Good Night / Bad Night - Pre-Season Game 1

[GunnerBill]

Week 1 of pre-season is in the books and so here, back by absolutely no popular demand, is my annual Good Night / Bad Night series.....

 

Good Night for...

 

The Bills QB situation - So let's start with this.... Josh Allen wasn't perfect last night and it looked like a bit of a "knock the rust off" type performance with a couple of communication breakdowns with receivers leading to incompletions. But there were a couple of plays on which he showed nice poise and good patience in the pocket. Promising start. Matt Barkley came in an had himself a nice night - 9/14 for 126 and a score and looks rock solid as the Bills backup Quarterback. How many years is it since the Bills went into camp with an incumbent starter and solid backup at the most important position that they felt good about and then had neither of them crap the bed during camp and pre-season? Encouraging.

 

Ed Oliver - Too small to play defensive tackle in the NFL? Not strong enough against the run at the point of attack? Won't be able to move massive NFL linemen? Yea, right. That was rookie phenomen and all pro guard (and he will be a perennial all pro for a long time) Quenton Nelson that had his hands full with Oliver last night. First game as a pro and Oliver was bringing it to one of the best in the business. Be excited Bills fans. This guy is going to be elite. While I am at it on the starting defensive line.... Shaq Lawson outplayed Trent Murphy for what it is worth. On early downs I want Shaq on the field.

 

Isaiah McKenzie - One of the most intruging roster battles is the one between McKenzie and Ray Ray McCloud for a job as the backup slot receiver, backup returner and primary gadget play guy. McCloud was out there plenty but only hauled in one catch from four targets whereas McKenzie was the Bills leading receiver on the night reeling in both his targets for 62 yards. Both players also had an audition as punt returners. McKenzie showed nice pop on one run in particular, McCloud had one return for -2 yards. If pre-season performances is a factor in this decision then McKenzie may have nosed ahead. I still maintain your 6th receiver is the winner of this contest. Book it.

 

Darryl Johnson - His college programme sounds like it has been made up by a video game publisher who didn't have the rights to use the names of real colleges.... but this kid is long, has a fast twitch and plays at 100 miles per hour. While his sack was against linemen who will likely be bagging groceries come September it was a timely reminder that he is in the mix for those last couple of roster spots.

 

Christian Wade - MY GUY! Okay so he almost didn't handle the hand off and the Colts defense parted like the red sea. But Wade demonstrated the agility, acceleration and top end speed that made him an international level rugby player. He still has a long road to make it as an NFL player, obviously, but that was such a cool moment and the Bills sideline reaction says a lot about who Wade is as a guy and the togetherness McDermott is able to foster. I was bouncing around my apartment with excitement. The neighbours already know the NFL is back!

 

 

Bad Night for...

 

Zay Jones - Five of Josh Allen's 11 throws were to Zay Jones. They resulted in 2 completions for 31 yards. That sounds familiar. Wasn't all on Zay but the pass down the seam at the 2 yard line was 100% on him. I would have a little more sympathy with Zay if he had caught the pass and it was knocked loose by the forearm to the throat that he took from the defender. But watch carefully. He had dropped it before the defender made contact. It was more of the same... fighting the football on what should be routine catches. Is his roster spot vulnerable? Probably not, but Cam Phillips brings a similar skill set and he is not going away.

 

Russell Bodine - Talking of going away..... Please for the love of God - Bodine be gone! With Morse's status questionable Bodine had a squeak of sticking on this roster as a specialist center insurance in case Feliciano and/or Long struggled. Then we started playing games again. And we all remembered that Russell Bodine sucks at football.

 

Devin Singletary - This one will be controversial. I don't really mean a bad night for Singletary... I mean a bad night for those fans (and there have been a lot of them) who think he is about to immediately usurp two future HoF backs and assume the starter job. When I evaluated Singletary pre-draft I saw a change of pace running back - a guy who could come in and move the chains on 3rd downs and would be able to make people miss in space. A sort of Gio Bernard type. What I didn't see was a guy who was ready to be an NFL lead back. And that was what I saw last night too. He lacks that explosive acceleration to beat NFL defenders to the edge, which we saw a couple of times last night, and lacks the size and power to make the play when a defender squares him up inside. Great vision, good in space with a decent change of direction and a shiftiness to find a crease on 3rd down. But 9 carries. 3 yards per pop. As an every down workhorse... he isn't there yet.

 

Tyree Jackson - So I think Jackson has always been a long shot to make this roster. But I thought he had a shot at a practice squad spot either here or elsewhere. Last night was not good tape to be putting out there for GMs to evaluate though. Inaccurate, messy feet, wasn't entirely convinced he knew all the plays.... seemed receivers were not running the routes he was throwing for.... ugly. Luckily for him he will get some more live bullets in the rest of what is to come to redeem himself. 

 

The bottom of the roster receivers - To me the receiver depth chart still looks like this: Brown, Beasley, Foster and Jones in some order and the McKenzie, McCloud and Phillips in the mix. The rest are not in this competion based on time with the 1st and 2nd units during the spring, during camp and then during last night's game. It was harder for Duke and Sills to make an impact given the fact that they were being thrown to by a poor Quarterback but they combined for zero catches from 3 targets and I didn't even notice Easley out there (though it was very late into the wee hours UK time by that stage). Those guys are all, to my mind, fighting for a shot at a spot on the pactice squad at this stage. 

 

There we are, my reflections on pre-season game 1... I'll be back next week. Let's hear your thoughts!

[CommonCents]

Thanks I didn’t get to see the game. It’s nice having a run down from a knowledgeable fan. 

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

I think Darryl Johnson is making this team.

[Philo]

Bodine and Yeldon decisively played themselves off the team last night, IMO. 

 

I really like Darryl Johnson's upside and think he may end up being too risky to try to stash on PS. 

 

Also, did Nick Easly play at all? I was hoping to see him out there and get a couple of looks but didn't notice him. 

[Canadian Bills Fan]

I thought Singletary had a great game and looked good

[Max Fischer]

Singletary looked very good in his first pre-season game and at this point I don’t think we could expect much more. 

[Commish]

Allen's second possession was pretty sharp - showing what he's working on. I really wish they'd let him throw some 70yd passes on the sideline before a game. He always seems to come on in his first possession way too hot on his throws - he should get that out of his arm before he comes on the field.

[MAJBobby]

Going to add a couple others. But more as entire position groups. I took the preseason pledge so I won’t watch multiple times to really watch players 

 

LBers - There is more quality depth here than I originally though. I really didn’t see any LBers out there that looked like they didn’t belong. It looks like there is some quality depth there. 

 

DBs - this by far is the deepest and best position group on this team. After this week and I do think will continue thru preseason there are going to be some hard choices in this position group.  And I think there are going to be players they may be able to get a pick for before cuts. 

 

Speaking of depth. I think for the first time in a long time there are going to be players that get cut from Bill and immediately find work in the NFL. And that is a testament to the depth this team is developing. There are still thin position groups but nothing like in years past. 

 

Sweeney flashed to me and that is a great sign. I hope he continues to build off it and take advantage of the opportunity the INJs are providing. Would be nice to come out of this Draft season with two Promising young TEs. 

 

Dabol reason I am putting him here is even with the Vanilla Offense it is nice to graduate into an NFL Offense. I know there are coaching objectives each preseason game. Things they absolutely want to do. Dabol seemed like he wanted to show Look We are no longer a 3 yard in a cloud of Dust team and it was refreshing. I hope it carries into the season. 

 

All and all it is is good to have football back. 

 

[CLTbills]

I like it. I'll say this.... do we have areas we can improve? Absolutely. However, this time is light-years ahead of last year's group. Our defense is going to be NASTY (Yes, I know Luck didn't play). Offense, while not KC Chiefs, will be efficient enough to score 24 points a game. With as good as our defense looked last night in their first outing, that will be plenty. 

 

Only really saw one bad throw from Josh, which was the one at Zay's feet on 3rd and I think 5. But he also threw a beauty that Zay dropped as well. I also saw some improvement from Josh as far as extending the play. Last year, when he felt pressure, he'd just tuck it and run. Last night, it seemed like he would use his feet to extend the play, but didn't just take off. He kept his eyes down field, looking for a receiver and the best thing was, when he didn't find one, he threw it away. 

[Canadian Bills Fan]

26 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

 

 

Bad Night for...

Devin Singletary - This one will be controversial. I don't really mean a bad night for Singletary... I mean a bad night for those fans (and there have been a lot of them) who think he is about to immediately usurp two future HoF backs and assume the starter job. When I evaluated Singletary pre-draft I saw a change of pace running back - a guy who could come in and move the chains on 3rd downs and would be able to make people miss in space. A sort of Gio Bernard type. What I didn't see was a guy who was ready to be an NFL lead back. And that was what I saw last night too. He lacks that explosive acceleration to beat NFL defenders to the edge, which we saw a couple of times last night, and lacks the size and power to make the play when a defender squares him up inside. Great vision, good in space with a decent change of direction and a shiftiness to find a crease on 3rd down. But 9 carries. 3 yards per pop. As an every down workhorse... he isn't there yet.

 

 

 

 

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/top-3-things-we-learned-from-bills-vs-colts-preseason-week-1

 

Quote

1. Singletary solid in debut

On a night when LeSean McCoy got the day off and Frank Gore got minimal work, rookie Devin Singletary had the opportunity to carry the load.

Suffice to say the player nicknamed ‘Motor’ was the engine for Buffalo’s offense on their first scoring drive.

Following a pair of one-yard carries late in the first quarter, Singletary was either handed the ball or the target on a pass play on seven of the first eight plays.

All the rookie back did was roll up 16 yards on four carries and 21 yards on three receptions. He also converted three of those seven plays into first downs including a 2nd-and-8 and a 3rd-and-1.

