Zay Jones - What If He Played With This Josh Allen?

[Kirby Jackson]

13 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

 

He’s a pitcher with a 92 MPH FB and a marginal breaking ball.  He can hang around for a little bit, but there’s nothing that he does exceptionally well.  Glad we got something for him on the way out. 

Really good analogy!!

[Steve O]

15 minutes ago, Billzfan37 said:

When I watched the game yesterday, I still saw a Zay Jones that couldn't get separation from anyone - and still very iffy hands.  He should have dove (slightly) and laid out for an almost perfectly thrown ball - if that was Beasley, or Diggs (or even Brown) - he makes that catch.

This is the play that came to mind when I saw this thread. It had me flashing back to the end of the Carolina game his rookie season. Both would have been difficult catches but making them is why we moved up in the second round to draft him. He's still not making the plays someone who can't get separation has to make. Credit to McBeane for recognizing he wasn't the guy they thought he was and moving on from him.

[Kirby Jackson]

6 minutes ago, ProcessAccepted said:

Zay is not nearly as bad as some in here are saying. That said wouldn't swap any of out top 5 WRs for him. I love who we have and their professionalism. This offense is scary good and the Defense finally shown a pulse. If they wake from their coma I don't see a team that can beat us. 

That’s kind of the point. He’s a fringe NFL player. He wouldn’t make the Bills roster. The 5 receivers plus Roberts are all ahead of him. We are also approaching a point where he goes to free agency. Would a team rather pay Zay Jones a few million or take a shot in drafting a guy like Isaiah Hodgins for the back of their roster? Zay isn’t Peterman-bad but he may not be in the league in 2021. 

[bmur66]

He'd be catching Allen's balls one way or the other

[BullBuchanan]

I'm glad he didn't - he may have stuck with the team. I'd rather have every WR we have instead of him, and if we didn't have the need to move on from him we may not have been as aggressive in shaking up the room.

[SF Bills Fan]

I liked Zay Jones, but I never saw him as much better than a #3 receiver. Good receivers make a QB look better and that is partially what is going on with Allen this year, though I think he is greatly improved. On an elite squad like we have or Tampa, etc, Jones is cut.

[technobot]

All the shade Allen got in his first year, when he wasn't supposed to start but Nate P. His best receiver was Robert Foster. Perhaps we wished Foster was a diamond in the rough but as history would show, Allen had no one to throw to and a ran for his life behind a bottom tier NFL line.

 

Zay was part of the problem. Kudos to the Bills front office for taking a league leading weakness and making it a strength by the third year.

[Giuseppe Tognarelli]

37 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

We're always picking on Zay Jones on this board. When he was in Buffalo the guy would run naked thru a hotel for this team

For the Lord Jesus, not for the team

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

My stance on Zay was to give the kid time to develop to the speed of the NFL.  Many mocked be for wanting to see what panned out. 

 

 

He's not a n umber 1 guy.   but he did OK for himself yesterday.  

 

He was Josh's leading receiver that one season 

 

[ProcessAccepted]

22 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

That’s kind of the point. He’s a fringe NFL player. He wouldn’t make the Bills roster. The 5 receivers plus Roberts are all ahead of him. We are also approaching a point where he goes to free agency. Would a team rather pay Zay Jones a few million or take a shot in drafting a guy like Isaiah Hodgins for the back of their roster? Zay isn’t Peterman-bad but he may not be in the league in 2021. 

I'm not disagreeing with you but in this 4-0 bliss I'm experiencing this morning I figure someone should try and say something positive about Zay. If it wasn't for him the 2018 season would have made me feel like a Jets fan 😂

[Nuncha]

56 minutes ago, HardyBoy said:

If Allen had those touch passes, I'm thinking things go differently for Zay in Buffalo. I'm not saying he's a star #1 in that situation by any means, but his drop issues would have been much less.

 

He got open, but he was too slow getting his hands up in time and Allen was largley only throwing super fast.

 

Of course the what if could be what if he got a chance to play with Diggs, Brown and Beasley and be able to be in the Gabriel Davis role (not saying I'd rather have Zay over Gabriel on the team), but I think his biggest issue was he was slow getting his hands ready to catch and if the ball was coming earlier, but slower from Allen like it is this year, he would have had a lot more success.

He would still be slow, non-physical, and drop passes.  I'll take Davis over Jones any day.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Azucho98

[QB Bills]

Jay Zones is great at picking himself off the ground in that unique way. He pretty much sucks at everything else. 

[billsfan_34]

He would still suck.

[Orlando Buffalo]

I thought of Zay yesterday when Diggs made the catch for 49 yards, Diggs went and got the ball which was not perfectly thrown. Zay would have waited for the ball and it might have been picked. Zay would be at best our 6th reciever and not a factor.

[JustWinPlease]

He'd be the same "meh" Zay Jones as he was...I'm much happier with Gabe Davis.

[WhoTom]

One of the announcers perfectly summed up Zay's tenure in Buffalo: He had his moments, but never seemed to put it all together. 

 

Nothing I saw yesterday suggested anything different.

 

[HardyBoy]

Absolutely, and this is not me wishing Zay back on the team...I'm just saying his biggest issue his rookie year wasn't getting open, it was getting his hands in a catching position early enough. 

 

If Allen is throwing with more touch, maybe he has more leeway with his hand positioning and he has fewer drops. Maybe if he isn't worried Allen is going to throw him a hospital ball, because Allen understands defenses, he doesn't form a habit of aligator arming passes over the middle. He has fewer drops, maybe he doesn't put as much pressure on himself and maybe he doesn't have the mental break that leads to the issue in the hotel room (unless he was on synthetic weed, which was never reported iirc). 

 

He never developed into his potential (or hasn't yet), my question is if he was playing with Josh Allen now would things be different in his development.

 

Also, this is a pertinent question for what happens after Allen is off his rookie deal and likely doesn't have this amazing wr room because of the cap. He is going to need to make ok receivers good, like Aaron Rogers does. There likely will be another player like Zay Jones drafted by this team, and I'll be really curious to see how that player develops while being forced to contribute as a big part of the offense early.

Edited October 5, 2020 by HardyBoy

[DCofNC]

Davis is what Zay was supposed to be, and he just completed his first Preseason.  Nothing against Zay, he didn’t work out here and I don’t think his tenure in the NFL will be very long or very productive.  He has that “potential” that gets everyone excited and that’s it.  Physically, he’s what you want, but production, not so much.

[Alphadawg7]

0% chance he even makes this roster.  Lmao, he was terrible again yesterday.  
 

He’s not a good route runner, he has no heart, no instincts, and bad hands.  
 

I mean David Carr is decent to good starting QB and Zay still produces nothing on a team where Zay has every opportunity to make an impact but still doesn’t.  
 

I mean the only reason he even made the roster is because Williams was on IR and he’s only getting snaps now is because of injuries to better WRs ahead of him.  He’s literally the 6th WR in Las Vegas behind Williams, Ruggs, Renfrow, Edwards, and Agholor.  Williams, Ruggs, and Edwards are all hurt.  Leaving him and Agholor to play with Renfrow in the slot.  
 
 

[YoloinOhio]

Remember when he used to do Local radio commercials for BryLin?

 

I wish him the best 

Edited October 5, 2020 by YoloinOhio