- ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that free agent and former 49ers linebacker Gerald Hodges is visiting the Buffalo Bills today.
- Hodges would provide an immediate upgrade for the Bills at the linebacker position, with Preston Brown being the only LB on the roster having an extensive number of snaps in the NFL.
- Hodges' PFF overall grade of 82.4 ranked 21st at the position in the 2016 season and is significantly better that Preston Brown’s overall grade of 49.8, which ranked 66th out of 87 qualifying LBs.
- The free-agent LB also posted better grades in run defense (80.8) and in coverage (73.8) than Brown, whose run-defense (47.1) and coverage (59.8) grades both ranked towards the bottom of the league.
- In terms of run-stop percentage (percentage of tackles which constituted as a “loss” for the offense), Hodges once again has a higher mark than Brown. Hodges ranked 13th with a mark of 9.3 percent, compared to Brown's 8.0 percent, which ranked 23rd. Brown did post a slightly better tackling efficiency than Hodges, with a mark of 12.7 compared to 10.6 (tackling efficiency measures the total amount of attempted tackles made per each missed tackle).