Bills WR's Next Year

[notacon]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Even the "experts" are saying that the Bills talent was overvalued, not just the receivers, but all around.

These guys make a lot of good points.


But, then again, they are missing the elephant in the room. They are bemoaning the idea that the Bills have “not made enough moves” for impact players....but, even though they mention Von Miller, they don’t acknowledge they he was knocked out for the season, weeks after the trade deadline.

They talk about how players are used in relation to one another, but, again, fail to acknowledge that Von Miller’s presence (along with DaQuan Jones) complimented and improved the D-line....both not in the biggest game of the year.

Miller was brought in specifically to address the issues these guys are harping about, mentioning Trey Henderson.....but they are not recognizing that moves in FA don’t mean **** if they player cannot got on the field.

Jesus. The Bills got beat in the last game of the year, by Cincy who played almost a perfect game (and the Bills. emotionally drained, played their worst...**** happens)....arguably their best game in YEARS. And some want to spin this into the Bills (basically) suck and their roster is for ****.

Pease. Save me the drama.

Yes, changes need to be made. Hell, EVERY TEAM has changes to be made EVERY YEAR. Last year, even after coming within 13 seconds of the AFCC game, the Bills turned over their roster by over TWENTY FIVE PERCENT!!!

They had some hits and some misses. DaQuan Jones was a HUGE hit....injured, missed his only game of the year vs Cincy. Von Miller was a HUGE HIT, did not play for the last eight games.

Hyde....one of the keys to the Bills defense....out all year. Tre’ White, another key to the defense....misses almost all of the season, and was barely himself when he did play.


Josh Allen makes a few boneheaded plays that cost the Bills TWO (short hoping the ball on 4th down vs Miami, and incredibly, fumbling a kneel down snap to win the Minny game) wins (Davis missed pass in the Jets game cost us the third) and the #1 seed, which could have and probably would have, changed the course of the playoffs.


Gabe Davis looked like a no-brainer #2 WR after his finish last year. He regressed as the year went by. Jamison brought in for vet reliability....injured and gone. Hines not necessarily used properly....but very much did have an effect on ST.

Yes, the Bills need to upgrade their WR and RB and, especially, the O-line. Does not take a brainiac to figure that out.

It’s not the end of the world.

[Night Train]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Blaming Dorsey for Davis' drops, McKenzie's lack of focus and production, and Crowder's injury is interesting.

Might as well blame anyone not in uniform, sitting in the stands or some press/coaching box upstairs. Insanity.

I can clearly see receivers not running routes, finding open spaces and securing the ball.

Yes, Davis and McKenzie should be Marvin Harrison or Steve Smith in their prime... but the coaches failed them and us. Got it.

Get better players.

[notacon]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Blaming Dorsey for Davis' drops, McKenzie's lack of focus and production, and Crowder's injury is interesting.

Don’t forget Allen short hopping the ball on 4th down vs Miami, or, incredibly, fumbling a kneel down snap for the win vs Minny.

[notacon]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

I agree with this.

Beasley was on local TV the other day, stating he now wishes to play for a couple more years and loves Allen. Wants it to be here.

That would double the amount of Bills receivers that don't drop every other ball (Diggs). They should make sure he stays. I don't care about his Covid crap.

Cook and Hines should also be seeing some quick swing passes to get them into the open field with their blazing speed. That's as good as a solid running play.

In addition, one bigger RB and 1 WR via FA or the draft. It's not that difficult and doesn't have to cost much.

Beasley would be fine, but not for the multi-millions his contract called for in 2022.

[Mad Max]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Blaming Dorsey for Davis' drops, McKenzie's lack of focus and production, and Crowder's injury is interesting.

where exactly do you see me doing that?
I blame Dorsey for not creating nearly enough plays that put the unit in the best situations to succeed.

Of course they could have performed better individually but they weren’t helped by their play caller.

[notacon]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

where exactly do you see me doing that?
I blame Dorsey for not creating nearly enough plays that put the unit in the best situations to succeed.

Of course they could have performed better individually but they weren’t helped by their play caller.

Mark Gaughan wrote an extensive analysis of Ken Dorsey’s first year of play calling. In many ways, the 2022 offense performed better than the 2021 offense, mainly because the defenses we faced this season were much tougher.

Offensive analysis: Bitter end overshadowed Ken Dorsey's success vs. tougher schedule

Here’s an inconvenient truth for Buffalo Bills fans to consider: The Bills’ offense was a little better under Ken Dorsey in the 2022 regular season – in both the first and second halves of the season – than it was under Brian Daboll in the 2021 regular season.

Of course, the Bills’ offense definitely was not better in the playoffs this year, when it mattered most.
Still, the Bills produced an impressive regular season under Dorsey, especially considering the quality of the competition.

The Bills faced the 14th-hardest schedule in the league overall, according to the Football Outsiders’ “Value Over Average” metric, which arguably is the most reliable measure because it factors production of every play vs. quality of the competition. In 2021, the Bills faced the easiest schedule in the NFL overall for the offense and defense combined – 32nd toughest.

The Bills’ offense faced the 11th-hardest schedule of defenses this season, compared with the 20th-hardest schedule in 2021. Only three playoff teams (Cincinnati, Miami and Baltimore) played a tougher schedule of defenses than Buffalo.

Nevertheless, the Bills’ scoring was exactly the same as last year (28.4 ppg), while the overall ranking for yards was slightly better (second, up from fifth). From an analytics standpoint, the Bills’ improved from 10th in 2021 to No. 2 in offensive efficiency and from 13th to No. 2 in passing efficiency.

“I think, statistically, we were eerily similar or, if not, better than what we were last year,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “To come in and to have some of that same group, you can continue to build on that.”

Yet, Allen acknowledged the bar is high.

