FanPost

How Exactly Are the Buffalo Bills Better Than Last Year? Examining the Bills' Coach and Player Development.

Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

Editor's note: This article has been promoted from the fanpost section of the website. No edits have been made. Just another great opinion for one of the fans. - MRW

[The coaching staff] is operating on a different level when they talk about player development. They’re serious about it. Look at how many mid to late round/free agents contribute to this team after just a couple offseasons…

Phillips
Wallace
MIlano
Foster
Sweeney
Johnson and Johnson
Neal

Then you have the lost and found with…
Poyer
Hyde
Johnson
Murphy
Phillips

One of the biggest problems over the past 25 years with this team has been consistently developing players. Think about it… did Losman, Edwards, or Manuel show an ounce of the developmental improvement that Josh Allen has? Past coaching staffs seemed to only care about teaching their specialty. The Steelers can develop WR’s like nobody’s business since Tomlin arrived, but their secondary has been trash for a decade running. I’d say we’re the opposite, but at least the Bills were smart enough to go sign two guys who were ready to go. McDermott stresses in-house improvements across the roster, and I really appreciate it. – Foreign Arrow

The main purpose of this post is to take an in depth analysis of the ability of our coaches to develop players and retain talent. During an All-22 post regarding Cody Ford v. Ty Nsekhe, ForeignArrow commented on the amazing job that our coaches have done developing talent that was either discarded or drafted in later rounds. I told him directly that I was going to steal his idea if he did not create his own fan post regarding the topic, so here we are nearly a month later and I am following through on my promise. So with credit to ForeignArrow, I’d like to examine whom we’ve developed as well as the coaches who have developed them to get a sense of what we’re dealing with overall. For sake of simplicity, I am only going to analyze performance from the beginning of 2018 forward. I want to focus on position development (statistically) as well as coaching changes/consistency.

Let’s start with offensive teams coaching and players.

The O-Line

2019 Offensive Line Coach – Bobby Johnson

2018 Offensive Line Coach – Juan Castillo

So much can be said for our turnover at this position that if I were to say it all, then I would honestly be blue in the face. Buffalo’s 2018 offensive line was ranked 30th in run blocking (3.89 adj line yds/carry) and 23rd in pass blocking (8% adjusted sack rating) per football outsiders. The personnel on the line included Dawkins (LT), Teller/Ducasse (LG), Bodine (C), Jordan Mills (RG), and John Miller (RT). This unit, which did not exactly inspire confidence, had a tough job of buying time for a scrambling quarterback with few receiving options. They handled this job poorly, and this has to fall slightly back onto Castillo. While we cannot truly know if it was the personnel or poor coaching, it’s safe to say that we’ve made strides forward with Bobby Johnson.

The 2019 Bills offensive line was completely revamped with the addition of capstone center Mitch Morse (C). While he has performed very well under most of our ‘eye tests’, believe it or not he has not been the stud. Dion Dawkins (LT) is quietly having a tremendous year and is our highest ranked offensive linemen per PFF as the #9 OT in the NFL. Also joining the squad were Jon Feliciano (RG) and Quentin Spain (LG) who were discarded from Oakland and Tennessee respectively. These guards have been playing very well thus far into the season and it has shown in the overall rankings thus far. I believe that a large reason for the success of these two in terms of gelling with our other elements is a testament to Bobby Johnson. Our glaring weakness is at RT, and before eyes start rolling in the back of their heads, it is clear that neither Nsekhe (RT) nor Ford (RT) are the answer for us, CURRENTLY, at RT. The 2019 Bills offensive line is ranked 2nd in run blocking (5.09 adj line yds/carry) and 22nd in pass blocking (8.2% adjusted sack rating). The improvement here is clear, and it should be mentioned that the transition from Castillo to Johnson might be responsible for some of this improvement.

