GunnerBill

Gordon was my idea for us there and I said so at the time. I think he is a classic zone corner and while yea, picking him in round 1 would probably have also been a reach, at least he can play in our scheme and be an above average starter. The Bears scheme is very similar and he has been a good starting corner for them, though not a stud as you say.

For the season, sure. But that is largely driven by some very high grades in mop up duty in some of the early games - Jacksonville in particular. He graded out VERY poorly this week - 54.5 after grading out okay in Detroit. Which exactly reflects the eye test to me. He played okay vs the Lions but was really bad against the Pats. Interestingly the part of his game grading out most strongly per PFF is his tackling - which was regarded his weakness coming into the league. It's his coverage where the struggles have come. Not it doesn't. In the three games he has started - Miami home, Detroit, New England the data says he has been targeted 18 times in coverage, has given up 14 completions (77% when I went to school) for 183 yards at over 13 yards a pop, a touchdown and a passer rating of 119.6. If that is the data saying he is good I'd hate to see what it looked like if it was saying he is bad.

Yep. I do. I suppose it depends how you value the contibution of 4 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. And sure, he has had some pressures too - and in some games he has looked decent. But there have been a lot more where he has been quiet as hell.

They were attacking intermediate zones. All blitzing against a vet QB like Stafford does is open up those zones. They should have gone to way more 3 man rush, push the safeties up 5 yards and flood the intermediate area of the field. If he wants to throw over the top of you fine - Kupp and Nacua aren't burners. But they will eat if you leave the middle of your defense exposed.

The final TD wasn't an incredible play. The first catch from Nacua, yes, I'll give you they did get heat on Stafford and he made a great throw and Nacua made a great catch. But the final one was a routine blitz beater and the 2nd down plays were the same. See the pressure, throw to the hole. The 3rd blitz on 3rd down isn't irrelvant - it was a 3rd down given up on a blitz but can understand why the penalty makes it drop out statistically. I honestly challenge anyone to watch that 2nd half back and say "blitzing more was the answer." To me it was the absolute worst thing they could have done.

So I think you can throw out 2017. That was Rex's players running their scheme. From 2018 to 2022 - i.e. the Frazier years, they were consistently excellent. When in a five year spell your best year is first and your one year outside the top 10 you are 13th that is consistently excellent. Last year it dipped. That's fair, but was still fine, middle of the pack. This year it has been horrid. And % wise it is a big slide. from 2020 being the "worst" of 39.8 to be almost 5 percentage points worse..... this is the first year 3rd down defense has legitimately been a "problem" for the Bills under this regime. And it has been all year. We were tracking above 40% even before the past three weeks.

They targeted Williams too. Elam and Williams were the two they burned for big yardage.

His sacks vs the Dolphins and Jags were excellent plays. I just don't know where they have been since.

Check Pro Football Reference. And NFL.com has the same numbers. 191 faced, 76 converted. 39.8% Your source is wrong.

I count three 3rd down blitzes (all of which were converted btw - 2 on catches (both Nacua - first 3rd down of the half and the final TD) and 1 on defensive hold by the DB left 1v1 with Nacua (Douglas). And four 2nd down blitzes. Just watched all the Rams plays from that 2nd half back and STILL think we blitzed way too much and exactly one worked. We had greater success when we dropped 3 and played coverage. They were not 19th in 2020. I've posted the full breakdown above (and now below) @Scott7975

Yea I know overall this year we are blitzing infrequently. I'd like to look at the Rams game again though those numbers look low to me. I thought we should have rushed 3 more against the Rams. That was the right plan IMO. I think he is just saying they are both catches that need to be made. And he is right.

Yea its his acceleration that is elite. He is fast in long speed but not special fast.

I'd play my guys this week whatever happens. I'd rest my guys week 18 unless the #1 seed is in play.

It really hasn't. 2017 - 17th - 38.3% 3rd downs given up 2018 - 8th - 36.5% 2019 - 7th - 35.8% 2020 - 13th - 39.8% 2021 - 1st - 30.8% 2022 - 7th - 37.5% 2023 - 19th - 38.6% 2024 - 30th - 44.4% If you want to say it was on a downward trend last year, fine. That's fair. But the Bills in the Frazier era were consistently excellent on 3rd down. And because they gave up the odd 3rd and long people's perceptions are warped. This year 3rd down defense has been a significant issue. And if they don't find a way to fix it then it's gonna hurt them in the post season.

Yep he has really excellent vision and you are right he goes through the hole so fast. If you don't have the perfect angle you are not going to be able to stop him because he accelerates too quickly to be stopped by an arm tackle.

I mean they really don't. Against the Rams 2nd half they blitzed almost every 2nd and 3rd down. To my mind they have blitzed too much the last 3 weeks and it has been part of the struggle on defense. Just as it was middle of last year when McDermott went blitz happy and lost to Mac Jones and Russell Wilson while sending the house. Put that nonsense away, get back to our fundamentals and play proper defense. I get it that with backups in the secondary they trust that less but it is the only way to get things corrected IMO.

All the people who were down on him have a stylistic preference for a bigger, bruiser, type of back. A 3rd and 1 back. But the Bills aren't gonna be a big 3rd and 1 running back run team while Josh Allen is almost automatic in that spot. Given our passing attack is more methodical than explosive I think the value having a big play threat at running back gives this team over a volume / grinder back like a Josh Jacobs for example is significant.

I think this is absolutely it. He can still get out of his stance fast, but what made him special was at the top of the bend he could explode again towards the Quarterback. He'd get to the top of his bend and then hit 5th gear in his dip inside. That is what is not there anymore. Which is why he can still get pressure when he is on his game but can't finish like he used to.

Was exactly my view then and now. If Cook wants to hold out and someone offers me a 2nd or a pick in the top half dozen of this year's 3rd round then I'd take it. If he isn't holding out it would take a pick in the first half of round 2 or better to trade my cheap final year of him.

Cook is a different level of player to Singletary. He was the easiest non-extension in history. A backup level player we pretended was a starter for 3 seasons who left and was suddenly a backup again. Cook is a harder call, because he is a dynamic playmaker and the most consistent one we have aside from Josh Allen. But he is still a running back. I'd let him walk, take the comp pick and draft a day 3 back. But not another Singletary, Moss, Davis short, low centre of gravity, falls forward type. Another speedy slasher. Cook-lite if you like. That is what this offense calls for.

We agreed on 6 sacks as the metric. He needs 2 in the final 2 games to even get to that pretty low bar. You won't be getting many victory laps. EDIT: and I am completely objective on it. See the thread @Savage started questioning his game Sunday. I defended Von. He played well v New England. I'd say one of his 3 best games of the year with Miami road and Indy. I am just a truth teller on this topic rather than someone clinging to a narrative.

You see it correctly. He is still struggling with coverage. He seems late to his spot too often. Down in the box playing the run he has been solid the past 2 games.

The people who hate on Cook do so because they still prefer bigger, more physical backs who can do the 3 yards and a cloud of dust stuff. Cook is not that kind of player but he is a top 10 back. His vision and short area acceleration are elite. EDIT: to be clear: I'm still not paying a running back while I have Josh Allen.

This year it IS reality though. 3rd down is an issue. It is previous years where the perception and reality don't match up.

That is perception. The statistical reality is the Bills have been a consistently good 3rd down team under this staff. This year they are like 6 percentage points worse than their worst year previously under McD.