Buffalo Bills Player Spotlight: Frank Gore Jr. | DC

Opening thoughts on Frank Gore Jr. [Music] what's good folks welcome to this player Spotlight edition of disguised coverage I am your host Anthony prohaska find me on Twitter at proor an that's Pro 2or in this edition of Disguise coverage we will be highlighting Frank G Jr and his play against the Carolina Panthers in the Buffalo Bills pre-season finale a performance that saw him really kind of lead the way for the offense obviously on the ground especially 18 carries 101 yards 5.6 yards per carry one touchdown a longest run of 17 yards we saw Darron Evans exit earlier in the game which really thrust the bulk of the snaps on to Frank G Jr's shoulders and he performed well we we saw him exit late in the game with an apparent knee injury after he kind of got rolled up or bent underneath a pile which was a shame considering how strong his performance was up until that point and again with Evans being out and Ben denucci being in his second week with the Buffalo Bills Anthony Brown being the other quarterback in this game and it being his first week with the Buffalo Bills the Run game much like the game against the Steelers was the focal point for this bills offense and Gore was very much the tip of the spear for that run game we're going to get into several of the concepts he succeeded with in the game against Carolina and highlight his skill set I I think there were several runs in this game against the Panthers that are a good microcosm or representation of who and what Frank G Jr is as a runner looking at this bill's running back room it's going to be tough to crack the main roster that initial 53 or even the top three in the running back room given the presence of James Cook Ray Davis and Ty Johnson but I think Gore has definitely made a case to earn himself a spot on the practice squad Darren and Evans I think has as well Evans gives you a little bit of a different type of skill set than Gore a little more juice to his game more wiggle more shake the ability to catch the ball coming out of the back field also that ability as a returner on special team so a bit of a different Dynamic it'll be interesting to see who the bills keep between Gore between Evans or if they try to keep both of them either way Gore had a really strong performance against Carolina Panthers he had a good preseason overall nice to see this bill's Run game start to pick it up after a not so ideal performance to open the pre-season against the Chicago Bears but they really started to turn it around against the Steelers and against the Panthers and that performance against the Panthers when it comes to the Run game shout out to the offensive line for doing their part we're going to look at some of those pieces in this breakdown as well but without further Ado let's dive right into the tape from this game and take a look at Frank G JR we've got eight plays to go through that I think are a good representation of not just Gore's performance in this game but really who he is as a player and you're going to hear a lot of you know similar terms and similar skill set descriptions in these plays we're going to talk about contact balance we're going to talk about vision we are going to talk about efficiency we're going to talk about running behind your pads bouncing off Defenders I don't think there's a lot of sexiness to gora's game there's not a ton of Sizzle to his game but what you do get is efficiency you get someone who is going to get you what a run is blocked for and then he could potentially get you a couple more with his ability to break tackles consistently fall forward and kind of make something out of nothing when it comes to being stopped in his tracks but still being able to get forward for another yard or two or three in some form or fashion this first play here is Finishing through contact for a touchdown his touchdown run in this game little toss play what you're going to see on this one contact Balance power ability to finish through contact him running behind his pads and then bouncing off Defenders so we're going to get some little motion here to influence the Defenders and if you notice here uh we get this second level that's not a straight line but it's fine uh you're GNA get that second level shifting and bumping over in response to the motion this creates better angles and leverage for the offensive line as they all go this way and the tight ends as well and KJ haml over here creat some better leverage and angles for them as the defense is moving this way but the offense is going this way nothing crazy Gord just follows his blocks he reads the track and then this is where he makes this run happen you've got a safety who is coming down right on him he's trying to close from the point of attack two for the Panthers there his ability to Frank or's ability that is to bounce off of Defenders lowers the shoulder goes right through 22 goes to a couple more Defenders again that ability to run behind your pads play through contact a nice job here from Gore and this isn't even Gore doesn't even necessarily Square him up and really try and go through him it's just a natural part of his game that contact balance that power and the ability to play through contact it just happens to him naturally