The Quarterbacks

2019 Quarterback’s Coach – Ken Dorsey

2018 Quarterback’s Coach – David Culley

This section will be a little bit shorter because this is a subject that we have beaten to death with analysis. It was clear that Josh Allen was going to be the starter ever since Peterman laid a fat egg to start the 2018 season. Josh’s development has been positive this year although he still shows signs of his bad habits. Moving onto the stats: Josh had a 52.8% completion percentage, 6.5 y/a, and a rating of 67.9 in 2018. This year Josh has a 62.6% completion percentage, 6.9 y/a, and a rating of 75.2. The development here is not eye popping, but it is absolutely evident. Whether or not Dorsey has a key role in this development, to me, is hard to determine. Either way, he’s definitely not hurting ‘the process’ here, and I think he’s a good coach to keep around.

The Running Backs

2019 Running Back’s Coach – Kelly Skipper

2018 Running Back’s Coach – Kelly Skipper

It’s hard to debate that Skipper has done his job well since setting foot in Buffalo with McDermott in ’17. Granted that job is a lot easier when you have LeSean McCoy as your bell cow back. That being said, 2018 was an abysmal year for rushers in Buffalo as our rookie QB led the team in rushing yards. LeSean McCoy was absolutely obliterated behind a bad offensive line, but I find it hard to believe that it was ALL on the line given that Allen surpassed him with only 11 games played (compared to 16). This begs the question: How much of this was due to coaching and how much was due to lack of talent?

Well, to answer this question, we went out and got another hall of famer in Frank Gore. This was widely panned by the media but definitely celebrated by yours truly. We also went out and got a receiving back from Jacksonville by the name of TJ Yeldon. This was a move I was never a fan of and am still not a fan of. Finally, we drafted a young stud out of FAU named Devin Singletary, which was another move that I was not very fond of. To start the 2019 season we had the OLDEST backfield in the NFL and were the butt of a lot of jokes on the airwaves. Since that time, it has been shown that Devin Singletary is an absolute stud (127 yards and 12.7 y/a) and Frank Gore has found a fountain of youth (333 yards and 4.4 y/a). Since leaving Miami, Gore has increased his yards/game from 51.6 to 66.6 and those 15 yds/game make a difference when, say, you’re trying to ice the game in the fourth quarter. Yeldon, in my opinion, continued to remain a disappointment, but it’s clear that Skipper has been doing a great job with the backfield. If we can manage to keep Singletary healthy, then watching him improve under Skipper’s tutelage will be fun! I know I know…it also helps that they have a better offensive line.

The Wide Receivers

2019 Wide Receiver’s Coach – Chad Hall

2018 Wide Receiver’s Coach – Terry Robiskie

This is another position group, similar to the OL, that has made strides this season. Buffalo’s 2018 WR production was ranked 31st overall (2794 yards / 175 ypg) and really struggled to get separation. Once again, I don’t need to beat this horse to death, but we honestly weren’t technically the WORST in the NFL last year. That being said, we definitely needed an upgrade from Benjamin, Jones, and Foster as they were not getting the job done. We were, in short, really bad.

Thankfully, our GM heeded the call and was able to snag us John Brown, Cole Beasley, and reclamation project Duke Williams from the CFL. Although Brown and Beasley are not world-beaters, it looks like we’ve coached them into being a viable threat. We have continued to develop Isaiah McKenzie and even added a return specialist in Andre Roberts (we’ll get to him later). As for Foster, he has been a little dinged up since last year and hasn’t had quite the same opportunity to shine, so it’s tough to see the direct coaching impact at this position. Zay was finally taken out to pasture for a 2021 5th round pick and our overall production has increased. This ability to mold these guys into effective positions is all due to the coaches, particularly, Chad Hall. Our WR production in 2019 has become adequate at 18th overall (232.8 ypg). This is pretty nice to see especially compared to 31st place last year. There are a lot of factors that can come into play, but I do want to point out that our pass protection is NOT significantly better than last year. I think the bigger factor here, outside of coaching and talent, has got to be Josh’s development.

