In Gabe We Trust!

[Beck Water]

Just now, without a drought said:

Davis has been disappointing in his 1st year as a starter, yet he is on pace for almost 1100 yards and 8-9 TDs. This includes missing a game and dealing with an injury over a couple others.

 

Maybe the glass is actually half full, not empty and broken.

 

And that's a valid point of view, and a valid point not to lose sight of his actual contributions.

[BillsShredder83]

26 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Diggs would be 1) very unhappy 2) not used to his best strengths as a full time slot receiver.

You think he'd be upset with a free release and a weapon to draw attention away? I'd think he'd freaking love it

[mjt328]

5 hours ago, Stank_Nasty said:

drops are 100% an issue. and in critical spots..... but i'm just curious as to how many #2's out there people think are honestly that much better.

 

The two main jobs of a WR are to:

a) Get open

b) Catch the ball

 

If Davis can't be relied upon to catch the ball, then having him on the team is pointless.   Any #2 who can simply catch the ball would be an upgrade.

We can't afford to have a guy constantly killing drives.  Put in Khalil Shakir or Tanner Gentry, or sign a guy off the street.  Run the ball more. 

 

And I'm someone who was pumping up Davis in the offseason, expecting him to go off this year.  (And no, I don't gamble or play fantasy football).

Hopefully he turns things around quick, because he's one of the guys killing our season.

 

[DCofNC]

15 hours ago, seattlebillsfan said:

I was surprised today to review the Bills’ team stats and see that G.D. has more than 600 yards receiving this season. Basically on pace for a 1,000 yard receiving season. That does seem #2ish, like how Peerless Price had 1,000 yards during his one good season with the Bills (2002). That said, Diggs and Davis are not Rice and Taylor. If we don’t get a Taylor-quality #2, then we need a 2a, 2b, 2c lineup (with Davis as one of those) that is much deeper than our status quo. TBD If Shakir can be 2b or 2c. Clearly Isaiah McKenize cannot. I guess what I am saying is if we had 2 more guys as good as Davis, plus Davis and Diggs, plus Knox and Morris, I think we would be OK. Basically we are missing the 2c receiver and the coaches need to let Shakir show his stuff so we see if he is 2b or if we also need a 2b…

I think you need to find guys that aren’t #2 simply because there’s nobody on the team that should claim the role.  Right now, it’s Diggs and a solid #3 in Davis, and a bunch of nobodies that are fringe NFL roster players. 

[Repulsif]

I love the guy, I trust him

[BillsShredder83]

21 hours ago, without a drought said:

Davis has been disappointing in his 1st year as a starter, yet he is on pace for almost 1100 yards and 8-9 TDs. This includes missing a game and dealing with an injury over a couple others.

 

Maybe the glass is actually half full, not empty and broken.

It's the CJ Spiller effect unfortunately. On paper stats look great. However, his drops are killing drives. Having a 300yd game against teams we can beat up without him, and then 40yds 2 catches in a game were not moving the chains and Josh is taking coverage sacks.

 

I haven't given up on him, still plenty of time to figure it out. But we need him to have more catches.

 

6 catches, 50 yds > 1 catch, 60 yds

[GoBills808]

21 hours ago, without a drought said:

Davis has been disappointing in his 1st year as a starter, yet he is on pace for almost 1100 yards and 8-9 TDs. This includes missing a game and dealing with an injury over a couple others.

 

Maybe the glass is actually half full, not empty and broken.

Almost a third of his production came in one game vs the Steelers. He has not been good.

[ColoradoBills]

I'm thinking the "only runs 3 routes" thing is a bit overblown.

His drops however are a concern, and I can't see how anyone could deny that.

 

IF he had a much lower drop rate, his yardage and TDs would be higher, and I think worthy of a WR2 designation.

Then again, he has had this ankle injury, which no one can say is not a big thing for a WR.

 

So, if I take it all in context, he needs to stay healthy and perform better in the remaining games AND playoffs to lock down #2 next season.

I believe he is capable of that, but he has to step up and show it more consistently.  If he can't, it pretty much guarantees that Beane

uses a Day 2 pick on WR.  I say Day 2 with the assumption the 1st goes to OL.

[Warriorspikes51]

Gabe seems to go crazy whenever Romo and Nantz call a game..... 

[Solomon Grundy]

The Bills should try to get Gabe involved early with some quick outs before hitting him with deep passes

[NoSaint]

On 11/22/2022 at 2:56 PM, mjt328 said:

 

The two main jobs of a WR are to:

a) Get open

b) Catch the ball

 

If Davis can't be relied upon to catch the ball, then having him on the team is pointless.   Any #2 who can simply catch the ball would be an upgrade.

