Hot take: Shakir should be the starting slot receiver going forward

[Airseven]

I agree it’s Shakir’s time. McKenzie needs to settle back into a support role and enabled to excel in specifically designed packages.

[TBBills]

Still trying to figure out why this is called a "Hot take" when people in the offseason said this was going to happen.

Edited October 11, 2022 by TBBills

[Warcodered]

14 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

And when there was an opening for an outside receiver the Bills played Jake Kumerow. 

Pretty sure Jake Kumerow was playing before that.

[foreboding]

Not really a hot take.

 

I thought that his skillset would lead us here fairly quickly. He has that innate slot-reciever ability: you know it when you see it, sits down at the right spot, cuts tight, knows how to leak out into an open space, and grabs the ball. He also has some wheels and a little size. 

 

Reminds me a bit of Robert Woods.

[GunnerBill]

10 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

Pretty sure Jake Kumerow was playing before that.

 

As a backup, sure. And when they needed someone to go in he went in. Shakir is a slot. That isn't a knock on him, it is just what he is.

[Doc]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

The one thing that should be recognised here is that all those people who pushed back so hard on "he really isn't an outside receiver in the NFL he is a slot who can play the odd snap out there" should come and take their L now. 

 

Shakir is going to be a very fine slot receiver in this league. That is what he is.

Take the L?  Has it been definitively proven that he’ll never be able to play outside?  

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, Doc said:

Take the L?  Has it been definitively proven that he’ll never be able to play outside?  

 

I am not sure the he is an outside player guys will ever see any evidence as enough. Everything the Bills have done and his performances tell the story. Can he take snaps outside? Sure. The same way Beas could. Do you want him doing that? Not really. Way more effective in the slot.

[Warcodered]

39 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I am not sure the he is an outside player guys will ever see any evidence as enough. Everything the Bills have done and his performances tell the story. Can he take snaps outside? Sure. The same way Beas could. Do you want him doing that? Not really. Way more effective in the slot.

The story is what when the two slot WRs ahead of him were out he came in and played well? Sure, not sure how this says anything about him playing outside.

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

The story is what when the two slot WRs ahead of him were out he came in and played well? Sure, not sure how this says anything about him playing outside.

 

The story is a lot of fans see things as they want them to be not as they are. 

 

What Shakir is is a very exciting slot receiver prospect who could end up a high end player at that position. 

[Royale with Cheese]

22 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

The story is a lot of fans see things as they want them to be not as they are. 

 

What Shakir is is a very exciting slot receiver prospect who could end up a high end player at that position. 

 

I had this shower thought the other day.  What if Gabe Davis becomes too expensive to re-sign and we sign OBJ in a few weeks?

Next year:

 

Diggs #1

OBJ #2

Shakir/McKenzie slot

 

Draft a boundary WR in the 1st or 2nd.  

 

**Okay it's now time to stop thinking about me in the shower**

[Maine-iac]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

As a backup, sure. And when they needed someone to go in he went in. Shakir is a slot. That isn't a knock on him, it is just what he is.

What makes him just a slot?  He's listed as roughly the same size as Diggs and ran a faster 40.  Depth chart on ESPN (for what it's worth) has him listed behind Davis.  He has the speed, size, and route running skills to play outside just as well as inside.

[BillsShredder83]

1 hour ago, Rocky Landing said:

Shaw, I think the point is that your (and several others) opinions are highly speculative. There really isn't enough of a sample size to simply state that Shakir is demonstratively better than McKenzie. And using recent stats as "proof" really looks like confirmation bias when there are other games in which McKenzie has better numbers. 

McK hasn't done chit this year. If he was producing, sure you make the rookie earn his snaps. 

 

Isiah hasn't done anything with a rile he finally was given. He misses time, and a rookie with a lot of promise comes in, makes a few nice plays I've never seen mck make. 

Low risk/high potential reward

[ColoradoBills]

On 10/10/2022 at 8:58 AM, Bob in STL said:

 

Shakir looks versatile and can rotate in and sub for any of the three (McKenzie, Davis, Diggs).  Whether Shakir "starts" is not important.  He will play and he will get targets. I like the possibility that we can move him around.  He will make plays.  

 

Not sure we are going to see much of Crowder with his injury.  Kumerow will go back to ST mostly.  

 

 

 

I like your take on him.  It's not a bad situation for the next few games to let him be "primary sub" along with splitting some time

as McKenzie.  It would be a good situation to get experience all along the WR roles.

 

If he continues to develop the way he has, he will lock up the slot position soon enough, but the need right now is outside.

[DCbillsfan]

25 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

I had this shower thought the other day.  What if Gabe Davis becomes too expensive to re-sign and we sign OBJ in a few weeks?

Next year:

 

Diggs #1

OBJ #2

Shakir/McKenzie slot

 

Draft a boundary WR in the 1st or 2nd.  

 

**Okay it's now time to stop thinking about me in the shower**

Davis is under contract next season but an extension could prove costly.

[Royale with Cheese]

1 minute ago, DCbillsfan said:

Davis is under contract next season but an extension could prove costly.

 

Ooooh...I thought it was up after this year.

[Rocky Landing]

15 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

McK hasn't done chit this year. If he was producing, sure you make the rookie earn his snaps. 

 

Isiah hasn't done anything with a rile he finally was given. He misses time, and a rookie with a lot of promise comes in, makes a few nice plays I've never seen mck make. 

Low risk/high potential reward

He has 15 receptions in four games for three TDs, and a catch rate of 71.4%

Shakir has 5 receptions in three games for one TD, and a catch rate of 55.6%.

 

What are you talking about?

[Rocky Landing]

16 minutes ago, DCbillsfan said:

Davis is under contract next season but an extension could prove costly.

Are we assuming that OBJ will be cheaper than Davis???

[PrimeTime101]

1 minute ago, Rocky Landing said:

He has 15 receptions in four games for three TDs, and a catch rate of 71.4%

Shakir has 5 receptions in three games for one TD, and a catch rate of 55.6%.

 

What are you talking about?

What are you talking about? your missing the point.

 

McKenzie has 21 targets, Shakir has 9 targets

With this many targets Shakir has about as many YAC 

so lets do some basic roundup math.

 

with same amount of targets Shakir would have around 60 more YAC, a younger player with a higher ceiling then Mckenzie. not to mention most of Shakir's target was last Sunday

 

[GunnerBill]

43 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

What makes him just a slot?  He's listed as roughly the same size as Diggs and ran a faster 40.  Depth chart on ESPN (for what it's worth) has him listed behind Davis.  He has the speed, size, and route running skills to play outside just as well as inside.

 

He doesn't have the same functional strength as Diggs and he does his best running in tight spaces. He can get jammed at the line (we have already seen that happen on a couple of snaps in the Tenneseee game) and I don't see him as a guy who can run past guys. He is much more a short distance separator. 

[Rocky Landing]

12 minutes ago, PrimeTime101 said:

What are you talking about? your missing the point.

 

McKenzie has 21 targets, Shakir has 9 targets

With this many targets Shakir has about as many YAC 

so lets do some basic roundup math.

 

with same amount of targets Shakir would have around 60 more YAC, a younger player with a higher ceiling then Mckenzie. not to mention most of Shakir's target was last Sunday

 

That is my point. Y'all making the case that Shakir > McK based on one game against a team we practically shut out. To claim that "McK hasn't done chit this year" is just not true, including in comparison to Shakir. And to say that Shakir "makes a few nice plays I've never seen mck make," is anecdotal, at best. McKenzie has had some great games in a Bills uniform, against much better opponents.

 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Rocky Landing