Buffalo Bills: Top PFF grades from BUF vs. PHI

Pro Football Focus has released their player grades and game analysis just hours after the Buffalo Bills fell 20-16 to the Philadelphia Eagles

It can be tough to decipher which players played well in a preseason game because of the third string players playing in a majority of the game. Pro Football Focus does a good job of figuring that out with their individual player grades for every game.

The top grade Buffalo Bills player? Edge defender, Ryan Davis. The defensive end received an 88.2 game grade for his play Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here is his write-up from PFF:

"“Ryan Davis, who came into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2012, was electric rushing the passer in the Eagles second preseason game. Davis turned 2016 undrafted free agent tackle Dillon Gordon into a turnstile beating him with inside and outside moves for four pressures on only 17 pass rushing snaps, earning a pass-rush grade of 88.9”"

A few weeks ago, Ryan Davis had to go through the Bills’ concussion protocol from a hit sustained at practice. This week he is was the best Bill on the field.  Here are the top 5 grades from Thursday night:

Edge Ryan Davis, 88.2 overall grade

Edge Jerry Hughes, 84.5 overall grade

Edge Shaq Lawson, 81.3 overall grade

S Jordan Poyer, 81.2 overall grade

C Ryan Groy, 80.7 overall grade

As the starters play deeper into the game, it gives you a better look at their game grade which means more now. It was great to see starters such as Jerry Hughes, Shaq Lawson, Jordan Poyer, and Ryan Groy bring home high grades this week. Last week we saw Eddie Yarbrough thrive in the Buffalo Bills’ first preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. This week, the Bills fall to 0-2. Good thing they’re getting all of their losing out now!

Nathan Peterman received another opportunity to show his stuff under center, and impressed while throwing from a clean pocket. See what PFF had to say about the rookie quarterback:

"“Similar to last week, Peterman had success moving the ball when he was able to throw from a clean pocket but struggled mightily when tasked with throwing under pressure. The fourth round pick went 9 of 12 for 160 yards and a 116.7 passer rating from a clean pocket, compared to just 1-of-8 for seven yards and a 39.6 passer rating when under pressure.”"

Again, for the second week in a row the opposing team’s edge defender received the highest player grade of the game. This is a direct correlation to our offensive tackle situation.

Bills’ fans saw Ronald Darby snag an interception on Thursday night as well as receive a game grade of 83.5. Darby fits well in Philadelphia’s man coverage scheme, and we will continue to see these high game grades from the former Buffalo Bill.

In the past two games our defensive line has performed extremely well, watch for that to continue!

Next: Buffalo Bills: Let’s Talk About That 2017 Offensive Line

Do you agree with PFF’s game grades? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!