There’s two sides to every argument. Sometimes both can be right.
That’s the case with Von Miller and the new role he’s set to take on with the Buffalo Bills.
Miller is a future Hall of Fame sack artist. That’s as good of a point one can make in terms of getting playing time.
Miller said at the start of training camp he wants to feature in Buffalo as much as possible.
“Yeah, I like to be on the field. I like to be on the field–You can’t make plays if you’re not on the field,” Miller said via video conference.
But the team has a bit of a different idea.
After signing him to such a massive contract, Miller will have an important job.
However, the Bills have consistently run a heavy rotation along their defensive front since head coach Sean McDermott’s tenure began in 2017.
That was not because of a lack of talent, the idea is keeping players on the D-line fresh. When it pertains to a 33-year-old Miller, that’s a pretty smart idea.
So how is this going to work?
“That’s a really good question,” defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said from training camp.
It sure is and negotiations are underway.
“We had some discussion with Von about that, I think he understands our philosophy and we’ll come to a happy medium of what’s best,” Frazier added.
A positive sign: Miller has good reviews from those talks.
“I’m going to try and be on the field as much as possible, but of course I’m going to listen to my coaches and the GM. They got a plan,” Miller said.
More importantly, the proof is in the pudding.
Miller would not have signed in Buffalo without knowing the snap count situation. Because of that, there’s no reason to fret that there will be any sort of disagreement.
Considering his resume, Miller won’t exactly be a plug-and-play replacement for former longtime Bill Jerry Hughes. More will be expected out of Miller than that.
However, Hughes was a starter in Buffalo, including the entire time McDermott has been in town. In all but one season under McDermott, Hughes played between 64 and 66 percent of snaps each year on the Bills defense.
Miller will see a dip compared to recent memory, but not all that much.
Last season, Miller played in 79 percent of defensive snaps in eight games with his last team, the Los Angeles Rams. The three years prior to that, Miller played in 76%, 84% and 78% of snaps with the Denver Broncos, respectively.
Truthfully, that’s not all that far off.
Perhaps Miller even gets a slight boost from Hughes–But if he doesn’t that’s still a nice chunk of snaps for Miller to do some damage.
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