“Never Want to Lose your Fastball”: Cover 1 deep dive on Emmanuel Sanders

[YoloinOhio]

 

[StHustle]

Hope he doesn't fall off the cliff this season. Looked really good for 33. Let's hope 34 is more of the same.

 

What I live most is him going to 3 superbowls with 3 different teams. I can tell he is the type who will bring that experience in the locker room and positively effect the younger guys.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

4 minutes ago, StHustle said:

Hope he doesn't fall off the cliff this season. Looked really good for 33. Let's hope 34 is more of the same.

 

What I live most is him going to 3 superbowls with 3 different teams. I can tell he is the type who will bring that experience in the locker room and positively effect the younger guys.

He's an expert route runner. He'll be able to play a while longer. 

[YoloinOhio]

I just saw his wife on his Instagram 🔥🔥🔥

[HOUSE]

There are to many m's in Emmanual, I really hate that

[TroutDog]

5 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

There are to many m's in Emmanual, I really hate that

Thank the Lord it’s not Emmamuel!

[Hebert19]

Poor bastards having to cover him bease and diggs.  There are going to be many ankles laying around on the field this year. 

[die hard bills fan]

I feel better after watching this.

[Green Lightning]

52 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

The Sanders/ Brown comparison charts are eye-opening.  If he still has his wheels, he is going to make this already potent offense a beast to defend.

[MAJBobby]

32 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

There are to many m's in Emmanual, I really hate that

He is pushing it there. But better than the hyphenated name. Stay away from the hyphenated names shows lack of commitment 

Edited March 20, 2021 by MAJBobby

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

42 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

Poor bastards having to cover him bease and diggs.  There are going to be many ankles laying around on the field this year. 

Especially the Jets...😇

*
Oh, you meant opposing defenses...

*
I read the thread title, and immediately remembered this evaluation:

https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[Hapless Bills Fan]

40 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

Poor bastards having to cover him bease and diggs.  There are going to be many ankles laying around on the field this year. 

I was thinking a different body part but yeah

[transient]

45 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

There are to many m's in Emmanual, I really hate that

I’m cool with it if it means he doesn’t swap the first “m” for a “J”.

[stinky finger]

7 minutes ago, transient said:

I’m cool with it if it means he doesn’t swap the first “m” for a “J”.

 

Early front runner for post of the day.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

39 minutes ago, Green Lightning said:

The Sanders/ Brown comparison charts are eye-opening.  If he still has his wheels, he is going to make this already potent offense a beast to defend.

 

This one? 

 

 

It musta stung for Brown for the Bills to say "we love you, thanks for all you've done, we're going for an upgrade" but I can see a lot of routes in that film where I believe Brown would have been taken out of the play while Sanders brushes the DB off like a pesky fly

[Mr. WEO]

Anyone still wondering why McBeane dumped Brown for Sanders can rest easier now.

 

 

[Shaw66]

Nice, Yolo.  Thanks. 

 

Troubles me that he's so willing to take hits.  Keeping him on the field will be important.  

 

From this perspective, it's all about route runners.  Have a good scheme and guys who can execute it, and Allen will have a field day. 

 

Toward the end, there was an interesting comment.  One of the reasons Sanders is an upgrade is that Brown tended to play at one speed, and multiple changes of direction are not keep to his game.   Sanders, on the other hand, looks much more like Diggs and Beasley coming off the line.   There were a lot of plays last season where Allen needed to get the ball off quickly, and his throws usually went to Diggs or Beasley, not Brown, because those two were able to make the quick moves and create the little openings that Allen need.  Sanders will be the third guy on the field, giving Allen another option on every play.  

 

Interesting breakdown.  Thanks. 

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This one? 

 

 

It musta stung for Brown for the Bills to say "we love you, thanks for all you've done, we're going for an upgrade" but I can see a lot of routes in that film where I believe Brown would have been taken out of the play while Sanders brushes the DB off like a pesky fly

Right.

 

The zone numbers are eye-opening.   In man, Sanders can't threaten downfield like Brown could, but Sanders catches the ball in traffic better.   He's more like one of those guys who's open when he's covered.  

 

One other thought.   If the Bills are fielding three good zone busters, it forces teams to play more man-to-man.   Once they're in man-to-man, the running lanes for Allen open up, and he becomes more of a threat to leave the pocket and head upfield than he was last season.  Those 20 and 30 yarders every game or two make a big difference in the offense. 

