Who's our slot WR in 2023, Shakir or...?

[Nephilim17]

Lots of talk about needing to give Josh more weapons. I think most agree the other outside WR needs to be upgraded as a priority.

But who's playing slot? My gut says we don't have the money or draft capital to spend on a premium free agent or college prospect. But maybe Shakir is the answer.

190 lb. and six feet tall. Good size compared with some other slot guys like McKenzie (5'8", 173 lb.) or Beasley (5'8", 174 lb.). And no, I don't think 48-year-old Beasley should start for us.

What I like about Shakir: good attitude and focus (from the little I've seen of interviews and yes, this is very subjective); history of lining up in the slot and outside so he's versatile; cost controlled for years; fairly good speed; good hands and YAC.

Yes, he doesn't have a lot of experience at the NFL level but given our lack of cap space and our more pressing, arguably, draft needs (WR2, O-line in multiple spots, LB, safety, edge, maybe LB) I don't think we're spending a pick in the top five rounds on a slot WR. But maybe I'm wrong.

I don't trust McKenzie's history, hands, or focus. And I suspect Josh and management don't either.

Tell me why the slot starting job belongs to Shakir, McKenzie, a free agent or a draft prospect...

[US Egg]

1 minute ago, Nephilim17 said:

Tell me why the slot starting job belongs to Shakir, McKenzie, a free agent or a draft prospect...

…..I can’t. But Shakir be my hope to fill the Bill.

[Trust The Process]

Shakir and sign a cap friendly free agent deal with Paris Campbell 

[LABILLBACKER]

McKenzie got his opportunity and frankly didn't make the most of it.  Shakir got lost in the McD rookie vortex and saw very few targets. I don't see us keeping McKenzie,  Beasley or Smoke. We need to allow our young players to sink or swim as we continue the search for a legit WR2.

[NewEra]

I hope it’s Shakir, but if we scoop up someone better, great.  

Dirty is gadget wr5-6.  Had his chance and didn’t deliver like we needed him to.  
 

wouldn’t be shocked to see Beasley back and getting some reps if we move on from Dirty entirely.  

 

really hope for an upgrade @ WR2. 

[Hsker4life]

In the limited time we saw Shakir, I was impressed. I don’t know what kept the coaches from playing him more though.

[Process]

Hopefully Shakir. I wish we saw more of him this year so we could know if he's the guy. 

 

McKenzie should be cut. Zero reason to keep him when we could save $2M cap space. He offers nothing that can't easily be replaced. 

[Nephilim17]

3 minutes ago, Process said:

Hopefully Shakir. I wish we saw more of him this year so we could know if he's the guy. 

 

McKenzie should be cut. Zero reason to keep him when we could save $2M cap space. He offers nothing that can't easily be replaced. 

As a slot backup, I would be fine with cutting McKenzie and bringing back Crowder who got $2 million this year and might come cheaper a year later and after injury. Crowder is slightly older but has far more than three times the career yards that McKenzie has.

[Buftex]

I would be happy with Shakir and Beasley splitting time, maybe 60/40 in Shakirs favor. I'd be okay with Crowder too...but he's only had one complete season in the last five years. If it came down to choosing between Beasley and Crowder, I'd choose Beasley. Then, I would try to find another prospect in the draft, to eventually replace Beasley. I like McKenzie, but he has never really been able to seize his opportunity. I like the guy, but he was pretty disappointing this year. I'd be okay with moving on from him. All these guys should be relatively inexpensive.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Buftex

[John from Riverside]

Shakur hast to step up and win that role because we need to address other positions

[Buftex]

1 hour ago, Hsker4life said:

In the limited time we saw Shakir, I was impressed. I don’t know what kept the coaches from playing him more though.

I know most have been disgruntled with the coaching staff. I'm not as down on them as many, but I have always been a little frustrated with their reluctance to work other players in to the lineup...especially on offense. To my view, Shakir, Cook, Hines and McKenzie were all under-utilized this year. Not to mention all of the guys they have had stashed on the PS over the last few years that never saw any real action. How nice would it have been to have Isaiah Hodgins down the stretch? As the season went on, it was so evident that they needed some new energy in the offense...but the coaches never seemed willing to try anything different.

