Ryan “Rick” Bates

[Brand J]

Anyone have feedback regarding his play going against arguably the most disruptive DT in the history of the game? I thought he had a pretty good outing. In the highlight package the NFL put together, I zeroed in on him and noticed he was singled up with Donald quite a bit and #99 didn’t embarrass him. Bates held his own for the most part.
He was beaten cleanly for a sack, overpowered on that play, and had a couple other miscues where it looked like he didn’t know who to block, but all in all “not bad” for a player who used to ride the bench up until the final stretch last year.
I have high hopes for him going forward, the entire OL gave Josh plenty of time throughout the contest, not that it mattered when Josh was getting the ball out in under 3 seconds.

Kudos to Kromer.

[vincec]

If Allen gets the ball out in 2.7 seconds on a regular basis then the OL is going to look good all year long.

[Captain_Quint]

He struggled most of the game, but that may be his toughest assignment this year. He has a strong work ethic and should be able to rebound just fine.

He's an undersized guy so pulling Donald in 95 degree weather in the opener is rough. 

[billsfan1959]

Fwiw, PFF gave The following pass blocking grades:

 

Dawkins 78.3

Morse.    64.4

Saffold. 62.4

Brown.    59

Bates.      9

 

And the following run blocking grades:

 

Bates.      70.4

Morse.      65

Dawkins    64

Brown       61.3

Saffold.     53.8

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by billsfan1959

[Brand J]

Just now, billsfan1959 said:

Fwiw, PFF gave The following pass blocking grades:

 

Dawkins 78.3

Morse.    64.4

Scaffold. 62.4

Brown.    59

Bates.      9

 

And the following run blocking grades:

 

Bates.      70.4

Morse.      65

Dawkins    64

Brown       61.3

Saffold.     53.8

Wow, a 9 for pass blocking? I mean, there were a few times when Josh held the ball longer, but Bates wasn’t a tire fire. A 9 would suggest he had an outing like Colin Brown, but I didn’t think he was that much of a liability. 

[NewEra]

3 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

Fwiw, PFF gave The following pass blocking grades:

 

Dawkins 78.3

Morse.    64.4

Saffold. 62.4

Brown.    59

Bates.      9

 

And the following run blocking grades:

 

Bates.      70.4

Morse.      65

Dawkins    64

Brown       61.3

Saffold.     53.8

 

9 lol

[billsfan1959]

Just now, JayBaller10 said:

Wow, a 9 for pass blocking? I mean, there were a few times when Josh held the ball longer, but Bates wasn’t a tire fire. A 9 would suggest he had an outing like Colin Brown, but I didn’t think he was that much of a liability. 

I know. It is PFF, but still…

[badassgixxer05]

7 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Wow, a 9 for pass blocking? I mean, there were a few times when Josh held the ball longer, but Bates wasn’t a tire fire. A 9 would suggest he had an outing like Colin Brown, but I didn’t think he was that much of a liability. 

I almost did as good from my couch if that really was his grade. PFF is trash though 😁

[CSBill]

A "9" grade? That can't be right ????

 

Yes, one really bad play, but nothing egregious the rest of the night.

[Doc]

How have other OGs fared against Donald, a surefire first ballot HOFer?

[3rdand12]

45 minutes ago, vincec said:

If Allen gets the ball out in 2.7 seconds on a regular basis then the OL is going to look good all year long.

You might still have to give credit to Bates regardless.
we have seen much much worse.
Kromer aint bad either i read here.

[buffblue]

He was abysmal in pass pro during the 1st quarter especially, but then seemed to improve as the game went on. As OP stated much of his rough play was against Donald so I'm not worried about him too much.

 

One thing I wonder is how much difference there is between left and right guard. Last year he was exclusively on the left, but with Saffold on board he is now on the opposite side

Edited September 14, 2022 by buffblue

[Bronxbomber21]

A 9 pass blocking grade but a 70 run blocking grade how is that possible 🤔 

[LeGOATski]

37 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

I know. It is PFF, but still…

No, that's exactly it: it's PFF. That means it's absolute crap and can suck it.

 

[boyst]

PFF hires any bozo to do their grading. Or at least be did a few steps back. College kids, etc. They just watch film, grade people, etc. The irrelevants get the college kids, the top players get decent judging. It's all crap though. 

