Benford has to be next

[Pete]

Benford is one of my favorite players and a top CB who can do it all.  That being said, it scared the hell out of me seeing him concussed.  That was worse than Tua IMO.  Benford deserves a big raise.  I wish Benford health and money

[BullBuchanan]

6 minutes ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Idk man I think we seriously have to upgrade the talent in the back end as I think the secondary has been our Achilles heel just as much as anything else in the playoffs. The DB whisperer crap is an urban legend.

 We've gotten more than anyone ever thought possible out of Benford, Hamlin,Lewis and Ingram and Dane Jackson before them - all 6th, 7th, and UDFAs. They're look just as effective back there against elite teams, if not better, than when we had prime Tre White.

[TheBeaneBandit]

4 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

 We've gotten more than anyone ever thought possible out of Benford, Hamlin,Lewis and Ingram and Dane Jackson before them - all 6th, 7th, and UDFAs. They're look just as effective back there against elite teams, if not better, than when we had prime Tre White.

Yeah we get enough out of them to look competent  in the regular season then come to the playoffs they're shredded like mozzarella. And no against elite 

 

passing teams they get showed up again and again.

[BullBuchanan]

10 minutes ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Yeah we get enough out of them to look competent  in the regular season then come to the playoffs they're shredded like mozzarella. And no against elite 

 

passing teams they get showed up again and again.

And that will keep happening as long as we can't get to the QB.

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

51 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

And that will keep happening as long as we can't get to the QB.

 

Or when QBs get the ball out in 1.5 seconds because of soft coverage 

[gobills404]

8 hours ago, glazeduck said:

Haven't scoured this entire thread, so apologies if this was already brought up, buuuuut...

 

If it's true that we're moving to more of a man-based defense, that's going to impact Benford. I don't think I'd go so far to as to say that he's exclusively a zone cb, but it would seem like a pretty massive risk making a top-5/10 positional investment in a guy who's a bit of a square peg/round hole fit. He's probably a better fit as a FS in a man defense. 

 

I wonder if those discussions are at least part of the reason why his deal hasn't gotten done yet? That's a tough situation, you want to reward the guy for significantly outplaying his draft spot and hang onto a guy who's been great for you, but a structural change within the framework is now, arguably, making that more difficult and less appealing...

I see where you’re coming from but the reality is every defense is a zone based defense. The bills might play more man than they have in the past depending on who the CB2 is next year, but they’re still gonna be a majority zone team.

 

Also I can’t find the source but I remember seeing that Benford is still VERY good in man, just not quite as elite as he is in zone. I’ll post the source if I can find it.

[BananaB]

2 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

 We've gotten more than anyone ever thought possible out of Benford, Hamlin,Lewis and Ingram and Dane Jackson before them - all 6th, 7th, and UDFAs. They're look just as effective back there against elite teams, if not better, than when we had prime Tre White.

They look solid until 3rd and long

Edited yesterday at 03:02 AM by BananaB

[BillsFanForever19]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

Benford is one of my favorite players and a top CB who can do it all.  That being said, it scared the hell out of me seeing him concussed.  That was worse than Tua IMO.  Benford deserves a big raise.  I wish Benford health and money

 

I wonder if that isn't part of the hold up.

 

He was concussed twice in the span of a week. The last one looked scary. On top of Cornerback being a trickier market than say Slot WR and Middle Linebacker is - there may be some concern over his long term health. 

[GunnerBill]

4 hours ago, gobills404 said:

I see where you’re coming from but the reality is every defense is a zone based defense. The bills might play more man than they have in the past depending on who the CB2 is next year, but they’re still gonna be a majority zone team.

 

Also I can’t find the source but I remember seeing that Benford is still VERY good in man, just not quite as elite as he is in zone. I’ll post the source if I can find it.

 

Yea Benford's numbers in man are very good, just not elite. I don't think he is exclusively a zone guy.

[Thrivefourfive]

Since this is the top thread for a yet to be signed guy. Why do I know feel the sense of hmmmm for the first time this off season.  
 

