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Pro Football Focus was back to being awfully harsh on the Buffalo Bills. This time, head coach Sean McDermott was in their crosshairs.
The football analytics outlet is going position-by-position this offseason and ranking players from across the NFL head-to-head. In a twist, coaches were tossed in there.
McDermott’s ranking is in the second half of the league. PFF excluded first-year coaches and still placed McDermott at No. 16 overall.
Ouch.
First, the explanation:
16. SEAN MCDERMOTT, BUFFALO BILLS (8.9 – 8.1 RECORD WITH AVERAGE ROSTER)
Offensive Rank: 20/26 (+12 points scored a season)
Defensive Rank: 7/26 (-4 points scored a season)
McDermott sticks true to his roots as a former defensive coordinator, helming strong units on that side of the ball while not always getting expected results out of his offenses based on talent level.
In a way, PFF tries to explain their ranking with the words “average roster.” Their formula used predicts McDermott to win totals between 8.9 to 8.1 victories with such a team.
But that’s just not realistic. Neither is their explanation.
A coach is part of every team’s roster building to some extent. It varies from team-to-team and credit to Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane, but there’s no doubt McDermott had a say in assembling this Bills roster and PFF takes that away from him.
Plus, part of being a boss is delegation.
PFF decided to knock McDermott for his lack of prowess coaching the offensive side of the ball when that’s something he mostly hasn’t had a say in during his tenure in Buffalo. But he has picked his offensive coordinators and after a rough go with Rick Dennison in Year 1, McDermott hand-picked Brian Daboll.
Who only went on to become the New York Giants head coach.
It’s easy to see our feelings: PFF missed the mark on McDermott.
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