you see him ID the alley right here he sees he understands he knows where it is he knows that he's got a safety barreling down on him and at this point it's just kind of like will and want to on Frank Gore J's part and he gets up field takes a good angle you see again here's where the alley is so he doesn't get inefficient he doesn't try to take on 22 or allow this Defender to kind of get a full straight hit he maintains that angle to try and make the hits from both of these Defenders coming from the inside trying to make those hits more of glancing blows than straight on hits goes forward lowers the shoulder anticipating that contact and just watch what happen happens to 22 who just boom bounces right off him I'm just going to show it a couple more times again this is also why you try you want to wrap up this is why you teach Defenders wrap up don't just bring the shoulder it's shoulder on shoulder here Gore is coming downhill he's got more momentum he is the hammer 22 is the nail but it doesn't just end there right he puts the shoulder down pops 22 and then he's playing through contact here from this outside Defender who's trying to spin back inside make a play from the pursuit defender on the inside trying to make a play so he's kind of stopped here at the two or three yard line and again it's that ability to fall forward to play through contact to play through the trash consistently falling forward gaining an extra one or two or sometimes three yards on the regular and in this instance those one or two extra yards is what enables him to get a touchdown and you see how pumped The Supporting Cast is for Gore on this play again one more time let's show it in real time pitch Gore follows his block cuts it up field bang physical decisive nice run from Frank Gore Jr we've got a mid Zone run Contact balance & vision on mid zone from the Buffalo Bills you're going to notice a lot of similarities I'm going to be showing it from sideline angles both Endzone angles um a lot of duo in this game so that first play was was was a toss play what we're going to get through the rest of in these highlights is Duo and mid Zone from the Buffalo Bills two concepts that they like in the regular season two concepts that they liked in this preseason we've seen a bit of the you know the bills Dart con conepts their tackle pull stuff with the ones this preseason but they've kind of kept some of that close to the vest the majority of runs we've seen this preseason for the bills have been Duo had been mid Zone and then a couple pin and pulls mixed in as well but here's another run for Mr Gore again we're going to get some mid Zone it's going to go to the weak side over here Zone run you're trying to be like water if you're the running back you're trying to find wherever the hole is wherever the alley is go to it you're being adaptable you're being fluid and reading what's happening up front and adjusting accordingly so here comes score what's nice is as soon as he gets the ball he gets downfield right or upfield I should say gets his eyes right on to 57 which commits 57 to this a gap right here so he gets him to commit to that a gap sets up his block there which is nice now his eyes are immediately coming to the rest of the Run he knows 57 is taken care of he sees that 57 is got his shoulder and his head in this Gap so he's got to go elsewhere so starts to Bounce It ID 74 who comes off of his block now 74 is in this Gap so what does Gore do he continues to bounce this as he's bouncing he sees 37 coming inside and he also sees 31 the corner right here on the outside shrink down and put himself into an inside position so Gore just continues to bounce this outside runs right around and again this is where we see that contact balance this is where we see that power 31 is only able to get an arm on him Gore shakes through that then we get another arm kind of horse cery helmet neck type of tackle Gore ends up going out of bounds but he also shakes that off tries to spin inside off of it this one is good Vision good contact balance setting up your blocks you could see him kind of play through it in real time after we broke it down in slow-mo again it's not the sexiest it's not man look at that look at that Juke look at that step it's just good movement it's a very professional running style it's a very professional approach sets up his blocks helps out his blockers I think he's a a offensive lineman friendly type of running back because he uses his blocks well and he also helps set up blocks for his offensive lineman you can just see him again processing everything here and we'll keep it in slowmo from here can I get here nope there's got defender in that Gap can I go here nope there's another Defender okay everybody's inside let me just keep going around this way let me see if I can turn the corner Defender gets a piece of me shake off shake off each time next run here we are Make a defender miss in a phone booth on duo going to get a Duo run so this one is against a four down front where you have a couple dual runs well several dual runs uh to get through in this Spotlight for Frank or junor you're going to notice some of the ones against four down fronts he's able to kind of keep this thing inside some of the ones against five manf fronts for the Panthers he's bouncing it outside uh that is just pure bodies inside numbers inside how it muddies gaps on the interior where it creates space we're going to get into that with each play as we go forward here but Duo run so Frank G run to the tight end side tight end's over here we got Trey mckitty uh in line and then Zack Davidson hipped off of him and Frank Gore is reading the playside linebacker on these dual runs and not just Frank G that's what every running back is reading on these dual runs you're reading the plays side linebacker and so he's seeing how these double teams develop we have a double team here double team here double team here and then he's got lineman and tight ends who are going to climb to the second level pick off guys and we are going to see kind of where he flows and how he fits but see him read that playside linebacker Here Comes 53 down he gets picked up Gore sees the flash of color inside so he's like okay let me bounce this thing to the backside so puts his foot in the ground goes to step up into the hole sees another flash of color here so he bounces again now this is nice right in the moment reading the defender who actually does a pretty good job shedding his man but this is where you kind of get that make a man miss in a foam Booth type of aspect of Frank or's game similar to kind of what Deon single ter was able to do when he was here in Buffalo but I think single ter has more suddenness or sharpness to his Jukes and his ability guys to make guys miss in a foam boo so he sees that flash of color inside so Gore is trying to cut here and in Gore's mind right now okay let's actually go back a little bit Gore is going to make this cut he sees this Defender right here in this Gap so in Gore's mind he's like okay cool I'm going to bounce it and I'm going to go this way but as he makes this cut watch The Defender here the defender sees Gore sheds his man and now as Gore is finishing his cut he's in position to make a play on Frank Gore Gore puts his foot in the ground gets through him gets to the second level bounces off a Defender finishes off the Run nice Vision nice feet nice reactions in the moment after the initial plan and the initial thought I wanted to show this angle too because it shows that contact balance and that ability of Frank J to run behind his pads and bounce off of second level Defenders watch as he makes the cut and then boom just kind of pinballing through just pinballing through gets through he's going to get hit by 27 race the tackle it just moves him East and West a little bit gets hit by another Defender over here coming from the mess that's inside bounces off of that keeps going forward does a good job not the flashiest type of run but reads what's happening up front CES a defender in this Gap CES a defender in this Gap okay so let me bounce this thing uhoh 75 is now free let me put my foot in the ground let me get North and South he gets hit right here okay and let's watch this play as we continue to go forward and let's count how many yards he gets after contact so one two three four about five yards after contact there four and a half to five yards after contact and he goes through two Defenders Run in real time from the original point in this play dual run reading that front side linebacker sees defenders in gaps nice again runs behind his pads North and South contact balance keeps his feet churning on contact gets every drop of what he can on each run and pinballs around there good finish from Frank Gore Jr next play Pushing the pile and carrying a defender on duo we're going to get another Duo run from the Buffalo Bills this one again is versus a four down front for the p Panthers much like it was on the previous play and nothing again sexy on this one he just pushes the pile he's able to get the first down believe this one is a second down and five and watch how he's able to push the pile also shout out to let's watch the offensive line here we talked about some some love for the offensive line look at the push and the displacement they're able to generate look how clean the track is for Frank or Jr as he goes forward and how long it takes for contact to be had against him but what's nice is as things get muddy and we have the sideline angle I'm going to show it from The End Zone angle in a minute right after watch how he goes forward it starts to get muddy okay he's hit he's right here all right understood he gets hit watch him push the pile get more get more he's got and we're gonna see from the endone ankle he's got a very large defensive tackle on his back at this point carries him for a little bit that same 75 who he just juked in the hole on the previous play carries him forward for a little bit gets about three yards after contact watch it from The End Zone angle Doo here we go run to the tight end side double team here double team here you are reading this playside front side linebacker linebacker shift on the snap which is fine here goes Gore what does he see linebackers fitting in this Gap pretty easy here's the alley here's the alley nice and fun so he reads what he's got going on in front of him he sees 27 filling from depth so let me put my foot in the ground let me see if I can get this way turn this hit into a glancing blow that I could potentially break