Here's the Bills news of note for Feb. 14th.
**1 - PFF explains McCoy snub
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Pro Football Focus explained its questionable decision to omit LeSean McCoy from the list of the top 101 players from 2016.
McCoy was named to his second straight Pro Bowl and was sixth in the league in rushing. He was the second biggest snub on the list, according to the site, and Sam Monson of PFF explained the reason for his omission.
"LeSean McCoy ended the season with 1,267 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, while also adding 356 receiving yards and another touchdown," Monson wrote. "He had without a doubt an excellent season, but fell short of the 101 list by a narrow margin. The single biggest thing that kept McCoy out was his performance as a blocker. This may seem like an insignificant thing for a running back, but in today's league, backs need to be able to pass block, or their quarterbacks are in trouble."
Monson supported his claim with McCoy's blocking numbers from 2016.
"McCoy was kept in to block 92 times this season, and earned a pass-blocking grade of 37.1 — the worst mark of any running back in the NFL. On those 92 snaps, he allowed 13 total QB pressures," Monson wrote. "McCoy was certainly in the conversation in the latter stages of the list, and would be among the next few names to go on it, but was ultimately kept off by his blocking performance."
Still, it's hard to make the case that there were 101 players in the NFL better than McCoy. He ran for his most yards since 2014, and had the highest per carry average of his career while helping the Bills set a franchise record for most rushing touchdowns in a season.
The only Bill to make PFF's original list of the top 101 players of 2016 was guard Richie Incognito. Incognito was ranked 98th, and the Bills, as a team, averaged 5.7 yards per carry on runs going immediately to either side of Incognito's block.
**2 - Gilmore tabbed Bills best pick since 2012
**Stephon Gilmore has been Buffalo's best draft pick since 2012, according to Fox Sports.
Randy Gurzi listed the top selection for every team in the draft over the past five seasons, and he chose Buffalo's selection of Gilmore 10th overall out of South Carolina in 2012 as the Bills best choice.
Gilmore has been a shutdown corner with the team, appearing in 68 games with the Bills since being drafted, totaling 14 interceptions and 226 tackles.
"The last player to really live up to their draft expectations in Buffalo has been cornerback Stephon Gilmore, their first round pick from 2012," Gurzi wrote. "He has been a good cover guy who helped keep their defensive backfield looking solid. It will be interesting to see if he can become even better with new head coach Sean McDermott."
Gilmore's best campaign came in 2016. The 26-year-old set a career-high with five interceptions, and earned his first Pro Bowl appearance.
He will become a free agent for the first time in his career in March, but has expressed a desire to remain in Buffalo.
3 - Bills among most attractive teamsDespite the Bills missing the playoffs in 2016, Bills fan can rest easy knowing that they supported one of the most attractive teams in the NFL.
Fanatics.com surveyed over 400 people using NFL player headshots to discover the NFL's most attractive players and teams.
The Bills came in as the seventh-most attractive NFL squad, while rookie cornerback Kevon Seymour was tied for the 10th-most attractive individual player in the entire league.
The 23-year-old from USC was ranked as the second-most attractive defensive back in the league with an average rating of 7.2. Players were ranked on a scale of 1-10.
Rounding out the rest of Buffalo's top five were Justin Hunter (6.6), E.J. Manuel (6.6), Reggie Bush (6.4) and LeSean McCoy (6.3).
Buffalo could be losing some of its attractiveness in 2017, as Hunter, Manuel and Bush are all free agents.
The 2016 Bills fell short of the 2011 team, who were voted the best-looking by the Wall Street Journal that offseason.
