Nfl pass protection index via the Athletic

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

I just pulled this up on the Athetic and if you had to guess where would you say they ranked us among 32 teams..

 

We are number 30 and I’m trying to relay for those who can’t access.

 

 

 

BUFFALO BILLS

WEEK 1-3 PASS PROTECTION

SACKS 4

3 (this is again a rank which is good as we have allowed only four sacks)

 

SACK%3.0

1

PRESSURES 49

1

PRESSURE% 35.3

30

“Josh Allen must be a wizard.

The Bills are 2-1 even though guard Cody Ford produced the single worst game of the season with 11 pressures allowed in Buffalo’s loss to Pittsburgh. So it figures Ford is tied for the league lead with 16 pressures.

It’s come from several directions as well, with guard Jon Feliciano (11), tackle Daryl Williams (10) and tackle Dion Williams (nine) being far too porous for the Bills. Center Mitch Morse shouldn’t be praised for having only six pressures.

All of that, and Allen has only been sacked four times.”

 

[LabattBlue]

Kind of what I suspect.  Protection has been below average, and Allen’s mobility has bailed them out 

[CorkScrewHill]

13 minutes ago, BTB said:

Kind of what I suspect.  Protection has been below average, and Allen’s mobility has bailed them out 

His mobility and his spider sense .. 10 times a game it seems I am like oh #$#$ he doesn't see the pressure  .. and he senses it somehow and avoids .. it is really remarkable.

[Inigo Montoya]

10 minutes ago, BTB said:

Kind of what I suspect.  Protection has been below average, and Allen’s mobility has bailed them out 

 

You're exactly right BTB.  If it wasn't for Josh's ability to slide around the pocket and roll out of the pocket and still deliver strikes, the Bills offense would be dead in the water.  

 

Daboll needs to stay in 11 personel and continue to swing Knox or Gilliam into the backfield to provide and extra blocker for Josh along with the RB.  The O-line just isn't playing very well right now.  I'm not sure what the answer is, but if Ford and Feliciano continue to play like this, I suspect we're going to end up starting a 6'8" rookie guard at some point this season.

[BubbaT]

Do we have a tackle named Dion Williams? Does this affect the credibility of this report?

 

Anyway, the O line, in my opinion, is the weakest group on this team. They do "okay" but nothing more than that. I'm hoping for an upgrade next offseason in both draft and FA.

 

 

 

[colin]

i presume we can run block decently, but we need to execute that and mix it in, because for how we played last year and how we played vs pittz, our oline is simply a liablity.  makes sense whey they drafted three guys this offseason for it.  there is just not enough talent there right now.

[RoyBatty is alive]

26 minutes ago, BTB said:

Kind of what I suspect.  Protection has been below average, and Allen’s mobility has bailed them out 

And his throwing passes away (lowering his % completion).

[TheyCallMeAndy]

17 minutes ago, CorkScrewHill said:

His mobility and his spider sense .. 10 times a game it seems I am like oh #$#$ he doesn't see the pressure  .. and he senses it somehow and avoids .. it is really remarkable.

Good ol’ Peter tickle.

 

Joshy Tickle? 

[hondo in seattle]

While some folks were talking about OL continuity during the offseason, I was thinking about acquisition.

 

Beane's doing a great job overall but I had really hoped that he would upgrade the offensive line.  

 

This line is a bunch of journeymen that aren't good at pass pro and - based on what we saw last year - even worse at run blocking.

 

I'm with BubbaT and really hope we upgrade the line next year.

 

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I've heard people say that Spencer Brown is too tall at 6'8" to play guard.  I don't know if that's true or not.  Robert Gallery is 6'8" and he's a hell of a guard.  The issue is that most really big guys just aren't very nimble or athletic, their massive size is their calling card.  If I recall correctly, Brown had a SPARQ score that was off the charts. He has rare athleticism for a man who is 6'8" and 311 lbs. 

 

Because Brown is so agile, it might be tough for d-linemen to get underneath him and get him going backwards, which has always been the knock against tall guards.  Brown may end up being  the rare big man who can play guard well because of his athleticism.

 

Brown is blowing people up on running plays when brought in as an extra linemen.  I think if he can show some pass blocking chops in practice as the season goes on, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the starting five at guard before Thanksgiving. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

16 minutes ago, BubbaT said:

Do we have a tackle named Dion Williams? Does this affect the credibility of this report?

 

Anyway, the O line, in my opinion, is the weakest group on this team. They do "okay" but nothing more than that. I'm hoping for an upgrade next offseason in both draft and FA.

 

 

 

3 of the 5 were down right awesome against Washington, Mongo was solid. Ford has had his moments but has also been wildly inconsistent 

[Rubes]

19 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

You're exactly right BTB.  If it wasn't for Josh's ability to slide around the pocket and roll out of the pocket and still deliver strikes, the Bills offense would be dead in the water.  

 

Daboll needs to stay in 11 personel and continue to swing Knox or Gilliam into the backfield to provide and extra blocker for Josh along with the RB.  The O-line just isn't playing very well right now.  I'm not sure what the answer is, but if Ford and Feliciano continue to play like this, I suspect we're going to end up starting a 6'8" rookie guard at some point this season.

 

Guess we'll find out, since Feliciano is out this week...

