Ronald Darby - how will he do?

[SouthernMan]

If the preseason games are any indication, Darby has a long learning curve. Speed is only one element of being able to cover in the NFL. From the little I've seen, he has no ball awareness and is susceptible to PI penalties and will get burned by taller, more savvy WRs.

 

His propensity for penalties could lose the Bills a couple of close games. Need 40 yards to get into field goal range? No problem. Send your receiver out on a fly pattern and let Darby grab your jersey/arm or let him face guard your guy at the 20 yard line.

 

All we can do is hope he's learned from his preseason mistakes and can be coached up to use his natural ability to be a serviceable corner. If the Bills are relying on him "getting help" on every play, that could spell trouble for the run defense.

 

We'll find out soon enough. Prediction: Darby gets taken to the woodshed by opposing receivers and is replaced after a few costly mistakes.

[KDIGGZ]

Throw the ball up vs Darby. He doesn't know how to play the ball. It will either be a completion or penalty. He's this year's Justin Rogers. Luck and Brady will have some fun with this the next couple of weeks

[Nanker]

He reminds me of McLovin' during his first years on The Bills.

[Coach Tuesday]

 

What else is he going to say?

 

Um, same thing he said about Carpenter? The dude needs to step up and show that he can be trusted?

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

Rookies are always targeted until they prove their worth. It is always sink or swim.

[White Linen]

If the preseason games are any indication, Darby has a long learning curve. Speed is only one element of being able to cover in the NFL. From the little I've seen, he has no ball awareness and is susceptible to PI penalties and will get burned by taller, more savvy WRs.

 

His propensity for penalties could lose the Bills a couple of close games. Need 40 yards to get into field goal range? No problem. Send your receiver out on a fly pattern and let Darby grab your jersey/arm or let him face guard your guy at the 20 yard line.

 

All we can do is hope he's learned from his preseason mistakes and can be coached up to use his natural ability to be a serviceable corner. If the Bills are relying on him "getting help" on every play, that could spell trouble for the run defense.

 

We'll find out soon enough. Prediction: Darby gets taken to the woodshed by opposing receivers and is replaced after a few costly mistakes.

Has to be the silliest post I've read in a while. Not so much because of how stupid the comments are but that you tried so hard to make it seem smart.

[DrDawkinstein]

How many times does this need to be discussed and have pointed out that Rex literally said he "threw him to the wolves" on purpose with no Safety help. What we've seen in preseason is not going to be how they play it in real games. Even the slightest Safety help will improve his game big time.

 

In.

[hondo in seattle]

How many times does this need to be discussed and have pointed out that Rex literally said he "threw him to the wolves" on purpose with no Safety help. What we've seen in preseason is not going to be how they play it in real games. Even the slightest Safety help will improve his game big time.

 

In.

 

While it's true Rex 'threw Darby to the wolves,' as we've been reminded a few times now, it's still worrisome how poorly Darby played during preseason. Yep, he's a rookie. Yep, he's going to get better. But the Indy game is just a few days away.

 

The question is what Rex will do about it. The obvious answer is that there will be a safety over the top. But what else?

 

Rex and Dennis Thurman have good defensive minds. They're going to try to avoid giving Darby more than he's capable of doing.

[YattaOkasan]

 

While it's true Rex 'threw Darby to the wolves,' as we've been reminded a few times now, it's still worrisome how poorly Darby played during preseason. Yep, he's a rookie. Yep, he's going to get better. But the Indy game is just a few days away.

 

The question is what Rex will do about it. The obvious answer is that there will be a safety over the top. But what else?

 

Rex and Dennis Thurman have good defensive minds. They're going to try to avoid giving Darby more than he's capable of doing.

In response to what else might they do:

 

Blitz him some when there is only one receiver on his side.

With safety over the top help I would guess he is told to be aggressive on the short routes. This could actually be huge because he is so quick.

 

They could blitz from his side to force Luck to roll away from pressure.

 

They could do some crazy zone blitzes where he sinks to the middle and a LB covers the flat with safety over the top.

Basically they will move him a lot.

 

He's a concern but I think Rex has been fine with less.

