Lurker Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 (edited) The fact that the Bills gave him a pretty decent contract before the season began yet cut him just one year later suggests that they think he was utterly horrible too. He was needed a year ago and after this draft, not so much. If the Bills had taken Mark Barron instead of Gilmore, he'd probably still be here. Things change, that's the transitory nature of the NFL... Edited May 4, 2012 by Lurker
KOKBILLS Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 He had a real rough 2011...At least at times he did..But this is likely a little more Cap related than anything...I knew The Bills were goign to start chopping some Cap dollars from Vets...But to be honest I never thought Florence would be one of them...
Kevin Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 If Revis played for the Bills the past two seasons he would have sucked too. When QBs can hold the ball for 5,6 or more seconds it becomes a lot harder on the corners. Don't like the move. Florence provided veteran leadership. If you have to make a cut then cut the weak link (McGee). With that said, I think there's more cuts coming.
bigc14120 Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, over? His legs were gone, beaten numerous times by speed receivers last year. Saw this myself, been waiting for this to happen. Yes, he made plays, but got beat more times.......Great attitude, but bad wheels can't be hidden.
Coach Tuesday Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Does anyone remember the Giants game last year? Flo almost single-handedly cost us that game (combined with a couple of HORRID throws by Fitz). I liked him a lot but his play slipped. He got a couple of lucky, game-changing turnovers for us last year (NE, Philly), and his savvy and leadership will be missed.
eball Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Wow. I like it though. I was not a big Florence fan. As long as McGee is healthy I am more than okay with this. I also think Leodis will be fine with a good pass rush. Very classy official statement by Nix as well.
NickelCity Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Did not see this coming at all. With the new defensive line I thought he'd have a big season.
eball Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Florence must have regressed a lot since last season when they signed him to a 3 year 15M deal. Moreover, with the weak pass rush which registered 13 sacks sans the Washington game, it stands to reason CB play wasn't all to blame. This is a very odd post. Certainly you watched the games last year, so you could/should have your own opinion on Florence's play. Is this a typical dig at the Bills' front office for the contract? What exactly is your point?
Rubes Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 (edited) Well, I'll have to man up because I thought there was no way we let Florence go this season and said it here many times. I was wrong. I don't think Florence was the best corner on the team last year, but I also don't think he was the worst. He was steady, screwed up now and then, and took penalties at inopportune times (almost always on 3rd and long, it seemed). But he had a veteran leadership presence on the team, something I thought would be valuable this year as they bring the young guys along. McGee can help with that as well, but he's still recovering from an injury and who knows how long he'll last. Florence, to me, was your basic steady but not spectacular corner who you could rely on for a few good plays and a few boneheaded plays every game. He had the advantage over others because he didn't totally suck (McKelvin) and he didn't get hurt (McGee). I see the reason for the move as we transition to faster, younger players with more upside, I just didn't think it would happen until next year. That's okay, though -- things move fast in the NFL now, and the coaches must really think the improved pass rush will help the younger guys out. It still sucks because I liked having him on the team. And I've watched that INT-TD against the Pats* over and over again because it was AWESOME. Edited May 4, 2012 by Rubes
eball Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Nix's statement: “I want to thank Drayton for all he’s done for our team during his three years in Buffalo," said Bills GM Buddy Nix. "But we have some good, young talent at the cornerback position that has tremendous upside. They need to take as many of the reps at practice as they can to continue to develop that talent. Our defense has gone through a number of changes since the end of last season and we feel that it’s necessary to give these young corners the opportunity to be in the lineup.” If you want to spin this as PR and call it a $$-saving move, that's your prerogative, but I think it makes sense. Give the young guys the snaps and get them ready for the season.
Kelly the Dog Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 (edited) Well, I'll have to man up because I thought there was no way we let Florence go this season and said it here many times. I was wrong. I don't think Florence was the best corner on the team last year, but I also don't think he was the worst. He was steady, screwed up now and then, and took penalties at inopportune times (almost always on 3rd and long, it seemed). But he had a veteran leadership presence on the team, something I thought would be valuable this year as they bring the young guys along. McGee can help with that as well, but he's still recovering from an injury and who knows how long he'll last. Florence, to me, was your basic steady but not spectacular corner who you could rely on for a few good plays and a few boneheaded plays every game. He had the advantage over others because he didn't totally suck (McKelvin) and he didn't get hurt (McGee). I see the reason for the move as we transition to faster, younger players with more upside, I just didn't think it would happen until next year. That's okay, though -- things move fast in the NFL now, and the coaches must really think the improved pass rush will help the younger guys out. Check out these numbers. Florence was the 9th worst CB in the entire league as far as passer rating against, with QBs throwing at a 103 rating against him. You may choose not to believe these numbers, and they are not official stats. But these guys do a great job IMO breaking stuff down to different stats. And here are the highest (and worst) 10 ratings: (It's probably best for any Quentin Jammer fans to turn away) RankNameTeamNFL Rating 1Quentin JammerSD129.9 2Captain MunnerlynCAR126.9 3E.J. BiggersTB119.2 4Cedric GriffinMIN114.1 5Justin KingSL113.1 6Kareem JacksonHST110.9 7Aqib TalibTB109.8 8Devin McCourtyNE106.2 9Drayton FlorenceBUF103.3 10Aaron RossNYG102.8 Numbers without context can be an awful thing and you can read a lot into what these say, but know that they're by no means definitive on their own or combined. We always prefer our grading in situations like this where context can be taken into account … a dropped pass when a cornerback was beaten, just what exactly the cornerback did to force an incompletion, and so on. But numbers are fun, and while we wait for the divisional round of the playoffs (and before Tebow kills the internet), it doesn't hurt to have a look and make something out of them. http://www.profootba...e-2011-numbers/ Edited May 4, 2012 by Kelly the Dog
