GunnerBill Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 Nobody seemed to have started one of these for last night's game yet so here was my take... who helped themselves and who hurt themselves as the Bills beat the Giants 21-0. Helped: Kouandjio and Groy.... I think both of these guys have probably ensured themselves of places on the 53. Kouandjio has been one of the feel good stories of pre-season so far for Buffalo having finally looked like an NFL calibre tackle. Him taking that swing job definitely should help the Bills feel better about their depth at the position. Ryan Groy continues to be ahead of Velasco at this stage as the interior swing guy after another solid outing and interestingly when Velasco came in for Eric Wood they switched the two around from last week as Groy moved to centre and Velasco (more of whom to come) came in at guard. I think Groy has the edge at both spots. The defensive backs.... It was a good night for all the Bills defensive backs. The first unit (which interestingly included Duke Williams rather than Robert Blanton alongside Corey Graham) shut the Giants and Eli Manning down and the guys that are in that mix in the second / third units, Corey White, Sterling Moore and Jonathan Dowling for example, all made plays. Jerel Worthy and Leger Douzable.... These two were both extremely active around the football once they came in to relieve the first team defensive line. They blocked running lanes, got into the backfield and harassed the overmatched Ryan Nassib. They started the night top of the backup D-Line shuffle in my mind and did nothing to disprove the theory that they are next in line. Walt Powell and Greg Little.... The plays that these two made should help them separate in the crowded receiver battle. Walt Powell's contributions in the first two games both as a receiver and a returner should pretty much book him a spot on the team so long as he stays healthy. He showed up again with 3 grabs for 46 yards. Greg Little had 3 for 35 and a touchdown and I have to believe that he leads the battle to be the "size guy" in the receiver room come the final shuffle, ahead of Dez Lewis and Jarret Boykin who was held without a catch last night. Rex Ryan, Rob Ryan and Dennis "You presume I know what's going on" Thurman.... Man the defense impressed last night. The communication is noticeably better than a year ago. Will it carry through to the regular season? The proof will be in the pudding but for now at least it looks like they are as good as their word. Hurt: Fernando Velasco.... A second appearance in two games on this list for the free agent pickup. I said last week that I wanted to see him at guard before I totally gave up on him.... well it wasn't quite as horrific as him at centre but he still got beat on a couple of plays forcing EJ and Cardale to throw before they really wanted to. I'm not impressed and I don't think he is a total lock for the roster if someone who is an out and out centre that the Bills like got cut late by another team it wouldn't amaze me if they picked him up and let Velasco go. James Wilder Jnr.... Not as bad as last week but he still seems to lack the explosion that you need at the NFL level. Seems to take him a long time to get up to full speed. He is definitely a longshot for the roster right now although they might still bring him back for the practice squad because he does have more size than the others now that Karlos has gone. Justin Zimmer.... Compared to Worthy and Douzable it was a less positive night for Justin Zimmer. His lack of size does seem to go against him and he was physically overwhelmed on a handful of snaps where he allowed offensive linemen to get on him early... one of those sprung the big 67 yard run that was the Giants only real offensive success of the night. I struggle to now see him making the final 53 man roster. Jordan Gay.... Given a chance to show he could be more than a kick-off specialist Jordan Gay proved that he is just a kick-off specialist. If Carpenter handles everything in game 3 then that is a sure sign to me that Gay's job is in jeopardy. Nick O'Leary.... Still looks slow, still looks like no threat with the ball in his hands and still looks ineffective as a blocker. Definitely behind Clay and Gragg, probably behind Annen and Dray.... but did you know he is Jack Nickluas' grandson? Yea, so that's cool.
eball Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 Good list; no disagreements from me. I'd include EJ in the "helped" list -- looks like a different QB out there.
GunnerBill Posted August 21, 2016 Author Posted August 21, 2016 Good list; no disagreements from me. I'd include EJ in the "helped" list -- looks like a different QB out there. I thought he played well and seems to have a better command of the offense, but in the execution of plays he looked like the same EJ to me. Some really, really good mixed in with 2 or 3 total head scratchers. Still, he is a middle of the pack backup QB. I do believe Rex and Roman when they say they are comfortable with him as the #2.
eball Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 I thought he played well and seems to have a better command of the offense, but in the execution of plays he looked like the same EJ to me. Some really, really good mixed in with 2 or 3 total head scratchers. Still, he is a middle of the pack backup QB. I do believe Rex and Roman when they say they are comfortable with him as the #2. I guess I didn't see the head scratchers yesterday. He was clearly upset with receivers at least twice for running the wrong routes, and got in their faces about it. That's new. Much better touch on his throws as well. Have you seen the #2 QBs in this league? I realize all of EJ's detractors respond with "London" every time the guy is mentioned but he looks capable of holding down the fort to me.
GunnerBill Posted August 21, 2016 Author Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) I guess I didn't see the head scratchers yesterday. He was clearly upset with receivers at least twice for running the wrong routes, and got in their faces about it. That's new. Much better touch on his throws as well. Have you seen the #2 QBs in this league? I realize all of EJ's detractors respond with "London" every time the guy is mentioned but he looks capable of holding down the fort to me. My ranking of the number #2s is available in the last week in a thread on this very board. I think I had EJ 14th out of the 25 guys who have seen proper NFL action. Put it this way, we could do a lot worse than EJ. Edited August 21, 2016 by GunnerBill
Beerball Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 I thought he played well and seems to have a better command of the offense, but in the execution of plays he looked like the same EJ to me. Some really, really good mixed in with 2 or 3 total head scratchers. Still, he is a middle of the pack backup QB. I do believe Rex and Roman when they say they are comfortable with him as the #2. Agree. Good & bad, overall better than OK in my book. One play in particular he checked down much too quickly, others he let plays develop and went through progressions. I'd put Tyrod on the helped list. I know that he is the unquestioned starter, but, to me, he played very well. If that continues the offense will not be a problem. What about Felton in the hurt list? Why carry him on the final roster?
GunnerBill Posted August 21, 2016 Author Posted August 21, 2016 On Tyrod - he was fantastic last night. He helped my optimism but as you say he is locked in as the starter which isn't really what I am looking at so much in these games and with these lists. On Felton - yep, he can consider himself lucky not to be on there.
Doc Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 Didn't Little have a catch or two that were seemingly called incomplete?
Beerball Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 Didn't Little have a catch or two that were seemingly called incomplete? The sideline catch that looked good to me, but others said the first foot (right) landed on the chalk (check the game thread if interested) and the one in the EZ that was correctly ruled incomplete because everyone knows what a catch is except the NFL.
Johnny Hammersticks Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 Agree with everything with one exception. I thought Ryan Groy was awful yesterday. Constantly getting pushed into the backfield, and seemed particularly bad in the run game. I think he is better than Velasco, but that's like saying a poke in the eye is better than a kick in the nuts. I hope they are able to find someone decent on waivers for quality depth.
Doc Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 The sideline catch that looked good to me, but others said the first foot (right) landed on the chalk (check the game thread if interested) and the one in the EZ that was correctly ruled incomplete because everyone knows what a catch is except the NFL. That's what I thought. I'll have to watch the replay as NFLN did not show the game yesterday like they were supposed to, although I realized later on that it was on a local channel (I'm in the Giants territory).
Beerball Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 What did Gay do? Overall I'd say he helped himself with the KO's, especially the one that dropped in at about the 25(?). He proved that he can't be a scoring kicker, but, hopefully we don't need him for those duties. That's what I thought. I'll have to watch the replay as NFLN did not show the game yesterday like they were supposed to, although I realized later on that it was on a local channel (I'm in the Giants territory). NFLN did show one replay (Bills feed) but it was from behind. If it was a regular season game that would be one to challenge...still wish Rex had.
Doc Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 What did Gay do? Overall I'd say he helped himself with the KO's, especially the one that dropped in at about the 25(?). He proved that he can't be a scoring kicker, but, hopefully we don't need him for those duties. NFLN did show one replay (Bills feed) but it was from behind. If it was a regular season game that would be one to challenge...still wish Rex had. There is no need to keep Gay. You don't want TB's and Carp is just fine at not getting them. And sorry, but I meant a replay of the game.
Johnny Hammersticks Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 What did Gay do? Overall I'd say he helped himself with the KO's, especially the one that dropped in at about the 25(?). He proved that he can't be a scoring kicker, but, hopefully we don't need him for those duties. NFLN did show one replay (Bills feed) but it was from behind. If it was a regular season game that would be one to challenge...still wish Rex had. Seriously, can Carp not get close to the goal line from the 35? IMO, keeping a kickoff specialist is asinine.
Beerball Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 There is no need to keep Gay. You don't want TB's and Carp is just fine at not getting them. And sorry, but I meant a replay of the game. Seriously, can Carp not get close to the goal line from the 35? IMO, keeping a kickoff specialist is asinine. The NFL really screwed the pooch with moving touchbacks to the 25 didn't they? I'm not a very smart person, but my first thought after it was announced was "watch out for higher kicks that drop in just short of the goal line." OK, maybe it wasn't my first thought, but, it was an early thought. So much for removing collisions from the game as was the NFL's intent.
26CornerBlitz Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 Ryan Nassib helped himself more than anyone.
aristocrat Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 not that hughes needed help but it's good to see him looking good
Doc Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 The NFL really screwed the pooch with moving touchbacks to the 25 didn't they? I'm not a very smart person, but my first thought after it was announced was "watch out for higher kicks that drop in just short of the goal line." OK, maybe it wasn't my first thought, but, it was an early thought. So much for removing collisions from the game as was the NFL's intent. I have no idea what they were thinking there. And I expect it to be changed back next year. If their goal is truly to reduce returns.
26CornerBlitz Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) Charge Hughes EJ Goodwin Kouandjio Seymour Albright Worthy Powell Little Chips Groy Gay Felton Wilder Edited August 21, 2016 by 26CornerBlitz
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted August 21, 2016 Posted August 21, 2016 I thought wilder looked good out there. I agree with eball on EJ. His 2-point conversion going through 3 different reads was great, as were his throws down the sideline. I bet you there are some teams out there with shaky backups (Giants, steelers) who would easily trade for him.
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