Raheem Blackshear Overreaction/Hype

[Alphadawg7]

IMHO both Hodgins and Blackshear hype is out of control.  

 

Hodgins is averaging a whopping 9 yards per catch through 2 games...while leading the team in targets, catches and playing against backups and scrubs who wont be on rosters come week 1.  If one of our top 3 WR's was doing that, everyone would be freaking out saying we need to go find a WR to replace him. 

 

Blackshear had a 6 carry for 11 yards first game and has really only had one good or standout play, a 25 yard run in the 2nd game against guys who wont be on NFL rosters week 1.  But now he is getting the Antonio Williams hype, but at least AW did something in a regular season game.  

 

I am all for young guys, and I will root for these guys to make the team, I have nothing against them.  But man, the over exaggeration on them is so thick that I have seen suggestions to trade away better players to make sure we keep them.  They are being talked up like they are future all pros and need to be kept at all costs.  Yet neither has really lit the league on fire despite weak competition.  

[JoPoy88]

7 hours ago, mrags said:

Ugh.

good argument 

[Beerball]

11 hours ago, jwhit34 said:

Underdog stories, especially RBs and WRs, seem to be a tradition unlike any other for Bills fans, and probably fans of most other teams. 

 

This year is no different. In the tradition of Da'Rick Rogers, Naaman Roosevelt, Brandon Reilly, Dez Lewis, Joique Bell, Cierre Wood, Christian Wade, Antonio Williams and of course Duke Williams, this year we have Raheem Blackshear.

 

Raheem Blackshear is a nice story. UDFA, comes in and does well in the first two preseason games, doing a lot to at least make it a tough decision on cutdown day for the Bills. But this is a story we see almost every year. 

 

Let's look at this objectively in terms of making the roster and what he could potentially provide to the team:

 

In terms of running ability:

• He is not a more accomplished runner than Devin Singletary
• He is not a more powerful or effective short yardage runner than Zack Moss
• He is not faster or a better pass catching back than James Cook

 

In terms of special teams:

• He is not better than Taiwan Jones
• He is at best in the mix in terms of kick returner but one cannot make a case that he is by far the best return man

 

If all of that is accurate, then he is perfect for the practice squad. Remember, every team in the NFL passed on him for all 7 rounds. Sure, there are UDFAs that make it, but a good showing in preseason games vs. 2nd, 3rd and 4th stringers will not change the minds of many (any?) NFL GMs. Go to the ESPN Scores page and scroll through and see who led each game in rushing. There were a lot of Blackshear-esque performances by guys you never heard of. 

 

Blackshear is a nice story, but I expect him to be on the practice squad.

 

 

 

I wondered where that wet blanket was.

[HOUSE]

I hate to say it but it's to much about round drafted. Had Blackshear been drafted in the 2nd round the guy would be a lock

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

8 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

I hate to say it but it's to much about round drafted. Had Blackshear been drafted in the 2nd round the guy would be a lock

Had Blackshear been a better player, he might have been drafted in the 2nd round. 

[Buffalo716]

Just now, HOUSE said:

I hate to say it but it's to much about round drafted. Had Blackshear been drafted in the 2nd round the guy would be a lock

I’m not saying he hasn’t looked good for an undrafted rookie

 

But yeah the hype on him is getting way too high

 

He’s a Small back who struggled to pass protect in college … He’s a good developmental #3 or 4 rn with some potential 

 

But there’s a lot of running backs in the NFL with potential… He’s absolutely not as good as Singletary or moss 

 

And time will tell the difference between him and cook

 

But He’s not a goal line back, And he doesn’t have the size to be a feature back 

 

Hes a developmental guy with some traits , I would keep him over duke… but he’s not some superstar in the making 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John from Riverside]

I mean you could be right Antonio Williams is killing it in preseason for the team he’s on right now

 

But black sheer has literally not made a wrong move this preseason

Edited August 22, 2022 by John from Riverside

[ColoradoBills]

38 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Blackshear had a 6 carry for 11 yards first game and has really only had one good or standout play, a 25 yard run in the 2nd game against guys who wont be on NFL rosters week 1.  But now he is getting the Antonio Williams hype, but at least AW did something in a regular season game. 

 

He's an UDFA playing very well.  I don't understand why you only put up the stats you did.

Colts:

6 rushes-11 yards rushing (like you pointed out) but how about the rest?

4 Catches - 60 yards

2 KR and 1 PR

1 solo tackle on ST.

Broncos:

5 rushes - 58 yards

2 catches - 21 yards

1 KR

 

The young man has done well in camp and preseason and for sure deserves at least a PS spot and a chance to compete for RB3 next year.

He has already shown he can perform and do what the coaches have asked him to do.

If others hype him more than you think he deserves that's cool but at least give him props for what he has done.

 

[Augie]

6 hours ago, jwhit34 said:

The group hasn't played a game yet, they show promise but we will see. 

 

I would take the 1985 draft class over this one:

Bruce Smith

Derrick Burroughs (unfortunate that injuries curtailed his career)

Chris Burkett

Frank Reich

Andre Reed 

Dale Hellestrae (over 200 games as a long snapper)

Hal Garner

Ron Pitts

 

They also picked up UDFA Scott Norwood

 

1987 was also very good:

Shane Conlan

Nate Odomes

Roland Mitchell (ended up in the Leonard Smith trade)

David Brandon

Jamie Mueller

Leon Seals

Keith McKellar

Howard Ballard

 

UDFA Mitch Frerotte

 

Bill Polian had a 4 year run in the draft (1985-88) that was amazing. 

 

It’s a sliding scale. The VERY best make the Wall of Fame and maybe the HOF……and the bottom guys just get let in on a secret handshake. 

[ROCBillsBeliever]

5 hours ago, skibum said:

I also noticed he has a bad habit of doing these little hop-step , skippy things while trying to decide on a running lane, rather than keeping the wheels turning. A pro RB has to keep the wheels moving at all times. 

 

Disagree. Exhibit A: Barry MFing Sanders:

 

 

Dude would be going faster than anyone on the field, forward, freeze like a beam of ice hit him momentarily, then be going backwards, just as swiftly... Sanders understood the pause, and used it to pity more fools than a cow-pie has flies!

[Solomon Grundy]

3 hours ago, HereComesTheReignAgain said:

Had Blackshear been a better player, he might have been drafted in the 2nd round. 

As would've Tom Brady😎

[PromoTheRobot]

45 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

As would've Tom Brady😎

 

Bingo. What's been the difference between Blackshear and James Cook? Not much, except one was drafted.

[hondo in seattle]

4 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

IMHO both Hodgins and Blackshear hype is out of control.  

 

Hodgins is averaging a whopping 9 yards per catch through 2 games...while leading the team in targets, catches and playing against backups and scrubs who wont be on rosters come week 1.  If one of our top 3 WR's was doing that, everyone would be freaking out saying we need to go find a WR to replace him. 

 

Blackshear had a 6 carry for 11 yards first game and has really only had one good or standout play, a 25 yard run in the 2nd game against guys who wont be on NFL rosters week 1.  But now he is getting the Antonio Williams hype, but at least AW did something in a regular season game.  

 

I am all for young guys, and I will root for these guys to make the team, I have nothing against them.  But man, the over exaggeration on them is so thick that I have seen suggestions to trade away better players to make sure we keep them.  They are being talked up like they are future all pros and need to be kept at all costs.  Yet neither has really lit the league on fire despite weak competition.  

 

I think some of the Hodgins hype comes from fans who were worried about our depth at wideout.  Hodgins is NOT one our top three WRs and is not playing like one.  But, as an unheralded sixth round draft pick, he's performing better than many expected.  And that's exciting if you're a Bills fan who was losing sleep over WR bench.   

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

What's been the difference between Blackshear and James Cook? Not much, except one was drafted.

 

And all of the college tape that shows what Cook can do as a route runner and pass catcher and with the ball in his hands against top college defensemen... Cook was drafted because he has elite traits. Blackshear doesn't have elite anything. He is decently agile and fast.

[John from Riverside]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

And all of the college tape that shows what Cook can do as a route runner and pass catcher and with the ball in his hands against top college defensemen... Cook was drafted because he has elite traits. Blackshear doesn't have elite anything. He is decently agile and fast.

Cook also hasn’t really played a lot in preseason it’s hard to get a handle on a player that doesn’t get any reps you would have to think that the bills have a real plan for him come in the regular season that doesn’t involve him being on the inactive roster

[Bob in STL]

At the end of the day it’s up to the coaches and staff to pick the best players no matter where they were drafted. They see almost everything, including training room dynamics, practice habits, and personal habits - all of which play a part. 

[That's No Moon]

29 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Blackshear doesn't have elite anything. He is decently agile and fast.

He also looks natural catching the ball which many backs are not. Given the way the Bills use their backs this is important. Maybe the most important pre-season stats for Blackshear are the KR and ST tackle stats.  

[Richard Noggin]

16 hours ago, jwhit34 said:

 

Let's look at this objectively in terms of making the roster and what he could potentially provide to the team:

 

In terms of running ability:

• He is not a more accomplished runner than Devin Singletary
• He is not a more powerful or effective short yardage runner than Zack Moss
• He is not faster or a better pass catching back than James Cook

 

In terms of special teams:

• He is not better than Taiwan Jones
• He is at best in the mix in terms of kick returner but one cannot make a case that he is by far the best return man

 

 

You say this is an objective look at Blackshear's chances, but then you selectively measure this longshot's various traits against the team's RESPECTIVE BEST OPTIONS in each category. That seems disingenuous. Moss only has an explicit advantage over Blackshear in 1/5 of your chosen categories, for example. Devin Singletary is clearly superior in 1/5 (the first one, of course, but probably also the second one until proven otherwise). Plus, "more accomplished" (the first criterium) seems ridiculous when comparing an UDFA against a 4th year 3rd round pick. 

 

I don't even really disagree with your ultimate conclusion. I just think your arguments defending it are questionable. 

 

In my view, if the Bills intend to keep Blackshear on the roster, then that means Taiwan Jones is gone. The other 3 RBs have skillsets he can't replace on offense (to your points, actually). Jones probably CAN be replaced by Blackshear or someone else on STs. And Blackshear maybe is best seen as a very poor man's version of Cook, in that he brings juice to the offense and STs (neither Singletary nor Moss can offer STs value and the kind of playmaking some are seeing in Blackshear's potential).

[That's No Moon]

38 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

And all of the college tape that shows what Cook can do as a route runner and pass catcher and with the ball in his hands against top college defensemen... Cook was drafted because he has elite traits. Blackshear doesn't have elite anything. He is decently agile and fast.

Cook looked really smooth the other day.  Some guys are violent runners, some are more herky jerky, Cook was just gliding out there - like water off a duck.  I'm excited to see more of him.

[John from Riverside]

I’m re-watching the Broncos game right now I don’t know man blackshear looks really good he has no wasted motion doesn’t take a negative play and appears to be able to do it all in both the run and the pass I realize that he is going against grocery clerks in the future but