Training Camp practice 7/25

[JerseyBills]

2 hours ago, CapeBreton said:

 

McCloud and Lewis are having a solid camp, I wonder if one of them could be traded since we likely can't keep both on the roster. Would hate to see them get plucked from the practice squad.

 

 

Diggs leads the league in 1 on 1 coverage yards since joining 2 years ago. So this is no big deal and great learning for the rookie 

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

From today's BN on yesterday's practice:

5. Round 1: Haack
The battle at punter is the most
intense “starting” competition on
the roster. Give round one of many
to veteran Matt Haack. The Bills’
incumbent punter had a very good
day with a string of punts that had
outstanding hang times. (Anything
better than 4.5 is excellent).
Haack’s best punts went, unofficially,
for 4.97, 4.92, 4.87, 4.85 and

4.64 seconds.
Rookie Matt Araiza, the sixthround
draft pick from San Diego
State, got off to a slow start, with a
string of four consecutive early punts
that were less than 4.0 hang time.
Then Araiza got it going. He hit four
straight puts that went 65 yards,
although none with as big a hang
time. One appeared to go 70 yards
with a 4.44 hang time. Haack was
the holder for Tyler Bass on day one.

 

I said when we drafted Araiza, it was HANG TIME not HOLDING that concerned me. Line drive punts are far more dangerous in the pros than in college. Gotta give your coverage team a chance. 

[The Jokeman]

56 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

I hope so.. would love for Stevenson to take WR7 and be that outside speed depth.  

 

In order, my hopes for WR6/7 go Stevenson then Austin then Kumerow... but I'll believe Kumerow isn't on the 53 when I see it. 

 

Sounds like Shakir has really impressed through the first two days of camp and seems to show the ability to play outside as well.  

 

After he was drafted am pretty sure Beane or McDermott mentioned he'd be learning to play him in all WR positions so think he's the primary backup on the outside. \

 

The question is at the 6th WR. Austin or Stevenson seem both good fits if looking for them to also be a returnman.  I like Austin as could be a returnman and more proven and could even fill in at RB on occasion. Yet I do like Stevenson long term potential as think he showed good things in the preseason last year as a WR. 

[Warcodered]

The man's a menace.

 

 

[Rico]

48 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea. It isn't just coincidence IMO. McKenzie certainly does not have the job won or anything two days into camp, but anyone who presumed that competition was some sort of formality for Crowder is going to be disappointed. That is a real competition and as I have said previously - I can even see a situation where they are a job share. More Crowder vs zone schemes and more McKenzie vs man schemes. I look in our division for instance and see two teams - New England and the Dolphins - who play heavy doses of man coverage. That is four games a year where I can see a lot of McKenzie usage. 

Still say there’s no guarantee Crowder makes it to Week 1.

[hemma]

15 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

https://buffalofambase.com/2022/07/25/astronotes-2-july-25-2022/

 

Kick returns -> Stevenson, Cook, Shakir, Blackshear but no mention of Austin.

Maybe his turn comes on Wednesday.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

6 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

The man's a menace.

 

 

Poyer obviously mad Allen makes more money than the entire Bills secondary combined.

[JoeF]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

2.  Elam is getting thrown into the fire covering probably the best foot work WR in the NFL which is Diggs.  If he was succeeding already against Diggs I would actually be worried what’s wrong with Diggs.  I fully expect a rookie to get smoked by Diggs regularly 2 days into camp as he does it to the best DBs in the NFL weekly.  But I can’t think of a better school for him than having to cover the best and learn from that.
 

 

Excellent post Alpha...and to this point...best route I have seen live.  Just before the play I turned to my son and said, watch Diggs school Lattimore on this play...

 

 

[LabattBlue]

 

[Alphadawg7]

55 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea. It isn't just coincidence IMO. McKenzie certainly does not have the job won or anything two days into camp, but anyone who presumed that competition was some sort of formality for Crowder is going to be disappointed. That is a real competition and as I have said previously - I can even see a situation where they are a job share. More Crowder vs zone schemes and more McKenzie vs man schemes. I look in our division for instance and see two teams - New England and the Dolphins - who play heavy doses of man coverage. That is four games a year where I can see a lot of McKenzie usage. 

