The Battle for Jobs at Safety and Corner.

[Doc]

6 minutes ago, LEBills said:

Coddrington needs to go, but will he? Hardy was drafted last year as a returner first and foremost. He struggled in preseason but maybe he has improved and can take over the duties while being a more functional CB. Probably the best option for the team would be if Elijah Moore returns punts like he did a bit of in college. We will keep at least 5 WRs no matter what, so if he can take that role that will free Coddrington’s spot for an OL or DL.

 

I thought I read that Hardy was looking good in pre-season last year?  If I'm remembering that wrong then I guess Strong takes the 6th spot.

 

It will be interesting to see what they do with Codrington. 

[LEBills]

12 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

I thought I read that Hardy was looking good in pre-season last year?  If I'm remembering that wrong then I guess Strong takes the 6th spot.

 

It will be interesting to see what they do with Codrington. 

Yea people were impressed with his coverage but he struggled with the returning job that he got drafted for which is why Coddrington took the spot and Hardy went to the PS

[Redblood]

On 5/2/2025 at 2:00 PM, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

I'll be honest: so far Bishop has not proven to me that he's a starter. I expect major battles up and down the depth chart and some decent players are going to be gone on cutdown day

I hope he can prove that this camp

On 5/2/2025 at 2:48 PM, Warriorspikes51 said:

Start Forrest & Hancock, see what happens 

 

Unless Bishop wins a starting role in camp
 

Rapp and Hamlin have a penchant for concussing their own players 

 

I think Rapp is solid not spectacular. I feel its time for bishop to be the man. He went early for a safety. Kincaid vouched for him. Both have a lot to prove

[noacls17]

16 hours ago, boyst said:

I am interested to see if Bishop makes the sophomore leap all of McDermotts other players make - even Dorian Williams. I hope I'm wrong re: Williams but I think he's got to his ceiling. A serviceable backup, a low grade starter in a 4-3 for WLB. 

 

Bishop being a decent athlete with limited speed will be his handicap. His prowess to move to the ball with fierceness and his quick reaction time will need to be improved. He reacts well once he has made the read and hopefully he can learn to diagnose the play earlier, faster, and efficiently to process the next step before he has to make it. This was something Hyde did. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to capitalize on a mistake by the offense.  This was due to his ability to quickly diagnose and find the defensive weakness. Bishop needs to, also. 

Bishop does not have limited speed. Average nfl safety 40 is  4.53. Bishop ran 4.45 with a RAS score of 9.88. I do agree he needs to improve on mental aspects. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

11 minutes ago, noacls17 said:

Bishop does not have limited speed. Average nfl safety 40 is  4.53. Bishop ran 4.45 with a RAS score of 9.88. I do agree he needs to improve on mental aspects. 

Bishop isn't slow when running in a straight line. He's average. 

 

However, it takes him a bit longer to process and react, and it has a noticeable affect on his play speed. He plays much slower than he should. It's almost like he doesn't trust what he's seeing so he doesn't fully commit until it's too late. That may improve with experience. 

10 hours ago, Doc said:

 

I thought I read that Hardy was looking good in pre-season last year?  If I'm remembering that wrong then I guess Strong takes the 6th spot.

 

It will be interesting to see what they do with Codrington. 

I'm with you here. I thought Hardy looked the part at CB in the preseason. Vastly better than Codrigton did. If he has taken steps at returning kicks/punts he will likely make the 53 and have a jersey on game day IMO. They kept him around for a reason. 

[noacls17]

20 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Bishop isn't slow when running in a straight line. He's average. 

 

However, it takes him a bit longer to process and react, and it has a noticeable affect on his play speed. He plays much slower than he should. It's almost like he doesn't trust what he's seeing so he doesn't fully commit until it's too late. That may improve with experience. 

I'm with you here. I thought Hardy looked the part at CB in the preseason. Vastly better than Codrigton did. If he has taken steps at returning kicks/punts he will likely make the 53 and have a jersey on game day IMO. They kept him around for a reason. 