“Our goal is to win a Super Bowl or world championship, and we didn't accomplish that,” he said. “So everything that happened in the season is kind of null and void in our minds, and it sucks.”


One might suspect the Bills’ impressive rankings were pumped up by the fact they started so fast, with big offensive performances against the Rams, Titans, Dolphins, Steelers and Chiefs.

Sorry, nope. If you just count from the Week 8 Green Bay game on, the Bills still were third best in offensive efficiency. How about take away the 30-point Minnesota game, from Week 11 on? Still second best in efficiency.

Why were the efficiency numbers clearly better than last season? Besides the tougher schedule, people forget the Bills’ offense laid some massive eggs in 2021. The losses last year to Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and Indianapolis and the late win against Atlanta all ranked worse than any Bills offensive performance in 2022, including the Cincinnati game.

OK, but my eyes did not deceive me, you’re probably thinking. There were stretches in the second half of the season in which the offense looked like it was pulling teeth.

No doubt, the offense was heavily dependent on Allen’s playmaking, his ability to create explosive plays and the remarkable receiving of Stefon Diggs.

….snip….


Missing easy button
The Bengals exposed the Bills’ inability and/or unwillingness to find easy completions underneath the coverage.
Diggs’ production essentially was the same, 108 catches in 2022 vs. 103 in 2021. Dawson Knox’s production was the same (48 vs. 49 in 2021). The running backs catches were similar (79 vs. 73).

The Bills missed the underneath catches from the slot receiver. For whatever reason, Allen did not demonstrate trust in Isaiah McKenzie, who caught 42 passes.

On the other side of the field, Gabe Davis’ 48 catches ranked tied for 52nd among wide receivers. To his credit, Davis made explosive plays. His 835 receiving yards ranked 30th among wide receivers. But when it came to consistent, moving-the-chains catches, a lot of No. 2 wideouts in the NFL did it better than Davis did.


The Bills got 28 fewer catches from the slot, compared with 2021 (116 vs. 88). It actually was a little bit bigger disparity, considering Diggs’ receptions from the slot were up from 16 to 33. That was a good thing. Dorsey moved Diggs around and made it a little harder for the defense to bracket him. He produced from the slot. But the downside for the offense overall is when Diggs was in the slot, there were two receivers on the outside who were not quick separation targets. There’s not a big net gain.
It got exposed in the two playoff games. The Bills didn’t have a dynamic enough underneath threat, and Dorsey did not or could not get Allen to find the profit-making underneath catches in the two playoff games.


More…

Suffice to say, it’s not anywhere near a slam dunk that Dorey’s play calling was a huge problem


It wasn’t.


13 wins and only 3 losses do not happen when the offensive plays calling is sub-par. Plus, the three losses the Bills did suffer were not the result of any lacking play calling.

In FACT, the Bills were in a PRIME position to win two of those games (Miami and Minny) and Josh screwed the pooch....both times had ZERO to do with play calling.


The Bills absolutely WERE in the "best situations to succeed”. To deny that reality for both Miami and Minny game is short sighted at the least. Purposely blind at the worst.

The third loss a prefect chance to win was missed when Gabe Davis could not catch a ball, literally shown perfectly from 60 yards away....right in his ****ing breadbasket. THAT was a GREAT play call at the right time. Dorsely cannot go on the field and catch that ball.


Dorsey can’t go on the field and not short hop an easy pass on 4th down vs. Miami for the (probably) winning TD. Dorsey can’t go on the field to take a kneel down snap to win the Minny game without fumbling it way for a opposition go ahead TD.

The margin for error is tiny in the NFL. There are so many moving parts with a team game that turns on inches and split seconds, and sometimes, the weird way the ball bounces (not even getting into injuries and seeing a teammate literally DIE on the field, and miraculously bright back to “life")

Trying to place too much blame on Dorsey is silly.

[Oaf]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Trade Gabe. Re-sign Beas for one final year, draft someone to be his under study. Put Shakir as the 2.
Maybe bring back Crowder if he’s cheap enough

If KC can get to the SB with their WRs-by-committee, so too can we. We're gonna have to learn to get away with position groups that aren't on absolute fire. That means focusing on groups that are—OL, DL, and S (assuming Poyer is walking).

I wouldn't expect anything more than a 4th pick at WR to add into the group.

[Forward_Lateral]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

If KC can get to the SB with their WRs-by-committee, so too can we. We're gonna have to learn to get away with position groups that aren't on absolute fire. That means focusing on groups that are—OL, DL, and S (assuming Poyer is walking).

I wouldn't expect anything more than a 4th pick at WR to add into the group.

I’d bet money KC drafts a WR early this year.

[Historian]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

What happened to Tavon Austin?

Or Jake Kumerow?

Where do they fit in the thinking?

[Forward_Lateral]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

What happened to Tavon Austin?

Or Jake Kumerow?

Where do they fit in the thinking?

Tavon was cut before the season, he's done like dinner.

Kumerow can't seem to stay healthy. I know some here had pretty high hopes for him, a guy with 27 career catches in 5 seasons.

[Oaf]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

I’d bet money KC drafts a WR early this year.

What does that have to do this year's SB run?
Beane will go "BPA" sometimes to his detriment (Boogie in 2021, Bernard in 2022) so we'll see.

[Woodman]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

I’d bet money KC drafts a WR early this year.

For sure.

Tons of gimpy WR's now ..... they better be on the Kelce retirement watch as well.

That back ain't getting better.

[TigerJ]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Is Shakir better suited outside or in the slot?

Slot is probably his most natural position, but he can do either.

[Woodman]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Slot is probably his most natural position, but he can do either.

Really like this kid ...... for better health take the outside.

The slot can kill ya!

[TacklingDummy]

Re: Bills WR's Next Year

Bring in Julio Jones on the cheap.