Singletary’s trademark elusiveness and ability to make positive gains in tight spaces were on display Thursday night.

“I feel like I did pretty good,” said Singletary. “All I really had to do was run. The line opened up some holes for me, so I just had to make some moves and get what I could get.”

 

Singletary made good decisions in finding creases in the run game, which was a staple of his skill set at Florida Atlantic. He also continued to demonstrate his capabilities in the passing game, despite not being asked to do much receiving out of the backfield in college.

In hearing that Frank Gore called him, ‘a natural,’ Singletary wasn’t going to disagree with a future Hall of Famer.

“Definitely coming from Frank that’s major,” said Singletary. “If he says I’m a natural, I guess I’m a natural.”

The scoring drive was finished off with a Matt Barkley touchdown pass to Cam Phillips, but Singletary accounted for 37 of the 46 yards on the scoring drive.

“It felt good to get back in the groove of things,” said Singletary. “I haven’t been in pads or played against an opponent since November so it was fun.”

More importantly, Singletary made a case for being a contributor to the offense despite sitting behind LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore on the running back depth chart.

“Overall, both in the run and the pass game I thought he did a good job,” said head coach Sean McDermott of Singletary. “Some of the things you look for is that it’s not too big for some of these young guys and he looked into the game and focused.”

 

 

[billsfan_34]

15 minutes ago, Philo Beddoe said:

Bodine and Yeldon decisively played themselves off the team last night, IMO. 

 

I really like Darryl Johnson's upside and think he may end up being too risky to try to stash on PS. 

 

Also, did Nick Easly play at all? I was hoping to see him out there and get a couple of looks but didn't notice him. 

Yeldon looked slow and indecisive 

[MAJBobby]

one Other thing. It was Nice of the Bills to show Singletary’s skills As a Receiver. I know he wasn’t asked to do it in college. But the talent is clearly there as the Bills said. 

[Canadian Bills Fan]

 

1 minute ago, billsfan_34 said:

Yeldon looked slow and indecisive 

 

 

I don't think Yeldon makes this team

[CLTbills]

Just now, Canadian Bills Fan said:

 

 

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/top-3-things-we-learned-from-bills-vs-colts-preseason-week-1

 

 

 

In all fairness, @GunnerBill didn't say that Singletary had a bad night. Just that he's not going to be the #1 back. He is NOT ahead of Shady or Gore based on his performance last night. He had a good performance, sure. But not elite.

Just now, Canadian Bills Fan said:

 

 

 

I don't think Yeldon makes this team

Yeah I'd have to agree. I know there are 3 more weeks, but as of right now, he's definitely the odd man out.

[MAJBobby]

3 minutes ago, CLTbills said:

In all fairness, @GunnerBill didn't say that Singletary had a bad night. Just that he's not going to be the #1 back. He is NOT ahead of Shady or Gore based on his performance last night. He had a good performance, sure. But not elite.

Yeah I'd have to agree. I know there are 3 more weeks, but as of right now, he's definitely the odd man out.

 

To me it has been and always will be Yeldon vs Singletary on who makes the roster. 

 

Same with Perry and Murphy.

 

the thing about it is I enjoyed the game because Perry does look like he can offer contributions at actual RB as well instead of just being a ST player. I always liked Murphy’s running style. But he is buried 

[CLTbills]

1 minute ago, MAJBobby said:

 

To me it has been and always will be Yeldon vs Singletary on who makes the roster. 

 

Same with Perry and Murphy.

 

the thing about it is I enjoyed the game because Perry does look like he can offer contributions at actual RB as well instead of just being a ST player. I always liked Murphy’s running style. But he is buried 

And if that's the case, I don't know how any reasonable person could say that Yeldon deserves the spot ahead of Singletary

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, CLTbills said:

In all fairness, @GunnerBill didn't say that Singletary had a bad night. Just that he's not going to be the #1 back. He is NOT ahead of Shady or Gore based on his performance last night. He had a good performance, sure. But not elite.

Yeah I'd have to agree. I know there are 3 more weeks, but as of right now, he's definitely the odd man out.

 

Yep - I thought Singletary had a good night as exactly what I think he is, certainly at this stage, which is a 3rd down back. It was a bad night for those who think he is about to become THE guy for this team. 

Just now, CLTbills said:

And if that's the case, I don't know how any reasonable person could say that Yeldon deserves the spot ahead of Singletary

 

I've said for months I don't think Yeldon will be on this team or that the team needs him.  He was security in case they didn't get a guy in the draft. 

[mead107]

I only saw the last 4 minutes.  Had a power outage. 

Like reading all the comments 

[Ittakestime]

Singletary is slow.  He's slippery but he doesn't have that immediate explosiveness to turn it into anything significant.

 

Bodine was fine.  People think its so easy to go from snapping to a 6'5 huge QB to a maybe 6'2 QB.  Bodine makes the run game better.

[CLTbills]

By the way..... Isn't it nice that all of our griping and discussion is about who should be the #3 and #4 RB's? Kind of nice for a change......