Two weeks ago, after being the Buffalo Bills' lone bright spot in a 38-14 throttling at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, 88% of voters here at Buffalo Rumblings said that yes, indeed, Drayton Florence deserves a contract extension sooner rather than later.
While the Bills have dealt with an injury to Terrence McGee and extremely inconsistent play from third-year man Leodis McKelvin, Florence has been the constant in Buffalo's solid defensive backfield. More to the point, he's also been the one player that has consistently turned in big plays: Florence leads the team with three interceptions, and has turned in two defensive touchdowns to boot. He also forced a fumble in a Week 3 loss to New England and had a huge fumble recovery on a McKelvin punt return in Buffalo's overtime loss to Pittsburgh. He also leads the team in defended passes, with 12 on the season.
Unfortunately, Florence, too, is prone to inconsistency - not just in his overall play, but in making key mistakes, as well.
Florence is coming off of his worst performance of the season against Miami, when he allowed nine receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown - on nine plays, mind you - while trying to defend Brandon Marshall, according to ProFootballFocus.com. He was also flagged for a 15-yard facemask penalty, his seventh major penalty of the season; Florence has three pass interference penalties (for 58 yards), three illegal contact flags (two of which negated third down stops) and a declined illegal use of hands infraction to his name this season.