Freddie's Dead

We've gone from "I don't see any splash plays" to "I want him to physically dominate and wreck a game". OK. I think you've set an impossibly high bar for 49 to meet, but that's your right. I used to buy into that logic, thinking that Edmunds was terrible, picking out the plays where he does look terrible and magnifying them to the point where I excluded all else. The tape review has belied some of that. Edmunds makes as many good plays as he does bad ones. To me, a third down stop is a game-changing play, because it creates a turnover in the form of a punt. You don't see it that way, and that's fine. We're clearly just gonna disagree on this.

How would you characterize it then? London Fletcher spent 7 more years with the 'skins, at the top of the league in tackles every year. But sure, they were downfield. Don't forget that he singlehandedly derailed the Bills 2011 season when he hit Fitz so hard he cracked his ribs. One of the stupidest moves the Bills ever made. It started a merry-go-round of wasted draft picks to find the next MLB. Now that we've got a good one, the same arguments are being ginned up to run 49 out of town. I don't want a ticket for that ride again.

One man's severely overpaid is another man's bargain.

It's only you and me and we just disagree.... I saw four plays that 49 made one-on-one. He stopped Gibson in the hole for a 2 yard gain, he tackled Logan Thomas and #13 short of a first down, and he rejected Muffler's pass, that Muffler then caught, and 49 cleaned up with a 1 yard TFL. How many one-on-one plays should he make a game? Do you have a %age of snaps that would be acceptable?

They yearn for the days of John "It's not delivery, it's" DiGiorgio.... This just reminds me so much of the bull#### that got London Fletcher shipped out. I freely admit, I was an Edmunds hater, but watching the tape makes it clear what he does well and what he doesn't. He's a decent MLB, but he's not a run-stuffing thumper. Maybe we should ask which NFL MLB you'd swap him for?

Be careful what you wish for. We ran London Fletcher outta town in much the same manner. How'd that work out for us? DiGiorgio, Posluszny, Kelvin Sheppard, DirtyKiko, Preston Brown (another guy we ran outta town like we want to run 49 outta town) followed. You want to start the MLB merry-go-round all over again?

I decline to use ED, since that is also a medical condition.

What'd he do, break a window?

Thanks Dawg. I reread the report, and I see I used TE at the bottom for tight end. Sorry, really tried to avoid that. How about TED? Sucks for me, it's an extra character (I take all the KB shortcuts I can).

I've seen the "no man's land" comment twice now. He's not dropping into no man's land. Against WTF, he drew constant coverage against Logan Thomas. Thomas had 4 receptions for 42 yards, one of which was completed against TE (9 yards, TE made the tackle to force 4th down). TE does his job in coverage. He is not hurting the Bills at all there. As far as "instinct", that's hard to quantify. TE is often not at the point of attack on running plays. One thing I noticed but did not mention is how many times TE did not line up over center. More often, he was on the left side of the D. Believe it or don't, Cookie lined up over center more than TE did. I will keep better track of that in the next Edmunds Report.

I didn't see it and they never bothered replaying it, even through the massive delay. Did you get it elsewhere?

The QBing of the D is almost totally discounted by the haterz. Edmunds is one of the few defenders taking every snap. That says a lot about the faith they have in him. I'm coming around to that point of view.

Allen - duh Emmanuel "Colonel" Sanders - growing on me. He and Josh have good chemistry. Need him to stop false starting for unconditional love. Cole Beasley - just play Cole, just play Matt "Cookie" Milano - earning every penny of that $11M/yr, and like Josh Allen, another steal for the Bills front office Taron Johnson/Jordan Poyer/"Dr. Jekyll and" Micah Hyde - terrorized receivers and ball carriers all day (save the screen pass), 2 picks, TFLs, plays all over the field SO much better🤪

I had to go back to correct it because a few WFT's had slipped in.... You've made an astute observation. There are lots of things to see when iso'ing on TE, but it's like you say. He absorbs blockers, then others routinely make the play. I also wonder if it's coaching, because while he sheds blocks from time to time, he most often just absorbs them. It's weird.

Short Circuit reference....

I didn't see that. I saw TE stay in the zone and pursue Muffler after he crossed the LOS. We just gonna disagree about that play.

B- because he was much more of a Dow Joneser against WTF than he was against PIT. You want to call that a C, fine. BIMBO!!

No need to insult TE.

From the EZ angle, TE was about 10 yards to the left of Muffler when Muffler took off. TE runs laterally at full speed and is about a yard away when Muffler hit the pylon. He wasn't the reason Muffler scored on that play. Not the best. He had the big PD and then TFL when Muffler caught the deflection, but other than that, I don't remember seeing TE make an impact play while rushing/blitzing. To be fair, there were only about 5 or 6 plays total in the PIT and WTF games when TE rushed the passer. I will keep track of that in the next review, so thanks for the suggestion!

