Loving Levi Wallace for his hustle - but -

[GunnerBill]

Just now, Mango said:

 

Gaines was hurt on August 4, 2019....the 8th day of camp.

 

 

Okay beaten out might be a stretch but Levi was getting all the starting reps.

[LABILLBACKER]

Taron and Levi are not the answer. I'm sorry but they don't pass the eyeball test. Having a healthy Norman would help but his age cannot be ignored. We are definitely drafting CB/DE early next April. Our 2nd best cover guy can't be a LB.

[Mango]

7 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Okay beaten out might be a stretch but Levi was getting all the starting reps.

 

I was like "who the eff remembers who was getting starting reps the first few days of camp a year ago". Well, it turns out you do. Ha! Well done sir! 



Found these from Leslie Frazier. He came into camp as the defacto starter since he finished 2018 : 

 

“He’s the incumbent starter, somebody has got to take it from him,” Frazier said to Wojton. 

“He’s the starter, whether there’s guys gaining on him or not. It matters, but it doesn’t matter. Levi’s the starter.” 

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

I was like "who the eff remembers who was getting starting reps the first few days of camp a year ago". Well, it turns out you do. Ha! Well done sir! 



Found these from Leslie Frazier. He came into camp as the defacto starter since he finished 2018 : 

 

“He’s the incumbent starter, somebody has got to take it from him,” Frazier said to Wojton. 

“He’s the starter, whether there’s guys gaining on him or not. It matters, but it doesn’t matter. Levi’s the starter.” 

 

It was that exact press conference from Frazier that popped into my head too.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

18 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Taron and Levi are not the answer. I'm sorry but they don't pass the eyeball test. Having a healthy Norman would help but his age cannot be ignored. We are definitely drafting CB/DE early next April. Our 2nd best cover guy can't be a LB.

 

Yeah - Taron hasn't been very impressive so far this year either.  He's there to tackle well on the underneath guys and they seem to be constantly leaking out for first downs.  

[John from Riverside]

If Norman ends up being better fine.....but this is who Wallace is.....he has some very good games and some bad ones

[LB48]

9 hours ago, QB Bills said:

Wallace sucks. Anyone who watched the games last season could see that. I would have much rather kept Kevin Johnson over this scrub, but it wasn't an either/or situation unfortunately. It sucks that he's out on the field again but like an earlier poster stated, it's encouraging that the Bills realized this and did try to upgrade with the Norman and Gaines signings.

 

McVay is going to pick on him relentlessly Sunday and it could get ugly. Hopefully McDermott has a plan for this.

I agree about Wallace.  There was a reason he wasn't drafted.  He will be picked on all season regardless of the LB's who play.

9 hours ago, Mango said:

 

Meh, hate is a strong word, sure they don't hate him. But Wallace was picked on quite a bit last year at CB2. They were so not thrilled with his play that they didn't just bring in one guy to replace him, they brought in 2. Wallace isn't supposed to be starting, he should be CB4 when it comes to playing on the outside in this defense with both Norman and Gaines in front of him on the depth chart.
 

He's definitely a CB4

[LB48]

8 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Taron and Levi are not the answer. I'm sorry but they don't pass the eyeball test. Having a healthy Norman would help but his age cannot be ignored. We are definitely drafting CB/DE early next April. Our 2nd best cover guy can't be a LB.

I feel the same about the eyeball test.  They are a step slow and don't read patterns well. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 9/22/2020 at 2:20 AM, LB48 said:

Why not comment on the post rather than the poster?

he's afraid or feels insecure in the situation and by making the negative comments he makes himself feel better or more in control of the situation. - he's using the negative comments about the other person to make you not believe anything the other person has said or done.

So true!!

 

Why not respond to the people asking you the legitimate follow-on question: trade who or what, and for whom, instead of focusing on the personal comments?

 

Everybody wants an elite NFL game-ready corner with burner speed.  You propose to replace Wallace with a player we trade for.

 

Very well.  For whom do you propose we trade?  Who or what do you propose we trade for that individual?  What will be the trade partner's motivation at this point?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/analysis-why-bills-cornerback-levi-wallace-struggled-against-dolphins/article_d03fd65c-fcec-11ea-9e3b-639cb9990119.html

 

Mark Gaughan article on Levi's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day. 

May be paywalled depending upon how many articles you've read; may be able to read with private browser

 

Key points:

1) Wallace is smart, assignment sound and tough in run support.  He's a good fit for a zone-heavy defensive scheme

2) He does not possess high-end speed.

3) Wallace protects deep at the expense of some underneath throws. He played a lot of off coverage in blitz situations and gave up a bunch of underneath completions

 

Frazier talks as though Wallace can control his fate and avoid being picked on by making plays.  I kind of lean towards the notion that he shades his coverage to avoid giving up the big play - which may be how he's being coached - but then lacks the burner speed to close and make the plays he gives up underneath. 

