“Oliver largely continued his nondescript preseason against the Lions. The rookie looks much better defending the run than rushing the passer at this point, as whenever guards are able to get their hands on him, he’s been stopped in his tracks. Although Oliver is able to walk back guards into the quarterback, he desperately needs to develop some pass-rushing counter moves sooner, rather than later. His effort continues to be laudable, as he was often rushing to help make tackles ten yards down the field, in certain instances.”
Not really, if he’s schemed correctly, and most importantly he develops his moves and hand fighting. A fully developed Ed Oliver has the potential to turn most OL inside out. Now, He won’t succeed if he continues as a straight ahead bull rusher. But if he can be 75% of the hand fighter Aaron Donald is he’ll be good. Maybe not a HOF player but quite a success.
Before he was even drafted, one of the biggest complaints was that he needed to work on his hands. They said he was not polished with his hands and mostly just bulled people over. Now we see that he can bull people over up to a certain extent but then has problems with his hands. That is easier to teach than the other things. They will teach him some moves and he’ll be fine.
In his last game he impressed me with his power as he drove his blocker straight back into the pocket. But that was exactly what his opponent wanted. The plays were over before he reached the QB or RB.
I did not realize that he needed to develop his arm and hand tactics. A great offensive line coach can neutralize a defensive lineman. The Wisconsin vs Miami game showed an offensive line that totally
dominated the game. It will be okay because Ed will learn the nuances.
Agree, he has the ability and all the things that you can’t teach. He just needs to learn the things that Coach No D should’ve taught him at the lower level.
I agree that it directly falls on Blum as the position but Coach No D oversees every position coach and should be able to assess who is doing an inadequate job.
Just like how it was Applewhite’s responsibility to see that Coach No D was inadequate at his job, which he failed to do until it was too late. So technically you’re absolutely correct, but the people higher up in the chain should’ve been able to fix the problem.
Agree, Ed’s last year was wasted. He now has to catch up, learn and make it to the next level. I have no doubts that he will. This is when great Coaching come into play and develop an outstanding player.
well, the pundits are starting to weigh in on which rookies have done well this preseason…here is PFF’s list of the top 25 rookies for this preseason…ed oliver? Not on the list…
“Oliver had earned a starting job before the preseason began, which meant that he didn’t see that much time on the field. Having said that, it was a little disappointing to not see more production or impact from the rookie. He ended the preseason with zero tackles or sacks. On the other hand, he did show off his patented quickness off the snap, which was especially evident against the run. This lack of preseason production isn’t necessarily a red flag, just something to monitor moving forward.”
The defense returns nearly intact from 2018 when it comes to the starters. Levi Wallace seems to have won the corner position outside of Tre’Davious White. Matt Milano and Taron Johnson seem to be past the shadow of injury. The lone change follows the retirement of Buffalo Bills legend Kyle Williams.
As it happens, the 2019 NFL Draft fell in a way to make that change just a bit easier when defensive tackle Ed Oliver was selected by Buffalo with their first pick. A solid camp and preseason has fans hopeful but the role he takes over is one with lofty expectations. Williams himself has been helping coach the defensive line in his spare time. Despite all these positive signs, it’s a situation where some finger crossing would be welcome."
I know I shouldn’t respond to trolls, but that was based 100% on stats in preseason. A couple of the Cowboys players on there didn’t make the team. The other couple wont play much at all unless there are injuries. That is basically a “who played best against 3rd and 4th stringers list”. Ed didn’t play late in preseason because he is actually expected to contribute this year.