9 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Shakur hast to step up and win that role because we need to address other positions

We do...but solidifying the slot role is a pretty big priority, if we are going to be a passing team,

Edited February 7, 2023 by Buftex

[Da webster guy]

2 hours ago, Nephilim17 said:

As a slot backup, I would be fine with cutting McKenzie and bringing back Crowder who got $2 million this year and might come cheaper a year later and after injury. Crowder is slightly older but has far more than three times the career yards that McKenzie has.

 

Yeah I've said this before but the two guys that had the best training camp as pass catchers were Crowder and Morris at TE/Hback.  Crowder was limited with that injury but when he was cleared to practice the dude looked like the #1 WR that he was in the past.   Honestly Morris with another year can be a huge weapon too if you notice he can fly and catch.

 

I think a lot of the concern about targets isn't that we need another guy, we just need our guys to be healthy and ready to go, and we need Dorsey to get real serious with Josh in the offseason and study the film which will help Josh look to other guys like Shakir, Cook (our only big play YAC guy who never gets thrown to for some reason) etc.  

 

We score an average of 30 points a game for 3 years now, and even though we sucked vs Cinci with a lame 10pt effort, I don't think the film will show it was from WR's not getting separation.   It's going to be trench players AGAIN being the weak link on both sides of the ball, and a rookie OC who probably was in over his head trying to live up to Daboll's gamecalling success.   

 

 

[MJS]

Honestly, I hope McKenzie is gone. He has proven over and over again that he is not the guy. I don't want Shakir to lose a single snap to him.

 

Can't rely on Crowder because he is always hurt.

 

So for me it is Shakir and Beasley, or bring in a cheap upgrade.

 

If they are going to spend money or significant draft capital, I'd rather it be for the #2 WR, not the slot.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

2 hours ago, Nephilim17 said:

As a slot backup, I would be fine with cutting McKenzie and bringing back Crowder who got $2 million this year and might come cheaper a year later and after injury. Crowder is slightly older but has far more than three times the career yards that McKenzie has.

 

 I wouldn't cut a guy who scored 5 tds for us this year, for a guy who's missed 21 games in the last 3 years. Crowder has missed at least 4 games 3 straight years.

 

 

 

 

 

[John from Riverside]

43 minutes ago, LOVEMESOMEBILLS said:

 

 I wouldn't cut a guy who scored 5 tds for us this year, for a guy who's missed 21 games in the last 3 years. Crowder has missed at least 4 games 3 straight years.

 

 

 

 

 

I was big on Crowder before the season, but that is because I saw his tape while he was with the Jets he couldn’t make it through the season healthy

[Doc Brown]

If they could rework Hunter Renfrow's contract he'd be someone I'd be interested in trading for if they don't think Shakir is the answer.

[OldTimer1960]

4 hours ago, NewEra said:

I hope it’s Shakir, but if we scoop up someone better, great.  

Dirty is gadget wr5-6.  Had his chance and didn’t deliver like we needed him to.  
 

wouldn’t be shocked to see Beasley back and getting some reps if we move on from Dirty entirely.  

 

really hope for an upgrade @ WR2. 

Might Crowder return?  He has shown that he can play and be productive- injury derailed last season.  He has played a number of seasons, but think he is younger than Beasley.

[John from Riverside]

1 hour ago, Doc Brown said:

If they could rework Hunter Renfrow's contract he'd be someone I'd be interested in trading for if they don't think Shakir is the answer.

There’s just no way to tell this during a rookie season
 

He started off slow, but he was making plays by the time the season was done

[Damian]

I would love to see the Bills draft Josh Downs from UNC (5' 10") for our slot receiver.  Catches everything thrown his way.  He has an amazing 72% catch rate on contested catches.  He was also a track star in high school (third in state for triple and long jump) and he has a 42" vertical leap.

[oldmanfan]

Crowder in the slot.  Shakir as the deep threat.  And if we improve the O line then Davis should have more time to get open and be a true #2.