The Bills have a Tre White problem

[BADOLBILZ]

10 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Unrelated point, but I noticed that the Cincy corners were pounding Bills receivers at the line and in a way that could have been called a penalty (hands to face, etc.). KC did it to the Bills in 2020, and then TB did it KC in the SB. The holds and PIs get called in the playoffs, albeit at a lower rate, but the stuff that happens at the line seems to never get called once the playoffs roll around. Playing zone off coverage like the Bills always do -- giving free releases to the likes of Tyreek Hill, Waddle (who if he had a better QB and better hands should have had over 150 yards receiving), and Chase -- seems to me a bad strategy for the postseason. Either that or they have no faith that their CBs can keep up. Point is, their scheme is dubious in the postseason vs. good QBs. It works against running qbs in wind games (Lamar Jackson), but that's never going to be the norm. I mean, Philip Rivers, who couldn't throw the ball 40 yards in the air by that point, absolutely carved them up in the postseason. And the Pats simply had terrible receivers last year with a weak-armed QB. Versus Burrow and Mahomes, forget about it. I think they'd also struggle in the postseason vs. Herbert and Lawrence if they insist on predominantly playing off. 

 

 

The officials clearly had a mandate to allow a lot more physicality in the secondary this season.    I thought the Bills decision to go with Elam in round 1 was a clear, shortsighted over-investment for a zone based defense.......until I saw how physical the officials were allowing DB's to play once the season started.    Allowing illegal contact/holding/PI makes man coverage a much safer option.    It's been an under-discussed point about this season.   Sauce Gardner in particular had an All Pro type season doing things that would have had him flagged relentlessly in 2020.   

 

[dave mcbride]

3 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The officials clearly had a mandate to allow a lot more physicality in the secondary this season.    I thought the Bills decision to go with Elam in round 1 was a clear, shortsighted over-investment for a zone based defense.......until I saw how physical the officials were allowing DB's to play once the season started.    Allowing illegal contact/holding/PI makes man coverage a much safer option.    It's been an under-discussed point about this season.   Sauce Gardner in particular had an All Pro type season doing things that would have had him flagged relentlessly in 2020.   

 

This whole thing got me thinking. With regard to 13 seconds, there was a very simple solution that I'm pretty sure would have worked, and the Bills did the opposite of it. Rush 3, match up 4 DBs at the line vs. the KC receivers in press, have 4 behind them to clean up if anyone breaks through, and HOLD, HOLD, HOLD in the most obvious ways against every receiver for 2 plays. That eats up 10 seconds and forces a hail mary from their own 35. Given that I'm thinking of this makes me really wonder about the Bills' coaching in situations like that.

[BIGFOOTspaceman]

Bills have a losing in the playoffs problem....stems from coaching.  Tre will be fine.

[HOUSE]

Tre White will work hard all off season and will be even better next year.

 

[mannc]

2 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

No offense, but this post is way off base.  Many of us repeatedly told this board that it can take until the following season before a player comes fully back from this injury.  Yet this delusion persisted that not only was Tre gonna be ready week 1, but he’d quickly get back to his old self.  That was never likely going to happen no matter how many people tried to convince themselves otherwise.

 

Bills don’t have a Tre problem (at least not yet), they have a problem with inaccurate expectations on Tre from fans this past season.  
 

Tre may or may not get back to the player he was, but that was never really going to be known until next season.  

Which also means we can't expect anything from Von Miller until 2024, when he'll be 35.

[John from Riverside]

I’m not giving up on a player that was an all pro for us who is not old

[Buffalo Junction]

2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

If Mac Jones could do whatever he wanted against our DB's, why did he make the decision to throw 3 INT's?

In the OPs defense…. Two were to Milano and Edmunds…. Detracting from his point…. One interception was to Tre White. 😂 

[Governor]

He isn’t worth a buttered roll in a trade so we’re stuck with him.

[KOKBILLS]

3 hours ago, Back2Buff said:

The whole Tre White situation to start the year was strange at first, but then you seen him get on the field, and you realized why he wasn't playing.  The guy was not very good this year at all.  Some will blame the injury, but how many games you going to give a guy till he is back to playing up to his very large payday?

 

I think White will never be what he was.  He looked old out there, even after just playing 5 or 6 games this year.  I also think his playing style limits the entire defense on the type of defense we can play.  He does not excel in press man and needs to play off guys.  I personally think this team needs to play more press man.  Tough to transition to that when your "number 1" CB and 16 million dollar man can't play it at a top level.