 

I think there is a strong chance of a job share situation at slot.  I can see Crowder, Shakir and McKenize all getting snaps.  
 

It’s absolutely an open competition, and going to be fun to see how it plays out.  But I still think Crowder probably wins the job by week 1, but he’s going to obviously have to earn it, they won’t just give it to him. 
 

They resigned McKenzie cheap and then proceeded to sign Crowder, draft Shakir, and signed Tavon.  They clearly felt the slot needed more competition even after signing McKenzie back.  So I just have a hard time seeing McKenzies role being much bigger than last year unless he really outplays the others in camp, which could happen, but I think unlikely because Crowder is good and Shakir is off to a good start as well.  
 

To be honest, I also think Shakir is going to see more snaps down the stretch too much like how Davis did the last 2 years.  

[Augie]

23 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

The man's a menace.

 

 

 

Josh makes him look so…….tiny. 

 

I’m sure it would startle the %$#% out of me if someone came up behind me and started autographing MY neck! 

[HappyDays]

 

[Alphadawg7]

22 minutes ago, JoeF said:

Excellent post Alpha...and to this point...best route I have seen live.  Just before the play I turned to my son and said, watch Diggs school Lattimore on this play...

 

 

One of my favorite Bills plays of all time, just insane route 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Good post. McKenzie has had some of his better games against the Pats and Dolphins.

 

Exactly.. because He’s a nice slot wr vs man. Not sure about zone. That’s where Beasley was special. Will be interesting to see what changes. 

[GunnerBill]

20 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

I think there is a strong chance of a job share situation at slot.  I can see Crowder, Shakir and McKenize all getting snaps.  
 

It’s absolutely an open competition, and going to be fun to see how it plays out.  But I still think Crowder probably wins the job by week 1, but he’s going to obviously have to earn it, they won’t just give it to him. 
 

They resigned McKenzie cheap and then proceeded to sign Crowder, draft Shakir, and signed Tavon.  They clearly felt the slot needed more competition even after signing McKenzie back.  So I just have a hard time seeing McKenzies role being much bigger than last year unless he really outplays the others in camp, which could happen, but I think unlikely because Crowder is good and Shakir is off to a good start as well.  
 

To be honest, I also think Shakir is going to see more snaps down the stretch too much like how Davis did the last 2 years.  

 

I think McKenzie will have a career high in receptions and yards. I think he is going to be at worst in a job share most of the year. He will be more than just a gadget guy. I don't think anyone is going to be nailed into that slot job in the way Beas has been. 

 

Beas averaged about 110 targets a year and the last two years had 82 receptions. I reckon Isaiah picks up more than a third of those targets, Crowder similar and Shakir the remainder with his number going up as the year goes on.

[Scott7975]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

 

Good to see Tre doing that kind of work!

[HappyDays]

 

[Mr Wild]

50 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

 

It is interesting that 2 days of Von/Oliver/Phillips/Boogie getting pressure but in 2 days no real mention of Groot.   

[wppete]

10 minutes ago, Mr Wild said:

 

It is interesting that 2 days of Von/Oliver/Phillips/Boogie getting pressure but in 2 days no real mention of Groot.   

Yeah seems a little odd. No mentions of Groot, Tremaine Daquan or OJ Howard. I’m getting concerned   😧 😂 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 hour ago, ColoradoBills said:

I'm getting a feeling that the Bills O under Ken Dorsey may see a departure from the typical X, Z, slot and TE traditional roles.

Beane has a group of "potential" pass catching personnel in camp that may be a sign of a change in strategy.

Maybe even something not previously seen in the NFL.

 

I'm not saying that it will be an instant change with regards to alignments this year but something different seems to be in the works.

 

NE started doing this when they started rolling 2 TEs with gronk/hernandez after the moss divorce.  They usually carried some variation of it with Gronk and others but the main thing i remember is if you see a personnel matchup that you can exploit you do it. 

 

Cook with Diggs and Crowder + howard and Knox.  If they are stacking the box you can just flow to an empty set and force them to man up.  Put knox on the outside 1x1 with a LB, i think we take that all day.  Decent chance Cook and Crowder can shake openings as well.  If they roll nickel and zone - just run it.