The grading system is totally subjective, since I have no clue what TE's assignment is on any given play. When Muffler made the illegal forward pass, I gave TE a +1, because his coverage led to the pump fake which took Muffler past the LOS. I gave him a 0 on the triple penalty play because I couldn't see the hold, it was declined, and the coverage led to the INT. If you want to give him a -1, fine, but I thought the 0 was fair since there was both + and - on the play. Yes, Edmunds is not flashy, but I'm coming around to the fact that his play allows Cookie to roam free. On plays where TE is occupying a blocker, someone else is making the play. He did have three big plays today, two third down stops and the PD and TFL. The last competent MLB we had before Edmunds was London Fletcher, and we ran him out of town on a rail due to many of the same criticisms I hear about Edmunds. He went on to play 7 more years for the Redskins, among the league leaders in tackles every year, while we went through Posluszny, #LegendofDirtyKiko, etc. I don't want to go back to those days. I see TE re-signing for $7-8M/year. I expect TBD to go ballistic.

Since Edmunds is still getting so much hate, I'm going to do this weekly. The PIT game convinced me that much of the Edmunds hate is undeserved, but I want to see if I'm missing anything. I'll use the same point system -1, 0, +1, and keep a running total. I'll ignore plays where he's not involved and only look at coverage if he's onscreen (I don't have the All-22). I'll also flag plays for the haterz so they can skip the rest. Let's go to the tape. WTF 1st possession 1st and 10, WTF 21. Run off RT, TE overruns the hole, blocked out (HATERZ PLAY), 9 yard gain (-1,-1) 3rd and 2, WTF 29. McKissic comes out, throws a pick on TE, draws the OPI after first down by McLaurin (+1,0) 3rd and 12, WTF 19. TE covers Logan Thomas in flat, makes tackle 1 yard short of first down (+1,+1) WTF 2nd possession 3rd and 8, WTF 37. TE blitzes, but peels off to cover RB in the flat, Muffler goes to Logan Thomas, fumble (+1,+2) WTF 3rd possession 1st and 10, WTF 25. TE blitzes, doesn't get there, 10 yard reception (0,+2) 1st and 10, WTF 35. Run, TE blocked at point of attack, 4 yard gain (0,+2) 2nd and 6, WTF 39. TE drops into coverage on the right, Muffler throws left, Poyer INT (0,+2) WTF 4th possession 1st and 10, WTF 25. TE calls a line shift, Gibson up the gut, stuffed by TE in the hole for 2 yards (+1,+3) 2nd and 8, WTF 27. TE drops into coverage, screen to Gibson, TE blocked 11 yards downfield by 79 (HATERZ PLAY), turns to chase Gibson, runs into a pile of people (-1,+2) You know the rest, complete Bills D collapse, 73 yard TD WTF 5th possession 1st and 10, BUF 24. WR end around, TE blocked backward at point of attack, 7 yard gain (-1,+1) 2nd and 3, BUF 17. Gibson sweep, TE pursues down line, Poyer 1 yard TFL (0,+1) 3rd and 4, BUF 18. TE drops into short zone, covers 13, then slides to 17, Logan Thomas settles in seam behind TE, 15 yard completion (0,+1) 2nd and goal, BUF 3. TE drops into coverage, Muffler takes off and beats everyone to the pylon (0,+1) WTF 6th possession 1st and 10, WTF 25. TE drops into coverage, Muffler chased OB, 1 yard gain (0,+1) 2nd and 9, WTF 26. TE drops into coverage, Gibson sweep TFL by Cookie (0,+1) 3rd and 10, WTF 25. TE drops into coverage, Muffler complete to 13, TE WITH THE STUFF, laying the lumber on 13, 3 yards short of 1st down (+1,+2) WTF 7th possession 1st and 10, WTF 25. TE drops, McKissic run, TE blocked 5 yards downfield (HATERZ PLAY), 10 yards, 1st down (-1,+1) 1st and 10, WTF 35. TE drops into coverage on Logan Thomas, Muffler throws it, Thomas tips it, Taron Johnson INT. Did not see the holding call on TE, which was declined, looked like he had good coverage otherwise (0,+1) 1st and 10, WTF 41. TE covers McKissic in the flat, Muffler throws to McKissic, 4 yard gain (0,+1) 1st half observations: 1. Up and down half for TE. 2. I flagged three HATERZ PLAYs that the haterz will use to talk down TE. 3. Neither Rapelisberger nor Muffler threw much TE's way in coverage. Those who keep saying that TE is terrible in coverage need to show us some tape, 'cause I'm not