When it comes to fandom, Cody Ford gives a lot of reasons for us to root for him. Ford seemed eager to play for the Buffalo Bills, bringing a lot of energy with him. He’s been yanked around the line, making it hard to specialize. That tugs at the ol’ underdog mentality we’ve come to embrace. With so many reasons to pull for the guy, there’s only one thing left to check on and see if we should root for that too—his play on the field.
Play 1
Ultimately Cody Ford buys a decent amount of time for Josh Allen, which is the goal. Admittedly, this is a fringe holding call. He’s struggling mightily and that’s as good a place to start as any. I often feel like Ford is fighting himself as much as his opponent. The silver lining is that he’s semi-successful with sketchy technique. How is that a silver lining? It means he has the physical tools to succeed.
Play 2
Ford creates an impact but it doesn’t make his man budge. He’s then pushed a bit. Only after that does he slide to his left to try to seal off the lane for his running back. Making matters worse, Mitch Morse sees the play unfold and momentarily looks like he wants to help Ford. That narrows the gap even further.
Play 3
Here’s the physical tools again. Ford is helping with the first block and takes on a free rusher with basically just his shoulder. And it works pretty well. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he’s superhumanly strong. What I’m getting at is that poor technique and poor strength would be a disaster nearly every snap. There’s enough like this to say Ford has tools to work with.
Play 4
I question if the game has slowed down for Ford yet. He’s late making contact with the first possible defender and the second he doesn’t seem to see until he’s getting blasted by him.
Play 5
There’s some good things and some less good things. Ford is a bit high in his stance, making it hard for him to maintain leverage. Ford seems to know that. While his right hand is trying to do a bit of fighting he maintains contact with his left arm. Trying to flail with both would have been very bad. Ford buys some time, but not a ton so I’d call this a “so-so” end result. I do like that he shoves both times the defender tries to jump into the passing lane. The second is with a bit of attitude.
Play 6
I always like to end on a high note. This is a good rep, plain and simple.
Summary
The Buffalo Bills didn’t do Cody Ford any favors by asking him to play basically every position except kicker. With that said, we come to the toughest part of analysis when you’re a fan first. The swaps along the offensive line likely aren’t so alien that more progression shouldn’t be happening. Cody Ford has been an easy guy to root for but at some point the play on the field catches up or the rooting will fade.
Ford has a reasonable contract and at minimum provides depth that knows the system. It won’t be a shock to see him on the roster again simply so the Bills don’t create another hole. I don’t think his spot is guaranteed though either. If he returns, fingers crossed it all clicks for him.
Next Read
- All-22 Review: Jon Feliciano
- All-22 Review: Cody Ford
- All-22 Review: Daryl Williams
- All-22 Review: Ryan Bates
- Salary cap savings if they cut Jon Feliciano
- Contract restructure more likely than salary cap cut for Daryl Williams
- What will Ryan Bates make on the open market?
- Ike Boettger’s 2021 RFA tag gives insight on Ryan Bates situation
- Free-agent OGs for the Bills to consider
- 2022 NFL Draft options at guard
- Opinion: Here’s Bruce’s multi-layered approach to the interior offensive line this offseason
Loading comments...