Fixxxer Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) I found this article and wanted to share it with the board. This is an oustanding reading and makes me appreciate Stevie Johnson's talent even more. I hope whoever ends up throwing the ball to him this year is accurate enough to highlight his talents even more. The wide receiver position in Football is like no other. No other position in any sport is completely dependent on the talents of another in the way a wide receiver needs a quarterback. In all team sports, you must rely on your fellow teammates to some degree. Throughout his career so far, the Buffalo Bills’ Steve(better known as Stevie) Johnson has been one part of the 99 percent who has persistently played with sub-par quarterbacks. The seventh round pick of the 2008 draft didn’t make any real impression in the NFL until his third season. He was around in time to enjoy the talents of Trent Edwards as the Bills’ starter, before he was replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick. During the best part of the three seasons since Fitzpatrick became the starter, he and Johnson have seemingly struck up an excellent rapport. more....... http://presnapreads....-buffalo-bills/ Edited May 30, 2013 by Beerball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NishP Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 That was a very nice read..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Cubed Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Yes but I've read multiple times on this board that Johnson is just a glorified #2 receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PO'14 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 And the conclusion to the article..... "Johnson isn’t an elite talent, he doesn’t have the physical attributes for that, but he is an exceptionally good, consistent receiver when he can fill a role that fits his abilities." Sounds like a glorified #2 to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Linen Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) And the conclusion to the article..... "Johnson isn’t an elite talent, he doesn’t have the physical attributes for that, but he is an exceptionally good, consistent receiver when he can fill a role that fits his abilities." Sounds like a glorified #2 to me! Your argument is so well thought out. If you don't have all of the god given physical tools, you're a #2. Guess what makes you a #1 receiver? If your the best receiver on your team. He ranked 17th in yards last year among a list that includes tight ends. If you just say each team has 3 starting WR's and one TE, he ranks 17th out of 128 starters in the NFL. The simple math says if you're in the top 64 you're a number one, but you wouldn't understand that. But you just keep holding on to "physical attributes" as your argument. Edited May 30, 2013 by Triple Threat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) And the conclusion to the article..... "Johnson isn’t an elite talent, he doesn’t have the physical attributes for that, but he is an exceptionally good, consistent receiver when he can fill a role that fits his abilities." Sounds like a glorified #2 to me! And you're still wrong: http://espn.go.com/n.../receivingYards 2012 - 18th in yards, 18th in receptions 2011 - 19th in yards, 18th in receptions 2010 - 11th in yards, 11th in receptions Let's see, that looks like a top 20 WR in the NFL, which easily makes him a #1, considering that there's (at a minimum) 64 starting WRs in the league. To say otherwise is, quite frankly, ignorant. EDIT: you did a nice job of ignoring the entire article, by the way; missing gems like: In a better situation and the right scheme, Johnson could easily be competing at the top of the league with the best receivers outside of guys like Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. The young receiver may not be Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Julio Jones, AJ Green or whoever else is pushing the top of the elite receiver totem-pole, but he is significantly better than someone who should celebrate reaching 1,000 yards in a regular season. Johnson has a reputation amongst those who play close enough attention to him because of his success against Darrelle Revis in divisional matchups with the New York Jets. He may be the fastest, most difficult-to-read wide receiver coming in and out of breaks in the whole league. How quickly Johnson is able to flip his shoulders from perpendicular to the sideline into a parallel position while keeping his balance is nothing short of outstanding. When Johnson is given the space to maneuver, he shows off his ability to embarrass defensive backs. On occasion they will fall down to the ground, but more often they will just be beat or be twisted around completely so that they are out of the play. I could go on, but it's just way easier at this point to assume you're trolling and move on. Edited May 30, 2013 by thebandit27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladiebla Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I think the glorified #2 statement stems from him not being a great sideline (speed) receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Bills Fan Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 That was a great article. Thanks for posting. I dont care if people call him a #1 or #2 WR. He is crucial to the Bills organization and its offense CBF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternOHBillsFan Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I found this article and wanted to share it with the board. This is an oustanding reading and makes me appreciate Stevie Johnson's talent even more. I hope whoever ends up throwing the ball to him this year is accurate enough to highlight his talents even more. more....... http://presnapreads....-buffalo-bills/ Eric Moulds did the exact same thing for years, and it cost him a Hall of Fame spot... imagine what he would have been with Kelly 10 years prior... a true shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Eric Moulds did the exact same thing for years, and it cost him a Hall of Fame spot... imagine what he would have been with Kelly 10 years prior... a true shame. Agree! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homey D. Clown Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 And the conclusion to the article..... "Johnson isn’t an elite talent, he doesn’t have the physical attributes for that, but he is an exceptionally good, consistent receiver when he can fill a role that fits his abilities." Sounds like a glorified #2 to me! Stevie has accomplished 1000 yards in 3 consecutive seasons, something our Hall of Fame hopeful Andre Reed never did, so does that make Andre a #2? Yes my point is nonsense, and so is your argument. Stevie was the best receiver on his team, that makes him a #1, not sure how this is even a debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Stevie--a 7th round pick--is something of an anomaly. Which is why I'm still worried he'll regress (statistically) this year. I truly believe that during years 2010-12 (his best--nay, only notable years) he was the great benefactor of a perfect offensive storm of Gailey & Fitz, one that allowed him to improvise. I know it's kind of a ****ty comparison, but most wide receivers excel with a specific quarterback (see: Evans/Losman) and struggle to find their mojo once a new guy is in town. Stevie, like the article says, does a lot of things exceptionally well. But also as the article states, he's not going to burn anyone down the field or out-muscle them for the ball. His skills rely primarily on the offense's tactical approach. Whether Marrone/Hackett/Manuel (or Kolb/Jackson) can capitalize on Stevie's talents (or whether or not they need to with so many other weapons available) remains unseen, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Linen Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) That was a great article. Thanks for posting. I dont care if people call him a #1 or #2 WR. He is crucial to the Bills organization and its offense CBF Very true. I think the glorified #2 statement stems from him not being a great sideline (speed) receiver. Absolutely, but it's not his game. He ranked 18th in 1st downs and receptions, 23rd in YAC, and 24th in yds/gm out of all WR's and TE's in the game last year. It's not elite but coupled with the consistency it's impressive. Edited May 30, 2013 by Triple Threat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Yay. A nice well written article. Of course the post has been ruined in about 6 posts by people debating if he's a number 1 or a number 2. Great. Someone had it right, regardless if he's a true number 1 or a 2, he's our best WR and an important part of this team. Personally, he's possibly my favorite Buffalo Bill of all time. Absolutely love his attitude, and love for the city. His play on the field in his 3 years as a starter has accumulated into the best 3 years as a WR on this team and I have no doubt he will continue his career to be the highest decorated WR in Bills history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Cubed Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Stevie--a 7th round pick--is something of an anomaly. Which is why I'm still worried he'll regress (statistically) this year. I truly believe that during years 2010-12 (his best--nay, only notable years) he was the great benefactor of a perfect offensive storm of Gailey & Fitz, one that allowed him to improvise. I know it's kind of a ****ty comparison, but most wide receivers excel with a specific quarterback (see: Evans/Losman) and struggle to find their mojo once a new guy is in town. Stevie, like the article says, does a lot of things exceptionally well. But also as the article states, he's not going to burn anyone down the field or out-muscle them for the ball. His skills rely primarily on the offense's tactical approach. Whether Marrone/Hackett/Manuel (or Kolb/Jackson) can capitalize on Stevie's talents (or whether or not they need to with so many other weapons available) remains unseen, IMO. I would disagree that he was the benefactor of a perfect offensive system. Read the quote below, Stevie just gets open which is the point of the article. I don't know a single coach who couldn't use a WR like that. He may be the fastest, most difficult-to-read wide receiver coming in and out of breaks in the whole league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Can anyone name this wide reciever? 6'2" @200 lbs >4.5 40 yd dash Oh one more clue.... Best WR of all time. Heart is the most important physical attribute. Stevie wants to win bad, let's see what he does in a west coast offense with a better QB. Also,Elite is a subjective word and #1 vs #2 is a useless arbitrary label not some state of being. That number only corresponds to the depth chart and last time I checked he is first in buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I would disagree that he was the benefactor of a perfect offensive system. Read the quote below, Stevie just gets open which is the point of the article. I don't know a single coach who couldn't use a WR like that. He may be the fastest, most difficult-to-read wide receiver coming in and out of breaks in the whole league. I guess I get caught on the other assertion though (one we all know to be true) that he doesn't possess elite leaping ability, and he's not going to beat anyone with his straight-away speed (we've seen him rundown many times AFTER he's burned the guy on his route. So, without those very important attributes, I'm wondering how specific his skill set is to the scheme, and if that skillset is SO specific, how often will he get the looks/touches that he got in the past? Lest we also forget, that between Woods and Rogers, we HAVE the kind of skillsets and physical attributes that have been missing since he's been aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I guess I get caught on the other assertion though (one we all know to be true) that he doesn't possess elite leaping ability, and he's not going to beat anyone with his straight-away speed (we've seen him rundown many times AFTER he's burned the guy on his route. So, without those very important attributes, I'm wondering how specific his skill set is to the scheme, and if that skillset is SO specific, how often will he get the looks/touches that he got in the past? Lest we also forget, that between Woods and Rogers, we HAVE the kind of skillsets and physical attributes that have been missing since he's been aboard. I'm pretty sure that being an elite route-runner translates to pretty much any scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) I would disagree that he was the benefactor of a perfect offensive system. Read the quote below, Stevie just gets open which is the point of the article. I don't know a single coach who couldn't use a WR like that. He may be the fastest, most difficult-to-read wide receiver coming in and out of breaks in the whole league. Time will tell. He has the skills to be a solid possession WR. There is an interesting dichotomy here that while Fitz's gaps as a QB may have hurt Stevie's productivity, he was Fitz's favorite target by far. Much like losman loved Evans and Trent loved whoever was physically closest to him on the field. But Stevie has been the teams best WR even when evans was here and certainly has comparable traits to other guys that have been wildly successful. Here is hoping for a Probowl season... we'll see. Edited May 30, 2013 by over 20 years of fanhood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffaloboyinATL Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Can anyone name this wide reciever? 6'2" @200 lbs >4.5 40 yd dash I would like to name him Bob.... Actually, it's Jerry Rice. What do I win? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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