The question raced through my mind: Is Beane telling us we already have what it takes, so we’re taking care of ours first, and that’s the #1 priority? 
 

I was kinda thinking that after KC we needed some shakeup on defense,, and then the Garrett news and I’m going.. hell yeah- Gimme him! Yet here we are signing everybody back.. hmmmmm. Just sayin’. 

[LyndonvilleBill]

2 hours ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Since this is the top thread for a yet to be signed guy. Why do I know feel the sense of hmmmm for the first time this off season.  
 

The question raced through my mind: Is Beane telling us we already have what it takes, so we’re taking care of ours first, and that’s the #1 priority? 
 

I was kinda thinking that after KC we needed some shakeup on defense,, and then the Garrett news and I’m going.. hell yeah- Gimme him! Yet here we are signing everybody back.. hmmmmm. Just sayin’. 

I think you have to pay the "Bills" (core) first, so you can figure out how to pay for the Ferrari. 😉😇😁

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Since this is the top thread for a yet to be signed guy. Why do I know feel the sense of hmmmm for the first time this off season.  
 

The question raced through my mind: Is Beane telling us we already have what it takes, so we’re taking care of ours first, and that’s the #1 priority? 
 

I was kinda thinking that after KC we needed some shakeup on defense,, and then the Garrett news and I’m going.. hell yeah- Gimme him! Yet here we are signing everybody back.. hmmmmm. Just sayin’. 

Browns may not trade Garrett to an AFC team.  Bengals may not trade Hendrickson to a conference rival.  Metcalf might not want to come here because it's too cold if we go the offensive route.  I think there's one big free agent trade or signing that Beane makes on the D-line but the concept of draft, develop, and re-sign the players you hit on a year before their contract's up is on is how you maintain a regular Super Bowl contender while paying an elite QB.

 

I don't remember an off-season where we look at our o-line and say "we're good" so we got that going for us.  We can really improve this defensive line through the draft even if we don't sign an elite pass rusher opposite Groot.  The main complaint and a valid one is we have too many B players and hardly any A players besides Josh Allen.  Let's just wait and see what this roster looks like in August before freaking out when we don't catch any of these big fish via trade.

[MiracleAtRich1393]

3 hours ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Since this is the top thread for a yet to be signed guy. Why do I know feel the sense of hmmmm for the first time this off season.  
 

The question raced through my mind: Is Beane telling us we already have what it takes, so we’re taking care of ours first, and that’s the #1 priority? 
 

I was kinda thinking that after KC we needed some shakeup on defense,, and then the Garrett news and I’m going.. hell yeah- Gimme him! Yet here we are signing everybody back.. hmmmmm. Just sayin’. 

These extensions free up 2025 cap space. Can't do any of the big moves we're hoping for without them

[machine gun kelly]

I think Virg nailed it.  Extend JA, and that frees up a ton of space to extend Benford.  If they create enough space they can aggressively go after Garrett and maybe Metcalf.  Beane, you’re either in or not.

[finn]

10 hours ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Or when QBs get the ball out in 1.5 seconds because of soft coverage 

This is the key point, I think. McDermott's defenses have always played soft--don't give up the big play, wait for them to make a mistake. To give him credit, that does work in the regular season. But it fails spectacularly in the playoffs year after year after year, especially because he doesn't introduce new wrinkles, like KC offense did against the Bills in January. Yes, he'll show one coverage then switch to another, but that's pretty routine nowadays and good QBs can adjust. Worse, he doesn't seem to prepare his team for wrinkles from their opponents, like Mahomes running. (Hardly an innovation, but his team wasn't ready.)

 

There are signs he might be starting to get it. Beane reportedly looking for corners who can play man as well as zone, for instance. But this defense needs a philosophical overhaul. If I had executive control over this team, I would instruct McDermott to hand over the defensive reins entirely to Babich. If McDermott remains in control, calling his soft coverages and weak rushes against the Burrows, Mahomes, and Jacksons of the league, the Bills will always lose in the end, no matter how much Allen scores.