a tackle for him or can I cut this inside between these this Gap here and you notice here he lose even loses his footing here this has happening to a bunch of bills in this game it happened to gore several times it happened to KJ hamler it happened to Zack Davidson Gore loses his footing a little bit so he's not in like the best position to absorb contact but does so pushes the pile and carries a Defender forward key that linebacker there's the hole make a decision carry defer forward not sexy not amazing not a ton of Sizzle just an efficient run good contact balance good power run behind your pads keep your feet moving next up we have Beating a cornerback in space on duo another Duo run this time you will notice we've got a fiveman front from the Carolina Panthers obviously if you've got another man on the defensive line you've got less bodies at the second level and at the third level so what you'll notice on these fiveman front lines that the bills run Duo against you'll notice the ability of Frank G to have the opportunity to bounce this run outside and this is what we get so I want to show you the sideline angle first because again highlight to the offensive line for making things happen a little bit but it also puts into perspective the play from the corner outside so when you get these Duo runs if everything is gummed up on the inside so you're reading that playside linebacker but ideally what's happening for you is you want to get your running back in a one-on-one situation with a nickel defender or a corner if that's potentially possible so you get that opportunity to have what is should be an advantage and a mismatch for your offense which is that ability again to have a one-on-one situation where you are up against a nickel corner or maybe it's a safety or it's a corner on the outside depending on how the defense is fitting what type of front and coverage structure you're getting all that on the back end but on this play Gore is going to get it he's going to bounce it outside and you see how deep this corner is so now this corner reads what's happening up front with Gore so he's going to trigger and he's going to come downhill watch Gore just set him up a little outside and again there's not a ton of Wiggle not a ton of shake to Gore's game but he knows how to set a man up so that he can run through a shoulder or run through an arm and that's what he does here threatens the outside a little bit stabs gets up field shakes his man completely gets caught up in the ankle but again Falls forward let's watch it from The End Zone angle here's Duo and you'll notice everything here is all just kind of Muddy and gummed up as he starts to go forward here so here it is he can see it already there's a potential the potential I should say for him to kind of cut through this spot right here but if he's playing the long game maybe he's thinking 53 is able to get inside there and is going to gum things up and so he doesn't want to take the chance or maybe you know again this Defender is peing inside he's kind of watching the track maybe something happens in here so gorgeous sees what is going on inside on this run sees how Davidson is washing his man down here and it's like all right cool let me bounce this we get a push crack on the outside here from Justin shorter so he is pushing to the safety and then he's cracking him here Walling him off sealing him inside good job from shorter boom Gore shakes off a man at the first level and then now you're in space one-on-one with a corner can you make a Miss can you shake him can you go through him what can you do and again for a dude who doesn't have a ton of Wiggle that's it I'm going to watch it in real time a couple times just so you can get this the perspective of it not a ton of shap but it's enough right threaten that outside stab your foot the ground get up field 39 doesn't even get a hand on him nice then he gets tripped up a little bit but again what does he do manages to fall forward as he consistently does next one here we are Contact balance and falling forward on mid zone going to get a mid Zone run from the Buffalo Bills and another one with contact Balance Falling forward also he loses his footing a little bit on this one wanted to show the sideline angle again to credit the offensive line and Shout them out for the push look at the displacement that is created here look at where the Panthers bodies are versus where the bills bodies are there's some alleys there's some AB some ability to flow Like Water for Frank Gore look how far down he is it's what here's the line of scrimmage it is at the 23 yard line right here I'm not gonna be able to maintain the straight line but look at look at where Gore is before he starts to have to think about getting contacted but you watch here gets contacted okay he's contacted at the 20 just continues to make life hard and gets an extra two yards now we'll watch it from The End Zone angle good job on the offensive line as a whole I do want to shout out Mr Cedric van pran Granger Mr svpg who was given the snap here to 15 Ben denucci watch svpg we got a five down front here for the Carolina Panthers so this nose tackle who is lined up head up in a zero Tech right on svpg watch on the snap svpg gets in into his inside shoulder and watch