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Cody Ford entire game vs Alabama video -- quite impressive

Logic

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Logic All Pro

Logic

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I am officially in the "watch every highlight of Bills draft picks I can get my hands on" part of the offseason.

I wondered about Cody Ford's pass blocking, which I have read is elite. He played in the Big 12, and lots of fans will tell you that that means he wasn't tested often against great pass rushers. Well, here's a an entire game of his against the best defense in college football. He's playing against a few guys that will likely be NFL players rather than grocery baggers. How does he do?

Well...as to this game...the Sooners get down early in this one and have to pass almost exclusively. As such, there aren't a lot of run blocking reps to watch. But the pass blocking? Wow. Ford makes it look effortless. I counted maybe 3 or 4 instances of Ford getting beat by his man in this entire video. The rest of the time? He pretty much just makes it look easy. He takes great angles, manipulates defenders easily, uses his hands well, rarely gets beat around the edge, doesn't often get bull-rushed, and what I've read seems true: If he gets his hands squarely on you, school's out.

This was a treat to watch, and really made me feel good about what should be vastly improved protection in front of Allen. The Bills haven't had a truly good right tackle in what seems like forever. Ford looks like he may finally be that guy.

Edited by Logic
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Da webster guy Veteran

Da webster guy

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There isn't a single guy that gets drafted in the 2nd round where somebody doesn't say "a lot of people had this guy as a 1st rounder,"  but like the OP said, there are a few guys that will likely be NFL players that he's facing, and from all the post-draft breakdown of this guy, he really DOES seem like a top talent.  Eric Wood is really high on him too.   Seems like an awesome dude from what we've seen so far.

 

We have a lot of brute strength upfront on both sides of the ball right now.   I still think pound for pound Dawkins has elite strength in run blocking, he can move linemen pretty well, and if he gets his hands on a LB they go back 10 yards.

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Mat68 Veteran

Mat68

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28 minutes ago, Da webster guy said:

There isn't a single guy that gets drafted in the 2nd round where somebody doesn't say "a lot of people had this guy as a 1st rounder,"  but like the OP said, there are a few guys that will likely be NFL players that he's facing, and from all the post-draft breakdown of this guy, he really DOES seem like a top talent.  Eric Wood is really high on him too.   Seems like an awesome dude from what we've seen so far.

 

We have a lot of brute strength upfront on both sides of the ball right now.   I still think pound for pound Dawkins has elite strength in run blocking, he can move linemen pretty well, and if he gets his hands on a LB they go back 10 yards.

I saw him rated as the Top Tackle prospect by some. It is not a stretch if Buffalo had him as a top 20 to 30 player on their board.  Tackle was a need, Fords value at 38 was too much to miss out so they traded up.  Makes sense.  I believe you go get the guys you want day 2 and use some ammo from day 3 to do it.  Ford added with the numerous signings really improves the worst position group on the team.  Ideally, you have Dawkins and Ford at Tackle, Morse at center than a free for all at both guard positions.  That will probably be the most interesting position battles.  Who is the starting 5 opening.  

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Logic All Pro

Logic

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28 minutes ago, Capco said:

Who was the last above average RT the Bills had?  Brad Butler?


I was just thinking about this. Brad Butler was arguably just SLIGHTLY above average. 

But when was the last time the Bills had a no-doubt-about-it, upper echelon RT? It's been quite a while.

I'm honestly drawing a blank. Anyone? Anyone?

It just seems like one of those positions that the Bills have been trying (and failing) to fill for at least a decade now. 

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Doc Brown Hall of Famer

Doc Brown

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The pancake on the flea flicker at 4:54 is great.  I hope Murray enjoyed the offensive line who was arguably the best in college football last year.  Something tells me he may have to step up his game with the Cardinals.

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Bill from NYC Hall of Famer

Bill from NYC

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4 hours ago, Capco said:

Who was the last above average RT the Bills had?  Brad Butler?

Jonas Jennings and Jason Taylor.

3 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

Langston Walker played RT pretty well.

 

Walker took about a week to get out of his stance. He was awful.

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elroy16 RFA

elroy16

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11 hours ago, Superhero said:

He looked fine. Looked like a finesse type of blocker who moves his feet to slide very well.. I Would like to see more power to his game. 

 

I mean sure, it'd be great to have a mauler that pancakes guys every play, but a guy like that would probably be a top 5 pick.

 

This article was shared, but I think it got buried in the original thread from after he was drafted.

 

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/4/17/18309044/nfl-draft-2019-cody-ford-buffalo-bills-oklahoma-scouting-report-offensive-tackle-ranking

 

 

 

Quote

What took me a while to come around on Ford was the fact I still have somewhat of that old-school mentality when it comes to right tackles, and I had to check myself on it. He is a big guy at 6’4 and almost 330 pounds, but Ford was not a physically dominating presence when it came to run blocking, and initially that was somewhat of a disappointment.

 

Which is not to say Ford was a bad run blocker.

 

The truth is, assignment-wise at least, he looked at least solid, if not spectacular. However, he just didn’t have the same initial “pop” on contact that jumps off the screen as, say, a guy like Jawaan Taylor.

 

Ford also didn’t drive a lot of guys off the ball, either. Mind you, he rarely lost ground after he engaged with a defender, but there just weren’t a lot “explosive” run blocks on his tape.

 

But you know what, after reflecting on it, I don’t really care all that much about whether or not Ford was pancaking fools left and right. Yeah, that would’ve been nice, but I can live with him being just an “OK” run blocker, because when it came time to throw the ball he was putting clamps on these dudes.

...

While it’s true that he didn’t rack up a bunch of pancakes, Ford was routinely what I would call a “just enough” guy. He would get just enough push on the defender to give the ball carrier a lane to work with. Those kinds of blocks aren’t as exciting to watch, but as long as they’re effective, that’s all that truly matters.

 

I also want to point out that while Ford wasn’t freight-training guys on the second level like Taylor, once he got on somebody at linebacker depth, he usually stayed on them for the duration.

 

As a matter of fact, some of his best blocks were out in space where his athleticism was able to shine through yet again.

 

 

You sound a lot like the author before he watched a bunch of film on Ford. Sure, he's not a huge mauler that's running guys over, but he does enough in the run game and is a very good pass blocker. Honestly, that sounds so much better than the nonsense that's been put at RT recently. 

 

 

I don't need the O-line to be this insane dominant force (although that would be amazing), they just need to do their job. My favorite part about watching Ford is once he's engaged, you almost never saw guys shed his block and make a play. Sure it happened here and there, but for the most part, he's a steady RT that does his job very well, albeit maybe unspectacular. 

 

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Logic All Pro

Logic

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4 hours ago, GG said:

My take-way from this game's highlights? How did Murray become the top pick in the draft?  


Yeah. I may be in the minority who think that it is NOT a slam dunk that Murray has a good NFL career. It would really be something if Rosen wound up being the better pro QB.

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VW82 Veteran

VW82

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This was what I was trying to say about building our offense around the passing game. Maybe Ford doesn’t quite have the athleticism you’d look for in a tackle but he gets the job done. He was 4th best out of all the draft eligible tackles in fewest pressures allowed per snap. The guy is going to be good.

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