Taron Johnson struggling in man coverage due to more Single High Safety pressures(Cover1 Video)

[Big Turk]

Taron Johnson has been getting beat a lot more than usual this year it seems.  Cover1 has a pretty good breakdown as to why.

 

Bills are asking him to play more man coverage this year and he has been struggling with it at times, especially on slot fades to the outside where he gets out-leveraged many times. However, he has still been very good on run plays and in zone defense, being credited with 12 stops and has been very good at tracking the ball carrier and making plays on them in space. 

 

Bills pass D in general seems to be struggling and it seems Frazier has been trying different things to try and get it fixed, but so far nothing has helped. Leaving Johnson in man coverage more often doesn't seem to be the answer from this.

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Big Turk

[TH3]

Huh

[H2o]

So, Taron is a better defender when he is in Zone coverage? Or is it when he's in Man, but has a chance to jam the defender at the line? Or is it when the Bills don't have a Safety in the box? The guy kept showing reps with a single high Safety, but gave different excuses. 

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, I am the egg man said:

What is this? 
 

Another Big Turk knows best and shows(pastes) his work.

 

Refreshing.

 

No need to read them if they bother you so much. 

 

Don't think it's been a mystery to anyone watching games that Johnson seems to be getting beat/picked on a lot more than usual this year, it's interesting to see why that is.  

 

Not sure how bringing attention to a Cover1 video has anything to do with me, but that's an interesting, if not refreshing take.

[US Egg]

What is this? 
 

Yet another Big Turk knows best and shows(pastes) his work thread.

 

Refreshing.

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

No need to read them if they bother you so much. 

 

Don't think it's been a mystery to anyone watching games that Johnson seems to be getting beat/picked on a lot more than usual this year, it's interesting to see why that is.  

 

Not sure how bringing attention to a Cover1 video has anything to do with me, but that's an interesting, if not refreshing take.

I miss your restaurant criticisms.

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, H2o said:

So, Taron is a better defender when he is in Zone coverage? Or is it when he's in Man, but has a chance to jam the defender at the line? Or is it when the Bills don't have a Safety in the box? The guy kept showing reps with a single high Safety, but gave different excuses. 

 

It appears to be that way.  Bills defense has seemingly played a lot more single high safety this year for various reasons since Hyde has been out, which forces Johnson into more man coverage.  They also have been poor at switching off on receivers(Banjo) on plays where receivers criss cross/run picks near the line, probably due to some growing pains for the rooks(Benford and Elam), which ends up leaving guys open too often as well.  

 

It's probably some combination of all of those to be honest.  They are showing reps of a lot of different scenarios, but the one constant seems to be he has not been as effective in man coverage and that he is being asked to play a lot more of it this year than in years past.

5 minutes ago, I am the egg man said:

I miss your restaurant criticisms.

 

I'll make sure to let you know the next time I have eggs somewhere so you can check it out 😉

[Bruffalo]

7 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

No need to read them if they bother you so much. 

 

Don't think it's been a mystery to anyone watching games that Johnson seems to be getting beat/picked on a lot more than usual this year, it's interesting to see why that is.  

 

Not sure how bringing attention to a Cover1 video has anything to do with me, but that's an interesting, if not refreshing take.

I've gotten a lot of flak for saying this.  In this week's game thread someone was trying to argue with me that Johnson has been our best secondary player. 

 

He's been bad and a lot of fans don't want to admit it.  

[Big Turk]

2 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

I've gotten a lot of flak for saying this.  In this week's game thread someone was trying to argue with me that Johnson has been our best secondary player. 

 

He's been bad and a lot of fans don't want to admit it.  

 

He has been bad in certain things, but very good in others.  I don't think it's fair to say he has been terrible across the board.  In man coverage, sure...he hasn't been good. That's been noticeable.  But he HAS been good on run defense for the most part, and in making plays in space on players. Zone coverage as well.  He was the player that made the play against Mahomes to end the game.  Seems to always have a knack for making big plays in key moments/big games.  KC game this year, Ravens game in the playoffs, Steelers game right before the half where it swung the game to the Bills favor with a pick 6,etc...

 

 

[Buffalo Junction]

7 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

It appears to be that way.  Bills defense has seemingly played a lot more single high safety this year for various reasons since Hyde has been out, which forces Johnson into more man coverage.  They also have been poor at switching off on receivers(Banjo) on plays where receivers criss cross/run picks near the line, probably due to some growing pains for the rooks(Benford and Elam), which ends up leaving guys open too often as well.  

 

It's probably some combination of all of those to be honest.  They are showing reps of a lot of different scenarios, but the one constant seems to be he has not been as effective in man coverage and that he is being asked to play a lot more of it this year than in years past.

