Positional Changes: More Questions Than Answers

by nickdaniels on Sep 1, 2011 2:24 PM EDT

This off-season for our Buffalo Bills has been somewhat unexpected in a few areas. One I would like to dive into is some positional changes to our line backing corps. Coach Gailey made a statement after moving Arthur Moats to inside linebacker that he didn’t have the proto-typical size of an outside linebacker. We have seen some people comment arguing the fact that Moats is a similar size to Elvis Dumervil and James Harrison. I guess the thing that confuses me is that according to CBS Sports, Danny Batten is also 6-2. Do you remember how tall Cornelius Bennett was? Give you a hint...yes, 6-2 according to pro-football-reference.com. Now in our last pre season game Alex Carrington got the start at OLB. How many OLB's play at 305lbs? If you know please tell me because I can not find any. Don't get me wrong, this writing is not to dismiss the talents of Danny Batten, Alex Carrington or even the 6-1 Antonio Colemen as valuable members of our beloved Buffalo Bills, but to discuss the options at linebacker for the team this year and beyond. I have never bought into the "prototypical" football player. Obviously Chan Gailey doesn’t either as he now has a 6-4 305 OLB. I do believe that the general consensus from fellow Rumbler’s is that Moats didn’t play particularly well last year in preseason at ILB, but showed a lot of potential on the outside. I started to buy into the belief that Moats’ pass rush ability could be an asset from the inside. I am starting to change my mind back to my original thought that his talents are better suited for the outside. I know I’m not alone by saying that I was looking forward to seeing Moats growth from last year to this as a rush outside linebacker. I felt that a full camp and pre season at OLB help Moats grow and reach so much of that potential that a lot of us saw in his game.

The other side of this is Alex Carrington. He was another young defender that a lot of us seemed eager to see how his game progressed from his rookie season to this one. Carrington showed a great deal of potential as a solid defensive end who could eventually grow into a starter opposite Marcell Dareus. Carrington showed up to camp ready to compete and to play by adding 20 pounds of muscle. Next thing you know he is moved from defensive end to outside linebacker.

Now I know that you cannot judge careers on such a small sampling of pre season games or from a few regular season games from rookie campaigns; but it seems our team could be hindering the growth of such promising young players. Tonight’s game will help sort something out I suppose, and final roster cuts could sort some others out as well. In the mean time, here are some questions to ponder:

Was Moats moved to ILB only to make way for Carrington’s move?

Are we hurting Carrington’s development as a promising young defensive end? (I for one tend to think that we are hurting the development of both players with this series of position changes.)

Is the coaching staff too focused on stopping the run that other aspects of the defense are being sacrificed?

Last one, is all of this movement only to add diversity in sub packages and to keep opposing offenses guessing? In other words, will the final depth chart have Moats listed as an OLB, and Carrington as a DE?

Poll

In your opinion, do these positional moves help or hurt the long term growth of these players.

Helps Moats only

3 votes

Helps Carrington only

24 votes

Helps both players

42 votes

Hurts both players

31 votes

100 votes | Poll has closed

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.

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Comments

Just to clear something up here for you: Arthur Moats and Danny Batten are not the same height. At all. I know SBNation lists Moats at 6’2, but this is about the only site that says that. He is listed at 5’11" or 6’ everywhere else. Danny Batten is listed between 6’2" and 6’4" everywhere. I’ve seen him more at 6’4".

Although Moats looked a bit lost at ILB early last year, we didn’t get an opportunity to see him play OLB early last year. He might have looked just as lost. He showed a few flashes of being a football player towards the end of the year. He seems like a good guy and I hope the best for him, but we, as fans, don’t get to see the guy everyday at practice. I’m not going to second guess Gailey and Nix on this one.

To make this team, [Shawn Nelson] would need to: 1. Catch 3 TDs tonight 2. Intercept Matt Stafford twice 3. Shield the coaching staff from frogs falling from the sky

by crooked5 on Sep 1, 2011 2:49 PM EDT reply actions

agreed

there is no point second guessing the coaches just because moats sacked favre…

by statcruncher on Sep 1, 2011 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions

to answer your questions

you would be hurting carrington’s development by sitting him on bench… our dline is too deep and even with carrington’s talent it would be hard for him to play and develop…

by putting him at OLB you are not hurting him as he is not even going to drop back 5% of time… he is going to be used for pass rush and run defense matching up against TEs… which is good for us…

coaching staff is no way only focused on stopping run defense… our pass rush genuinely looks improved even without merriman

by statcruncher on Sep 1, 2011 3:06 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs

and if the QB audibles and he has to cover the TE on a pass play? Not saying he can’t, its kind of an unknown at this point. Just don’t like it from a match up stand point.

"Sit down and watch my Buffalo Bills destroy your Kingdome" - Abayarde

by nickdaniels on Sep 1, 2011 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Carrington is still a DE

He just wouldn’t be starting so there trying him on the outside, its exactly what preseason is for. He won’t be an olb every down, more likely in running situations. I like the move.

by ATF on Sep 1, 2011 4:03 PM EDT reply actions

Nice Post

I’m with you, I find it all a little confusing. I think the Moats move was due to a lack of depth on the inside, I say play your players where they have the best chance to be successful and I thought Moats showed enough last year as a rookie to continue to groom him there. Also agree that moving Carrington to OLB contradicts the affinity for prototypical size. Some say that is what preseason is for, to experiment with things, but I don’t think the Bills are in a position to get cute, play your guys in the preseason where you think they will play in the regular season, unless of course you are treating the regular season as an experiment too.

by garcia76 on Sep 1, 2011 4:33 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

it dooesn't matter..

Whether you list Moats at ILB or OLB, Carrington at DE or OLB. How they play is what matters. A hybrid defense throws all sorts of things at an offense. Let’s just enjoy seeing how things develop! Go Bills!!

by dukedoc76 on Sep 1, 2011 6:19 PM EDT reply actions

Diversity

It’s my opinion that being diverse, both as a defense and as a player, can never be bad for either. With the drafting of Marcel and the signing of Merriman, both Moats and Carrington become depth players, not counted on for significant playing time this year. Therefore, why not try them in different situations that if prove successful (which Carrington to me does)’ helps your team?

Again, as a player I would think I bring more value to a franchise if I can play multiple positions. With Carringtons development at OLB, we can now play a stout 46 defense in key situations (where he will not have to drop in coverage, dont worry).

It’s all a positive in my book.

by DJ O on Sep 1, 2011 8:53 PM EDT reply actions

DEs sometimes drop into coverage, LBs sometimes pass rush. Playing different positions can help you learn how to work with your teammates by increasing knowledge of each position.

I do not know how all the positional changes work out in the end. I do know that I like the movement.

Year two is upon us.

by Buffalo for Eternity on Sep 1, 2011 9:44 PM EDT reply actions