Jump to content

Ronald Darby - how will he do?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 302
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

3 Main catches that people are focusing on in regards to Darby. One involved Funchess on a go route with a stutter step. Ball was placed on the outside shoulder, Funchess is 6"4. Ginn on a deep pass almost identical play to the Funchess play but the position of the ball placement was almost impossible to defend against. Absolutely the perfect ball placement on the outside shoulder down the sideline. Lastly, Kelvin Benjamin TD reception. 6"5, slight push off by Benjamin. Realistically Darby probably will struggle in that match up most his career based on size.

 

Good news, Darby had reasonable positioning on each pass. The ball placement was just that good. Right now he is struggling to find the ball, I would be much more concerned if he was struggling to find his man, but he had solid positioning all night. I'm almost certain Rex did not care and likely even encouraged match up issues with larger WR's. Carolina has more than most, but in the regular season we will see Darby on the small WR's and Gilmore on the bigger targets. At least until LM comes back.

 

Darby got a real wake up call today and that's a great thing to have happen the first game of the preseason, especially under the conditions I mentioned. Namely he was in position all night. He just got a great taste of how elite the talent is at this level. We liked him this year as a nickle corner and it's easy to see how great he would be in that role from day 1. Very fluid in his movement, great acceleration, and top end speed. That said we will have to start him until LM comes back, but the results will not be as bad as the results ended up tonight. He will learn a ton from this experience and he has a lot of time until week 1. Even at that point, he will have a lot of growth over the course of the season. The situation isn't the best given we play in a system with island corners, but I don't expect the first two weeks to be as dire as it felt like they would today.

Darby is going through growing pains. He's finding out these NFL receivers are a lot better than the college ones. He's learning he will have to adjust his play if he's going to make it in the NFL. In the next few weeks we'll see if Darby learns from his mistakes and if he can change his style of play to compete with the elite receivers in the NFL. Time will tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/08/29/bills-cb-ronald-darby-i-played-bad-ill-come-back-stronger-next-week/

 

This was beyond a baptism by fire. One major potential hole in this Buffalo Bills defense was exposed in a 43-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pick your play. Darby was toasted on a 63-yard completion to Martavis Bryant. He was flagged for two pass interference penalties one that cost 35 yards and one in the end zone. He was even beat for 16 yards by a player named Shakim Phillips.

Edited by YoloinOhio
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rex hung him out to dry though. I think he, Thurman and Henderson are just trying to get him ready and will have safety help when it counts.

Agreed. He is a Rookie, and it shows - but he also shows moments of true promise - I like the kid, just needs to continue to develop. And if / when Leo comes back, he will be a nice addition to the backfield in his current form.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rex hung him out to dry though. I think he, Thurman and Henderson are just trying to get him ready and will have safety help when it counts.

 

This is kinda sorta the time you want to do that. Best way to get the kid some experience in the system. Plus it sounds like he handles it well; which is very important

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...