 

I'll make sure to let you know the next time I have eggs somewhere so you can check it out 😉

Teams have also been isolating him with their better receivers when running RPO’s. It’s been exploiting the coverage scheme and the run defense scheme, and Johnson’s lack of size. The past few weeks that’s been amplified by the injuries around him. Without Edmunds and Rousseau in the game Johnson has added pressure in run support and he’s been caught peeking in the backfield too long. 

[Patrick Duffy]

When both your players at S position that are one of the best in the league, if not the best and have been missing majority of the time then it tends to impact the secondary. Expected them to struggle some

[Big Turk]

14 minutes ago, Patrick Duffy said:

When both your players at S position that are one of the best in the league, if not the best and have been missing majority of the time then it tends to impact the secondary. Expected them to struggle some

 

Also likely a lot of "copy catting" going on by teams...once a team finds a real or even perceived weakness, other teams will then try and exploit it until it's shown that you have an answer for it or that it is no longer a weakness.  Bills haven't done this and as such, teams continue to attack it.

[Patrick Duffy]

5 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Also likely a lot of "copy catting" going on by teams...once a team finds a real or even perceived weakness, other teams will then try and exploit it until it's shown that you have an answer for it or that it is no longer a weakness.  Bills haven't done this and as such, teams continue to attack it.

Maybe so, but I'd guess 2 of best S's out could probably be the biggest reason.

 

Also while TJ has had some ups and downs, I think he's been solid considering the situation. The main one struggling the most is Dane Jackson imo

[Malazan]

A healthy Hyde and Poyer are likely the fix. 

[Virgil]

We've been a much worse defense since Frazier started to blitz more.  Teams just pick our guys apart when they are left on an island.  I don't understand why we've made this adjustment. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

The whole of the defense is greater than the sum of it parts. 
 

Taron looks a lot better with Hyde, Poyer Tre’D, Tremaine, Milano and a d line doing their thing. 
 

Without most of the above, it gets a lot harder. 

[MJS]

It is all just a trickle down effect of the injuries. Tre White was out, which made Dane Jackson our #1. Hyde and Poyer have been out/hurt, which puts more backups on the field. Elam and Benford have been hurt, forcing even more backups on the field. Edmunds and Milano have taken turns missing games, putting more backups and more stress on the passing defense. And pass rushers have been hurt, which puts even more stress because the secondary has to cover for longer.

 

This leads to the coaches trying to scheme differently to cover all the new player deficiencies and also the backups are not capable of doing all the things the starters are, and that eventually trickles down to Johnson having to account for a lot more and is asked to do a lot more, such as more man coverage and less help from the linebackers and safeties.

 

Even one injury to a starter has a trickle down effect on all the other positions. If half the starters are out, that ripple effect is compounded each time. You can only do so much to cover it up. Backups are backups for a reason. Good depth is nice, nut not when half of your defensive depth is now asked to start.

 

Really, we just need to get the defense healthy and all this stuff will fix itself.

[Patrick Duffy]

28 minutes ago, Malazan said:

A healthy Hyde and Poyer are likely the fix. 

 

No likely to it lol. Definitely would be the fix. Hope Poyer stys healthy rest of the season. Hope all goes well to where Hyde has a shot to get back sometime in the playoffs

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

12 minutes ago, Virgil said:

We've been a much worse defense since Frazier started to blitz more.  Teams just pick our guys apart when they are left on an island.  I don't understand why we've made this adjustment. 

My guess is B squad that makes up the majority of the coverage unit lately just can’t execute the regular zone scheme as well. 

[Big Turk]

22 minutes ago, Virgil said:

We've been a much worse defense since Frazier started to blitz more.  Teams just pick our guys apart when they are left on an island.  I don't understand why we've made this adjustment. 

 

Probably because the rookies/backups are getting exposed when the QB has more time?

[ColoradoBills]

21 minutes ago, MJS said:

It is all just a trickle down effect of the injuries. Tre White was out, which made Dane Jackson our #1. Hyde and Poyer have been out/hurt, which puts more backups on the field. Elam and Benford have been hurt, forcing even more backups on the field. Edmunds and Milano have taken turns missing games, putting more backups and more stress on the passing defense. And pass rushers have been hurt, which puts even more stress because the secondary has to cover for longer.

 

This leads to the coaches trying to scheme differently to cover all the new player deficiencies and also the backups are not capable of doing all the things the starters are, and that eventually trickles down to Johnson having to account for a lot more and is asked to do a lot more, such as more man coverage and less help from the linebackers and safeties.

 

Even one injury to a starter has a trickle down effect on all the other positions. If half the starters are out, that ripple effect is compounded each time. You can only do so much to cover it up. Backups are backups for a reason. Good depth is nice, nut not when half of your defensive depth is now asked to start.

 

Really, we just need to get the defense healthy and all this stuff will fix itself.

 

Well said and it's how I feel too.  Not to mention an illness in the building and a lot of missed practices.

The guys need to get through the game tomorrow with a win and then the 10 days before the next game will be great.