Andra Davis vs Jags

[San Jose Bills Fan]

This is the 6th in a series where Chris Brown sits down with a Bills Coach and breaks down video of an outstanding individual performance from last year.

 

MLB/ILB Andra Davis had 11 tackles and 1 int against Jacksonville despite playing with a torn labrum which eventually forced him onto IR.

 

The piece is 7 minutes long and the video is good quality so you can go full screen.

 

Davis shows textbook technique in diagnosing plays and defeating blocking to make plays.

 

Most interesting to me was the opportunity to get a feel for Defensive Coordinator George Edwards, who is Chris Brown's guest.

 

http://www.buffalobi...-center/videos/

Edited July 8, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan

[Pilsner]

This is the first vid interview of George Edwards I've seen. So it's good to see him explaining one player's situations and showing a bit of how he sees some things on the field. As for Andra Davis, I've been mispronouncing his name all this time. I thought it was like Andrah. Didn't realize it was pronounced like Andre.

[eball]

This is the 6th in a series where Chris Brown sits down with a Bills Coach and breaks down video of an outstanding individual performance from last year.

 

MLB/ILB Andra Davis had 11 tackles and 1 int against Jacksonville despite playing with a torn labrum which eventually forced him onto IR.

 

The piece is 7 minutes long and the video is good quality so you can go full screen.

 

Davis shows textbook technique in diagnosing plays and defeating blocking to make plays.

 

Most interesting to me was the opportunity to get a feel for Defensive Coordinator George Edwards, who is Chris Brown's guest.

 

http://www.buffalobi...-center/videos/

What, you mean the board-imposed "Edwards is a moron" and "Davis should be cut" mantras may not be completely accurate? Blasphemy.

 

Also -- anyone else notice the two specific references to Kelsay doing what they need him to do to free the LBs up to make plays? Interesting.

Edited July 8, 2011 by eball

[John from Riverside]

I personally dont understand how someone playing the linbacker position can be even 50 percent effective with a torn labrum.....

 

Andre Davis is a fricken stud just on pain tolerance alone.

 

Oh by the way....just to throw this out there to the few select who feel our front office dont know what the hell they are doing...because they made a mistake on a RT on offense (which they benched fairly quickly thus admitting their mistake and not making the team suffer for it)

 

Andre Davis was another player they brought in as they continue their very boring but very solid approach to rebiulding this team....

 

Size

 

Andre Davis is a thumper.....he is a good sized linebacker....

 

And in that same year they brought in DT Troupe who is a true nose at what?.....330 pounds and agile, Carrington who is an absolute physical beast

 

and they continued with that trend in the draft this year drafing defensive players with size, hitters, physical players.......DE, CB, LB, and S all had that same common theme......guys who are big for their positions that play with a lot of intensity.

 

We are biulding a defense that has big physical players that are not going to get pushed around and deliver the blow instead of take it.

 

 

 

You see this is one of the big reasons why I get behind this front office.....they are cleaning out the trash and they do have a plan....its not exciting or flashy like signing well known free agents.....but you just watch.....by the time its done that defense is gonna put a serious hurting on some offense. They also snatched up Wanstad which was another good defensive move.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I personally dont understand how someone playing the linbacker position can be even 50 percent effective with a torn labrum.....

 

Andre Davis is a fricken stud just on pain tolerance alone.

It was interesting to me that 2 of the last 3 segments that Chris Brown has done have featured Andra Davis and Dwan Edwards.

 

Both of these guys were brought in because the front office believed that they still had lots of good football left, were strong veteran leaders, had extensive experience in the 3-4, and could smooth out the transition to the new scheme. Both guys were always considered better-than-average players and both of them were characterized as physical football players.

 

Very odd and unfortunate that both of them got injured last year… but I expect one or both to be big parts of a defensive renaissance this season.

 

 

[McBeane]

What, you mean the board-imposed "Edwards is a moron" and "Davis should be cut" mantras may not be completely accurate? Blasphemy.

 

Also -- anyone else notice the two specific references to Kelsay doing what they need him to do to free the LBs up to make plays? Interesting.

 

That's what makes it funny when people try to discredit the "football is a team sport" argument and use stats to rebut it. Many people just simply don't understand how player roles work in football.

[Mark Long Beach]

I really enjoy these segments and I'm glad that they do them. It's great to get to hear the coaches themselves. I've always thought that Andra's injury really hurt us in for the year. I know that we still didn't play well early but we that's what learning a new system can do. We played the 3-4 much better by the end of the season, but we didn't have as much talent due to injury.

 

I was very excited by both Dwan & Andra's signing. I believe that they will both open our season as starters and hopefully can stay injury free.

