The Buffalo Bills seem to receive a huge contribution from a random defensive player each year, as Jerry Hughes shed his bust status as an outside linebacker in Mike Pettine’s scheme last season to become one of the NFL’s most consistent pass rushers. Former first-round corner Leodis McKelvin did the same and has been a quality starting corner since, though he actually deserves a full-on benching at left cornerback in favor of an even more impressive corner, as the man behind him deserves even more snaps than the ones he’s been getting this season.
Corey Graham was a decent player while with the Baltimore Ravens, enjoying a pair of solid seasons in coverage in 2012 and 2013 without much fanfare. Before the 2013 season, he watched Cary Williams undeservingly earn big bucks with the Philadelphia Eagles, and I’m sure that’s a move Howie Roseman regrets at least a little bit.
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Meanwhile, Graham only costs the Bills $16 million over the next four years after joining the team in the offseason, and he looks like a bargain deal for GM Doug Whaley, who watched his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, splurge on money to re-sign Cortez Allen, only to have the corner flop in the first half of the season. Graham has been the exact opposite of a flop, and I’d wager that he’s been one of the most surprising players of the season, and he’s somebody non-Bills fans need to become familiar with.
There’s very rarely a time when Graham gets burned in coverage, and I can only recall two plays in which he was beaten for a big play (DeAndre Hopkins and Brian Tyms, though I need somebody to check up on that Tyms play, because Graham was playing safety in that game). According to the Pro Football Focus, the Bills rising left cornerback has allowed a meager 8.9 yards per reception into his coverage. His 42.9% catch rate allowed is probably even more impressive, and those two numbers combined yield an average of just 3.8 yards per attempt allowed in his coverage. 3.8! Even Geno Smith can do better than that!
Not only does Graham severely limit the number of plays the opposition makes, but he also makes more than enough plays of his own. With 40 tackles, an interception, and seven passes defended, he’s certainly made his presence felt. In fact, he impressively has half as many PDs as catches allowed, and he has also been a sure-handed tackler, with PFF tabbing him with just two missed tackles on the season. That’s important at the cornerback position, because nobody wants to have another version of Darius Butler flopping around in the secondary like the useless Magikarp version of a run defender (sorry, I couldn’t help it).
Graham has been instrumental- not useless, of course- to the Bills success on defense. According to Pro-Football Reference, the Bills have one of the NFL’s best pass defenses with a net yards per attempt allowed of just 5.7. Most of that has to do with a ridiculous pass rush led by Kyle Williams, Mario Williams, Marcell Dareus, and Hughes, but the guys in the secondary are important, too. Da’Norris Searcy and Aaron Williams haven’t embarrassed themselves in coverage, but McKelvin and Stephon Gilmore had rough starts to the year before bouncing back and showing their quality over the last few games. It’s mainly been Graham shining in the Bills secondary, and he’s been even better than Gilmore, who showed off elite talent back in 2012 (before a significant injury).
I think Grahan has to play at a high level for the rest of the season in order to be recognized as one of the league’s best corners, but the numbers show that he’s well on his way. It’s not like he completely came out of nowhere, because he was an effective player during his time with the Ravens. Still, I don’t think anyone could have anticipated him playing this well with his new outfit, and he’s on his way to matching last season’s career-high of 12 PDs with even better coverage numbers.
Graham had four picks last season and consistently improved in each successive season, so maybe Whaley and the Bills front office had their eyes tabbed on him all along. After all, they did commit to him for four years, whereas more regarded CBs like Tarell Brown and Walter Thurmond took one-year contracts. That said, Thurmond and Brown were likely looking to vault themselves into bigger deals, whereas Graham may have valued the security of a four-year deal more. Given Thurmond’s season-ending injury, it’s not always a bad idea to take the security, especially since a little over half of Graham’s contract ($8.1 million of the $16 million) is guaranteed.