 

Gaughan alludes to, but did not state, one key reason why Fitzpatrick was able to target Wallace so well: Gailey and Fitzpatrick correctly diagnosed a weakness at halftime.  The Bills rely on confusing opposing QBs and disguising their coverages, but being the wily vet that he is Fitzpatrick is like "yeah, yeah, seen that, gonna do this".

 

One reason the outcome might be different against the Rams: 1) they don't see our defense that regularly 2) Goff is no Ryan Fitzpatrick.  IMHO NE made the Rams into the Lambs two seasons ago by confusing the hell out of Goff.  Maybe he learned something last season or during this off season, I haven't done a deep dive, but at the high level he threw about 30% more INTs and 30% fewer TDs than 2018, and I think one reason is that opposing DC's figured out they could confuse him if the rushing game wasn't world class.

 

So far this season they look to have a better run game, but I'm unclear on the quality of Dallas and the Iggles run D this year.

 

Anyway, I hope under his cap, Frazier has a better plan than just telling Wallace "make some plays and they won't kick sand in your face and steal your lunch money"

 

I sure do hope we get at least one of Milano and Edmunds back.

[mjt328]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:55 AM, Rochesterfan said:

Not sure he is late, I believe he is a better Zone than Man Corner and he plays as the Bills expect - keep the guy in front of you and make the tackle.

 

The problem is he gets exposed by QBs that aren’t afraid of tight windows.  A guy like Fitz isn’t scared to go after a CB like Tre’ and has no qualms about a guy like Wallace - who even with good coverage is more focused on making sure he gets his man to the ground rather than jumping a route.

 

Wallace seems much more comfortable when he can play zone - see the QB and the WR and knows he has safety help over the top.  With the Milano and Edmunds injuries and Fitz attacking the middle of the field with zone coverage - it pulled the safeties into coverage there.  Then when the Bills would throw a wrinkle and go man - Fitz was unfazed - even with pressure- and attacked the outside - sometimes it was Tre, but many times it was Wallace.

 

I get people wanting him to be better, but the dude balls as much as he can, makes solid tackles, and is a solid CB - he just is not Tre White and therefore is going to face a lot of throws.  Fitz attacked Wallace with several throws where Wallace was right there - Darnold was to scared to make those throws or tried to finesse them and was off target.  It is a huge difference between those 2 QBs.

 

Great post, and explanation of how all the pieces of a defense work together.

 

Levi Wallace may be our weakest starting defender.  But is still usually a solid corner when compared to other DBs around the league.

Sunday's game was a combination of factors, which allowed Miami to go after him.

 

 

[wjag]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Why not respond to the people asking you the legitimate follow-on question: trade who or what, and for whom, instead of focusing on the personal comments?

 

Everybody wants an elite NFL game-ready corner with burner speed.  You propose to replace Wallace with a player we trade for.

 

Very well.  For whom do you propose we trade?  Who or what do you propose we trade for that individual?  What will be the trade partner's motivation at this point?

 

I'm not saying it will happen, I'm just saying unexpected things can happen.  I give you exhibit A of one team trading literally nothing for a starting CB.

Of course it helps to be the Ravens too. 🙂 

 

The Ravens acquired two-time All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters from the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday in exchange for linebacker Kenny Young and a reported fifth-round draft pick in 2020. 

[ILBillsfan]

On 9/22/2020 at 10:14 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

Exactly this. Taking Edmunds out necessarily changes the way we play defense. I haven't had a chance to review the all 22 yet - I will start on it tonight - but the adjustment it seemed off the tv angle that the Bills made was to send pressure with blitzes more often in the hope of rushing Fitz's process and affecting his accuracy. It didn't really work and to be honest I am not sure that is the way I'd have gone. We all know from Fitz's time here he enjoys being blitzed because he is smart, knows where his hots are and gets the ball out quick. I think as a result those intermediate spots that are always there in zone heavy schemes but that Edmunds usually seems to opposing QBs to have covered just through his length were open. It meant more throws went into that area of the field and, at the same time, the Bills were less able to spare a safety to shade over to Levi's side.

 

This is 100% spot on.....When Fitz was here the line enjoyed Fitz getting the ball out extremely quick and iirc he was prob one of the least sacked QB's that year.  Very hard to get sacks on Fitz with his quick release.  And if the Bills were attacking with the Blitz (didn't seem like many times to me though)   They certainly gave soft overages for most of the game and I was surprised with the talk of Parker and the hammy concern

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 hours ago, wjag said:

 

I'm not saying it will happen, I'm just saying unexpected things can happen.  I give you exhibit A of one team trading literally nothing for a starting CB.

Of course it helps to be the Ravens too. 🙂 

 

The Ravens acquired two-time All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters from the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday in exchange for linebacker Kenny Young and a reported fifth-round draft pick in 2020. 

 

And Peters arguably made a huge difference to their defense and their season.

 

But who is there available in that class, and what would the team want for him?

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I feel like expectations are too high re Wallace. It’s not that easy or cheap to get two Elite CB’s. Having 1 elite guy and then a collection of a few serviceable guys seems to be more of the norm.