Forget Watkins

[justasportsfan]

Robert Woods may be our no.1 wr this year.
If things keep up with the way EJ is playing, Chandler might still have the most number of catches. :sigh:

[Fletch]

5.6 preseason ypa, the coaching staff must really be babying Manuel.

Too bad we can't declare the entire OL eligible on every play.

[Skooby]

It's time to take the training wheels off.

[Fletch]

It's time to take the training wheels off.

16th overall 1st-round picks should never need training wheels to begin with.

[swiper]

Robert Woods may be our no.1 wr this year.
If things keep up with the way EJ is playing, Chandler might still have the most number of catches. :sigh:

I agree with both statements. Woods should/could be the Bills #1 WR. He just keeps catching passes.

And a TE or RB will have the most catches, if the pre-season trends continue.

Cue someone "It's only pre-season. It doesn't mean anything."

[Skooby]

I agree with both statements. Woods should/could be the Bills #1 WR. He just keeps catching passes.

And a TE or RB will have the most catches, if the pre-season trends continue.

Cue someone "It's only pre-season. It doesn't mean anything."

That's already coming up but the reality is we didn't look much more imaginative last season because of injury, hopefully we're past that now.

[ServoBillieves]

I agree with both statements. Woods should/could be the Bills #1 WR. He just keeps catching passes.

And a TE or RB will have the most catches, if the pre-season trends continue.

Cue someone "It's only pre-season. It doesn't mean anything."

It's the preseason. It means ****ing EVERYTHING!

[justasportsfan]

Preseason matters but it doesn't count.

[elltrain22]

Although Robert Woods does indeed look very, very impressive, Watkins is going to be our best receiver this year. I don't remember which poster said it, but we should have a 3-WR base offense. Watkins & Williamss on the outside, and Woods in the slot. With those 3 guys, plus Freddie and/or CJ on the field, that is a tough to match up against.

[k-oneputt]

You can forget all the wr's since we don't have a qb to get the ball to them.

Chandler and checkdowns to the backs.

Hey Whaley a little tip for you, as much as I like Watkins he will be basically useless if your qb sucks.

No wonder Marrone is always pissed off, he is stuck with that stiff at qb and will be looking for a new job unless a miracle happens.

[The Jokeman]

Although Robert Woods does indeed look very, very impressive, Watkins is going to be our best receiver this year. I don't remember which poster said it, but we should have a 3-WR base offense. Watkins & Williamss on the outside, and Woods in the slot. With those 3 guys, plus Freddie and/or CJ on the field, that is a tough to match up against.

I totally disagree as 1)Watkins is a rookie and to me it's telling that EJ is always looking for Woods inside the twenty it tells me he has more confidence in Woods. I think the Bills will be lucky of Watkins puts up receiving numbers like DeAndre Hopkins and Terrence Williams (see about 800 yards receiving) put up last year as rookie but think we'll see him put up Aaron Dobson type numbers (500 yards receiving). Yet my question will be does Williams and Woods on the outside with SJ13 and Ebron at TE and still having our 1st Round pick in 2015 (who we could argue could be Amari Cooper who'd replace Williams or Stevie in 2015) a better group? Time will tell.

[Meathead]

as long as he doesnt put up antoine dodson numbers

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131020232424/degrassi/images/6/6e/You-Are-So-Dumb-Antoine-Dodson-Bed-Intruder-GIF.gif

[Woodman]

Only worried about our QB, WR and what number they are, not so much.

[RedEyE]

Training wheels? Are we talking about the OC or the QB?

17011

[Skooby]

Training wheels? Are we talking about the OC or the QB?

17011

EJ, the OC shouldn't need to be trained to be an OC in the first place. I actually think the Syracuse buddy system is going to be Doug's demise, he should of looked for another Schwartz (HC that was cut) type guy for an NFL experienced OC to have in the fold.

[Typ0]

It looks to me like Watkins has amazing hands and can run after the catch...it really plays into his strengths the more he's not the go to guy. If Woods racks up catches and Williams is also consistent wow that really makes CJ and Watkins threats on the field to get the ball and run with it....

[gebobs]

I hope this is just a "no sense aggravating it in preseason thing", but wow what a freak thing, eh? He comes off the line and Allen grabs his facemask. Manuel throws the ball at his feet and Allen grabs him around the waist. Watkins sees Shazier coming to hit him and turns his back. Shazier pulls up and sort of rolls over his back. It looks like he got a bit of Shazier's knee into his lower right back (right at 0:27), but it sure didn't seem like anything that would cause much injury.