4.45 is not average for a safety,its quite above average, and  almost elite for that position. When he was on the field he was the fastest timed player on defense with D. Williams 2nd. As I said I agree with the mental aspects.

[YattaOkasan]

11 hours ago, LEBills said:

Yea people were impressed with his coverage but he struggled with the returning job that he got drafted for which is why Coddrington took the spot and Hardy went to the PS

I think coddringtons size is the issue at CB. He isn’t big enough to play inside as we use our nickel CB and I don’t think anyone sees him as an option outside. 

[Doc]

 

25 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

I'm with you here. I thought Hardy looked the part at CB in the preseason. Vastly better than Codrigton did. If he has taken steps at returning kicks/punts he will likely make the 53 and have a jersey on game day IMO. They kept him around for a reason. 

 

Yeah I struggle with keeping Hardy over Codrington.  It will depend on whether they can get other players to fill the return duties.

 

1 minute ago, noacls17 said:

4.45 is not average for a safety,its quite above average, and  almost elite for that position. When he was on the field he was the fastest timed player on defense with D. Williams 2nd. As I said I agree with the mental aspects.

 

I'm hoping the lack of TC and PS is what hindered him.  In any case, way too early to write him off.

[finn]

On 5/2/2025 at 3:33 PM, DapperCam said:

Best case scenario for me is Bishop and Forrest win the starting Safety spots. It would be a nice injection of athleticism we really lacked.

 

I expect Rapp and Hamlin…

Darrick Forrest looks like he might be something: fast (4.41), big enough at 5'11 200 Ibs, good experience. As I recall, he was injured then was the odd man out with the new coaching staff in Washington. Four interceptions in 2022. The only advantage Hamlin seems to have over him is familiarity with the Bills system. 

 

Did Bishop play any strong safety last year? He seems better suited close to the line of scrimmage. I'm hoping the eventual lineup will be Bishop and Hancock at strong- and free safety, respectively. Rapp's ok and Hamlin is adequate, but you want to do better than ok and adequate. 

[BearNorth]

46 minutes ago, noacls17 said:

4.45 is not average for a safety,its quite above average, and  almost elite for that position. When he was on the field he was the fastest timed player on defense with D. Williams 2nd. As I said I agree with the mental aspects.

Be interesting what the addition of Hairston does to the defense.  4.28 are some serious wheels, wonder if him being there will inspire others to take their speed training seriously.

 

Edited Sunday at 02:52 PM by BearNorth

[boyst]

3 hours ago, noacls17 said:

Bishop does not have limited speed. Average nfl safety 40 is  4.53. Bishop ran 4.45 with a RAS score of 9.88. I do agree he needs to improve on mental aspects. 

There's track speed, linear speed, and athletic speed. 

 

Only a few NFL players possess track speed, and then the remainder generally have only one of linear speed or athletic speed. 

 

For as fast as he is supposed to be he lacks the ability to play with it. 

[noacls17]

Just now, boyst said:

There's track speed, linear speed, and athletic speed. 

 

Only a few NFL players possess track speed, and then the remainder generally have only one of linear speed or athletic speed. 

 

For as fast as he is supposed to be he lacks the ability to play with it. 

As I sd he needs to improve on the mental aspect of the game. However the narrative that he is a limited athlete is wrong. 

[boyst]

1 minute ago, noacls17 said:

As I sd he needs to improve on the mental aspect of the game. However the narrative that he is a limited athlete is wrong. 

Your opinion says this. My opinion says he is unlimited athlete limited by his mental game. The biggest aspect of sports and on a professional tier is having the ability to process the speed at a professional level. He's not there yet.

[GASabresIUFan]

2 minutes ago, boyst said:

For as fast as he is supposed to be he lacks the ability to play with it.

Seriously?  The guy played one injury riddled rookie season.    

 

The scouting reports pre-draft show him to be a high football IQ player.  Most players take time to adjust to the speed of the NFL game.  Shredding someone for mistakes from a rookie year is at best premature.

