we’re gonna look at tight end Ryan Griffin. Even star player

When the Houston Texans host the Buffalo Bills Bills Corey Bojorquez Jersey , DeAndre Hopkins will be featured heavily. You probably don’t need an opponent preview on him though, so instead s like Hopkins need the rest of the team to help them out. The versatile Griffin is a quiet but necessary cog in the Houston offense. The starting tight end hasn’t seen less than 68% of snaps so far this year, and is averaging twice the playing time of the closest Texan tight end. Griffin has been limited in practice with a toe injury this week, but seems like he’ll play. If not, the Texans will look to replicate what he does, as seen below. Play 1The Texans love to have Ryan Griffin across the formation, whether it’s blocking or running routes. On this play he ends up blocking Jaylon Smith one on one. After the initial contact, Smith disengages and looks to go around the tight end. Griffin keeps Smith in front of him pretty well and Deshaun Watson has one less linebacker to worry about. Play 2Ryan Griffin and fellow tight end Jordan Thomas try to stop Demarcus Lawrence. Thomas loses the block and Lawrence slips behind him. Griffin is able to engage again and move laterally with Lawrence. This one goes down as a victory for Griffin.Play 3The Texans aren’t afraid to send Griffin out, though his 20 targets this year suggest he’s not a focal point for touches. He saw nine of those targets in this game though, and there’s no reason to think he’ll be ignored when there’s a favorable match-up. The sporadic amount of passes thrown his way do mean teams can’t completely ignore him when he’s running up the field. He’s a decoy for this route and manages to pull one defender with him, making it just a little easier for the Texans. Play 4Overall Bills Matt Milano Jersey , Griffin catches well but doesn’t have great chemistry with Deshaun Watson. A good number of passes thrown to Griffin have been off target, like this one. It can be very difficult to assess blame, but the pattern of inaccurate ball placement to Griffin can’t be ignored. Griffin snags this one with a little extra effort. Play 5Route mastery is not something to expect from Griffin, but he’ll do these for Watson well enough. Leighton Vander Esch misjudges this play which helps Griffin get wide open for the ball. Play 6Like above, don’t expect much more than this but Griffin wisely understands the cushion Leighton Vander Esch provides here. Because Griffin isn’t a burner, he can make relatively tight turns to pair with his come back routes. Vander Esch is caught by surprise by this. Griffin’s lack of speed comes back to bite him as he’s tackled quickly after the catch. Play 7In addition to being a bit of a jack of all trades, Griffin has occasional lapses in his play. The initial contact with Leighton Vander Esch is good, but Griffin fails to finish the block. He stands upright quickly, losing leverage in the process. Vander Esch is able to slip into the lane that Griffin is trying to keep him away from. Play 8Griffin is set up to block Randy Gregory by himself. Gregory’s hesitation move leads to Griffin’s feet getting sloppy. Griffin stands upright like the last play and give up a lot of leverage. Additionally, Gregory is able to get his hands up near Griffin’s shoulders, which limits Griffin’s range of motion. With leverage gone and unable to hand fight Rafael Bush Jersey , the results aren’t pretty. In ConclusionAt any given moment, Ryan Griffin can do his job well. The Buffalo Bills will need to account for Griffin. Both finesse and power rushers can find success against Griffin. Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and Lorenzo Alexander all have variable skill sets that should be able to set something up against Griffin. Matt Milano will likely need to rely more on speed and finesse, and Tremaine Edmunds could have a strength advantage. In coverage, the Bills secondary could see him on any part of the field. Most of this group has the skill level to stay with Griffin. Bills fans shouldn’t expect to dominate Griffin, but a few impact plays through him shouldn’t be shocking. Breaking a 17-year playoff drought was fun, but the Bills appear to have taken a major step backward this season.Going through the pains of a pile of dead money on their salary cap, a rookie quarterback and an overhauled-and-not-for-the-better offensive line has left the Bills 1-3, but running back LeSean McCoy is not ready to declare their situation a rebuild.“Well I hope that’s not the case,” McCoy said Josh Allen Jersey , via Matt Parrino of NYUpstate.com. “I think the guys here we have can win now.“I mean, this is not the first time that a team has had a rookie quarterback that [could potentially make] the playoffs and that wins games. It’s not something that’s never been seen or happened in the NFL.”His optimism is admirable, but even coach Sean McDermott used the word “build” this week when discussing the team’s current spot. But McCoy insisted that they could still be a valid team while Josh Allen learns on the job.“With Josh being a young superstar in the making he needs to go through these times where we’re in close games. Whether we run the ball a lot or throw the ball a lot, each game is a new experience for him,” McCoy said. “I don’t look at it like we’re just developing our franchise quarterback because our team, we’re kind of older. The guys on defense who are stepping up and playing lights out for the last couple weeks to the main guys on offense, we’re a little older. I think the main focus is winning games. I don’t think that the main focus is trying to develop Josh. I think that will come along with you trying to win games now.”Of course, doing that would likely require McCoy playing a much more substantial role, but they’re 24th in the league in rushing. McCoy only touching the ball eight times in a game isn’t helping either, as any plan that has them winning now would seem to require him.