[FireChans]

42 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Wow, a 9 for pass blocking? I mean, there were a few times when Josh held the ball longer, but Bates wasn’t a tire fire. A 9 would suggest he had an outing like Colin Brown, but I didn’t think he was that much of a liability. 

He got beat a bunch.  It didn't matter because Josh got it out fast.  Good gameplanning to neutralize AD.  Rick won't play him again.

[Beck Water]

48 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Wow, a 9 for pass blocking? I mean, there were a few times when Josh held the ball longer, but Bates wasn’t a tire fire. A 9 would suggest he had an outing like Colin Brown, but I didn’t think he was that much of a liability. 

 

Yah, if he really deserved a "9" grade, Josh woulda had to have gotten the ball out in 0.7 seconds, not 2.7 seconds.

 

PFF is pretty good for some things, and pretty sketchy for stuff like OL blocking where they really don't know for sure who had what assignment.

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Yah, if he really deserved a "9" grade, Josh woulda had to have gotten the ball out in 0.7 seconds, not 2.7 seconds.

 

PFF is pretty good for some things, and pretty sketchy for stuff like OL blocking where they really don't know for sure who had what assignment.

How could somebody who watched Brady for 20 years beat the Bills not understand that rapid passing eliminates basically every pass rusher regardless?

[billsfan1959]

9 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

No, that's exactly it: it's PFF. That means it's absolute crap and can suck it.

 

I’m not endorsing PFF. I post things I run across from different sites. Some people appreciate the info and some don’t. People are free to read it or not read it.

[GolfandBills]

1 hour ago, Captain_Quint said:

He struggled most of the game, but that may be his toughest assignment this year. He has a strong work ethic and should be able to rebound just fine.

He's an undersized guy so pulling Donald in 95 degree weather in the opener is rough. 

All game?  I disagree.  Rough first half but he played well after that. 

[ganesh]

29 minutes ago, FireChans said:

He got beat a bunch.  It didn't matter because Josh got it out fast.  Good gameplanning to neutralize AD.  Rick won't play him again.

We could play them again in the SB  early next year,  They are still the best team in a very weak NFC.  They are still IMHO better than Tampa Bay and Green Bay.

[HappyDays]

The way this game played out is why I care a lot less about OL than most of this board as long as Allen is here. A weak OL is the easiest weakness to hide when you have a smart QB with mobility and a quick passing scheme. Donald had his way with Bates the whole game and it didn't matter. Last year it took us 3/4 of the season before we stopped banging our heads against the wall with long developing pass plays and as soon as we transitioned away from that our offense blew up. I expect our offense to look like that all year long.

[Big Turk]

How about Rick James?

[iccrewman112]

58 minutes ago, CSBill said:

A "9" grade? That can't be right ????

 

Yes, one really bad play, but nothing egregious the rest of the night.

If he graded to a 9, I’d love to see the grades for the whole rams oline

Edited September 14, 2022 by iccrewman112

[FireChans]

12 minutes ago, ganesh said:

We could play them again in the SB  early next year,  They are still the best team in a very weak NFC.  They are still IMHO better than Tampa Bay and Green Bay.

They ain't the best team in the NFC.

[DCofNC]

He definitely got it handed to him a few times early on, but the scheme was drawn up to neutralize the pass rush, now doubt about it.  Good scheme, good execution, hopefully it’s more of the same this year, the guys all gel together a bit more and he looks great again.

[John from Riverside]

Bates  is a good player I’ve been telling that to people for years and I’m glad that he got to show it last year he’s not a star offensive guard he’s not going to pro bowls he is a consistent solid do everything guard with decent movement skills Who can play multiple positions

 

But when you figure just how bad offensive line play is in the NFL bates does pretty damn well

[Punching Bag]

3 hours ago, badassgixxer05 said:

I almost did as good from my couch if that really was his grade. PFF is trash though 😁

 

[GunnerBill]

His pass blocking was a mess, especially first half. He run blocked okay though. 

[sirebors]

6 hours ago, billsfan1959 said:

I’m not endorsing PFF. I post things I run across from different sites. Some people appreciate the info and some don’t. People are free to read it or not read it.

 

[GunnerBill]

6 hours ago, FireChans said:

They ain't the best team in the NFC.

 

I agree with that but they are still top 3. I think it is them the Buccs and the Vikes. 

