Emmanuel Sanders Embracement Thread

[BigDingus]

***Note: Just a "Thank You" / Appreciation / Show Some Love Thread in Honor of Emmanuel Sanders***

 

I think it's time we come together as a family to fully embrace Mr. Sanders.

 

There were a lot of people dismissing him early on, doubting his ability at his age, or saying he's taking away playing time from real Bills like Gabe Davis. 

 

I think a lot of this has to do with Sanders being around for so long & having established himself outside of the Bills organization. We embraced Beasley & Diggs because they had their best seasons as Bills & were key players in elevating our homegrown QB. Sanders was seen as a temp guy who could possibly contribute as a role-player while the building block pieces did the leg-work.

 

Sorry, but it didn't turn out that way. 

 

Emmanuel Sanders hasn't been playing like a 3rd or 4th option, he's been WR 1-B to Diggs 1-A. And it's not like he's the slot or underneath guy, he's going deep. A lot of people figured because he was older, he probably lost a step. Definitely not true at all, as he's averaging the highest yards per reception of any guy on the team with 10+ receptions.

 

Diggs - 28 receptions, 374 yards, 13.4 average, 1 TD

Sanders - 19 receptions, 322 yards, 16.9 average, 4 TD's

Knox - 18 receptions, 261 yards, 14.5 average, 5 TD's

 

I threw Knox's stats in there just to bring it a bit more into context. He's having a career year and been instrumental in our success. He's 27 yards shy of his total last year, already matched his career TD total in just 5 games, and is tied for 2nd in the league with 5 receiving TD's. He's getting a TON of praise & deservedly so.

 

Sanders has 1 less TD (tied with people like Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Gronk, Mike Evans for 6th) & 60 more yards on 1 more reception. The guy has EARNED that play time & snap count.

 

Diggs' numbers might drop a bit, but now offenses that try to focus or double Diggs are getting punished by Sanders & Knox. Beasley was always a reliable target & solid underneath when teams focused Diggs, but now they STILL risk getting their top blown off deep if they put too much of an emphasis on locking Diggs up.

 

And talk about a guy willing to go after a ball & lay it all out to make a catch. He can still make highlight reel plays any time you throw his direction. The low dive/slide in the endzone, that fingertip grab deep down the left sideline (both against WFT) or the 2 TD's last night, the guy is clutch.

 

I'm not saying we should ignore Gabe Davis, but just saying Sanders EARNED his targets. We may have had our own ideas of how we wanted this season to play out, but Sanders decided his play would do the talking & he won't be kept off the field. Until the guy wants to hang up the cleats, I'm proud to have him on the Bills. Maybe he can kick it a while longer & retire with us after winning another ring  

[John from Riverside]

I told everyone here that Manny Sands was DIggs light and a better WR then Smoke

 

He is

[BillsfaninSB]

I was lukewarm on the signing.  Wasn’t sure he was going to be an upgrade over John Brown. 
 

Glad I’m not running the team!!  Happy he is a Bill and shows yet again why this front office is really good at what they do so far. 

 

 

[Warcodered]

I mean it's not as important but he's also great in his interviews.

 

Lot of guys are coming off a little wooden following the smart mindset of 1 week at a time. Sanders does a great job of acknowledging that but still not ignoring the stuff happening around him.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

14 minutes ago, BillsfaninSB said:

I was lukewarm on the signing.  Wasn’t sure he was going to be an upgrade over John Brown. 
 

Glad I’m not running the team!!  Happy he is a Bill and shows yet again why this front office is really good at what they do so far. 

 

 

Same. I was puzzled they would pick Sanders over JB. Now I know! 

[dollars 2 donuts]

Cole’s team #2 26 receptions, for 215 (no tds) says “hi” btw.  
 

Unless some are able to just completely wish him off the team he is still here.

 

NO POLITICS.  Just the reality that he does have 26 grabs for this team.

 

Edit:  Our top 4 receivers average 18 receptions for 234 yards and 2 tds for every game this season.  
 

Gaudy in the nicest possible way, with good balance.

Edited October 11, 2021 by dollars 2 donuts

[Success]

I was excited when we got him - but he's really exceeded my expectations.  I loved Smoke, but Sanders is just more versatile.  

 

The # of weapons we have is insane.  Davis was almost an afterthought last night, and he's great.  Knox is on his way to becoming a top TE.  Moss catching passes out of the backfield for big gains.