We can't afford to have a guy constantly killing drives.  Put in Khalil Shakir or Tanner Gentry, or sign a guy off the street.  Run the ball more. 

 

And I'm someone who was pumping up Davis in the offseason, expecting him to go off this year.  (And no, I don't gamble or play fantasy football).

Hopefully he turns things around quick, because he's one of the guys killing our season.

 

davis is a sketchy WR2 and good WR3

 

gentry isn’t an nfl player 

4 hours ago, ColoradoBills said:

I'm thinking the "only runs 3 routes" thing is a bit overblown.

His drops however are a concern, and I can't see how anyone could deny that.

 

IF he had a much lower drop rate, his yardage and TDs would be higher, and I think worthy of a WR2 designation.

Then again, he has had this ankle injury, which no one can say is not a big thing for a WR.

 

So, if I take it all in context, he needs to stay healthy and perform better in the remaining games AND playoffs to lock down #2 next season.

I believe he is capable of that, but he has to step up and show it more consistently.  If he can't, it pretty much guarantees that Beane

uses a Day 2 pick on WR.  I say Day 2 with the assumption the 1st goes to OL.

hard to see a path to paying Davis right now so a talent infusion would be needed in the long term blue print 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

If Davis is only running 3 routes then that is Dorseys fault not Davis's fault. 

 

Surely we can agree on that.

 

Davis was plenty good under Daboll in the 13 seconds game wasn't he ?

 

Too many players are regressing under our junior level OC

[CoudyBills]

I inherently trust Gabe, except to catch the ball.  I do not trust Gabe to catch the ball.  Shouldn't matter in his line of work though...right?

10 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

It's the CJ Spiller effect unfortunately. On paper stats look great. However, his drops are killing drives. Having a 300yd game against teams we can beat up without him, and then 40yds 2 catches in a game were not moving the chains and Josh is taking coverage sacks.

 

I haven't given up on him, still plenty of time to figure it out. But we need him to have more catches.

 

6 catches, 50 yds > 1 catch, 60 yds

Can we make that like 6 for 90?  I like that better.

[JohnNord]

On 11/22/2022 at 12:09 AM, folz said:

Not sure if this deserved it's own topic, but wasn't sure where else to put it...

 

I've seen a number of posters the past couple of weeks really down on Gabe Davis, saying he's not a good #2 WR, we should have brought in a FA boundary receiver, the Bills were dumb to count on Davis stepping up, etc.

 

I just want to bring a little perspective...

 

1. Gabe started out the year with a big 88 yard, 1 TD game against the Rams, but injured his ankle and had to sit out week 2 at Tennessee. 

2. Then the team lost Crowder and Kumerow to IR. So, despite the ankle not being healed, Gabe gutted out weeks 3 and 4 against Miami and Baltimore, respectively...because the team was desperate. He obviously did not have good games on the bum ankle.

3. He then bounced back with big games against Pitt and KC (245 yards and 3 TDs)...then the BYE week hit.

4. After the Bye week came the dud second half in GB and the two losses (to NY and Minn), where Josh and the entire offense looked off (not just Gabe).

5. And finally the Cleveland game and Snowmaggedon...not perfect, but a step back in the right direction for the entire offense.

 

It has been such a start-and-stop, weird season for Gabe (with the injury and where the bye fell) and then the offensive woes, which isn't all on Gabe (is it Josh's arm or head, Dorsey's play calling, teams catching up to our offense? etc.). Yes, Gabe has had some drops this year (5 to be exact), but Josh hasn't lost faith in him, nor have I. Deebo Samuel has 7 drops on a similar number of targets as Gabe. Amari Cooper, Ja'Mar Chase, DK Metcalf, and Courtland Sutton all have 6 drops each (granted, on 20 or so more targets than Gabe). 24 wide receivers have at least 4 drops this year. And how many of Gabe's drops were when he was playing on a bad ankle (a couple at least---I know he had a couple of big drops the last couple of weeks as well, though and he's got to clean that up...but it happens, even to the best receivers in the league---even Diggs had a big drop in the Vikings game). 

 

Also, people talk about Diggs being double covered as if that means everyone else has a one-on-one, but there have been numerous games this year where defenses have doubled both Diggs and Davis (because they weren't as worried about our run game or the slot as much). Gabe isn't always seeing single coverage. Teams know he is a weapon.