 

Problem with White is, you can't get out of his contract.  His dead cap is higher than if he is on the team.

 

The only option I really see, is if Taron Johnson takes over for Poyer at safety.  Tre moves to nickel corner where he will be less exposed on an island, and you bring in another press man outside CB to pair with Elam.  Elam's strength is press man and it was really head scratching you drafted him and then played him in a zone.

 

 

 

I don't know...We'll see.

 

If you listen to Beane's comments in the Presser he basically said it's mental not physical with Tre right now. Sure he could be hiding some things. But they have internal testing from before the injury and after, and it sounded to me like the Bills feel he's back physically, but mentally he struggled with the first major injury he's ever had playing football. Beane even mentioned stopping and cutting on that knee being different until you get over the mental part of it. That would explain his looking a step slower. But the only way we're going to find out for sure is to see how he plays early next year. 

[John from Riverside]

18 minutes ago, Governor said:

He isn’t worth a buttered roll in a trade so we’re stuck with him.

“Stuck” with Trey White lol

[Gugny]

20 minutes ago, Governor said:

He isn’t worth a buttered roll in a trade so we’re stuck with him.

 

What if it's one a them Texas Roadhouse rolls with their cinnamon butter?

[JerseyBills]

That pass interference on Higgins was embarrassing. 

 

Not only did he nearly injure himself and Poyer but he looked so average.  He was a phenomenal, all pro  CB prior to the injury. So I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt but if this continues next season,  Buf def has an awful contract and a real problem. 

 

His energy and swag were nowhere to be seen this year. Bill's had to give him that contract,  they had no choice. But he looked awful in the few games he played. I just pray we get the vibrant, fun loving , lockdown Tre White back next year

[Success]

I'm not as worried about White as some.  I thought he was improving every game, except for last week.

 

It does take time (sometimes) for a player to get back to 100% after an ACL.  It will make such a difference next year if he's all the way back or close to it, and Elam takes a 2nd year leap, as he really came on the last part of the year also.

 

Here's hoping. Not much else we can do.

 

[JerseyBills]

1 hour ago, HOUSE said:

Tre White will work hard all off season and will be even better next year.

 

That's what I'm saying.  You have to give Tre the benefit of the doubt.  If this level of play continues,  I'll be the 1st to say he lost it but we gotta give this man his space. That's an emotional injury as much as it was physical. 

 

Let him get right. If we had all Pro Tre vs KC we probably have a Lombardi 

[BearNorth]

Revis had an ACL tear in 2012 at Age 27, He had a so-so season in 2013, in 2014 he played for the Pats and was a first team all-pro, In 2015 had a decent season with 5 ints, but fell off rapidly after that.  Not finding a lot of other CB's that have returned to top form after ACL surgery.  Not sure Tre is big enough or a good enough tackler to move to FS.

[strive_for_five_guy]

Don’t agree with all the solutions in the OP’s post, but it’s true we’re going to be paying Tre a lot of money next year and even beyond, so the best hope is that he can somewhat return to form.  I love Tre, keeping the fingers crossed he can do it!

 

 

 

[Back2Buff]

9 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Don’t agree with all the solutions in the OP’s post, but it’s true we’re going to be paying Tre a lot of money next year and even beyond, so the best hope is that he can somewhat return to form.  I love Tre, keeping the fingers crossed he can do it!

 

 

 

 

You don't like the solution of moving Tre to Nickel CB and Taron to Safety?

 

Taron plays a lot like Poyer and Tre coming out of college was viewed as an inside/outside guy, but some thought he was strictly an inside guy.  If you look over his tape in college, he played mostly inside CB.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

4 hours ago, Back2Buff said:

 

What's a pass rush going to do when your CB has to play 5 yards off a player because he will get burned if he doesn't, and the QB just pops it out in 2 secs to the WR that has a 5 yard cushion?

 

 

He doesn’t have to play 5 yards off because the pocket is collapsing before the receiver beats the press. 

[uticaclub]

I think moving White to safety and hope he restructures is our best move

[gordong]

so you expected him to play at a pro bowl level off a knee injury...   it takes at least 18-24 months to Fully recover.  

  Every player takes at least part of the 2nd year before they start playing where they were.  

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by gordong