Below are grades for every Buffalo Bills player on every play in the team’s Week 2 loss to the New York Jets. You’ll also find cumulative grades through the first two games.
(For a quick primer on this project, this is from the introduction article. Here's a link to the entire thing.)
I’ll be assigning number grades to each Bills player on every play this year, so keep in mind... the grades themselves will be inherently subjective. However, they should provide a relatively good idea of which players are struggling and excelling on the field. This system is not precisely how Pro Football Focus grades — they have multiple graders for each game and use a different numbering system — but it’s similar. Below you’ll find that grades were assigned in 0.2-point intervals on a scale from -1.0 to +1.0 on each play for each player.
On All-22 film: While I realize there's certainly plenty to learn from the All-22 angles, I'm not using them in my evaluations. And I thought about it for a while before making the final decision. To me, using All-22 film can -- at times inadvertently -- bring too much subjectivity to analysis, and in this case, grading. For example, I don't want to simply dock a quarterback for not noticing a wide receiver on the opposite side of the field. As for wideouts, while it'd be easy to grade how much separation they create against man, it'd be nearly impossible to do the same when facing zone coverage. This grading system is certainly not without flaws. But above all, I want to grade the plays made or not made, not guess what could have or maybe should have happened.
Offense vs. NYJ:
Player | Overall | Run-Block | Pass-Block | Pass | Run | Receiving | Penalty | Snaps (53 = 100%) |
Tyrod Taylor | -2 | -1.6 | -0.4 | 51 | ||||
LeSean McCoy | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 49 | ||||
Richie Incognito | -0.2 | -0.4 | -0.2 | 0.4 | 53 | |||
Eric Wood | -0.6 | 0.2 | -1 | 0.2 | 53 | |||
John Miller | 2.6 | 1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 53 | |||
Jordan Mills | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 53 | ||||
Cyrus Kouandjio | 2 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 53 | |||
Ryan Groy | -1 | -0.8 | -0.2 | 4 | ||||
Sammy Watkins | 0 | -0.2 | 0.2 | 40 | ||||
Robert Woods | -1 | -0.4 | -0.4 | -0.2 | 46 | |||
Marquise Goodwin | 0.6 | 0.6 | 28 | |||||
Greg Salas | 0.6 | 0.6 | 15 | |||||
Charles Clay | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | -0.6 | 48 | |||
Jim Dray | 0.4 | 0.4 | 11 | |||||
Reggie Bush | 0 | 2 | ||||||
Jerome Felton | -0.2 | -0.2 | 5 | |||||
Nick O'Leary | -0.2 | -0.2 | 3 | |||||
Mike Gillislee | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 4 | ||||
EJ Manuel | 0 | 4 | ||||||
Walt Powell | 0 | 8 |
Observations: Tyrod Taylor had a rough evening, as he was inaccurate for most of the game. Had he not made that remarkable throw on the Marquise Goodwin, his grade would have been super low. John Miller had a strong outing, as did Cyrus Kounadjio. Typically steady run-blocker Robert Woods got overwhelmed a few occasions. The same goes for Richie Incognito and Eric Wood. LeSean McCoy didn't make a huge impact on the stat sheet, but he made defenders miss on a few of his runs, which helped his grade.
Defense vs. NYJ:
Player | Overall | Run Stop | Pass Rush | Coverage | Penalty | Snaps (74 = 100%) |
Jerry Hughes | -0.2 | 0 | -0.6 | 0.4 | 69 | |
Jerel Worthy | -0.2 | 0 | -0.2 | 17 | ||
Kyle Williams | 0.4 | 1 | -0.6 | 60 | ||
Leger Douzable | -1.4 | -0.6 | -1 | 0.2 | 39 | |
Corbin Bryant | 0 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 37 | ||
Adolphus Washington | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 14 | ||
Preston Brown | 0.4 | 0.6 | -0.4 | 0.2 | 74 | |
Zach Brown | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 74 | |
Lerentee McCray | -0.4 | -0.6 | 0 | 0.2 | 26 | |
Lorenzo Alexander | 1 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 52 | |
Stephon Gilmore | -1.6 | -0.2 | -1.6 | 0.2 | 73 | |
Ronald Darby | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 73 | |
Nickell Robey-Coleman | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.2 | 44 | |
Kevon Seymour | -0.2 | -0.2 | 13 | |||
Corey White | 0 | 2 | ||||
Aaron Williams | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 44 | |
Corey Graham | 0.6 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 74 | |
Duke Williams | -1 | -1 | 20 | |||
Robert Blanton | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Observations: Horrible night for Stephon Gilmore, but you probably didn't need to see his grade to know that. Ronald Darby's grade was low initially, but he did make a handful of plays in the second half. Zach Brown was all over the field and shed blocks extremely well, as did Preston Brown. Jerry Hughes basically disappeared after the first quarter, and Leger Douzable didn't have much impact at all.
Offense: Through Week 2
Player | Overall | Run-Block | Pass-Block | Pass | Run | Receiving | Penalty |
Tyrod Taylor | -2.6 | 0 | 0 | -2.2 | 0 | 0 | -0.4 |
LeSean McCoy | 2.8 | -0.4 | 0.4 | 0 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0 |
Glenn Gronkowski | -1 | -0.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
Cordy Glenn | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Richie Incognito | 0.8 | 0.6 | -0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
Eric Wood | -1.4 | -0.4 | -1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
John Miller | 3.8 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
Jordan Mills | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cyrus Kouandjio | 2.8 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
Ryan Groy | -0.4 | -0.6 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sammy Watkins | 1 | 0.4 | -0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 |
Robert Woods | 0.2 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 |
Marquise Goodwin | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Greg Salas | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 |
Charles Clay | 1.4 | 1 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jim Dray | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Reggie Bush | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
Jerome Felton | -0.2 | -0.2 | |||||
Nick O'Leary | -0.2 | -0.2 |
Defense:
Player | Overall | Run Stop | Pass Rush | Coverage | Penalty |
Jerry Hughes | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.6 |
Jerel Worthy | -0.2 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 0 | -0.2 |
Kyle Williams | 0.4 | 1.8 | -1.4 | 0 | 0 |
Leger Douzable | -1.4 | -1 | -0.4 | 0 | 0 |
Corbin Bryant | -0.2 | 0.6 | -1 | 0 | 0.2 |
Adolphus Washington | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
Preston Brown | 2 | 1 | -0.4 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
Zach Brown | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0 |
Brandon Spikes | 0.2 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
Ramon Humber | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lerentee McCray | -0.6 | -0.2 | -0.8 | 0 | 0.4 |
Lorenzo Alexander | 1.8 | 1 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0 |
Stephon Gilmore | -1.2 | -0.6 | 0 | -0.8 | 0.2 |
Ronald Darby | 1 | -0.2 | 0 | 1.4 | -0.2 |
Nickell Robey-Coleman | 0.6 | -0.2 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
Kevon Seymour | -0.2 | 0 | -0.2 | 0 | |
Corey White | -0.4 | 0 | -0.2 | -0.2 | 0 |
Aaron Williams | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
Corey Graham | 1.2 | 0 | 0.4 | -0.6 | 0 |
Duke Williams | -1.8 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
Robert Blanton | 0 | -0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jonathan Meeks | -0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |