Bills' receiving corps getting bigger for playoff football

[RiotAct]

shoulda kept Duke Williams!!!

[Straight Hucklebuck]

12 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

The Bills have been dominant in the regular season but haven't had the same success in the playoffs.  One factor that has contributed to those frustrations is that playoff games are officiated differently.  The refs don't call defensive holding at the line of scrimmage like they do in the regular season.  DBs know they can mug at the snap and get away with it.  The Bills pass catchers were on the small size and more vulnerable to getting held by DBs playing press.

 

I think Beane made a deliberate decision to bring in bigger bodied pass catchers who can get off the line of scrimmage even when DBs are grabbing them.  If your team's 178 lb nickleback wants to try and hold our new 246 lb slot guy, or our new 6'4" 229 lb receiver, go ahead and take your chances.

 

Here are the new pass catchers on the 2023 roster as of today

Trent Sherfield-   6'1"  219       FA

Deonte Harty-     5'6"  170       FA

Dalton Kincaid-    6'4"  246     Rookie  1st rd

Justin Shorter-    6'4"  229      Rookie  5th rd

Tyrell Shavers-    6'4"  211       Rookie  UDFA

Jalen Wayne-      6'2"  207      Rookie  UDFA

 

We still have Gabe Davis who's 6'2" 210 and Dawson Knox at 6'4" 254.  They also have a WR on the PS that they've been developing, Dezmon Patmon, who is 6'4" and 225.  All together, that's a big group of pass catchers. 

 

You'll have Diggs, Harty, and Shakir-- and every other Bills' WR is going to be big.  Beane is signing receivers who can fight through the DB's jam / holding and get out into their route.  Hopefully this change in roster philosophy will lead to more success in the passing game when it matters the most.  

Watching the Bills WRs warm up in Detroit, you could get a sense for how small they were.

 

McKenzie, Shakir, Gentry was up for that game. 
 

I do think they were too small on the whole. 

[BADOLBILZ]

12 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

The Bills have been dominant in the regular season but haven't had the same success in the playoffs.  One factor that has contributed to those frustrations is that playoff games are officiated differently.  The refs don't call defensive holding at the line of scrimmage like they do in the regular season.  DBs know they can mug at the snap and get away with it.  The Bills pass catchers were on the small size and more vulnerable to getting held by DBs playing press.

 

I think Beane made a deliberate decision to bring in bigger bodied pass catchers who can get off the line of scrimmage even when DBs are grabbing them.  If your team's 178 lb nickleback wants to try and hold our new 246 lb slot guy, or our new 6'4" 229 lb receiver, go ahead and take your chances.

 

Here are the new pass catchers on the 2023 roster as of today

Trent Sherfield-   6'1"  219       FA

Deonte Harty-     5'6"  170       FA

Dalton Kincaid-    6'4"  246     Rookie  1st rd

Justin Shorter-    6'4"  229      Rookie  5th rd

Tyrell Shavers-    6'4"  211       Rookie  UDFA

Jalen Wayne-      6'2"  207      Rookie  UDFA

 

We still have Gabe Davis who's 6'2" 210 and Dawson Knox at 6'4" 254.  They also have a WR on the PS that they've been developing, Dezmon Patmon, who is 6'4" and 225.  All together, that's a big group of pass catchers. 

 

You'll have Diggs, Harty, and Shakir-- and every other Bills' WR is going to be big.  Beane is signing receivers who can fight through the DB's jam / holding and get out into their route.  Hopefully this change in roster philosophy will lead to more success in the passing game when it matters the most.  

 

 

An argument can also be made that having players who separate is better for avoiding being bitten by refs not throwing flags for PI in the playoffs.  But I get the point.

 

It definitely seems that they took the issues in the loss(es) to Cincinnati to heart.  

 

In bad weather in Buffalo you want to throw more between the hashes and Kincaid hopefully allows that to become a strength.  