him push him towards 63 to feed him that's a really good job so what they're trying to do again mid Zone run to the right everybody stepping in unison together you're trying to get a reach block here from 63 from that left guard so you're trying to cross the face of that nose tackle hook him seal him do whatever you can it's hard for a left guard because of the spacing so you've really got to be an Uber athlete and even then it's still hard so you execute that feed block common Zone blocking technique here but it's a good job from svpg feeding him to his left guard and then after he does that watch him get his eyes on that Defender coming from the second level comes off that feed block bang makes contact with the linebacker coming downhill drives him seals him good job okay now let's go back to to focusing on Mr Frank cour Jr takes this run here sees all the muddiness happening over here Zone runs they go to a side but the if you are the running back you are kind of it's a Choose Your Own Adventure you are finding whatever path whatever track whatever hole opens up Gore does that on this play sees what starts to develop backside so presses Cuts now watches he as he makes this cut he sees the defender getting his head in shoulder into that Gap so he tries to slam on the brakes you can see it right there tries to plant right off that left leg so that way he can cut back between his blocking up front into this alley right here but slips a little bit with his footing and his feet go off from under him he slides on that left foot he does not have a good base he does not have power in his lower body because he's basically off the ground and he's not on stable footing and he gets hit looks like the defender slips as well but watch him kind of just shake off the tackle a little bit he does get grabbed but he manages to back into another Defender and even when that Defender hits him he still Falls forward contact balance constantly getting an extra one or two yards sometimes more on every carry and I know it doesn't sound like a lot but that changes things second and seven versus second and six may sound small it's a big difference and then even more so second and seven to Second and five or second and seven to Second and four or getting hit at the three or the two yard line and turning that into a touchdown instead of another goal to go situation it's just efficient running from Frank Gore another Duo run shocker Turning the corner on duo what do we got again for the Carolina Panthers five down front what does that mean odds have increased a little bit that you're going to be able to bounce this run outside based on what happens up front that is what happens on this play this time we're going to get we we showed a similar run a couple plays ago where Gore bounced it outside the corner came up he set him up went inside this time the corner this corner triggers earlier and comes downhill but because of the cut that Gore makes the corner slips and Gore is able to turn the corner so this is a good job from Gore reading it bouncing it and getting outside and I know he gets pulled a little bit by 29 there as he starts to turn the corner but I think this also highlights an aspect of his skill set not a burner not a ton of long speed has some short area ability and again that that plays along with his power but this isn't somebody who's going to turn you know 10 yards into 20 or a 15 yard run into a house call he does get grabbed a little bit um by 29 who tries to make a recovery which slows him down a little bit you'll see it more on the end zone angle but he's going to get cut off there by the safety 36 who actually takes a pretty decent angle 56 decent angle as well um but you see the pursuit kind of catch up to him even though his momentum is impeded a little bit by that corner coming up Duo run five down front for the Panthers double team here we're GNA get the mck's gonna crash down help vanderark a little bit and then he's climbing to the second level against the playside linebacker what is gor see things are muddy inside he just sees bodies and a massive Humanity so he knows what's going down let me bounce this run we get a push crack from deir bird onto the safety here so what does that all mean yep you guessed it we're getting a oneon-one situation between Frank Gore and the corner and he makes this cut again Corner loses his feet so Gore is just like all right cool let me just keep this pushing outside again shout out to the corner for trying to make something happen here he is able to literally latch onto Frank Gore's arm Gore shakes him but it slows him down a little bit you're going to get to sometimes you're going to be able to bang this up inside depending on what happens here um you know sometimes this alley is going to be available sometimes it's going to be backside like we showed on one sometimes it's everybody's going to be collapsed down inside so you're bouncing it it's all going to depend on what that playside linebacker does and then how many Defenders you have on the defensive line overall what that front structure looks like for the def defense in terms of what hole you are going to where you're bouncing it and where you're kind of banging it up in there if you're Frank Gore but again on this one Gore recognizes