 

After our brutal start to the season 0-8 we finished 4-4 and pushed very good teams to the limit during that span (Balt & Pitt). Even with some significant injuries that really showed our lack of depth. (LB & ROT) On the other hand injuries showed our surprisingly good depth at WR which was a major question mark at the beginning of the season. Our young WR's showed pretty nicely and if they continue to develop could be pretty great.

 

We've got a lot of young LBs in Moats, Batten & White. All three of them I think have some real potential. Having Merriman & Davis back as starters will significantly improve our LB corp IMO.

[John from Riverside]

It was interesting to me that 2 of the last 3 segments that Chris Brown has done have featured Andra Davis and Dwan Edwards.

 

Both of these guys were brought in because the front office believed that they still had lots of good football left, were strong veteran leaders, had extensive experience in the 3-4, and could smooth out the transition to the new scheme. Both guys were always considered better-than-average players and both of them were characterized as physical football players.

 

Very odd and unfortunate that both of them got injured last year… but I expect one or both to be big parts of a defensive renaissance this season.

 

 

One of the things I can really get behind is that the Bills could have very well sat on "we brought defensive talent last year in they just need to stay healthy" excuse.....

 

but they didn't do that

 

No....they hedged their bets.....everyone knows this was a defensive year draft....a lot of talent to be had...and the bills took advantage of it and plucked even MORE defensive talent......then they brought in a proven defensive mind coach as well.....

 

Darius, Edwards, Troup, Williams, Carrington.......big strong guys who are not going to get pushed around.......you have enough talent there to keep a solid rotation going of big men to keep them fresh.....

[vincec]

What, you mean the board-imposed "Edwards is a moron" and "Davis should be cut" mantras may not be completely accurate? Blasphemy.

 

Also -- anyone else notice the two specific references to Kelsay doing what they need him to do to free the LBs up to make plays? Interesting.

Come on, let's not get carried away by a Bills puff piece. The Jags rushed 40 times for 216 yds (5.4 ypr) and Garrard (who is no Manning) threw for 3 tds. They scored 36 points. It's easy to cherry pick three or four plays out of a game and say that a given player or the whole defense did well on those plays, but what about the rest of the game?

 

I like Davis. He will be a valuable contributor but let's not pretend that these segments objectively mean anything.

[Mark Long Beach]

Come on, let's not get carried away by a Bills puff piece. The Jags rushed 40 times for 216 yds (5.4 ypr) and Garrard (who is no Manning) threw for 3 tds. They scored 36 points. It's easy to cherry pick three or four plays out of a game and say that a given player or the whole defense did well on those plays, but what about the rest of the game?

 

I like Davis. He will be a valuable contributor but let's not pretend that these segments objectively mean anything.

 

Agreed that cherry-picking a few good plays doesn't mean much. But remember football is a game talent and teamwork. Our talent got worse through the year with some injuries, but our teamwork got a LOT better by the end of the season. It gives me some hope that our coaches can get everyone working together.

 

We still need some better talent than last year, but hopefully with a good draft and more development of our young players we can get that too.

[John from Riverside]

Come on, let's not get carried away by a Bills puff piece. The Jags rushed 40 times for 216 yds (5.4 ypr) and Garrard (who is no Manning) threw for 3 tds. They scored 36 points. It's easy to cherry pick three or four plays out of a game and say that a given player or the whole defense did well on those plays, but what about the rest of the game?

 

I like Davis. He will be a valuable contributor but let's not pretend that these segments objectively mean anything.

 

Without the big uglies up front to control the line of scrimmage you need very very good linebackers in order to have a decent defense.

 

I just like the approach....think about it.....when was the last time you saw a fanbase get excited on a draft selection.....it wasnt a QB savior for the future....it wasnt a RB hoping he runs for 300 yards a game.....it wasn't an uncoverable wide receiver with the dreams of him catching bombs.

 

Nope....it was a big, nasty, immovable object DE/DT......and Nix knew it was the right selection. Control the line of scrimmage and let the linebackers do their jobs.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Come on, let's not get carried away by a Bills puff piece. The Jags rushed 40 times for 216 yds (5.4 ypr) and Garrard (who is no Manning) threw for 3 tds. They scored 36 points. It's easy to cherry pick three or four plays out of a game and say that a given player or the whole defense did well on those plays, but what about the rest of the game?

 

I like Davis. He will be a valuable contributor but let's not pretend that these segments objectively mean anything.

Hold on, Vince. I think these segments mean something. They mean that some players have the character and professionalism that the team can build upon.

 

Kyle Williams had a great year in 2010… and the Bills D sucked.

 

The point of the piece is that Davis had an excellent game.

 

The performance of the Jags offense vs the Bills defense doesn't invalidate and shouldn't diminish that fact.

 

I also appreciate the fact that some of these top ten performances are really obscure and beyond what the casual fan would mention if that fan came up with a top ten performance list.

