newest defensive end"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections NewsNotesOpinionAnalysisDiscussionPodcastNFL DraftSalary CapNFL Free AgencyAnalysisNotesAll-22 analysis: Buffalo Bills free-agent acquisition White Robert Foster Jerseys , defensive end Eli HaroldNew,21commentsThe Bills aren’t done shopping. We take a look at the team’s newest defensive endEDTShareTweetShareShareAll-22 analysis: Buffalo Bills free-agent acquisition, defensive end Eli HaroldI’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “There’s no rest for the wicked or the Buffalo Bills once free agency starts.” This year that old gem has certainly been accurate. This time, the Bills are working to shore up their line by signing defensive end Eli Harold. Formerly with the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, Harold has four years of NFL experience at outside linebacker. Don’t let the position fool you, with the systems these teams used Harold was mainly performing the role of an end in Buffalo’s defense. Let’s take a look. Play 1Arguably, this should be the finale. Any time an outside linebacker/defensive end has two offensive lineman wedging him in it should be an easy victory for the offensive players. Now being fair to the 49ers, neither lineman initiated contact perfectly. Still, this is somewhat insane for Eli Harold to just drive through them. Harold’s strength and tenacity are off the charts for this play. Play 2If you look long enough, you’ll find a “wow” play for any player in the NFL. So is Harold consistently strong? Well he did this to Joe Staley all day long. Making this all the more incredible is that Harold is undersized for Buffalo’s defense. Per Pro Football Reference, at 243 lbs he’s about a dozen pounds lighter than Jerry Hughes. It’s closer to 20 compared to Eddie Yarbrough and Trent Murphy. And Shaq Lawson is 24 lbs heavier than Harold. The low point of attack helps, but the power still stands out. Play 3Harold attempts a couple techniques that aren’t “running through guys” on this play with mixed results. The initial quick step to the right shows some promise, but the cut-back and swim move are lacking. What appears to have gone awry is that Harold loses momentum and doesn’t drive into Staley. A swim move is intended to help skirt around an opponent in close quarters. The gap left by Harold allows Staley to keep his upper body and arms clean to follow up after the move. Play 4Harold suffered injuries to his shoulder and hip during the year. Both joints are crucial for generating power. The game against San Francisco came before both injuries. This game against the Los Angeles Rams came after Harold was put back into the lineup following the second injury. It did appear that injuries impacted his game to some degree Robert Foster Jerseys 2019 , as Harold wasn’t winning his shoving contests as often as he did early in the season. As we see here, though, he still had his moments. Play 5We see a similar set of circumstances to Eli Harold’s attempt in Play 3. As above, the actual use of hands seems fine, but the gap Harold leaves between himself and the offensive linemen renders the hand fighting ineffective. Play 6Regular readers have probably seen my assertion that it’s fine for offensive lineman to “lose slowly.” Despite Harold’s strength most offensive linemen are still able to hold him off long enough to be called a “slow loss.” Sometimes this happens though. Harold had four sacks last year on only 183 snaps. That works out to about one every 46 snaps. This was his best year by volume and by far his best year for efficiency. Play 7In the games reviewed, Detroit seemed to want to avoid having Eli Harold in coverage. The 49ers weren’t so shy and asked him to work on shorter/medium routes like we see here. This is a fairly good representation of how it went on average. The difference in usage likely helps explain the sack-efficiency difference to some degree, but more than likely Harold will not be able to continue at a pace of one sack every 46 snaps. Play 8Eli Harold places his hand to the side of his opponent’s shoulder and tries to shove him aside. When that doesn’t work, some hand-fighting takes place. It’s not until Harold drives forward that he has any progress. Similar to the pair of plays above, by not leaning in to use the hand techniques the offensive lineman can hold their ground and deal with the hands. Play 9Here’s Eli Harold sacking Tom Brady. SummaryEli Harold has a high ceiling athletically, especially when it comes to strength. Despite his diminutive weight, a healthy Harold routinely shoves back offensive lineman. Harold still seems to be working on hand fighting and more finesse-based approaches, which would help his game-play drastically. With Lawson, Murphy, Yarbrough White Corey Bojorquez Jerseys , and Hughes all ahead of Harold on the depth chart it will be an uphill battle for him to make an impression. On the other hand, Harold can line up on either side of the formation, adding value. Sean McDermott may also see Harold as part of a “big nickel” defense.Pressure on Brian