[SectionC3]

7 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Nice, Yolo.  Thanks. 

 

Troubles me that he's so willing to take hits.  Keeping him on the field will be important.  

 

From this perspective, it's all about route runners.  Have a good scheme and guys who can execute it, and Allen will have a field day. 

 

Toward the end, there was an interesting comment.  One of the reasons Sanders is an upgrade is that Brown tended to play at one speed, and multiple changes of direction are not keep to his game.   Sanders, on the other hand, looks much more like Diggs and Beasley coming off the line.   There were a lot of plays last season where Allen needed to get the ball off quickly, and his throws usually went to Diggs or Beasley, not Brown, because those two were able to make the quick moves and create the little openings that Allen need.  Sanders will be the third guy on the field, giving Allen another option on every play.  

 

Interesting breakdown.  Thanks. 

Right.

 

The zone numbers are eye-opening.   In man, Sanders can't threaten downfield like Brown could, but Sanders catches the ball in traffic better.   He's more like one of those guys who's open when he's covered.  

 

One other thought.   If the Bills are fielding three good zone busters, it forces teams to play more man-to-man.   Once they're in man-to-man, the running lanes for Allen open up, and he becomes more of a threat to leave the pocket and head upfield than he was last season.  Those 20 and 30 yarders every game or two make a big difference in the offense. 

Don’t forget we destroyed man last year too with deep crosses.  Having 4 good receivers is a good thing.  

[YoloinOhio]

Just now, SectionC3 said:

Don’t forget we destroyed man last year too with deep crosses.  Having 4 good receivers is a good thing.  

The Bills WR4 is much more important than most teams’ WR4. So I don’t see this signing as any  kind of shade on how they view Gabriel Davis as I’ve seen suggested. I think it’s to ensure 4 Wide can continue to be successful, John brown was eroding at the end of the season 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

The zone numbers are eye-opening.   In man, Sanders can't threaten downfield like Brown could, but Sanders catches the ball in traffic better.   He's more like one of those guys who's open when he's covered. 

 

He's definitely "open when covered", but I think he's more of a downfield threat than you think.  He was pulling in 13.9 ypc with San Francisco, and 76% of that was YBC.  That took an immediate jump from 12.2 when he moved from DEN to SF, and a fall to 11.9 last year. 

 

The fact that he had The Ghost of Drew Brees throwing to him last year may be more of a factor than his age was.  I guess we'll see.  But the fact that Diggs can threaten to break downfield is very helpful to his ability to shed DBs like water, so I hope Sanders still has this.

[Perk71]

This is gonna be a year to remember for the Bills. 🤙

 

Go Bills!!

Edited March 20, 2021 by Perk71
Spelling

[TroutDog]

55 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This one? 

 

 

It musta stung for Brown for the Bills to say "we love you, thanks for all you've done, we're going for an upgrade" but I can see a lot of routes in that film where I believe Brown would have been taken out of the play while Sanders brushes the DB off like a pesky fly

Is it a reasonable comparison given Smoke’s health issues this year? I’m wondering if looking at other years would yield significantly different metrics. 
 

Just wondering. 

[Green Lightning]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This one? 

 

 

It musta stung for Brown for the Bills to say "we love you, thanks for all you've done, we're going for an upgrade" but I can see a lot of routes in that film where I believe Brown would have been taken out of the play while Sanders brushes the DB off like a pesky fly

Yep. That's the one. Jeebus, I had to look at that for a while to take it all in. For not a big guy Sanders is rugged, much like Diggs and Beasley.  You can't sit in cover 2 and rough up our wide outs anymore.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

18 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

Is it a reasonable comparison given Smoke’s health issues this year? I’m wondering if looking at other years would yield significantly different metrics. 
Just wondering. 

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think the Bills faced that much zone coverage last year or early in the season this past season. 

 

I think the word on Josh Allen last year was "man up and bring the house" because he struggled to effectively throw deep and he wouldn't make those anticipation throws to Beasley or Brown.  Beas said in preseason that Josh was making throws he wouldn't try last year.

 

The transition about game 4 was that teams realized "That was then, This is Now" and if they tried it, Josh would carve them up like the T-day turkey - and he did it to the Rams and the Raiders.

 

 

[Green Lightning]

16 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

Is it a reasonable comparison given Smoke’s health issues this year? I’m wondering if looking at other years would yield significantly different metrics. 
 

Just wondering. 

Why take the chance? Sanders stop and go and wiggle creates instant separation.  Smoke was more of a full speed all the time guy. He's going to be an upgrade.

