Great article on our new WR value from Rumblings

[Pete]

I just stumbled upon http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2014/1/27/FB_0127141137.aspx and noticed that both Jeremy Butler and Walter Powell were selected FCS All-America Team.Powell has made plays everywhere he has played. http://www.goracers.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3361 Powell was twice all state at 300m hurdles. He brings speed. As does Listenbee. And Butler brings size. As does Andre Jones. I find it interesting that Powell, Jones, and Butler were small school receivers. If Sammy can stay healthy, this group just might surprise. IMO I would prioritize secondary over wide receiver with our early picks

Edited March 23, 2017 by Pete

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

I'm not about a WR at 10 either. We spent big money and multiple high picks to bring in Watkins, Clay and McCoy, all tough to match up with but all 3 have underachieved as receivers throughout their Bills careers because we don't have a QB who can take advantage of the talent around him. Time for the Bills to quit putting lipstick on a pig and address the real issue, the QB position. Another weapon to come in and underachieve with the rest will make little difference.

 

At the same time, to have any chance of winning a championship with Tyrod at quarterback the Bills MUST have an elite defense, and there is work to do on that front.

Edited March 23, 2017 by 2018 Our Year For Sure

[Thurman#1]

Just wait till Goodwin doesnt make it to the regular season...then you will see the REAL value of those contracts

 

 

 

With $4.45 mill of that contract guaranteed, it is very unlikely that Goodwin doesn't make the roster. Not impossible, but very unlikely.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Thurman#1

[Mountain Man]

Nobody knows if any of the dumpster diving WR's we signed this offseason will make an impactful contribution

All I know is over a 2 year span we lost Goodwin, Hogan, and Woods and replaced them with Holmes, Brown, and a bunch of nobodies

Meanwhile the Phins lost no-one and went out and upgraded their offense with the addition of Julius Thomas

Its hard not to be uber-jealous

I mean who team has the better receiving corps and is most likely to win 10 games plus next year?

 

jc

 

People are talking about Goodwin as if he some kind of loss.

A guy who showed nothing in his career, and we are supposed to be disappointed?

[Gregsbills 74]

This past season I couldn't understand why they kept running Goodwin on outs. Tyrod has a hard enough time hitting a bigger receiver with a larger catch radius. Trying to hit the smurf seemed impossible for him.

Exactly. The out routes were a disaster.

[8-8 Forever?]

....and Holmes Brown and Butler all are 50/50 shots at getting cut in camp. None of those 3 pickups are getting you to the promised land, they are as much training camp targets as roster spots at this point ..... Flash/Woods 2.0. yawn.

Edited March 23, 2017 by jmcraig44

[racketmaster]

Nice values, but didn't Whaley do the WR dumpster dive last year with horrible results?

Don't see why it will work now. Hopefully we add some real talent in the draft

True. But last year they signed a bunch of guys like Little, Hankerson, Salas, and eventually Hunter who have been given opportunities in the NFL. They each had some success but were not able to maintain or improve upon their success. Salas may have been good for us but he could not stay healthy.

 

Holmes had some success as a #2 wr but then lost playing time once Crabtree and Cooper came on board (they are 2 pretty solid wrs so that is not a huge knock on Holmes). Brown and Butler have not had much in the way of opportunities. Maybe 1 of them steps up here. Plus, with Brown and Butler you can use them on special teams.

 

Goodwin was a nice deep threat but could not do much else and was often injured.

[BillsVet]

True. But last year they signed a bunch of guys like Little, Hankerson, Salas, and eventually Hunter who have been given opportunities in the NFL. They each had some success but were not able to maintain or improve upon their success. Salas may have been good for us but he could not stay healthy.

 

Holmes had some success as a #2 wr but then lost playing time once Crabtree and Cooper came on board (they are 2 pretty solid wrs so that is not a huge knock on Holmes). Brown and Butler have not had much in the way of opportunities. Maybe 1 of them steps up here. Plus, with Brown and Butler you can use them on special teams.

 

Goodwin was a nice deep threat but could not do much else and was often injured.

 

It's not a plan to hope someone who's never been a #2 and been in the league a few seasons to all of a sudden develop. In 2015 and 2016 (32 games), Andre Holmes was targeted all of 58 times, catching 25 passes. During this time Derek Carr threw 1,100+ passes, which makes Holmes the intended receiver about 5% of the time. The notion Holmes is suddenly a #2 caliber receiver is absurd given the production.

 

This will not be a passing team and besides, the new HC comes from the defensive side of the ball. The chances they take a WR in the first round are slim and it wouldn't surprise me if they take the best DB on the board. WR isn't that important and the quantity of retreads they've signed indicates this isn't a priority. They'll hope someone performs, and if not, it's not the personnel department's fault anyway.

[racketmaster]

I think the hope this year us that Sammy is healthy. If he is then we have a true #1 wr. Clay is a solid option at te when healthy and McCoy is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. Holmes will be a big body wr and threat in red zone. Brown and butler will add depth.