The Tight Ends

2019 Tight End’s Coach – Rob Boras

2018 Tight End’s Coach – Rob Boras

Now we get to the second position on our list (see: Kelly Skipper/RBs) that hasn’t had a coaching change in the past 365 days. Boras is a longtime vet at coaching the position, and had a lot of talent in Charles Clay during the 2017 season. Our 2018 tight end production, however, was abysmal. In fact, they struggled just as much as the WR position. Honestly, I find it personally interesting that Boras and Skipper were both kept on board while their positions struggled equally as much as the other coaches who were removed. This becomes even moreso interesting when you factor in that they had significantly more baseline talent at their positions! That being said, I am very glad we kept Boras around, as he has been instrumental in developing both Sweeney and Knox. Knox absolutely passes the eye test and Lee Smith has been a great additional blocker for our weakened right side of the line. I am interested to see how he intends to work Kroft into the lineup once he makes it back from his injury. If Kroft somehow manages to supplant Knox as TE1, then I will say that keeping Boras around was definitely the right decision!

LET’S SUMMARIZE OUR OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION NOW AND LAY IT ALL AT THE FEET OF OUR COORDINATOR.

Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll has made some questionable gameplans (see NE) and decisions regarding play-calls at particular points that many have been quick to criticize. That being said our offense was ranked 31st by DVOA last year and it was pretty hard not to blame the talent for product we saw on the field. This year our offense is currently ranked 27th by DVOA and would probably be higher if it was not for that awful showing against New England. That being said, there has been an improvement overall, but not quite the leap we need to see. In order for Buffalo to become a formidable contender, we will need to become a top 16 offense in terms of offensive DVOA, full stop. I look forward to watching the offense hum as we have some pretty soft defenses coming up in the near future.

!!!!!!!!!!HALFTIME!!!!!!!!!!

I’m happy with the Bills progress on offense and think that our patience WILL be rewarded over the next few weeks. If we do not see significant improvement over the next couple of weeks, then I think we do need to give Daboll a little bit of grief. I also believe that there are some viable big name offensive FAs that we should go after at the end of this season (Amari Cooper, AJ Green, Hunter Henry) that we can absolutely afford due to our amazing salary cap situation. We need a household name and playmaker on this offense. I think that this is non-negotiable.

Let’s move onto the defensive positions and players!

The D-Line

2019 Defensive Line Coach – Bill Teerlinck

2018 Defensive Line Coach – Bill Teerlinck

Consistency is a good thing when you are producing a good product. Our defensive line performance in 2018 was nothing to write home to mom about, but it certainly wasn’t like the train wreck occurring on the other side of the ball. Buffalo’s 2018 defensive line was ranked 10th against the run (4.15 adj line yds/carry) and 19th against the pass (6.9% adj sack rate). I feel that our defensive line took a little too much flak last year and that Teerlinck put them in the best possible position to succeed that they could be in. Yarbrough, Lawson, Hughes, and Murphy found ways to shine even from the edge. Of course, it would be a sin if I forgot to mention Kyle Williams as he was phenomenal in the middle of the line with Star by his side.

So the Bills lost Kyle and dropped Yarbrough, but we drafted a much-hyped prospect in Oliver and returned a fully healthy Murphy back to the lineup. Buffalo’s 2019 defensive line is ranked 12th against the run (4.21 adj line yds/carry) and 27th against the pass (5.2% adj sack rate). I feel that our pass rush was not criticized enough and that our run defense is criticized too much in 2019. To further clarify: our interior D-line pass rush is ranked 5th overall in the league, while our edge rushing was ranked 28th. This isn’t an Ed Oliver issue, he’s doing just fine. This is a Trent Murphy and Shaq Lawson issue in terms of applying pressure to the QB. We all feel that these two have become better players, but the numbers don’t lie. This lack of pressure should have become painfully obvious when we faced a mediocre Bengals line and were unable to get any pressure on Dalton. Yes, the edge guys do occasionally make big plays. However, I feel that it does not make sense that our run defense can improve while our pass rush becomes worse. Something is off here and this is the first position coach I would question. I’m happy about the development of Jordan Phillips and Darryl Johnson, but we need to start asking more questions about why we aren’t improving at a position where we have improved talent.