Daboll to stick the landing as new Bills offensive coordinator Week 1 of the 2018 NFL regular season is upon us, and the Buffalo Bills will be kicking off their season-opening matchup with the Baltimore Ravens in just a few short hours. If you have tiny shivers of excitement running down your spine right now, you are not even remotely alone.For the first time in nearly two decades, the Bills are entering a regular season with playoff-level expectations facing them. That’s what happens when a team ends a 17-year playoff drought: the standard raises. Buffalo is still, however, very much a team in transition as year two of the Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott era commences: the roster is still very much in turnover phase, there’s a new franchise quarterback in the pipeline, and McDermott is still trying to iron out his coaching philosophy on the offensive side of the ball.Every Bills fan has his or her own primary point of focus entering the new year. Speaking personally, mine is that last point from the previous paragraph. Yes, I’ll be paying attention to the general, overall look of the team, how the new additions (chiefly rookie middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds) perform Corey Bojorquez Jerseys 2019 , and the rest of the major talking points you’ve all read about at length this offseason. But the men I am most eager to evaluate are offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and by extension, the man who hired him this past winter.Daboll is Buffalo’s fourth offensive coordinator in the past four years, following in the footsteps of Rick Dennison (fired by McDermott after the 2017 season), Anthony Lynn (who took the head coaching job in San Diego Los Angeles after the Bills fired Rex Ryan), and Greg Roman (who Ryan unceremoniously canned after the first two weeks of the 2016 regular season). He’s also a coach that the Bills aggressively pursued for the role; the team announced the hiring of Daboll just two days after announcing Dennison had been relieved of his duties.This was an important hire for McDermott, and one that he ultimately did not waste time in making. Now that the Bills are taking on the important, dual-focused work of turning Josh Allen into a franchise quarterback, as well as improving an offense that has not finished in the Top 10 in total offense since 2000 (and was No. 29 a year ago), it is imperative that Daboll stick the landing and manage to stay around for, say, at least a second season.His job won’t be an easy one, despite having a future Hall of Fame running back on the roster to work with. The Bills have a challenging schedule ahead of them this season, starting with today’s Ravens outfit that is setting out to erase the sting of their own season-ending breakdown in Week 17 last season - one that cost them a playoff berth White Marcus Murphy Jerseys , and paved the way for the Bills’, instead.Nathan Peterman was named Buffalo’s starting quarterback earlier this week. He won the job after outplaying Allen and the since-traded AJ McCarron by a considerable margin this preseason, completing over 80 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and one (tipped) interception. He clearly has the best command of Daboll’s offense at the moment, which is why he’s playing over the highest-drafted quarterback in Bills franchise history.That said, Peterman is merely keeping the seat warm for Allen, and it is his job, as well as his play-caller’s, to try to turn this into the best problem the Bills have ever had. If the Bills are going to have success offensively against not only the Ravens, but a slew of other highly-talented defenses coming up on the schedule, it will be because Peterman is playing well, and because Daboll is putting him and the rest of the Bills’ meager skill talent in position to succeed.It’s a big ask. Peterman, for as well as he played this summer, is still one of the least-experienced starting quarterbacks in the league. The Bills are replacing three very skilled and tenured starters from their offensive line, and that unit’s play ranged from dodgy to awful in preseason action. Beyond star tailback LeSean McCoy Marcus Murphy Jerseys 2019 , the Bills do not have a skill position player that is going to require significant game-planning focus for opponents. It’s going to take a smoke-and-mirrors effort for Daboll to turn this offense into a respectable unit, and it’s going to take patience on McDermott’s part to let Daboll try to establish some sort of consistency in his role.With so many questions surrounding the Bills’ offensive coordinator position in general, Peterman and the timing of Allen’s ascent, the offensive line, and the viability of the skill position pool beyond McCoy, expectations for this unit are understandably much lower than they are for the team as a whole. More than anything else, the Bills really need to start to build a consistent foundation offensively this season. There can’t be a revolving door anymore. That effort - or, at least, our evaluation of it - begins in earnest at 1:00 this afternoon.