Paup 1995MVP Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Florence has the same problem as half the team; he's a backup caliber player in a starting role. KD you get it my friend!! We have backups playing as starters almost everywhere on the field. Watch any of the decent to good teams in the NFL. The difference in talent is stagering. Aaron Williams is the only corner on the roster who has potential to be a solid starting CB with NFL talent. Justin Rogers will make a good nickel. But we still need two more guys who can play like A. Williams. As for safety's do not even get me started. We do NOT have one starting NFL caliber safety on the roster. Byrd is a backup who can't tackle and has no instincts on getting to the receiver where he can break up the deep pass. Scott is not even backup material. He is a black Coy Wire. And Wilson looks like his feet our stuck in glue. Byrd, Scott and Wilson have absolutely no upside. (Just like MOST OF OUR PLAYERS!!) Maybe Searcy will develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOBILLS78 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Byrd is a backup who can't tackle and has no instincts on getting to the receiver where he can break up the deep pass. For what it's worth, I'd be willing to say Byrd is the second-best tackler on this team, if not the best. Not sure if that says much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealityCheck Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 But I thought everyone said that Florence was "stride for stride" with the WR? If Fitz threw the Ball, it would have been overthrown to both of them then UNDERTHROWN should have been the obvious conclusion to you, ala the 2 picks he threw in the Giants game. Same route, same outcome times 3. Fitz is consistently inconsistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizell Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 florence had pretty good coverage on the play; the ball was placed perfectly and florence had no business jumping and trying to hit the ball. should have just went for the jarring tackle after the catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDaDdy Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 The one thing I have noticed is that our DBs don't go up and challenge the ball in the air. Opposing WRs do to our DBs what our WRs should be doing to other DBs. Our WRs/TEs go anywhere from 6'3" to 6'7". How can they not catch those balls that Fitz throws high where only they could get it over a 5'10" corner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 He has a cool, distinctive, name, so I think people are enamored with him more than his play warrents. He was on his way to becoming a "journeymen" before he came to Buffalo, likely for a reason. Five disappointing seasons with the Chargers, and then one very disappointing season with Jacksonville. To the OPs point, it is true, Florence was with the receiver stride for stride, it was just a perfect pass... You're off on the disappointing seasons in SD. He was very good and signed a big FA deal with the Jags because of it. He was disappointing in Jacksonville because of the big bucks he was getting. And he completely shut down Marshall both games, minus that one pass. corner is the hardest position athletically to play. Plus, all of our corners would look better with some sort of pass rush. Florence is hardly a problem on this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 You're off on the disappointing seasons in SD. He was very good and signed a big FA deal with the Jags because of it. He was disappointing in Jacksonville because of the big bucks he was getting. And he completely shut down Marshall both games, minus that one pass. corner is the hardest position athletically to play. Plus, all of our corners would look better with some sort of pass rush. Florence is hardly a problem on this team. You may be right, sorry...all I remember about his time in San Diego was a slew of bone-headed dirty plays...if I recall, once cost the Chargers mightily against the Pats in the playoffs one year...but your point is taken, corner is a tough position, especially now. I have been pretty underwhelmed by Florences play most of the time, but he does have a (small) knack for causing turnovers, somehting that can't be discounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Yes, it was a ridiculously good throw, which will beat excellent coverage most of the time. And the coverage was excellent. Florence has no fear of Marshall beating him over the top and this gives him some advantage as far as allowing Marshall to break his cushion a little earlier than normal. Florence did this and was still able to keep Marshall in his pocket without playing a true trail technique. Anything but an absolutely perfect throw results in either an incompletion or a pick due to Florence's inside position. Where Drayton ran into trouble was in how he chose to defend the pass. If he goes after the ball with his off arm, he knocks it down with no problem whatsoever. But instead he went after it with his bar arm; this resulted in him having to turn his body a little in toward the