Hapless Bills Fan

I have no idea how credible this is, but here is an article talking about how one factor in whether/how quickly athletes return is that some people are "copers" who can essentially function at a high level without an ACL. The author references research but does not provide links. (He seems to be a PT/movement coach) Thurman Thomas was probably a "coper" https://b-reddy.org/a-different-explanation-for-adrian-petersons-amazing-acl-recovery/ Here is a different article talking about a major loss after ACL repair being proprioception (our ability to sense where a limb is in space) https://www.newsday.com/sports/football/acl-injuries-no-longer-spelling-doom-for-football-careers-x48322

This last is actually a good point I hadn't considered....if the team drafts a guy, he plays for us or for no one. It's the guys we want to sign as UDFA we have to build a relationship with and persuade. Still, I hadn't heard of teams using (limited numbers of) building visits or even private workouts on potential UDFA. I don't think the number of private workouts are technically limited, but they're practically limited by the volume the FO staff can handle. Any idea how this has played out - have the Bills in the last 4 years actually signed any UDFA who had pre-draft visits to OBD or private workouts?

You're correct that Tre's day job is far more stressful on his knee, but by the same token - Tre's job is to rehab full-time at this point, whereas us ordinary working folks were doing well if we could fit in 2-3 hour-long PT sessions at a lesser-equipped facility and then an hour a day of rehab on our own. And it's a rare "desk job" gal or guy who has stuff like zero-gravity treadmills and pool therapy along with focused, individualized attention from top therapists and trainers.

Errrr.....January February March April, almost exactly 4 months out.

Yes, that's what catch % is - receptions/targets. So there will be some "throw aways" that are in there, but that is true for all WR. And against all WR, that's pretty freakin' bad. I pulled out the top 100 WR at pro-football-reference and sorted them by catch %. Davis was 91. If you sort by yards per target, he's 30th. Only 6 of the WR with higher y/target have catch % under 60%, and all of them are higher than Davis (58% or 59%). The only one that's comparable is Van Jeffferson (56%) So objectively, that 55% catch % is not very good, even when adjusted for WR with high yards per target. I'd need to see the data you're using to reach that conclusion because it's not consistent with mine Again, if we pull out the top 100 WR (not RBs, not TEs) and look at drop rate, Davis drop rate of 7.9% last season is...91. If we sort by average depth of target (air yards when targeted), we see he indeed was used as a deep ball guy, 13.3 ADOT and he's 12th out of the top 100 WR.....and every WR above him has a lower drop %, usually much lower - only Van Jefferson (6.7%) is close. If we pull out the top 40 WR for ADOT and sort by drop %, Davis is 38 out of 40. I like Davis, I'm not trying to dunk on the guy, but let's not pretend that his catch % and his drop % don't need improvement for him to become a consistent #2. They're objectively not good, even looking at comparable groups (WR only, no TE or RB) and limiting the comparison further to the deep ball guys. My bottom line for Davis is similar to my bottom line for Knox after his second season. You can clearly see great potential there, you can see plays and even games where (to me) he has a great game. Then there are games where he disappears or even has negative impact (is targeted 14 times and only catches 3; drops catchable balls at key points). That's not good enough for our #2 guy.

https://www.healthline.com/health/training-mask-benefits#safety OK, so they're supposed to help increase your peak VO2, but there's debate about if they actually do this. Living at high elevation forces all sorts of adaptations that wearing a mask for 2-3 hrs a day won't. But it may make your breathing muscles more efficient. I seem to remember the RB coach we had at the time (was it Lynn?), made Shady McCoy work out with a 2 lb and 5 lb weighted vest in an effort to persuade him to lose a little weight. The vest made everything so much harder that it worked and he did lose some weight.

I like this reply: He did a pretty nice number on NE also ....... but apparently he actually is going to be performing on AGT - should be wild

I think the bottom line is we agree far more than we disagree here - it would be great if Gabe Davis can take a step and become that #2, but to date he hasn't proven he can do that over a 17 game season, and it would behoove the Bills to bring in some real talent at WR to develop and compete. I would point out that I'm not going off what "I think" a #2 WR can average but actual receiving data, I'm not gonna go point by point through the rest though

Just to be clear on what I was saying: I am NOT saying that the team was playing "the lesser player" or that they were playing Sanders "only because he was making more money than Davis". So you're correct, but that's rather a red herring. There's cause and effect here: the Bills were playing Sanders because they perceived him to be the better player at the beginning of the season, and he was ahead of Davis on the depth chart in their eyes. The Bills paid Sanders $6M because of that perception. Oh and stats say actually per game, Sanders was a bit better. More receptions, more yards per game. Agreed, although I think there's the point that coaches seem to require a higher bar in practice to unseat a veteran who is higher on the depth chart after preseason. The assumption is that the vet will save himself then "turn it up" on Sunday. So we, and the coaches, really can't tell if the guy who is lower on the chart is "outplaying" or could outplay the starter, because they don't do the experiment barring injury or outright suckage. OK, tell me how you define a really great game for a #2 WR? The top 15 receivers in this league - the #1s - averaged over 70 yds per game. So I figure if the #2 guy is bringing in more than 70 yds a game, that's a pretty good game for a #2. Davis has 8 such games in his 2 years (5 in 2020, 3 in 2021) The top 5 receivers in this league averaged over 85 ypg with #6 being 80 ypg. So I figure if the #2 guy is just off the top 5, or >80 yds/game, that's a great game for the #2. Davis has 6 such games. You can quibble about the word choice and say it's a good game or an adequate game or whatever, but the point is, the best of the #2 guys in the league are averaging 55 ypg, so significantly exceeding that is a strong showing for a #2 guy I think you're incorrect on that latter, but I'd be happy to hear how you define "good game" or "great game" for the #2 WR and why. I'm sorry you feel I put words in your mouth, but I neither claimed you said he was a 1-game wonder nor intended to imply that. I was making my own point, backed up by his game logs.