[WhoTom]

Thanks for posting, Yolo. One thing the video briefly mentioned, and I think will be significant, is his ability to improvise and communicate his adjustments to the QB. Josh, who's fond of improvising,  developed a quick rapport with Diggs, in spite of limited minicamps and no preseason. If he and Sanders can get on the same page as quickly, I pity opposing DCs trying to develop a scheme against this offense.

 

This is one more reason I'm glad Daboll is back for another year.

[Logic]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

 

The zone numbers are eye-opening.   In man, Sanders can't threaten downfield like Brown could, but Sanders catches the ball in traffic better.   He's more like one of those guys who's open when he's covered.  

 

One other thought.   If the Bills are fielding three good zone busters, it forces teams to play more man-to-man.   Once they're in man-to-man, the running lanes for Allen open up, and he becomes more of a threat to leave the pocket and head upfield than he was last season.  Those 20 and 30 yarders every game or two make a big difference in the offense. 

Exactly right.

 

The book on stopping Allen used to be one page long: play press-man coverage and blitz the hell out of him.

 

Last year, Josh pretty quickly showed that he would dice that approach up easily. Crossers, comebacks, drags, scrambling. Diggs, Beasley being uncoverable 1-on-1. You wanna play man? Go right ahead. Good luck!

 

Then everyone started putting two safeties deep and playing zone, and it took the Bills offense a while to adjust. They still did fairly well, as evidenced by their year-end point production and record. But you could tell it was more of a slog for them. They had to work much harder.

 

Now they’ve added a third zone-beater, as you said. Further, Daboll’s Ehrhardt Perkins offense incorporates many option routes (which Beasley and Sanders also ran in June Jones’ SMU offense in college), which become nearly unstoppable so long as your WRs are making the right decisions. Sanders is apparently quite the smarty.

 

All of this adds up to one simple conclusion: defenses are going to run out of ways to stop Josh Allen and the Bills offense. The theme for 2021 will be “pick your poison”. I have a feeling that no matter which poison defenses choose, they’re going to get stung no matter what.

[Rubes]

I think this will turn out to be one of the real underrated signings this offseason. Really eager to see how the offense evolves with 3 really savvy vets and one up-and-coming young guy.

 

I'm interested, though—with all of this talk about the previous strategy to stop Allen being to play man and blitz the hell out of him, what were defenses doing in the playoffs? Allen didn't play poorly against the Colts and Ravens, but they seemed to keep him from blowing things open. And against the Chiefs, Allen looked a lot more like he did in the Texans playoff game than he did most of the last regular season. I was under the impression it was some of that approach—play tough man coverage and blitz the heck out of him. Were those teams using a different approach?

 

[Chandler#81]

7 minutes ago, Rubes said:

I think this will turn out to be one of the real underrated signings this offseason. Really eager to see how the offense evolves with 3 really savvy vets and one up-and-coming young guy.

 

I'm interested, though—with all of this talk about the previous strategy to stop Allen being to play man and blitz the hell out of him, what were defenses doing in the playoffs? Allen didn't play poorly against the Colts and Ravens, but they seemed to keep him from blowing things open. And against the Chiefs, Allen looked a lot more like he did in the Texans playoff game than he did most of the last regular season. I was under the impression it was some of that approach—play tough man coverage and blitz the heck out of him. Were those teams using a different approach?

 

Assuredly, KC took our receivers away. They were pretty banged up though..

[SectionC3]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

The Bills WR4 is much more important than most teams’ WR4. So I don’t see this signing as any  kind of shade on how they view Gabriel Davis as I’ve seen suggested. I think it’s to ensure 4 Wide can continue to be successful, John brown was eroding at the end of the season 

 

Agree on all counts.  An NFL receiver can't be getting hit in the face with the ball.  When the ball went through his hands in the AFCCG and was intercepted, my immediate reaction was that Brown is gone.  I'm not surprised they didn't offer him a chance to stick around.  Return/gadget guy to come at WR5, Hodgins at WR6, and on we go. 

[Boxcar]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

Not to be vulgar, but this video made me absolutely turgid.

[Haslett_Stomp]

2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Assuredly, KC took our receivers away. They were pretty banged up though..

 

Agreed, however as many have said on different threads, there may have been a different outcome had the referees called a tight game like they did the in Superbowl.

[dawolv]

This video is certainly much more entertaining and insightful than watching the Sabres right now...