HappyDays

53 catches 573 yards 5 TDs

So what are we talking about here? The original point I made is that Davis is highly likely to be the #2 target in our passing offense which is a scenario that I am not comfortable with. YOU'RE the one that then tried to bring in names like Harty, Shakir, and Sherfield, as if any of them represent legitimate competition for Davis' heavy target share. Davis wasn't the #2 target share in 2020 and 2021 when he had established veterans with proven production like Beasley and Sanders in front of him. This year, like last year, we don't have anybody like that. Harty is likely an improvement on McKenzie, Sherfield is likely an improvement on Kumerow, Shakir is likely an improvement on his rookie year self... That's all good but it's just improving the depth pieces on offense last year. The top end potential is still exactly where it was. So it seems you agree that the only thing stopping Davis once again being the #2 target is Kincaid immediately hitting close to his ceiling as a rookie. It's a lot to ask. As confident as I am in his abilities, he still has to acclimate to the brutal NFL schedule and NFL physicality. No other Super Bowl contender is relying on a rookie to have that kind of impact on their offense. You're trying to downplay the impact of the #2 outside WR in an offense that likes to throw the ball downfield and has a QB that specializes in tight window throws outside the numbers. Davis as the WR2 represents a major defect in the passing offense, just like it did last year. Maybe we'll overcome it if Kincaid hits his stride early and some of the role players rise above their expectations and the OL suddenly jumps to a top 10 level. As of right now though it is a huge question mark.

Not sure how much I believe him but it at least sounds like good news.

Harty is not going to get the 2nd most passing targets. Come on now. If he makes it through the whole year healthy that would be a great outcome.

Kincaid is the only one of these that has a realistic chance of being the #2 target. I think you know this.

I am as hopeful as anyone about Kincaid's impact as a rookie. I still think it is a lot to expect him to immediately be the #2 target in the offense. If he has the impact you suggest then yes I will be more comfortable with Davis as the #3 target. But I would rather go into the season without relying on a rookie to be the only thing stopping Davis from being the #2. It's a big risk that signing Hopkins immediately takes care of.

No one ever talks about this for some reason but the Bengals would have won the Super Bowl last year and the AFCCG this year if Burrow had played just a little better in each of those games. I like Burrow, he's a great QB and he has single handedly changed the narrative in Cincinnati. I just don't understand why a lot of analysts pretend he has had nothing to do with his team falling short the past couple years.

Oh, that's interesting. Why are you stretching to find reasons to criticize Beane? It's bizarre. There are genuine criticisms to be made without suddenly flipping the opinion you've always held.

If it helps to understand our position - the fascination is not with Hopkins specifically, it is with upgrading Gabe Davis as the WR2. Hopkins just happens to be the one available player that would do that. If for example we had Tee Higgins or Devonta Smith on the team this would be a dead topic. Many of us simply aren't comfortable relying on Davis to once again be the #2 target share in this passing offense which is what he currently projects to be. What about Hopkins' recent actions shows him to be the opposite of what we need? Von Miller required a $100 million contract to sign here. So I assume you think he is also not the kind of player we should have signed?

Yeah I expect Shakir to be the official starting slot WR but I'm expecting Kincaid to ultimately get more snaps and targets than him, especially as the season goes along. He is too talented and too pro-ready to not have a significant role early on. OTAs only tell you so much but he has apparently been a favorite target of Allen in the past two sessions that the media attended. Kincaid was practically designed in a laboratory to defeat the cover 2 shell defense that befuddled us so much last year. His attributes will be more valuable to us in the slot than anyone else on the roster IMO.

You could have just said "no I haven't listened to a single thing the team has said about Kincaid" instead of implying there's a chance he winds up as the TE3. You do you though.

It's hard to take anything you say seriously when this statement shows that you haven't been paying attention at all. I mean here you're implying there's a chance Kincaid starts the season as the #3 TE behind Quintin Morris. Have you listened to a single thing the team and beat reporters have said about Kincaid's role?

We'll see what happens when the pads go on and he has to deal with NFL physicality, but I can't remember the last time I was this certain a Bills rookie would end up being great. He is just such a perfect fit with Allen's skill set. I really think they are going to be unstoppable together for the next decade.

That $20.75m cap hit in 2025 is the big decision IMO. If he isn't living up to his contract they can cut him for $8.85m in dead cap that year. Not a bad risk/reward.

Just incredible.

That play is a poor example of what you're referring to. That isn't a needle throw. Davis by NFL standards is wide open. As soon as Allen sees the CB in trail and the LB flat footed without enough depth it is a quick read and an easy decision. Because of where his hips are facing at the top of his drop it is in fact the easier throw then readjusting to throw to Shakir. The play works exactly as designed - Knox and Diggs create enough traffic so Davis's man loses him. If the play didn't work Allen would have turned to Shakir as his outlet but he didn't need to. To your overall point - in the New England offense, which we run a variation of, the reads go long to short. I heard Chris Simms talking about this last week. He was contrasting it to the Shanahan offense where reads go short to long. Our offense is designed to read deep first. I don't necessarily disagree that we should have some more short and quick passing concepts built in but that is more of a scheme change than an Allen change.

A lot of consternation came from the initial report that we gave him $45 million guaranteed. But it appears that is not actually true. Unless I'm missing something this is a very team friendly deal and the initial report was a straight up lie.

It isn't about Mahomes specifically. Your question is absurd on the face of it. It has no value in the discussion. "Why does Josh need help?" Because every QB, ever, needs help. Super Bowls aren't won by one man shows. Allen clearly has elevated the players around him. When are his teammates going to elevate him? Mahomes had a high ankle sprain and had to leave a playoff game for an entire quarter plus. He spent the rest of the playoffs hobbled and had an inexplicable no-contact fumble in a critical moment in the AFCCG. His teammates found a way to elevate him. I'm not trying to take away from his greatness, not at all, but the decision makers in KC have made it a point to build as much as possible around him first and foremost. Brady is the GOAT but had a ton of help every year that he was in New England. In 2019 the offensive talent around him fell off a cliff, his stats declined susbtantially, and they lost in the wildcard round. Everyone declared his career over. He went to the most talented roster in football in 2020, and hey what a coincidence just about every stat he had that year was better than his career average. There's this widespread belief that great QBs make their receivers. The truth of course is that it goes both ways. The question isn't "why does Allen need help?" The question is why shouldn't he have as much help as he can get? What is the downside to trying to create an offense that rivals the greatest offenses in history? I can understand the argument that Hopkins is a poor fit for the Bills, past his prime, etc. but I really don't understand the argument that we should stop trying to add offensive talent just because Allen is the QB.