 

I think Bills will draft Oj Howard providing another receiving option for boots and rollouts. If not, i see a real possibility of them grabbing Davis/ Williams in 1st or at the very least a wr in second. That should be good enough as far as receiving weapons.

[BillsfanAZ]

 

People are talking about Goodwin as if he some kind of loss.

A guy who showed nothing in his career, and we are supposed to be disappointed?

Goodwin had injury problems but I thought he played pretty well this past season. Nothing spectacular but he was a solid WR for the Bills and made some tough catches.

[Chuck Wagon]

I would have to imagine he's going to be used similar to Taylor Gabriel was in Atlanta last year.

 

 

I don't think you can compare salaries with the 49ers signings at this point. They badly overpaid on every signing (Garcon, Juzcyck, Goodwin) but had the cap room to do it and needed to if they wanted to attract guys.

[Beef Jerky]

Don't know if I would pay $3 million for broken glass.

[buffaloboyinATL]

#1 priority is keep Sammy on the field for at least 14 games.

#2 priority will be to draft a #2 wr hopefully Corey Davis @ 10.

#3 priority is keep Charles Clay healthy because he will be the 3rd outlet. After that it really doesn't matter who are remaining wr's are. Remember everyone we're running 60% of the time. Holmes will be a nice red zone pu....

By number 3 outlet for Clay do you mean behind Watkins and the #2 we draft? Because I will argue that Shady is probably the #2 target right now and likely will be again this year.

[Chuck Wagon]

 

It's not a plan to hope someone who's never been a #2 and been in the league a few seasons to all of a sudden develop. In 2015 and 2016 (32 games), Andre Holmes was targeted all of 58 times, catching 25 passes. During this time Derek Carr threw 1,100+ passes, which makes Holmes the intended receiver about 5% of the time. The notion Holmes is suddenly a #2 caliber receiver is absurd given the production.

 

This will not be a passing team and besides, the new HC comes from the defensive side of the ball. The chances they take a WR in the first round are slim and it wouldn't surprise me if they take the best DB on the board. WR isn't that important and the quantity of retreads they've signed indicates this isn't a priority. They'll hope someone performs, and if not, it's not the personnel department's fault anyway.

 

 

Agree with this. The Raiders were so impressed with Holmes work as a "#2" (catch % - 47.5%) they went out and drafted Cooper and signed Crabtree.

 

I expect he'll fill Easley's role on ST and be a big red zone target, anyone think he's going to break out as a #2 at 29 years old is drinking way too much Bills Kool Aide.

[hondo in seattle]

We needed WRs and Whaley signed a bunch. We have no reason to think Whaley's declaring, Mission Accomplished" when it comes to WR. And, boy, I hope he's not.

 

It seems to me we have a bunch of credible backups but only one true starter: Sammy. And he's often injured. We need to find more help at WR in the early rounds of the draft.

[wilcoam]

You misunderstood my sarcasm, I never said Goodwin was a big loss

Except because he was on a drafted contract he was at least inexpensive

I'm just pointing the former teams of the dumpster diving WR;s we sought in return are not lamenting their loss either, lol

At the end of the day, we didn;t upgrade the starting WR position

The fact over a 2 year span more starters left

Not to mention these sideways moves have not get us closer to winning 10 games plus

As a fan there's not a single thing about our offense to be more excited about going into 2017

Though there's still the draft

 

jc

[Rocky Landing]

The point is the Moneyball nature of these signings.

 

The combined production of this trio is likely to be greater than what Goodwin could have done in Buffalo.

I would be pretty surprised if Brown or Butler saw a whole lot of playing time, if they make the 53 at all.

Goodwin had injury problems but I thought he played pretty well this past season. Nothing spectacular but he was a solid WR for the Bills and made some tough catches.

This was clearly his best season. He should get props for that.

[FreddieJizzle22]

Nobody knows if any of the dumpster diving WR's we signed this offseason will make an impactful contribution

All I know is over a 2 year span we lost Goodwin, Hogan, and Woods and replaced them with Holmes, Brown, and a bunch of nobodies

Meanwhile the Phins lost no-one and went out and upgraded their offense with the addition of Julius Thomas

Its hard not to be uber-jealous

I mean who team has the better receiving corps and is most likely to win 10 games plus next year?

 

jc

 

Ryan Tannehill still sucks.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

 

 

Agree with this. The Raiders were so impressed with Holmes work as a "#2" (catch % - 47.5%) they went out and drafted Cooper and signed Crabtree.

 

I expect he'll fill Easley's role on ST and be a big red zone target, anyone think he's going to break out as a #2 at 29 years old is drinking way too much Bills Kool Aide.

 

Still better than goodwin's 42.6% last season... with a horrible limited route tree, bad ball skills, and lousy footwork.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

It's unfortunate Woods was so underutilized. He'd catch a ball or two early in a game and nothing would come his way again, even though he was open. His value as a blocker frequently went unnoticed. There was no way he was going to stay in Buffalo so long as Taylor was the quarterback.