 

I hope I don't wake up one of these days, and find myself already doing math in October to see who needs to win & lose for the Bills to have a shot at the playoffs.  This is too much fun.

 

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

I have been really impressed with Emanuel from his on field production to his super smooth talking interviews.

 

I wish he was a part of this team earlier and that he was a bit younger  maybe he will stick around for another year or two. 

[Beast]

Some were calling for Davis after week 1 even though an accurate deep ball would have put him well over 100 yards that day.

 

 

[TPS]

I'm replacing my Allen-Diggs 2020 with Allen-Sanders 2021, and when they hit it deep, you will "Feel the burn" ....

[NewEra]

💙❤️💙

 

love

me

some

Emmanuel

Sanders

 

I think he’s going to catch the game winning TD in the Super Bowl and leave our franchise as a legend.  Sanders, Rousseau, Basham, Star and Spencer Brown were huge additions and we are reaping the benefits immediately.  
 

That’s a bad man and we’re very lucky to have him.  

[thunderingsquid]

His leadership in the locker room shows through in his interviews.  That one last week was amazing.  He was such an important influence in this KC win yesterday because he obviously verbally smacked down any doubts about their abilities and threw all his teammates' dread or doubt from the playoff loss in KC in the trash with AUTHORITY.  He is an expert, a veteran, has an unshakeable winning attitude that we sorely need in our locker room that is a huge upgrade over Smoke.  

 

#1 is my #1

[Adam727]

I hope he plays for another 1-2 years and retires as a Buffalo Bill.  I think through 5 games he's been the most reliable receiver on the team this year.  

[billsfan89]

I loved acquiring a guy with a Super Bowl ring and who has 13 post season games under his belt (including 8 starts). I am not aware of anyone else on the roster with a ring and anywhere near that level of playoff experience outside of Hyde who has 5 games with the Bills and 8 with the Packers.

 

Sanders has added an edge and veteran hand to the offense in addition to what he brings on field.

[Jerry Jabber]

I hope the Bills resign Sanders beyond this season 

[TampaBillsJunkie]

 I loved Sanders with the Broncos and I was super happy we replaced Brown with Sanders. Smoke lost a step and he was never physical enough or a great route runner who could create separation or make a contested catch. Manny is a perfect compliment for Diggs and Beasley and I'm sure Gabe is learning a lot under his wing.

[Warcodered]

5 minutes ago, Jerry Jabber said:

I hope the Bills resign Sanders beyond this season 

This season goes the way we're wanting he probably retires, maybe even if it doesn't.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

I really liked Smoke and was hoping they would reach agreement on a lower contract number, but Sanders is just flat out better.  Really nice move by Beane.  

[Clyde Smith]

I was all in. I had to explain to doubter I know that he is a route technician like Bease and Diggs, and been to the Bowl a few times.

[folz]

I had Sanders in a keeper fantasy football league for 4 years when he was in Denver. So, I used to watch him quite a bit and I used to tell people all of the time (when they overlooked or down-played him) that Emmanuel Sanders is a stud/dog. He never came out of my lineup (except when injured). He had two monster seasons with Peyton throwing him the ball, but he also had a big year and made the pro bowl after Peyton left, with his QBs being Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch. (And we all know that even Peyton's last season, was not vintage Peyton.) Then he dealt with a few injuries (and poor QB play/declining team) and he seemed to fall off most people's radars. (Despite having an almost 75% catch rate, 726 yds, and 5 TDs with NO last year in 14 games with only 5 starts.) 

 

So glad it's working out for him here in Buffalo. (He may be that last piece that puts this offense over the top, the way Lofton did when he came to the 90s team.)

 

As far as who shines on offense each week, I think it will be a week-to-week thing depending on opponent and how they are trying to slow us down. Early this season, teams have been trying to shut down Diggs and Cole (because they were the guys last year). So, Sanders and Knox show up, and since they're killing it, teams might not be able to double Diggs or the slot anymore and then things will open up for those two. We now have legit 6 or 7 skill guys that could go off in any one game. So, they'll all get their opportunities and have their big games as the year goes on, especially with how Josh likes to spread the ball around.

 

But yes, welcome officially to Buffalo/BillsMafia Mr. Sanders. So glad to have you. And I hope you get what you came here to be a part of...a championship team!