I think that's a fair perspective and points out the different perspectives people can have looking at the same player. Before last season, I was strongly in favor of us upgrading at TE because I would have said the same thing about Dawson Knox - that he was going into his 3rd season and had some amazing plays and strong games, but had yet to prove he could get it done consistently as a blocking and as a receiving TE Just as I wanted to see Knox succeed and break out, and want to see him keep it up or improve on it this season, I would love to see Gabe Davis prove he's a top-quality NFL WR.

Thanks, that's very informative! Josh commented in one interview about how his trainers and the S&C staff in Buffalo work with him to make sure he is flexible but still strong. When Joey Bosa corkscrewed him and he was down for a while, Bangedup Bills analyzed it and pointed out that Allen had good hip flexibility and that protected his knee from damage. Apparently there may have been a similar effect with his foot where flexibility prevented him from having a worse turf toe injury. So if this is designed to enhance flexibility and thus protect the ligaments and muscles from tearing, I'm all for it! Stick it to your workout, Guys!

Yeah, I know the rope ladder thing - kid used to do them, I called out the pic for another view of that Silence of the Lambs mask thingie

So NFL.com has a draft pick prediction by Chad Reuter up in which the Bills Do Just That in the first round https://www.nfl.com/news/2022-nfl-draft-ideal-top-two-picks-for-every-team Here's their take on the Bills: Buffalo Bills Round 1: No. 25 overall -- Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington Round 2: No. 57 overall -- Joshua Ezeudu, OG, North Carolina McDuffie is an excellent corner who battles receivers and takes on running backs in the open field. His height (just under 5-foot-11) and length (arms measuring less than 30 inches) are not ideal for the position, but general manager Brandon Beane is smart enough to overlook those perceived shortcomings. Ezeudu's an underappreciated prospect who gave North Carolina guard-tackle versatility on the left side and could play either spot in the NFL.

A high-altitude training simulator. Calling it a "torturous" device not far off then. Why would a WR be trying to do splits?

I agree with you if your overall point is that one great game against KC does not show Davis is ready to step into the #2 WR role all season (just as one great game against NE doesn't show that McKenzie is ready to be the primary slot all season) I'm a little unclear as to what you're seeing as a "sophomore slump" though. What I see is that Davis lost snaps early in the season to Sanders, once Daboll figured out that he wasn't gonna be able to run 4 and 5 WR sets successfully after the Pittsburgh debacle. They weren't paying Sanders $6M/ season to sit on the bench. Once Davis got significant snaps in week 9 then week 14 on, he contributed about the same or better. Overall his targets, receptions, yards, r/g, y/g are very similar - his y/r was down, but that was mostly YBC, his YAC were higher. Yes, the drop against Jax this year was bad - so was the drop in the Bal playoff game last year. Basically my take is that he contributed more in 2021 on a per-snap basis to generate similar numbers - he had 73% of the offensive snaps 2020 but only 51% this season. He's not a 1-game wonder - he's had about 6 really great games. But with a catch % of 56% and the r/g and ypg he has contributed, if that's our #2 WR....ouchie

https://www.buffalobills.com/photos/photos-buffalo-bills-train-in-florida#6cdefeb0-9316-4742-87de-20a2fb637010 photo 45 and 66 Gabe Davis is wearing some kind of torturous "Silence of the Lambs" looking contraption. What is it/what is it for? photo 16 and 50 Isaiah Mckenzie is holding two poles and doing some kind of leg extention thing with one foot on a slider - what's the purpose of this?

This is way above my pay grade. It's an @SDS question Sorry!

I agree completely. Just wanted to make clear it’s the same source being given new legs.

can fix that with some twill tape

I just saw another story about the Bills trading up today, which upon inspection traces back to this Zig Fracassi tweet and Ryan Talbot’s subsequent articles. So I figured I’d put it here to keep clear that it’s “old news” https://heavy.com/sports/buffalo-bills/bills-rumors-blockbuster-draft-trade/

Checks out. IIRC both Poyer and Hyde were Star baseball players in HS and I think Poyer in college as well?

Yep. Can anyone say “TIF”? Edit: I’m not saying the stadium is a TIF, just that government financing of businesses, repaid by taxes, happens all the time and most people don’t even notice

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Love this Mitch has a great sense of humor

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