the mass of humanity going here so this is an ideal situation too if you are an offense like if you can get this thing G if this thing gets gummed up inside and you're able to wash Defenders down and you're able to get that push crack on the safety in theory a running back in a one-on-one situation against a corner should be Advantage running back U which is another reason why guys like R Douglas and Christian Benford starting Corners who are good coming forward and playing the Run matter more in the NFL today because teams are leaning more into the ground game than they have in previous years so that run game is going to matter more for offenses therefore having Corners who are part of the Run fit are going to matter more for defenses we're going to Duo from gun get a Duo run again this time it's not under Center this time it is from gun and we get four down front this time from the Carolina Panthers but you can see everybody kind of keying in here a little bit for the run here we go what do we get double team here we get vpg helping out Alec Anderson a little bit here Gore is gonna get downhill what does he see 21 jumps inside shorter Gore's already seeing it as he's taking the hand off from denucci so he's already got his eyes to that front side he sees what's happening here okay immediately got to put your foot in the ground let me bounce this run what do we have again one-on-one situation with a cornerback outside Frank gour gets skinny sets him up and then breaks through an arm tackle which is another good job here similar to kind of what he did um earlier when he stepped inside on the corner on the Dual run from under Center to the right sets him up breaks tackles what do we say runs through arms runs through shoulders that's what you're going to get a lot of time with the quote unquote shake from Frank or he's not you know snatching ankles and breaking dudes down completely but he can change leverage a little bit and then with his contact balance and his power he's able to run through a shoulder able to run through an arm tackle like he does here here and then again Falls forward I'm going to show it from The End Zone angle on the other end zone just kind of again put into perspective what he's able to do from a contact balance perspective guy in here okay guy in here okay what am I going to do let me bounce this run I know I'm going to be one-on-one with a corner little Shake he completely breaks this and then even from the tackle coming from 47 look how he carries him a little bit forward a little little bit again running through contact running through arms running through shoulders I'll show it one more time in real time but the Frank G story efficiency running behind your pads contact balance feet keeping your legs moving in contact all that kind of stuff just falling forward I think it was a really Closing thoughts encouraging performance from him we'll see what happens in terms of practice squad stuff versus game day roster versus the 53 there seems to be with each year each subsequent year there seems to be more running backs that are capable of being rb2s and RB 3s and practice squad guys so I do think there is a serviceable amount of talent out there for teams to choose from but Frank or had himself a good preseason he had a good game against the Carolina Panthers in the bills finale over the weekend and set himself up well I think to make a practice squad roster and who knows where he goes from there if it's with the bills if it's with another team if he gets put on the bills practice squad and signed to another team's Main roster I don't think he's a player that's just living off of name recognition again he's a he's an efficient professional type of Runner with the feet the contact balance the power the ability to finish through contact run through arm tackles run through shoulders I also think he knows who he is you don't see a lot of wasted movement that's why I talk about the efficiency there's there's not a ton of okay let me try and create something here he knows who he is he gets North and South he understands this run is blocked for three I'm going to try and turn it into four five or six by Falling forward setting my blocks up using my blocks up he's an offensive lineman friendly type of Runner um which is nice for the room and nice for the big dudes up front they like those type of guys that help them do their job or use the blocks well that they create so we'll see what happens with him going forward but a really good performance from him in this game against Carolina nice for him to get a 100 yard game under his belt even if it is in the preseason that's an accomplishment for running back regardless of if it's preseason regular season or when it comes that'll do it for us here in this player Spotlight edition of Disguise coverage if you like this video drop a like on this video please rate and review And subscribe to disguise coverage whether here on YouTube or whichever podcasting app or platform you're listening to this show on turn on notifications for disguise coverage and subscribe to the cover one channel as a whole I hope you and your family and friends and loved ones are all doing well and staying safe be kind to one another take care of one another godp speed and as always go bills