 

And as to him not being a good #2 receiver, let's look at some stats:

 

If you take away the two games where he was obviously playing injured, then Gabe is averaging 80.3 yards and .71 TDs per game. If he continued that average over the balance of the season, he would end up with 1,174 yards and 10 TDs (having missed one game and playing hurt in two others). That sounds like damn good #2 receiver numbers to me. In fact, if compared to WR production last season, that would have put him 10th in total yards and tied for 6th in total TDs by WRs. And even if you include the two games he played injured in for the pro-rated averages (that would then be 68 yards and .55 TDs/game this season), he would still be in line for 1,088 yards and 9 TDs this season. Only 15 WRs had more than 1,088 yards last year. Only 15 WRs had 9 or more TDs last season (only 8 WRs had more than 9 TDs).

 

To drive the point home, currently (this season), having sat out one game and played two games severely hampered, Gabe is still 19th in receiving yards (by WRs) and is one of only 13 WRs with 5 or more TDs. Considering there are 32 teams, shouldn't there be 32 #1 WRs, right? Yet, for what we feel is a subpar season so far for Gabe, he is performing like a mid-tier #1 receiver in the stat column. And yet some are saying that he isn't even good enough to be a #2?

 

It seems that some people are either expecting elite #1 stats from their #2 wide receiver or they are just upset at the offense's recent woes and are looking for scapegoats.

 

Anyhow, just here to say don't lose faith in Gabe. I think he'll be huge down the stretch of the season.

 

Go Bills!

 

 

I would agree with your larger point of not writing off a player in his 3rd year completely BUT… my concern is his low catch radius and the fact that a number of those drops came in really big, potentially game-changing, moments.   His endzone drop against Miami could’ve been the difference in the game, as was his drop of the Hail Mary thrown by Josh against NYJ.  
 

Im not writing him off year, but I think he has to show that he really can be a competent WR2.  He has some time left this season

[Beck Water]

On 11/22/2022 at 2:56 PM, mjt328 said:

 

The two main jobs of a WR are to:

a) Get open

b) Catch the ball

 

If Davis can't be relied upon to catch the ball, then having him on the team is pointless.   Any #2 who can simply catch the ball would be an upgrade.

We can't afford to have a guy constantly killing drives.  Put in Khalil Shakir or Tanner Gentry, or sign a guy off the street.  Run the ball more. 

 

And I'm someone who was pumping up Davis in the offseason, expecting him to go off this year.  (And no, I don't gamble or play fantasy football).

Hopefully he turns things around quick, because he's one of the guys killing our season.

 

 

I don't go with "Shakir, Gentry or a guy off the street" as necessarily better.  But Davis has GOT to catch some of those balls. 

 

Cover1 thinks we're all off-base dunking on Davis, but even these stats which highlight his, well, highlights...show a bad drop %

 

 

IDK, it just seems like we play other teams and watch their #2 and #3 guys go off to make critical 3rd down conversions we're missing right now.

[Nelius]

I trust him as a vital piece of the offense that can go off for 3 TDs any game so yeah I trust him in general. I'm not sure I like him as a #2 though. 29 catches isn't very much, I'd love a more consistent option. WR depth in general is probably a bigger issue than Gabe himself though, so you've got to root for him because there truly isn't anybody else.

[Nelius]

On 11/22/2022 at 8:47 AM, Stank_Nasty said:

I seriously wanna know where all these mythical amazing #2 wr's are. If feels like people just think they're all over the NFL. I'm bored so i went down through the divisions in my head and named out the 2's i would definitively take over davis.

 

Waddle

Higgins

Mike Williams

Devonta Smith

Godwin

Lockett

 

I'd debate Thielen(he's really fallen off but reliable), Aiyuk, and Marquise brown..... but i'm confused about what people requirements are for a #2(non-slot) wr.... seems like were just assuming most teams are having teammates each go for over 1000.... Take a look across the league. i would contend he's a top #2 option(with consistency issues)

 

This is probably correct but Buffalo's got a better QB than all of them. When you've got the best under center, you can't be content with your #2 falling somewhere in the maybe 8-15 range. At least three of those you listed have an even better counterpart, along with a solid young QB, so it can be done. Hard for fans not to want a similar WR group when your QB is a unicorn. 

[Joe Ferguson]

Davis is one of the worst in the league in dropped balls. He dropped a perfectly thrown TD pass by Allen again. Time to draft high for a WR next year. 

[Nextmanup]

16 hours ago, Nelius said:

 

This is probably correct but Buffalo's got a better QB than all of them. When you've got the best under center, you can't be content with your #2 falling somewhere in the maybe 8-15 range. At least three of those you listed have an even better counterpart, along with a solid young QB, so it can be done. Hard for fans not to want a similar WR group when your QB is a unicorn. 

We should have more raw receiver talent on this team than we do have, and it's b/c McDermott is a defensive guy. 

 

We need another "name" receiver for next year.

 

I also instinctively feel like OBJ will NOT be here, so he's out.

 

 

 

 

[DuckyBoys]

Inconsistency is gabe's issue specifically his hands