Suddenly, the Bills have 2 top-tier cornerbacks. Here's how Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas got there
The Bills have two dominant players at the cornerback position, Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas. Of the 34 cornerbacks who have played at least 119 defensive snaps through Week 2, Pro Football Focus has an overall grade of 78.9 (out of 100) on Benford, No. 5 in the league. Douglas is at No...
There was no hazing of the new guy last season in the Buffalo Bills’ secondary.
When general manager Brandon Beane swung a trade-deadline deal to acquire cornerback Rasul Douglas from the Green Bay Packers, it meant a reduction in playing time for someone on the Bills’ roster.
Regardless of that reality, there was no jealousy. Nobody was territorial over their position.
“When he first got here, we don’t really do that ‘hating’ stuff,” third-year cornerback Christian Benford said. “Once he got here, we brought him in with open arms. We helped him out with everything, taught him everything that we knew, so that he could succeed. Nobody is selfish.”
That’s how it was when Benford came to the Bills as part of the team’s 2022 draft class.
“We just help each other grow,” he said. “We all eat. We all succeed. Once he got here, I just did what was done to me.”
The result has been a bond between the two cornerbacks that started to form almost immediately from the time Douglas walked into Buffalo’s locker room.
“He was just talking me through how practice (would) go, how he views things, how he see things,” Douglas said of Benford. “He was also asking me questions and stuff about how I see things. We just started kicking it, and then started talking. Then I met his son. He met my son. From there, it just was continuous, talking every day, to praying together and stuff like that. … Now, it’s like close friends.”
Bills cornerbacks Christian Benford, left, and Rasul Douglas have started the season strong, having helped the defense slow down opponents’ top receivers. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Bills first-year cornerbacks coach Jahmile Addae said he has never been around two players with a closer bond than that of Douglas and Benford.
“If you see one, you see the other,” Addae said. “They greet each other with hugs like long-lost brothers. I’m like, dude you just saw each other 5 minutes ago. Nevertheless, they do have a different type of bond. It’s not fake. It’s not fabricated. … They do push each other in a way that I think is special.”
A dominant start
Through two games of this season, that’s been the case on the field.The Bills have two dominant players at the cornerback position. Of the 34 cornerbacks who have played at least 119 defensive snaps through Week 2, Pro Football Focus has an overall grade of 78.9 (out of 100) on Benford, No. 5 in the league. Douglas is at No. 19, with a 63.6 grade.
There is some subjectivity in how those grades are reached. Objectively, the numbers posted by opposing wide receivers against Douglas and Benford through two games speak for themselves. Prized rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. managed just one catch for 4 yards against the Bills in the season opener. The following week, he torched the Rams for 130 yards and two touchdowns on four catches.
Against the Bills in Week 2, Miami’s Tyreek Hill – perhaps the most explosive receiver in the NFL – had just three catches for 24 yards. That came a week after Hill posted seven catches for 130 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville. Similarly, Miami’s Jaylen Waddle saw his production drop from five catches for 109 yards against the Jaguars to four catches for 41 yards against the Bills.
Not that Benford cares about those numbers. Or any numbers.
“I don’t really do satisfaction because there is somebody else we’ve got to handle,” he said. “We’ve got to move on from that. That’s in the past. Kind of flushed it, almost.”
While it takes a total team effort to produce the type of defensive results the Bills have achieved against some elite receivers, Benford and Douglas’ strong start has been huge for the Bills.
“They’re playing with good eyes, good pre-snap recognition, good discipline within the coverage scheme and understanding, ‘What’s my role? Where’s my help? I just need to do what my role is and rely on the next guy to do what his role is,’ ” ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick told The Buffalo News. “It all works together and that’s how coverage schemes work and doing it for 65-70 plays. That’s what you see these guys doing and capitalizing on the opportunistic situations that arise – tips and overthrows and making sure you catch them.
What separates good teams from great ones, Riddick said, are the “disciplined fundamentals you’re able to repeat over and over and over again and that’s what you’re seeing from those guys. There aren’t a lot of mental busts. The ball isn’t getting thrown over their heads, the rush is helping them up front and it’s all tying together.”
Although they frequently line up on opposite sides, Benford and Douglas seem to have a mode of unspoken communication, one that has aided both of them.
“I can’t spill it, but I just know where he’ll be at,” Benford said. “I know what he’s thinking, I know how he feels. It helps you play faster once you know what you need to do.”
While their on-field, verbal communication may be limited because of where they line up, once they get to the sideline, that changes. If Benford, for example, is seeing an offensive concept on one side and Douglas hasn’t seen it on the opposite side, Benford gets Douglas up to speed, and vice versa.
Starting safety Taylor Rapp said he has not been around two cornerbacks who are so intentional about everything they do, including communication.
Neither has Addae.
“In preparation, they talk so much that on game day, I think it just naturally flows that way,” Addae said. “They come off on the sideline, it’s impressive the communication that’s being had. ... They coach themselves, and when I say that, I mean they hold themselves to a high standard, and if it’s not the standard that’s upheld within our room, you can tell that the other is on his (expletive).”
Practice practices
Addae never has to worry about effort with Benford or Douglas. During training camp, it’s typical for either of them to chase a play 20 or 30 yards down the field, trying to punch the ball out, then running back to the line of scrimmage and taking the next rep. That’s the only way both of them know how to work.Last week, the Bills had just three days to get ready for the Dolphins on a Thursday night road game. Addae shared a story that demonstrated how both of his starting cornerbacks approach practice – even walkthroughs.
“Our scout-team receivers are running full-speed,” he said. “As a coach, I’m thinking, ‘What are these guys doing? They’re going to burn my guys out.’ We’re trying to rest them. I started getting on the scout-team receivers.
Benford and Douglas then stepped in, explaining to Addae that’s what they wanted.
“At that point,” Addae said, “I knew we were going to wear somebody out.”
As a former sixth-round draft pick who went to Villanova, a school better known for its basketball program, it’s fair to consider Benford one of the more underrated players in the entire league, having risen to the top tier of NFL cornerbacks with attitude, work ethic and discipline.
Douglas, 29, is an eighth-year veteran. As such, he’s able to share his experiences with the 23-year-old Benford, who is in his third season.
That’s not to say that the relationship has been one-sided. Benford does have more experience in the Bills’ defense, which has helped Douglas in his transition to a new scheme.
“That’s been interesting and fun to watch,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said.
The next challenge for Benford and Douglas is to build on the 2-0 start. That chance comes at 7:30 p.m. Monday against Jacksonville in Highmark Stadium.
“The worst thing we can do is become complacent and get fat and happy,” Addae said. “My message to them today was, ‘Go back to camp mode.’ Every defensive back end that I’ve ever coached, as you get further and further away from camp, you lose a little bit of the detail and the energy and the effort. For us, it’s about making sure we keep that. That was the message. They came out and did that.”