[DirtDart]

This will be a valuable learning year for Mr. Darby. CB is one of those positions that takes time to blossom. The general consensus is that he will need safety help over the top. With that being said, I hope Gilmore is ready for the so called island.

Has to be the silliest post I've read in a while. Not so much because of how stupid the comments are but that you tried so hard to make it seem smart.

Wow, how dare he have an opinion.

Edited September 8, 2015 by DirtDart

[White Linen]

This will be a valuable learning year for Mr. Darby. CB is one of those positions that takes time to blossom. The general consensus is that he will need safety help over the top. With that being said, I hope Gilmore is ready for the so called island.

 

Wow, how dare he have an opinion.

Oh give me a break. When posts are made to draw attention to someones uneducated pessimism issues they should be called out. Who is he to predict such a specific failure of a player when we have one of the great defensive coaches in the last decade?

[FireChan]

Oh give me a break. When posts are made to draw attention to someones uneducated pessimism issues they should be called out. Who is he to predict such a specific failure of a player when we have one of the great defensive coaches in the last decade?

That great defensive coach did wonders with Dee Milliner.

[DirtDart]

Oh give me a break. When posts are made to draw attention to someones uneducated pessimism issues they should be called out. Who is he to predict such a specific failure of a player when we have one of the great defensive coaches in the last decade?

Nice reply, TT. Your last sentence made some sense.

[KingRex]

Unfortunately, the most real answer to this question is who knows. How he does is most likely going to depend on other factors which are actually outside of whether Darby is a good enough player. More specifically:

 

1. The Bills pass rush- Based on past performance this is gonna be Darby's best friend. Particularly challenging is gonna be life w/o Manuel for this first game. Like virtually all CBs and in particular rookies, Darby clearly can be worked on and worked over. however, if our pass rush performs like last year's model with the poorest statistical performance from the DL being Hughes' 2nd year in a row of 10 sacks then Luck will not have the time to breakdown Darby. I think Darby will be helped a lot by this being a home game and intelligent crowd noise is likely to make it harder for Luck to get off smoothly or make changes in the snap count to best pick-on Darby.

 

2. The ref's calls- Darby had a couple of probs - taller receivers like Panther's Benjamin and making sure he tracks the ball. I think actually both are fixable in that Darby needs to do more press coverage which disrupts a WRs ability to out leap him for jump balls. He also needs to calm down a bit as he showed with his 2 INT game against the Browns that intip drill situations or when he feels in control rather than having to look around a lot he has good ball sense.

 

However, I think the style of the refs calls will do a lot to set the tone. If he gets afraid of pass interference calls he is gonna likely look around a lot and this may be trouble. if the refs let 'em play I feel better about Darby.

 

3. Indy run game- If the Bills LBs and safeties have to focus more on reinforcing the DL, then Darby will be more on an island as he struggled with in pre-season. However, if our front four holds it own alone or only the LBs are needed freeing up the safeties to dt Indy and allow Darby to press, I think he will be fine.

 

4. The main thing I think Darby will need to show is a pro athletes short memory if he gets burned. If he second guesses himself he will get picked on. We'll se.

[SouthernMan]

Has to be the silliest post I've read in a while. Not so much because of how stupid the comments are but that you tried so hard to make it seem smart.

 

Oh give me a break. When posts are made to draw attention to someones uneducated pessimism issues they should be called out. Who is he to predict such a specific failure

 

 

Why would anyone challenge an opinion of mine after the OP specifically requested a response with one? Duh. So sorry it didn't mesh perfectly with your opinion.

"Uneducated Pessimism". WTF does that mean. And the brilliant..... "who is he to make a prediction". Ummm...that's pretty much everyone does both here and in the sports media.

Apologies. Is there a certification program for posting at TBD that I should attend? Side note regarding my predictions - they're usually spot on. I try to look at the Bills objectively rather than through the rose-colored glasses you prefer.

 

My "on paper trophy" avatar is leftover from 2012. It was my response to the giddiness by many Bills fans preceding the 2012 season. The optimism was as lofty as it is right now for the upcoming season. I was branded as being a negative Ned and a pessimist. Actually, I was stating my opinion based on reality rather than unbridled optimism through the tunnel vision of a biased Bills fan. Everyone at TBD expected a playoff run for the 2012 Bills. I thought they were more of a 7-9 team. They finished at 6-10.