 

[LABILLBACKER]

33 minutes ago, BTB said:

Kind of what I suspect.  Protection has been below average, and Allen’s mobility has bailed them out 

Yes it has and on top of that our OL for the most part is underwhelming on run blocking.  Aside from Dawkins,  I think the rest need to be reevaluated next season. It's almost like Josh knows Daryl's going to get beat so he steps up and to his right. Which might work out in a backwards way. 

2 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I've heard people say that Spencer Brown is too tall at 6'8" to play guard.  I don't know if that's true or not.  Robert Gallery is 6'8" and he's a hell of a guard.  The issue is that most really big guys just aren't very nimble or athletic, their massive size is their calling card.  If I recall correctly, Brown had a SPARQ score that was off the charts. He has rare athleticism for a man who is 6'8" and 311 lbs. 

 

Because Brown is so agile, it might be tough for d-linemen to get underneath him and get him going backwards, which has always been the knock against tall guards.  Brown may end up being  the rare big man who can play guard well because of his athleticism.

 

Brown is blowing people up on running plays when brought in as an extra linemen.  I think if he can show some pass blocking chops in practice as the season goes on, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the starting five at guard before Thanksgiving. 

Both of WFT's Guards were very tall. And we barely put a hand on Heinicke. 

[MJS]

5 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

While some folks were talking about OL continuity during the offseason, I was thinking about acquisition.

 

Beane's doing a great job overall but I had really hoped that he would upgrade the offensive line.  

 

This line is a bunch of journeymen that aren't good at pass pro and - based on what we saw last year - even worse at run blocking.

 

I'm with BubbaT and really hope we upgrade the line next year.

Unless you have a boat load of money and draft picks (which the Bills don't), it's going to take some time. We have a bunch of average starters, some of them maybe below average. It gets the job done often, and sometimes it doesn't.

 

Beane has been excellent at building depth on the line, though, so when someone comes in it isn't a huge dropoff. Over time by developing draft picks and making shrewd pickups in free agency the line should get better. But it is a multi-year project, and even then you have to start replacing players that leave or get old, so the job is never going to be done on the oline.

 

What we need is one elite guy on the line to anchor it and then fill in the pieces around him. Right now we don't have that. Dawkins is above average. Morse is maybe a little above average. But they aren't even close to being elite. The rest are below average or worse, but at least lower end starting caliber players.

[Alphadawg7]

30 minutes ago, CorkScrewHill said:

His mobility and his spider sense .. 10 times a game it seems I am like oh #$#$ he doesn't see the pressure  .. and he senses it somehow and avoids .. it is really remarkable.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean.  The line has been terrible IMO, and Allen has been quite remarkable in how he avoids the pressure, including making guys like Chase Young look silly after he beats our OL to Josh and he somehow senses it and just easily slips right by him with ease.  

[JESSEFEFFER]

Often times, mobile QBs who have an affinity to extend plays end up making an OL look bad.  Big Ben did that in his prime.  I remember Mike Vick with the Eagles complaining about the nature of the hits he was taking.  My thought was that small, indecisive and unaware was no way to play QB in the NFL.  Sort of the Dean Woermer take about going through like fat, drunk and stupid.

 

Josh is big, aware and decisive and it masks many of the mistakes the line has been making.  It's rare to see him take a blindside hit. TJ Watt got him in game 1, I can't think of another.  One unblocked defender is rarely enough to get him down.  Sometimes 3 can't.  Makes me think that the problems they had with the Chiefs last year were more about what was happening downfield than about Josh being under duress.  Our receivers were injured and could not get open when physically challenged.

[Bangarang]

It’s actually pretty surprising how consistently bad Ford continues to be. 

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

The data at face value gives the o-line a poor performance evaluation.  One significant contributing factor is the length of time that Josh Allen holds the ball.  Another factor is the type of routes that are being run.  The Bills don't run a quick pass offense and the teams that do don't give up as many sacks and pressures, thus making their o-line stats look much better.  Could the Buffalo o-line play better?  Certainly they can but it is not the dire catastrophe that the "sky is falling crowd" purports it to be.  A simple one dimensional review of statistics rarely gives the total story.

 

Until the Bills establish a legitimate running game, defenses will continue to disregard run defense and will strictly focus on rushing the passer.  This puts the o-line at a distinct disadvantage.

[Kelly the Dog]

I know they don’t plan it this way, and would prefer not to suck, but the extraordinary way Josh handles the rush, the Bills can excel the way they are playing. I mentioned this in my BuffNews fan article this week. 
 

Allen easily makes the first guy miss almost every time. He gets in trouble when he eludes one guy and the second surprises him from behind. Or he blindly eludes one and turns into a second (which is really the same thing). 
 

This talent of Josh’s is literally on the same level as his arm talent. It’s insane how easily and often he does it and makes it look. 
 

If only one guy is getting beat we are fine. When the jailbreaks come we will be in trouble. 

[billybrew1]

I don't think 30.... The Pittsburgh game was Abysmal. They really cleaned it up vs. Miami although there was often one guy coming in on Josh to little effect (because Josh ditched him) and then Ford got killed vs. Washington.

 

No way were second from the last....

 

Though we will be drafting two interior OL next season, one in the 2nd round.