receiver, which put him in contact with Marshall. The contact with the bigger receiver slightly redirected him, just enough to alter his arm's angle the couple inches necessary to allow a perfectly thrown ball to slip by. This also create a problem for him after the actual catch in that he's now slightly turned and no longer in position to continue forward with Marshall and make a quick tackle. Why did he not use his off arm to defend the ball? I don't know but I'm guessing it's because his coverage was so good he thought he had a shot at a pick. He was either going to try and gather it in with his right arm, or he felt his body control was so good he could tip it back into himself to secure the catch and the turnover. Either way, it was probably a case of a confident guy just trying to do too much, with a predictable result of having it go wrong when he tried to do something spectacular instead of just taking the available play. And no, I don't want him cut. He's a solid corner and I expect him to be starting opposite Williams next year when the season opens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Florence has the same problem as half the team; he's a backup caliber player in a starting role. I agree with this to a degree. The Bills brought Florence in to be the nickel/slot corner and now he's basically their #1 cover guy. That's too much for him. If they can get two starters ahead of him then he can play where he was originally envisioned and would be solid there, IMO. The Bills D has lots of guys playing out of position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I agree with this to a degree. The Bills brought Florence in to be the nickel/slot corner and now he's basically their #1 cover guy. That's too much for him. If they can get two starters ahead of him then he can play where he was originally envisioned and would be solid there, IMO. The Bills D has lots of guys playing out of position. Florence, like Aaron Williams, fits with the physical type of CB Nix wants on the defense. I'm not typically a BN supporter, but they definitely didn't give him a 3 year deal averaging 5M per to be a nickel. That said, the nickel CB job is evolving to cover more TE's, so playing the slot isn't always the team's 3rd best CB there. And for the record, playing a defensive lineman at OLB is worlds different than moving CB's around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Romes Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I blame everything on George Edwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) Florence, like Aaron Williams, fits with the physical type of CB Nix wants on the defense. I'm not typically a BN supporter, but they definitely didn't give him a 3 year deal averaging 5M per to be a nickel. That said, the nickel CB job is evolving to cover more TE's, so playing the slot isn't always the team's 3rd best CB there. And for the record, playing a defensive lineman at OLB is worlds different than moving CB's around. Nix didn't bring in Florence. Jauron and crew did. Nix gave Florence the extension once he came on b/c he realized that Florence was actually better than the other guys they have here, but it's relative IMO. I believe that he would thrive in the slot. Maybe even as a #2 who moves to the slot in nickel situations. But he is definitely not a #1, "lock down" guy. Also, for the record, it's not just S Johnson playing OLB. It's K Williams playing NT, Kelsay playing OLB and up until a few weeks ago Moats playing ILB. I agree, however, that Florence is not as out of position as these guys were/are. Edited December 20, 2011 by vincec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbalaya Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Florence has taken a lot of criticism and it has been well deserved. But what did everyone thing of the TD pass to Brandon Marshall in the 3rd quarter? I know, why dwell on one play? I only ask because we debated this at the Bills bar I was at. I personally felt like Florence covered him as well as anyone could have and Matt Moore just threw a perfect pass. Even someone like Revis, IMO, could not have done any better in coverage. So what's the verdict, good pass or poor coverage? He got beat like a drum. He is a bum. He hasn't played hard in his last 20 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I agree with this to a degree. The Bills brought Florence in to be the nickel/slot corner and now he's basically their #1 cover guy. That's too much for him. If they can get two starters ahead of him then he can play where he was originally envisioned and would be solid there, IMO. The Bills D has lots of guys playing out of position. Agreed. I have no problem keeping DF as a nickle corner. I've been frustrated by his play at times too, but honestly it's a little hard to judge coverage skills when the opposing QB has at least 7 seconds to throw the ball every snap. For all the talk about WRs, QBs, CBs, etc., the lack of pass rush remains the #1 issue for the Bills. This defense is not going anywhere until they address that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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