seeing it. WTF 8th Possession 1st and 10, WTF 40. TE on a delayed blitz, Muffler with 1st down completion to McLaurin (0,+1) 1st and 10, BUF 45. McKissic run, TE sets edge, McK cuts inside, 5 yard run (0,+1) 2nd and 5, BUF 40. Jet sweep, TE chases down the line, cleans up the 5 yard TFL with Hyde (+1,+2) 3rd and 10, BUF 45. TE in coverage on Logan Thomas, Muffler throws incomplete to WR left (+1,+3) WTF 9th possession 1st and 15, WTF 5. Gibson run, TE sheds a block, dives for the tackle but Gibson fakes him out his jockstrap (HATERZ PLAY, but can't lie, TE looked stupid on this one), 7 yard gain (-1,+2) 2nd and 8, WTF 12. TE drops, Muffler goes past LOS and throws, illegal forward pass, loss of down (+1,+3) 3rd and 13, WTF 7. TE drops, Muffler throws his way, and Hyde makes the pick. It looks like TE baited him into the INT, something I saw another poster complain about, that TE never "baits" the QB. Sure looks like he did there (+1,+4) WTF 10th possession 1st and 10, WTF 25. TE washed out a bit, 3 yard run gain (0,+4) WTF 11th possession 1st and 10, WTF 1. TE piles into line, 1 yard run (0,+4) 2nd and 9, WTF 2. TE drops, Muffler does not throw his way yet again, dropped pass (0,+4) 3rd and 9, WTF 2. TE drops, Muffler hits McKissic on safety valve, jukes TE for first down (HATERZ PLAY, but agree, TE needs to make that tackle short of the sticks) (-1,+3) 1st and 10, WTF 14. TE drops, Muffler pulls it down and scrambles for 7 (0,+3) 2nd and 3, WTF 21. Muffler with the play action, throws and TREMAINE EDMUNDS, WITH THE REJECTION! (in my best Marv Albert) Great play by TE, Muffler caught the rejection, and TE cleaned up with a 1 yard TFL (+1,+4) 3rd and 5, WTF 20. TE drops, Muffler pulls it down after finding no one open, and dives short of 1st down (0,+4) 4th and 1, WTF 24. TE plugs up the middle, and Cookie cleans Muffler's clock (+1,+5) WTF 12th possession 1st and 10, WTF 25. Gibson off-tackle, TE sheds blocks and makes the tackle, 7 yard gain (HATERZ PLAY) (0,+5) 2nd and 3, WTF 32. Gibson up the gut, TE sheds a block, completely whiffs on the tackle (HATERZ PLAY, but again, TE looked stupid on this one) 1st down run (-1,+4) 2nd and 13, WTF 35. TE covers Logan again, makes tackle after completion to other receiver (0,+4) 1st and 10, BUF 44. TE drops, Muffler throws to McLaurin, TE misses the tackle (-1,+3) Conclusions 1. Edmunds is a good MLB, not great. The Bills will re-sign him if the price is right. 2. His coverage skills are excellent. They rarely throw his way, and when they do, he usually makes the tackle for minimal gain. 3. The haterz had more fodder with today's game, because there were two plays I saw where TE looked completely stupid. I didn't see that against PIT. 4. I thought TE had a better game against the Squeelers than he did against the WTF's. My grades for TE so far: Squeelers - B+ WTF's - B- For the haterz, I get it, I was with you. You see one or two plays that look bad, and you extrapolate to TE's entire body of work. The best example is coverage skills. I see the complaints, but outside a TE seam route against PIT, TE is solid in coverage. If you have examples that prove that wrong, please post. For now, I'm looking forward to seeing TE get better.

He played 9 games, caught 33 for 458 (13.9 avg, on a team with 2 1000 yd receivers and Gabe Davis), 3 TD's and 22 first downs. There are not 192 (32 * 6) receivers in the NFL that are better than John Brown. I'm stunned he hasn't been picked up by the Jets or Jags, who could use a reliable receiver for their rookie QB's.

Believe it or don't, John Brown was not picked up after requesting his release from the Raiders (Gruden actually had him behind Zay ***** Jones). He's still a free agent, just waiting for some lucky team to grab him. The Jest should be all over him, but they're too stupid. Then I see that the Chefs are giving this POS Gordon yet another chance. Makes me wonder if John Brown is getting blackballed, or maybe asking for too much money. Why would anyone in their right mind sign Gordon before SmokeY? I just can't get my head wrapped around the absurdity.

You pick up this POS and SmokeY Brown is still a free agent? GTF outta here, Chefs.