atlbillsfan1975 Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Well, this leaves us with a very young defensive backfield. I understand the move. Florence is an outside corner. He's not exceptional in TE coverage or in blitzing. So that does make him a bit conventional and also one dimensional. However as much as I understand the move, I don't like it. Drayton was by far our most consistent playmaker in our defensive backfield. He forced 4 turnovers last season and had 12 passes defended. Not to mention he hasn't missed a game since his first year with us. To put that into perspective, McGee has had only 11 passes defended in his last 3 seasons combined and has missed 22 games during that time period. I would have parted ways with McGee before I let Drayton go. He did make some plays no one can argue that point. But he also had som euntimely penalties and gave up some bigger plays. If McGee stays healthy he is a much more consistant CB then Florence. And with McGee's team friendly contract incase of injury, the writing was on the wall. McKelvin has all the talent, but has displayed little mental apptitude thus far. The staff and front office is hoping this is the year McKelvin puts it together, and they use him for one more year. Florence was for the most part a classy guy. He was smart enough to realize his age is robbing him of talent and thus needs to step up his presence as being a positive leader. I wish him well and i am sure he will be on another team by the end of the month.
IDBillzFan Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Wow. I like it though. I was not a big Florence fan. As long as McGee is healthy I am more than okay with this. I also think Leodis will be fine with a good pass rush. I hope you're right. I really liked Florence, and can't stand McKelvin.
bladiebla Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 its disappointing after seeing how pumped up he was about the city and team this offseason, but you have to put the best players on the field. Aye, he really was one of the team first guys. Must have been a total shock to him too. I mean if he'd gotten beat out out in camp, sure, but this is just wow.
1B4IDie Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Question: In this "horrible" season how many times was Drayton Florence beaten after 5 seconds and how many before? The answer by the way is most were well after 5 seconds as QB were in the pocket going through their DVRs looking for something good . . . "Boardwalk Emprire is back awesome" . . . Looks like someone got open. . . That is not Florence fault. He would have been great veteran depth but this cut is likely a favor for Florence. He'll have tome to get picked up by a team that has an injury at CB and play. Instead of fighting young bucs for a roster spot on a team that has the deck stacked against him. Clearly the Bills were looking for Gilmore and Williams to win the camp battle, now there is no battle. Gilmore and Williams will be the starters. Mc DrainBramage and the young Buc from LSU will be in the nickle and dime packages.
bladiebla Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Last season he was our #1 CB, I'm fine with him losing his job in camp to gilmore but I do not like this one bit. My philosophy is to keep the best as long as you can afford it. Agreed.
Rubes Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 Check out these numbers. Florence was the 9th worst CB in the entire league as far as passer rating against, with QBs throwing at a 103 rating against him. You may choose not to believe these numbers, and they are not official stats. But these guys do a great job IMO breaking stuff down to different stats. Stats are good for some things, but perhaps the kindest way to put it is that they only tell a small part of the whole story. Many, many factors go into the overall evaluation of a player at any position. This is one factor that suggests he wasn't a top corner, but nobody is arguing that. And I wouldn't use it as the sole or even primary gauge of a CBs worthiness.
Alphadawg7 Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 WOW! Not sure I get this move at all unless they are looking to bring someone else in and needed the money? Does this save them any cap space? I highly doubt McGee is going to play this year, and wouldve kept Florence through camp. They must be happy going with Gilmore, Williams, McKelvin... Wow. I think this speaks volumes on how they feel about Ron Brooks. Curious, is rookie camp officially going on? I think it is, but admit I am not totally sure as I have been real busy this week and can't remember if it actually started yet. I think it has, and if so, one would think that Gilmore and Brooks may have made quite the impression making the one of the vets officially expendable which you gotta think was what they were hoping for when they took the 2 guys.
WellDressed Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 If we had re-signed Greer we wouldn't be talking about this right now.
Wooderson Posted May 4, 2012 Posted May 4, 2012 I believe it was 10 sacks in that game, but I'm not really following what you meant with this post. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, I'm just confused as to what your point was. As for Florence being released, I have to say that I am not surprised but I was not expecting it to be this early. I thought he would at least make it into training camp. The only reason that I wish we kept him is because he is a very active player with regards to interacting with fans and he truly embraced Buffalo and the people of WNY. He did have some below average moments (the multiple PI's that others have mentioned) and was probably making more money than he was worth. If Buddy felt that we could get better with the cap money that we saved from this move then I am behind the move. I do wish Drayton the best of luck with the rest of his career. Truly a class player and it was nice to have him in Buffalo while we did. 10 sacks Washington game, 13 sacks other 15 games is basically what he's saying.
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