The Linebackers

2019 Linebacker’s Coach – Bob Babich

2018 Linebacker’s Coach – Bob Babich

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Once again we have a returning coach on defense and the future looks bright. That being said, this will be a short blurb given that we returned all of our LBs and added nobody new! Tremaine Edmunds has been in pro bowl form this year and seems to be figuring out the way to handle pass coverage. Lorax has been playing at the same level he always has, Milano has been a stud, and Hughes will always be a rock. Overall, the only stat I think that can apply to these guys (outside of tackles and eyeball tests) is DVOA. The Bills finished 2nd in DVOA in 2018 and are 4th in DVOA in 2019. Babich seems to have one of the best LB corps in the NFL and is making hay on a week-in and week-out basis. Given his ability to convert Milano to a phenomenal starter as well as allow Edmunds to transition to the MLB role effectively should also put him in the conversation for best LB coach in the NFL. He’s a good coach and there’s no denying it when you look at what he’s done with our corps! Overall, there’s not much more to say because not much has changed. He’s a coach that has continued to develop his talent and deserves to be in charge of the LBs.

The Defensive Back/Safeties

2019 Secondary Coaches – John Butler/Bobby Babich

2018 Secondary Coaches – John Butler/Bobby Babich

Are you noticing a trend here with retaining defensive coaches? This position is probably the most phenomenal in terms of development and sustained success since McDermott came to town. In 2018 the Bills were ranked 2nd overall in DVOA against the pass and, without a doubt, had one of the best safety duos in the NFL (if not THE best). Starting White, Poyer, and Hyde as three out of your four backs will help a lot of coaches gain success. We did our best with Vontae Davis, but he just was settled on walking away in the middle of a game. That being said, Butler was able to keep developing Levi Wallace and put him in the position of success he's currently achieving this season.

It should be a testament to Butler as the DBs coach that he not only developed the Poyer/Hyde tandem but also found strength in the CB2 position in Levi Wallace. Although we have technically slipped to the 3rd ranked pass defense in the NFL, I personally believe that the Bills’ secondary is every bit as good as New England’s. I also believe that they are every bit as well coached. I see absolutely no reason to tinker with, potentially, the best secondary and secondary coaches in the NFL.

ALMOST THERE!!!!

Our defense is truly elite and it’s time that we recognize the effort of Leslie Frazier as our defensive coordinator. We currently have the #4 ranked defense in the NFL per DVOA and I have reason to believe that we should actually be #1. Our blitz packages are exotic and we have different personnel packages for different play calls. I cannot stress enough how awesome this defense is and Frazier deserves more credit than he gets.

Special Teams

2019 Special Teams Coach – Heath Farwell

2018 Special Teams Coach – Danny Crossman

Ugh, the 2018 special teams unit was absolutely awful pretty much across the board with the exception of Hauschka. How bad was it? The Buffalo Bills were ranked DEAD LAST (#32) in special teams per DVOA in 2018. That is simply unacceptable and we had too much talent to be performing so poorly. We all agreed that Crossman had to be shown the door and shown the door he was!

During the offseason we drafted Vosean Joseph to help with tackling/speed and picked up Andre Roberts as a return specialist to help shore up our special teams. We also hired a new ST coordinator in Heath Farwell. So how are we doing? Ladies and gentlemen we are currently ranked 31st in special teams performance in 2019 per DVOA. In my opinion this is completely unacceptable given the addition of Roberts and it’s time that we start looking for a new punter as well. Bojorquez had a much-improved game against the Titans, and I’m not calling for his head yet, but if he cannot maintain this level of performance then he needs to go. If Farwell is not already in McDermott’s ear regarding this shift then he is failing to do his job efficiently. So is it the coaching or is it the talent in terms of our awful special teams? Honestly, I think it’s both, but I believe that if we finish in the 30s in DVOA for special teams in 2019 then we need to find a better coordinator. Quite frankly, I don’t understand how we could have such solid player development across the board but still be so very poor at ST.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

Head Coach Sean McDermott

There was a lot of doubt and trepidation when McDermott first entered the Bills’ camp, but it’s clear that he has a plan and a way to build culture. His top-down approach is amplified through his assistants and is being reflected on the field. We’ve entered a fun era in Bills football where are our EXPECTATIONS ARE FINALLY BEING MET. Sure there are a few question marks, especially in regards to the D-Line and Special Teams, but overall I think consistency will be key. Our coaches know how to develop players players and bring out the best in them. I want to thank ForeignArrow for bringing this coaching examination to me to be further examined. I hope you all enjoyed the review..enjoy the bye week! GO BILLS!

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.