 

But the NFC is wacky. Wouldn't shock me if we ended up playing any one of about 7 or 8 teams in the Superbowl should we get there.

 

[Coach Tuesday]

16 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I agree with that but they are still top 3. I think it is them the Buccs and the Vikes. 

 

But the NFC is wacky. Wouldn't shock me if we ended up playing any one of about 7 or 8 teams in the Superbowl should we get there.

 

Don’t sleep on the Eagles - this year’s Bengals.

[GunnerBill]

Just now, Coach Tuesday said:

Don’t sleep on the Eagles - this year’s Bengals.

 

Yea I think the Eagles are decent. They are a bit Titan like in that they are not the conventional 2022 NFL offense. That makes them awkward to play against, but I'm not sure how far it will take them. I can see a 2019 Titans like run to the Championship game and then a loss. 

[Sierra Foothills]

37 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Don’t sleep on the Eagles - this year’s Bengals.

 

The Eagles definitely have a lot of playmakers/difference makers on their roster.

 

 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

He had a tough game in pass protection no matter who he faced. A little surprising how bad he was. Another tough interior defense this week.

[Sierra Foothills]

In fairness it again needs to be mentioned that Bates is playing right guard this year after playing predominantly on the left side last year.

 

Also we're judging his play in week 1 versus a very tough assignment.

 

Isn't it actually likely that Bates' play will improve?

 

I would think it would.

 

[GreggTX]

9 hours ago, billsfan1959 said:

Fwiw, PFF gave The following pass blocking grades:

 

Dawkins 78.3

Morse.    64.4

Saffold. 62.4

Brown.    59

Bates.      9

 

And the following run blocking grades:

 

Bates.      70.4

Morse.      65

Dawkins    64

Brown       61.3

Saffold.     53.8

 

I can't believe Saffold's run blocking grade was so low! He's widely regarded as an elite run blocker. He did get hurt, but I believe he came back. Perhaps it affected his play. Bates and Brown have a lot of work ahead of them, but Brown is a physical freak. I think that's the real reason he's in ahead of DQ. They just want to feed him snaps until the game slows down for him. He isn't very good now, but the potential to be great is there. I'm not sure where Bates' ceiling might be.

Edited September 14, 2022 by GreggTX

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, HappyDays said:

The way this game played out is why I care a lot less about OL than most of this board as long as Allen is here. A weak OL is the easiest weakness to hide when you have a smart QB with mobility and a quick passing scheme. Donald had his way with Bates the whole game and it didn't matter. Last year it took us 3/4 of the season before we stopped banging our heads against the wall with long developing pass plays and as soon as we transitioned away from that our offense blew up. I expect our offense to look like that all year long.

 

Disagree most strongly. Bad OL is the fastest way to get beat after bad QB play. We saw it last season, we saw it up and down the league in week 1. The Bills OL played decent on Thursday. Bates had a poor game, especially first half, but the Bills were good around him - Morse and the tackles especially. Yes, you can go to a quick passing game. We did that at times last year but you have to have the ability to drop back when the down and distance calls for it. The Jags game last year was a classic example. They ran some quick game, they ran something like 12 screens that game too, but there still comes a point when you have to drop back and throw the ball down the field and as soon as that point came the Bills were sunk. 

 

1 hour ago, GreggTX said:

I can't believe Saffold's run blocking grade was so low! He's widely regarded as an elite run blocker. He did get hurt, but I believe he came back. Perhaps it affected his play. Bates and Brown have a lot of work ahead of them, but Brown is a physical freak. I think that's the real reason he's in ahead of DQ. They just want to feed him snaps until the game slows down for him. He isn't very good now, but the potential to be great is there. I'm not sure where Bates' ceiling might be.

 

Brown had a good game. That grade is lower than I'd have graded him personally. Thought it was one of his best pass blocking outings as a Bill. Bates, yea... I think he struggled. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by GunnerBill

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Don’t sleep on the Eagles - this year’s Bengals.

Is it weird to feel like they are the 15-16 Bills? Hurts and TT aren’t the same, but they score lots of points without throwing the ball all around the field.

[Don Otreply]

11 hours ago, billsfan1959 said:

I know. It is PFF, but still…

Its hard to believe the nine rating, I’m pretty certain he would have been pulled if he was that bad, Pff is really not so credible a good deal of the time.