted staff then and filled with lots of question marks. Same as Merriman, I hope he stays healthy and rebounds this year as well.

J2 wrote about this as well, but I see an area of total weakness completely turned around if even two of the three new Nix-era lineman make an impact (Dareus, Troup, Carrington).

If that happens, the entire defense will be a lot better off and reap benefits, including Merriman and Barnett.

He’ll help stop the run, he’ll help Meatball, He’ll help the LBers.

On the OL I’ll say this much. I’m more confident in Pears at RT than I am with Bell at LT, and I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment…

Aside from Meatball this guys are the ones that have me excited about the D. If all 4 play well we will be a pretty formidable D. It is a god list. Spot on.

All of them to stay healthy and step up their game!

Win-win!!!

Good stuff! Excited to see the new guys in action, and im really hoping merriman comes back strong.

after sleeping on it-

1) Fitz if your going by starters from last years opener. Most important position on the field.

2) #56 as at full capacity he can be superstar level.

3) Wilson- ss is run support & we need help stopping the run.

• #99 is a rookie w/Carrington as a back up. #50 has Moats behind him(?) who I want on the field amap. The right side of the oline may be interchangeable.