I've only seen replays so have no idea what the official line on it is.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pWlKxEAog30" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Cali512]

He gets kicked in his ribs when shazier jumps

[better days]

Jim Kelly about Andre Reed: " He meant so much to my career. He made me look good. He was so great at YAC, he took a 5 yard pass & turned it into a 50 yd TD."

Watkins could well be the next Andre Reed for the Bills.

[justasportsfan]

Watkins could well be the next Andre Reed for the Bills.


My guess is that that the coaches were hoping Watkins could turn a 5 yard checkdown from Ej into a huge gain. I hope EJ isn't going to revert back to being Capt. Checkdown because Watkins could do more damage downfield where teams would have to worry about him , Woods, M Williams and Goodwin.

[Fletch]

Robert Woods may be our no.1 wr this year.
If things keep up with the way EJ is playing, Chandler might still have the most number of catches. :sigh:

It's not like Watkins has shone in preseason. He hasn't.

[Fletch]

Training wheels? Are we talking about the OC or the QB?

17011

The OC has a tricycle.

[Fletch]

Although Robert Woods does indeed look very, very impressive, Watkins is going to be our best receiver this year. I don't remember which poster said it, but we should have a 3-WR base offense. Watkins & Williamss on the outside, and Woods in the slot. With those 3 guys, plus Freddie and/or CJ on the field, that is a tough to match up against.

How do you know this?

I mean he should be given what we invested, but if it doesn't work out that way it will hardly be the first time in NFL history where a player didn't step up as he should have by draft status.

Watkins hasn't shone anything in preseason, only in camp, and big deal there. He's struggled to get open by multiple reports. Even on this play where he hurts himself, it's not like there was a ton of separation from him and the DB.

If you ask me, he's going to be a little stunned at how much faster defenses in the NFL are than they were in the ACC. We cant talk about camp all we want and the one-handed grabs and that kinda stuff, but he has to perform against other teams' #1's and he hasn't done much yet in that regard. That's a fact. Whether he's playing possum or not remains to be seen, but given this wealth of speed, agility, and other physical assets that he supposedly has, I'm quite curious why he hasn't been able to do something, even in a vanilla fashion, in preseason games.

There's way too much being placed on his shoulders this season. Part of me feels sorry for the kid.

[stuckincincy]

Robert Woods may be our no.1 wr this year.
If things keep up with the way EJ is playing, Chandler might still have the most number of catches.


He may well be. Great hands, had a good rookie outing. And a good pre-season so far. I was surprised to read that his ave. gain was 14.7 yds last season. That was with Stevie Johnson in the line-up. They have to make up the loss. I can't say if it's Watkins, yet. I don't think they can, either - bummer that he got the early ding last game.

They have been tossing the ball a fair amount towards Chandler- by design, I feel. And why not? He caught 53 last season, and BUF certainly spread the passes around.

They dished off Johnson - and while he had no end of detractors here, he was a decent WR who drew coverage.

It seems to me, that that OC Hackett's philosophy is to spread out the tosses - perhaps an admission that that is the best thing to do with the QB situation. It isn't such a bad philosophy - BUF did move the ball well enough, and while the red zone failures are noted., one hopes they will work on their play calls there. But they are far from alone - no end of teams that come up short and kick.

I do think that as it is, they would be served by trying to find another TE to fill in when the cuts happen, worries about Chandler gets banged up again. Being 6'7" is an asset, but it's also a lot of body to get dinged.

[Fletch]

That's been my thought since Stevie was traded, that Woods would pick up the slack as the top target.

He's got the most chemistry with Manuel who's going to need to take advantage of every single edge he can get. Also, Woods is a slot guy, which is a far more likely target for a distance challenged QB.

Still, having said that I don't expect Woods to have more than 60 catches or so for 800-900 yards if he does end up being the leading WR.

[TacklingDummy]

Wasn't worth 2 1st round picks.

[better days]

Wasn't worth 2 1st round picks.

And a fourth. Probably not. He will have to have an Andre Reed type career for that to be a good trade.

[stuckincincy]

That's been my thought since Stevie was traded, that Woods would pick up the slack as the top target.

He's got the most chemistry with Manuel who's going to need to take advantage of every single edge he can get. Also, Woods is a slot guy, which is a far more likely target for a distance challenged QB.

Still, having said that I don't expect Woods to have more than 60 catches or so for 800-900 yards if he does end up being the leading WR.