 

My prediction for the 2015 Bills, 8-8. For the record Triple Threat - what's your prediction? I'll bet my predicition is closer to the final W/L record than yours.

[Kelly the Dog]

My main concern, and it's a big one, is that Darby is actually pretty good if not very good for a rookie on staying right with his man. And he likes to use his hands. This, combined with the lack of ball awareness so far, is going to make him VERY susceptible to PI calls for several reasons. Good WRs can make it look like he is more physical than he is, plus officials tends to overcall PI penalties on rookies as a kind of rite of passage. Luck, especially, is very accurate. I suspect the Colts will go for opportune passes downfield almost targeting PI calls as much as completions.

[thebandit27]

My main concern, and it's a big one, is that Darby is actually pretty good if not very good for a rookie on staying right with his man. And he likes to use his hands. This, combined with the lack of ball awareness so far, is going to make him VERY susceptible to PI calls for several reasons. Good WRs can make it look like he is more physical than he is, plus officials tends to overcall PI penalties on rookies as a kind of rite of passage. Luck, especially, is very accurate. I suspect the Colts will go for opportune passes downfield almost targeting PI calls as much as completions.

 

Indeed...the ability (or lack thereof) to cover his man is not Darby's issue thus far. His total lack of ball awareness is quite alarming though.

[White Linen]

 

Why would anyone challenge an opinion of mine after the OP specifically requested a response with one? Duh. So sorry it didn't mesh perfectly with your opinion.

"Uneducated Pessimism". WTF does that mean. And the brilliant..... "who is he to make a prediction". Ummm...that's pretty much everyone does both here and in the sports media.

Apologies. Is there a certification program for posting at TBD that I should attend? Side note regarding my predictions - they're usually spot on. I try to look at the Bills objectively rather than through the rose-colored glasses you prefer.

 

My "on paper trophy" avatar is leftover from 2012. It was my response to the giddiness by many Bills fans preceding the 2012 season. The optimism was as lofty as it is right now for the upcoming season. I was branded as being a negative Ned and a pessimist. Actually, I was stating my opinion based on reality rather than unbridled optimism through the tunnel vision of a biased Bills fan. Everyone at TBD expected a playoff run for the 2012 Bills. I thought they were more of a 7-9 team. They finished at 6-10.

 

My prediction for the 2015 Bills, 8-8. For the record Triple Threat - what's your prediction? I'll bet my predicition is closer to the final W/L record than yours.

 

Look man I'm not trying to be too ugly but your opinion of how Darby's first year is to the extreme of negativity.

 

What about that he'll be playing behind one of the consensus top 3 defensive lines in all of football and an excellent corner on the other side? Do you not think our front 7 and the fact he'll be playing against every teams second best WR should help? Do you not think that Rex Ryan who's defenses have ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 6th since being a head coach might be able to help a young corner not get "taken to the woodshed"?

 

"What little I've seen" - enough said

".. he has NO ball awareness" - none, really?

".. will get burned by taller, more savvy WR's" - he's 5'11" with longer arms than Gilmore - not exactly short for a corner.

"All we can do is hope ... he becomes a serviceable corner" - Well I guess we'll see if all the factors involved lend to a bit more than hoping.

[BADOLBILZ]

My main concern, and it's a big one, is that Darby is actually pretty good if not very good for a rookie on staying right with his man. And he likes to use his hands. This, combined with the lack of ball awareness so far, is going to make him VERY susceptible to PI calls for several reasons. Good WRs can make it look like he is more physical than he is, plus officials tends to overcall PI penalties on rookies as a kind of rite of passage. Luck, especially, is very accurate. I suspect the Colts will go for opportune passes downfield almost targeting PI calls as much as completions.

 

 

I expect to see Gilmore, Graham and Robey as the starting corners. I know they haven't shown it and have supported Darby thru his struggles but I don't think Rex will want to give up his safeties to babysit Darby and because he is so handsy I don't know if safety help will protect him from PI's anyway.

[Buffaloed in Pa]

Like a rookie.