Man, I disagree with this entire last page practically.
Murray is a good pass blocker, he was good last night too. Cook wasn't bad last night, but his pass blocking is what got Josh Allen's shoulder hurt in the first place. Its been a liability for most of the season. I thought Allen played well last night. Not his fault Burrow was lights out, and the Bills D couldn't get them off the field.
Fantasy wise, I think James Cook is around RB25 or so. He's a flex, but not somebody I'd want to rely on. He's a boom/bust runner, who broke some big plays against the Raiders and Commanders (in blowout wins, back when the defense was healthy) but has otherwise been mostly ineffective. I won't disagree that Cook is a better runner than Murray, but saying Murray does nothing better is obviously not true.
Murray was not good in pass protection last night. He was bad and looked disinterested. Truly a minimalist is that area.
He did a very good job last night helping Dawkins against a guy among the NFL leaders in sacks. It was the 2 guards who gave up most of the pressure, and the Bills staff decided that was less of a threat than Hendrickson was.
I have no stake in Cook, Murray or Fournette, I would prefer if Murray wasn't out there so much too. But Cook has done zero to earn more snaps, and I don't see any of Buffalo's losses having anything to do with their RB usage, or really the offense in general other than NY in week 1. The Bills issue is injuries have made them a bad defense, and they have been getting crushed in time of possession, not just by the Bengals, but even NE.
Personally, I wouldn't mind more max protect with just 3 or 4 guys in routes for Buffalo. Or a bigger emphasis on the hurry up offense they have done at the start of each of the last 2 games.
Singletary and Cook was a better combo last year than Cook and Murray. In 2022, Singletary (11/13) and Allen (13/14) were money on "and one." Cook is better as a complimentary back. I think they hoped that Harris or Murray would've been a bigger and better version of Singletary.
Also, scoring down in the NFL ... with a few exceptions - Stroud and Minshew led teams! Fans in Miami, SF, and KC are second-guessing their offensive play calling. Defenses are catching up some.
Every time Buffalo uses a QB sneak its as effective as it is for Philly, they just attempt it less. I don't know why. That one time Allen fumbled last year against the Vikings is the only time it didn't work.
Man, I disagree with this entire last page practically.
Murray is a good pass blocker, he was good last night too. Cook wasn't bad last night, but his pass blocking is what got Josh Allen's shoulder hurt in the first place. Its been a liability for most of the season. I thought Allen played well last night. Not his fault Burrow was lights out, and the Bills D couldn't get them off the field.
Fantasy wise, I think James Cook is around RB25 or so. He's a flex, but not somebody I'd want to rely on. He's a boom/bust runner, who broke some big plays against the Raiders and Commanders (in blowout wins, back when the defense was healthy) but has otherwise been mostly ineffective. I won't disagree that Cook is a better runner than Murray, but saying Murray does nothing better is obviously not true.
Yeah, I also disagree Cook is a comparable pass-blocker. Cook would be in there if he was. I’m sure they get graded on that skill by the coaching staff so I have to seriously question if he’s a better pass-blocker than Murray or even comparable, game in & game out.
For one, Cook is tiny. Not sure what happened on the play earlier in the season when Allen got hurt, but it wouldn’t take much to run him over, even on a safety blitz, much less by a huge DL.
A lot of the other stuff I agree with, but let’s not pretend he’s a feature back-type. Cook seems to get swallowed up rather easily at times.
It was a blitzing LB (Okereke or McFadden for NYG) and Cook was barely a speedbump. He also had one in the same game where he whiffed completely, and another one that got Allen decked by a blitzing DB (in the NE game) where he went the wrong way, and somebody (a coach) was screaming at him when he came to the sideline.
OK I believe you that Cook failed his assignment on these specific plays. That happens. Lots of RB fail when asked to block a defender.
I don't really think the Bills offensive design should be so dependent on a RB picking up a block in pass protection. Especially a player like Cook who could be used more as a receiving threat than he is.
Cooks yards per target are outstanding right now BTW.
Maybe because Allen likes to hold the ball and scramble around waiting for receivers to get open downfield they want a RB who can pass block more. I think that makes a bit of sense although it's going to be a really hard assignment because the RB won't know where Allen is scrambling to or where the free rushers are going to be in such a situation to actually pick them up.
In another post you said Murray did fine helping out the tackle vs Hendrickson but that the guards failed their blocks.
Well pass blocking 101 the RB is supposed to pick up the inside rush as priority over the outside rush. I assume you know this. If Murray is doing what the coaches wanted him to on these plays, it's a mistake imo. A mobile QB like Allen has a lot better chance of avoiding the outside rush than the inside rush.
I haven't watched Murray myself but I believe what others are saying as far as him not doing a good job in pass protection either.
It's totally logical to assume that the bigger player will be better than this when it comes to blocking LB and Dlinemen. However that's not necessarily true.
Regardless of who is right here (as usual it's likely a little of both) I don't think having RBs pick up pass rushers while TE are running routes is the best way to design a protection package. I note that Kincaid made a ton of receptions so must have been running a ton of routes.
They are not utilizing Cook as a dynamic receiving threat and they could be doing that. Having Murray on the field just makes their overall offense worse.