Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott runs a defense that relies heavily on zone coverage. But the Bills do mix it up and run man coverage too, of course. The major pillar of that appears to be cornerback Tre’Davious White after more high-praise was recently sent his way via Pro Football Focus.
The football analytics outlet put White in the conversation to be the best cornerback in the entire NFL, alongside Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore. In doing so, PFF gave White a shoutout for his skills in man coverage despite that actually not being the Bills’ “go-to” coverage.
Overall, White was tabbed the third-best man coverage defender by PFF. Here’s the breakdown on White:
3. Tre’Davious White, Buffalo Bills
Man-coverage grade: 74.5
White’s PFF grade might have fallen a bit short of his tremendous rookie season (90.1 coverage grade in 2017) over the last two years, but the way that he’s limited production points to the fact that he’s certainly in the mix for best cornerback in the NFL behind Gilmore. The Bills didn’t run as much man as teams like the Patriots and Ravens, but White was lights out when they did over the course of the regular season. He allowed just 13 of the 33 passes thrown his way to be completed with seven forced incompletions. It’s hard to get much better than that.
As mentioned, it’s actually zone coverage that the Bills and White rely on more. And good news: He’s really good at that as well. Last month NFL Wire tabbed their best cornerbacks in zone coverage. The No. 1? White.
It’s expected that While will continue his high level of play in 2020, whenever the NFL does get to playing football. If he does, the Bills are going to have a big decision to make: How much is White worth? The club already picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, so he’s signed through 2021. After that, White will likely be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, and the Bills would look smart in being the ones paying that.
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