I think he might. If his rookie season and this pre-season is indicative, I could see 80+. Add in the emphasis of tossing flags for putting a pinkie on a receiver....we will have to wait and see how that plays out in the regular season, of course. He seems a very good pick by BUF. Maybe Watkins, too - if you can get away from the high price they paid. I can't. They are committed to Manuel, so they are best served by sure hands in a somewhat plodding pass offense.

That sure-handness fades in the red zone as the best asset, though. There you look for leaping and height and separation, since players are concentrated in a relatively small space. I'm also surprised that close-in they don't roll out Manual much. He's speedy and big and agile enough to punch it in. Even if you try and fail a few times, you have the upcoming opposition looking at the game films and pondering.

That's something to do in the pre-season, BTW. Run those end arounds, reverses, the fancy stuff. One, you give your players the experience to do so, two, successful or not, you jazz up the youngsters that are most of any team's roster, and three, if you do it, the opposition has been given something to think about come the regular season.

I totally reject the idea of running "plain vanilla" pre-season plays. Cripes - what hasn't been seen before?

I'm also not pleased about how this DC is calling formation. If you want to evaluate how the back seven that can play man coverage, do it several times in a row. See how your players do when they are stuck in the wrong scheme - see which players try or can get the job done in a crappy situation.

[gebobs]

Wasn't worth 2 1st round picks.
What if those picks were Aaron Maybin and John McCargo? :-)

[better days]

What if those picks were Aaron Maybin and John McCargo? :-)

Better yet, Aaron Maybin & Mike Williams.

[better days]

The Bills may not have a true #1 receiver this year.

I expect Woods, Watkins, Williams & Chandler to all put up good numbers to mitigate that.

And Goodwin & Hogan should put up some lesser numbers to add to the total tally as well.

[Mike]

You can forget all the wr's since we don't have a qb to get the ball to them.

Chandler and checkdowns to the backs.

Hey Whaley a little tip for you, as much as I like Watkins he will be basically useless if your qb sucks.

No wonder Marrone is always pissed off, he is stuck with that stiff at qb and will be looking for a new job unless a miracle happens.

Yup! Their only saving grace was drafting another QB that quickly shows A LOT of promise which is basically 1 in a 100 shot!

So they went with option #2. Got the exciting WR and are hoping to god that EJ -somehow gets better- but there is only so much you can do when you QB is having a hard time hitting the broad side of a barn.

======•==========•===========•

Our Real Hope:
They improve in 'other ways' this year and QB remains the only glaring whole.

The following year a New FO & Top HC are hired (not some .500 college cost or retread NFL coach that was average at best)

In his first season new HC & FO evaluate team and improve in ither ways. Then draft a QB the following year 2016 1st round pick

[justasportsfan]

It's not like Watkins has shone in preseason. He hasn't.

which is why I created the thread.....but in his defense, he's been in there when EJ was the qb and he hasn't shone either.

[Fletch]

Better yet, Aaron Maybin & Mike Williams.

If Watkins turns out to be no better than Braylon Edwards, drafted 3rd overall, or Justin Blackmon, drafted 5th overall, then there won't be much difference.

[Fletch]

which is why I created the thread.....but in his defense, he's been in there when EJ was the qb and he hasn't shone either.

He's been targeted more times than any other WR I think, 7, but has fewer catches than most, 3.

It hasn't been for lack of opportunity. Also, what about the reports from varying sources now, talking about how Watkins has struggled to separate himself from opposing CBs? That's hardly good considering that pretty much his biggest strength is his speed and moves.

If you ask me he's going to have the same struggles as most rookie WRs, maybe even more. I don't think that people understand the lack of competition he faced while at Clemson and how im inflated his performances.

[justasportsfan]

He's been targeted more times than any other WR I think, 7, but has fewer catches than most, 3.

It hasn't been for lack of opportunity. Also, what about the reports from varying sources now, talking about how Watkins has struggled to separate himself from opposing CBs? That's hardly good considering that pretty much his biggest strength is his speed and moves.

If you ask me he's going to have the same struggles as most rookie WRs, maybe even more. I don't think that people understand the lack of competition he faced while at Clemson and how im inflated his performances.


actually Woods has been in there more times than Watkins. Watkins has had less opportunities than Woods. I would think teams will eventually lock on to Watkins once he gets his chemistry with EJ which would help Woods as well.

[better days]

If Watkins turns out to be no better than Braylon Edwards, drafted 3rd overall, or Justin Blackmon, drafted 5th overall, then there won't be much difference.

Well, I have faith that Watkins won't get suspended until he is out of the league at least.

Blackmon is probably the worst draft pick in the Jags history.

But Watkins needs to have a HOF type career to justify what the Bills gave up to get him.