Dion Dawkins one of only 5 NFL players with pass blocking grade over 75 each of the last 5 seasons according to PFF

[Big Turk]

He is in some pretty elite company there...easy to see why Beane extended him.

 

 

https://billswire.usatoday.com/2022/06/01/buffalo-bills-dion-dawkins-pro-football-focus/

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

And he is a really awesome person too. Does so much for the community. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

I thought he played his best football after coming back from his second bout of COVID.  He was amazing the last quarter of the season and in the playoffs.

[Brand J]

Outside of the beginning of this season when he was coming back from Covid, his play at LT has been great. And there are still some here who want to move him inside to guard 🙄

[GunnerBill]

3 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

Outside of the beginning of this season when he was coming back from Covid, his play at LT has been great. And there are still some here who want to move him inside to guard 🙄

 

Nobody wants to move Dion inside to guard because of a Dion issue. It was in the spirit of early draft discussions where maybe one of the top tackles fell to #24. The point was on a team where the biggest weakness last year was the offensive line you can't pass up an elite tackle prospect because you have Dion and Spencer Brown. You take the tackle and then work out who plays where afterwards. And Dion has been a really good left tackle. He has outperformed my expectations for him as a tackle tbh. I thought he'd be solid but not a top 10 guy and he has been a top 10 guy. But I still maintain he'd have been an elite NFL guard. I am talking like Zack Martin, perennial all-pro level good. So if you had taken a tackle Dion going inside was an option. 

 

The point was quickly moot because in a weak top half of the first round the tackles all got pushed up. 

[H2o]

He had a rough stretch last year, but he's definitely been the the best and most consistent player on our OL since entering the league. Hoping a full, healthy offseason and the addition of Saffold makes his play look even better. 

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, H2o said:

He had a rough stretch last year, but he's definitely been the the best and most consistent player on our OL since entering the league. Hoping a full, healthy offseason and the addition of Saffold makes his play look even better. 

 

Yea he had a disappointing 2nd year and struggled badly the first half of last season (for which there may have been genuine extenuating circumstances) but he is one of the best players on the Bills when he is at his peak and he is definitely the most important cog on the oline. 

 

As for Saffold making him better.... I think he will help in the run game. He might even hinder in pass pro though. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

He’s been very consistent. Last year seemed to be a turning point for him. After the poor Covid start he actually raised his game to a new level. He was a top ten LT down the stretch last year. I’m interested to see if he can continue that play.

[DJB]

So we like PFF again or? 

[Matt_In_NH]

11 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

He’s been very consistent. Last year seemed to be a turning point for him. After the poor Covid start he actually raised his game to a new level. He was a top ten LT down the stretch last year. I’m interested to see if he can continue that play.

  

He was terrible for a while at the beginning of last year and I agree he turned it around.   I was surprised he made the Pro Bowl but I also do not sit there and grade every lineman on every play and since this was his first pro bowl election (meaning, not a repeat name that happens with the PB often), I tend to believe he earned it.   the QB sneak at the end of the Tenn game is hard to forget though...when the tackle gets his azz blown into the QB...never remember seeing that before.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Just now, DJB said:

So we like PFF again or? 

PFF is good data, it’s just not perfect. Their data is all subjective. 2 people can look at the same play and have a different opinion.

 

I try to compare their data with what I see and typically it’s pretty close. Sometimes it’s been way off. 
 

 

5 minutes ago, 13 Second Prevent Defense said:

  

He was terrible for a while at the beginning of last year and I agree he turned it around.   I was surprised he made the Pro Bowl but I also do not sit there and grade every lineman on every play and since this was his first pro bowl election (meaning, not a repeat name that happens with the PB often), I tend to believe he earned it.   the QB sneak at the end of the Tenn game is hard to forget though...when the tackle gets his azz blown into the QB...never remember seeing that before.

That QB sneak play Dawkins had no chance. Honestly that is on Allen. You have a top 5 DT sitting right in the hole you want to sneak and your OT has to reach him? No chance.  Allen has to see that and sneak right. But he pretty much always sneaks in the same spot.

[machine gun kelly]

He was overcoming COVID for awhile, and he didn’t just have it, he was hospitalized and had to receive oxygen, so pretty bad.  Once he was in a rhythm, he made it back to form.  We are fortunate to have him as our franchise LT.  I read from GB Saffold, but I also see Saffold along with Morse and Dawkins as veterans as really helping the development of Spencer Brown.  He mailed people last year, but this year, he hopefully refines his RT skills.  He should take a step this year.  Bates may also improve from Saffold’s mentorship.

[Matt_In_NH]

6 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Honestly that is on Allen.

I disagree, Dawkins butt made tackled Allen...Simmons kicked his butt on that play.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by 13 Second Prevent Defense

[Buffalo_Stampede]

10 minutes ago, 13 Second Prevent Defense said:

I disagree, Dawkins butt made tackled Allen...Simmons kicked his butt on that play.

 

 

Allen has a tendency to sneak over the LG. The Titans obviously knew that. Bills OL was out numbered based on alignment. If Allen sneaks right he might score.

 

Let me also add Feliciano gets rolled by our new NT DaQuan Jones. I never saw that before. 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by Buffalo_Stampede

[GunnerBill]

9 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

PFF is good data, it’s just not perfect. Their data is all subjective. 2 people can look at the same play and have a different opinion.

 

I try to compare their data with what I see and typically it’s pretty close. Sometimes it’s been way off. 
 

 

This is exactly how I see their grades too. They are usually pretty close to the eye test but they are not perfect and there are some flaws in their system. 

[H2o]

20 minutes ago, DJB said:

So we like PFF again or? 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

7 minutes ago, H2o said:

Give me an example of something you disagree with?

[Big Turk]

3 hours ago, H2o said:

He had a rough stretch last year, but he's definitely been the the best and most consistent player on our OL since entering the league. Hoping a full, healthy offseason and the addition of Saffold makes his play look even better. 

 

Yeah, coming back from COVID which really hit him hard he took a while to round back into shape. He lost a lot of weight and said he didn't even know if he was going to make it.

[H2o]

13 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Give me an example of something you disagree with?

My disdain for PFF has been known on this board for years. They manufacture metrics based off of their own skewed views about players. They downgrade or upgrade because of their own personal opinions. They will also beat that dead horse into the ground to push that skewed view until it becomes an impossible narrative to maintain any longer. The real kicker for me personally though? I watched a video they put together after the draft in 2018 (pretty sure it was 2018, but could have been 2019) where they were doing a breakdown of many of the teams' draft picks. The two clowns in the video had the audacity to claim "you can tell which teams FO's were going by our PFF Draft Guide by their selections" because it was supposed to be some kind of draft bible in the hands of every NFL GM. They're idiots.  

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

I stopped at PFF