Buffalo Bills blanked from PFF’s top-60 players heading into 2019
By Avery Duncan
There was a notable shortage of Buffalo Bills in Pro Football Focus’ top-60 players heading into 2019.
Last week, Pro Football Focus wrapped up 2019’s edition of their top-50 players heading into the season, then they added another ten. The Buffalo Bills, despite their talents, finished without a player in the top-60.
The Bills finished 2018 with three of their own on PFF’s top-101 of the year: Jerry Hughes (44), Lorenzo Alexander (68), and Micah Hyde (90). But the analytics firm didn’t think as highly for their respective futures.
This isn’t the first time PFF was lower on the Bills than others, as last year, Tre’Davious White and Jordan Poyer both didn’t make the 2018 top-101 list; despite high-quality, full seasons from each.
Maybe PFF simply forgot about Western New York, or maybe they are on the fence about the Bills’ future. Nonetheless, despite the Bills’ absence from the top-60, the analytics firm has continued to post favorable stats about the team and their potential.
After the end of last season, they dubbed the Bills’ undrafted prospect finding Levi Wallace as the rookie cornerback of the year, over Pro Bowler Denzel Ward. Though they weren’t too high on Josh Allen‘s rookie season — grading him at 65.3 last year, 27th in the NFL –, they are intrigued about the roster built around him.
In an article titled “In a 48-hour span, the Buffalo Bills transformed their offense around Josh Allen,” PFF’s Ben Cooper lauded the Bills’ impressive off-season. He noted the addition of center Mitch Morse as an upgrade due to his pass-blocking (81.2 pass-block grade in 2016 – sixth in NFL). He also mentions John Brown‘s deep-ball ability as an excellent fit with the quarterback, as he’s thrived with big-armed quarterbacks.
The Bills’ free agency isn’t the only thing that should excite PFF. In the first two rounds of the draft, the team added Ed Oliver and Cody Ford. Oliver ranked as their No. 11 prospect on their annual pre-draft big-board, Ford checked in at No. 22. The Bills drafted them at No’s 9 and 38, respectively.
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Hopefully, the Bills’ new additions and eventual improvement from Allen tips PFF’s scales next year when doing the same list. Or maybe a little post-season run could do the trick?