[boyst]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Seriously?  The guy played one injury riddled rookie season.    

 

The scouting reports pre-draft show him to be a high football IQ player.  Most players take time to adjust to the speed of the NFL game.  Shredding someone for mistakes from a rookie year is at best premature.

We are fans. Not GM's, scouts, professional, hell we aren't even amateur.

 

I'm not shredding someone for stating what I believe to be a skill he is lacking to be developed. Why is constructive criticism so bad these days? Is it the whole participation trophy generation thing?

[GASabresIUFan]

5 minutes ago, boyst said:

We are fans. Not GM's, scouts, professional, hell we aren't even amateur.

 

I'm not shredding someone for stating what I believe to be a skill he is lacking to be developed. Why is constructive criticism so bad these days? Is it the whole participation trophy generation thing?

There is a huge difference between saying he needs to learn to play at the NFL game speed vs what you wrote "For as fast as he is supposed to be he lacks the ability to play with it."

 

I do notice you tempered your opinion with "The biggest aspect of sports and on a professional tier is having the ability to process the speed at a professional level. He's not there yet."

 

Sorry, but your first comment isn't constructive at all.  In fact, it a statement that he lacks the necessary ability to play in the NFL.  Your second comment if much more accurate and much more constructive.

[boyst]

13 minutes ago, GASabresIUFan said:

There is a huge difference between saying he needs to learn to play at the NFL game speed vs what you wrote "For as fast as he is supposed to be he lacks the ability to play with it."

 

I do notice you tempered your opinion with "The biggest aspect of sports and on a professional tier is having the ability to process the speed at a professional level. He's not there yet."

 

Sorry, but your first comment isn't constructive at all.  In fact, it a statement that he lacks the necessary ability to play in the NFL.  Your second comment if much more accurate and much more constructive.

I need to be as constructive as possible because I'm sure he is reading this board and vested in my opinion.

 

Jeesh, you're obtuse man.

 

He can get up to speed. He lacks the speed now.

[MiracleAtRich1393]

My hope & prediction

CB1: Benford

CB2: Hairston

Nickel1: Taron

Reserves: Tre White & Dorian Strong (boundaries) Daequan Hardy (nickel2 + punt return)

 

Safeties: Rapp, Bishop, Forrest, Hancock (high end Cam Lewis role), Wande Owens (special teams & developmental)

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Harbaugh's Chargers held Chief under 20 pts both times they played them.

Pegula had a chance to upgrade the head coach and didn't. The defense got torched again in the playoffs. Bills would have won the SuperBowl last year with Harbaugh. 

McDermott is 7-7 in the playoffs.  Dan Reeves was 11-9. Marv Levy was 11-8. Both with multiple SuperBowl appearances. All three with HOF QBs and you can argue Allen is playing better than Elway did under Reeves and Allen is better than Kelly ever was 

Only Schottenhemier was much worse at 5-13. 

 

We have a HC problem. McDermott seems like a genuinely nice human being and he is a wonderful ambassador for the fans and the city of Buffalo. Those are important things but they are not as important as winning a Championship for our city and our fans. 

 

I got suspended last time I posted all truthful statements as I have above and my opinion. Probably will get suspended again. But there are more and more people like me after every playoff loss that say it's time for a change. 

 

McDermott has been giving every resource on defense. He has new players at every level of the defense and as Beane has pointed out has a top 5 offense mostly returning intact. Barring injury to Allen, it has to be SuperBowl win or McDermott needs to go. 

[nedboy7]

24 minutes ago, MiracleAtRich1393 said:

My hope & prediction

CB1: Benford

CB2: Hairston

Nickel1: Taron

Reserves: Tre White & Dorian Strong (boundaries) Daequan Hardy (nickel2 + punt return)

 

Safeties: Rapp, Bishop, Forrest, Hancock (high end Cam Lewis role), Wande Owens (special teams & developmental)

 

This is my prediction as well.  I really want to see Hamlin go to the bench.  Forrest should be able to take that job.