 

In my eyes, that gives these segments greater weight and validity… because I think it is clear that the list was compiled by the coaching staff (at Chris Brown's prompting).

 

The other thing I appreciate is that individuals are being lauded even in the context of a bad surrounding cast and overall bad results.

 

I think a lot of people in every day life, can relate to doing their best at work every day, working hard and being a true professional, even when they might belong to a poorly run or poorly performing business (the equivalent of a losing team).

 

Always do your best, don't get dragged down by others, hold yourself to highest standards that you can achieve.

 

Or as Marv might say, "Do ordinary things in extraordinary ways."

 

 

[BEAST MODE BABY!]

My favorite part of the draft was Nix (pre-draft) talking about how you don't get too excited about falling in love with "your guy" because once that player gets taken by someone else, you're upset.

 

Then, in the Buffalo Bills draft room news coverage, it shows Nix pumping his arm after the Broncos took Von Miller.

 

Don't tell me Nix isn't excited about Dareus. Guy is a beast.

[vincec]

Hold on, Vince. I think these segments mean something. They mean that some players have the character and professionalism that the team can build upon.

 

Kyle Williams had a great year in 2010… and the Bills D sucked.

 

The point of the piece is that Davis had an excellent game.

 

The performance of the Jags offense vs the Bills defense doesn't invalidate and shouldn't diminish that fact.

 

I also appreciate the fact that some of these top ten performances are really obscure and beyond what the casual fan would mention if that fan came up with a top ten performance list.

 

In my eyes, that gives these segments greater weight and validity… because I think it is clear that the list was compiled by the coaching staff (at Chris Brown's prompting).

 

The other thing I appreciate is that individuals are being lauded even in the context of a bad surrounding cast and overall bad results.

 

I think a lot of people in every day life, can relate to doing their best at work every day, working hard and being a true professional, even when they might belong to a poorly run or poorly performing business (the equivalent of a losing team).

 

Always do your best, don't get dragged down by others, hold yourself to highest standards that you can achieve.

 

Or as Marv might say, "Do ordinary things in extraordinary ways."

I just don't really agree with this. Football is a team game. When your team loses and your unit gets their hat handed to them you don't release a highlight reel of a given individual performance to show how well a player did. Maybe the Bills should release some highlight reels of their 4 super bowl losses that point out how well Thurman Thomas played in XXV or Andre Reed in XXVII. Maybe there are some hidden gems in those games that we didn't even notice. But what would be the point? Some players play well in all losses. I simply see this as filler until there is something to talk about.

Edited July 9, 2011 by vincec

[John from Riverside]

I think that is pretty much what it is vince.....a attempt at a fan distraction. It is good to see that players are making plays though

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I just don't really agree with this. Football is a team game. When your team loses and your unit gets their hat handed to them you don't release a highlight reel of a given individual performance to show how well a player did. Maybe the Bills should release some highlight reels of their 4 super bowl losses that point out how well Thurman Thomas played in XXV or Andre Reed in XXVII. Maybe there are some hidden gems in those games that we didn't even notice. But what would be the point? Some players play well in all losses. I simply see this as filler until there is something to talk about.

 

I think that is pretty much what it is vince.....a attempt at a fan distraction. It is good to see that players are making plays though

I'm a bit surprised by your reaction, Vince, because I know you're a pretty serious fan.

 

I think it's too dismissive to discard good individual performances on a bad team.

 

Practically speaking there are roughly 50 players on the Bills and they'll enter training camp with about 80 or so. Obviously individual evaluations are very important because you have to know which players can be counted on to play well, know their responsibilities, and teach younger players (Kelvin Sheppard was very complimentary of Davis at Camp Fitz).

 

Also individuals have to have their good performances cited and recognized… after money isn't that what motivates many people in many industries? Recognition of our efforts?

 

And finally, I want to know how the coaches view their players.

 

Whatever. Call it what you will.

 

Personally I'd rather see Chris Brown sit down with a Bills coach and break down video than read an "objective" article written by a "journalist," because even though these segments are generated by the club, they're typically a lot more revealing than the generic football articles disseminated by media outlets.

 

 

[Mark Long Beach]

...And finally, I want to know how the coaches view their players.

 

Personally I'd rather see Chris Brown sit down with a Bills coach and break down video than read an "objective" article written by a "journalist," because even though these segments are generated by the club, they're typically a lot more revealing than the generic football articles disseminated by media outlets.

 

Agree. I like seeing some first hand accounts and help make my own impression instead of solely relying on some writer. I've seen what good writing can do. What comes out doesn't necessarily resemble reality. So it's nice to have a first hand look at the people doing the work (coaches evaluating the players). Now I can see for myself.