 

And if you have to throw outside......a large catch radius helps because Buffalo is probably the most difficult boundary to be deadly accurate throwing to in the NFL.   Between the wind and the pronounced crown of the field there is a lot at play on out throws.    It stuck in my mind that Burrow and Higgins get work done outside when the Bills could not.   I heard it mentioned that OC's really like to isolate a TE on the short side of the field opposite trips to expose defensive intentions and Kincaid showed he can make an impact on the boundary so perhaps strides have been made in that regard.

 

And I say losses plural because in the Damar game their offense stalled when Allen threw a pass too high for Beasley near the goal line resulting in them being down on the scoreboard before the incident.   Beasley catches that pass in 2020.......but the point is that there was not much margin for error wrt ball placement in the slot with guys like Lil' Dummy and Beasley.......and they didn't have much else.

[Shaw66]

The point about the officiating is excellent (whether you have data or not!).   It's clear every season that two things happen in the playoffs.  The ferocity of the play increases, and the officials allow the players to play at that level of hitting.   It's just natural for the level of violence to increase as the stakes increase; it's a natural human reaction.   If the officials kept calling the game like the regular season, the field would be covered with yellow flags. 

 

And there is only one way to succeed in that playoff environment, and that is to be big enough to win the one-on-one battles.   

 

The NBA had to change the way they officiate games in order to stop size and strength being the key to winning.  They essentially made the small, quick guys untouchable, so they can roam around the three-point circle pretty much untouched.   NFL isn't doing that anytime soon.  

 

Diggs, Knox, Davis, and Kincaid in the red zone gives Josh targets.   The thing that I keep forgetting about Diggs is that he's as good in the slot as Beasley was, so when he's on the field in the red zone, he can force the defense to defend those maddening quick slants and quick outs, while the defense has to defend these 6'2" to 6'4" guys streaming across the back of the end zone.   

 

Hadn't thought of it before, but this change is clearly about the playoffs, and the red zone. 

[SCBills]

Outside of the Bills/Chiefs 13 seconds game, 2 of the last 3 Bills playoff exits were due, in large part, to them simply getting bullied off the field.  

 

It happened in KC 3 years ago, and again against CIN, at home, in our elements, of all things.  

 

Enter McDermott, Torrence, Kincaid, Shorter, Harris, Murray, Ford...

 

Exit Frazier, Saffold, Edmunds, Singletary, McKenzie, Beasley...

 

We'll see how it translates, but this team looks much different "getting off the bus".

[Simon Says]

1 hour ago, I'm Spartacus said:

I wonder who the tallest NFL player there ever was. Ernie "the cat" Ladd? He was 6'9", 270 lbs.

I remember a TE Morris Stroud, something like that. 6-10 260. Might have played for KC

Edited May 3, 2023 by Herb Nightly

[hondo in seattle]

It's great to see we've gotten bigger.  And TampaBillsJunkie is right when he says that Beane is now going for sure-hands guys.   That's also good news.  

 

But did we get faster? 

 

We lost Lil Dirty who was, I believe, our fastest receiver last year.  But Sherfield and Harty are both about as fast.  And if we involve Hines in the passing game, he's faster yet.  Cook has good speed as well.  

 

I like our current receiving corps, but it would be nice to find someone as rapid as Smoke Brown.   I'd love to be able to put defenses in a quandary.  If their best CB is also their fastest, do they put him on Diggs or our fast guy?  Either way, they lose.  

[Success]

I love our WR corps right now.  I kind of shrug when I see fans say we still need a #2 - this is the best WR room we have had in many years.

 

So much versatility and a good variety of skillsets.  We added not only size, but speed, YAC, better hands.  Allen is going to have a lot to work with.

 

[Whites Bay]

2 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Found this blurb:

 

At 7 ft 0 in, Richard Sligh is the tallest player in professional American football history. The next tallest are Matt O'Donnell at 6 ft 11 in, Morris Stroud at 6 ft 10 in, and Dan Skipper at 6 ft 10 in.

 

Sligh played 1 season in 1967 as a 10th round pick. O'Donnell never made an active roster, however was in camp twice for the Bengals. Stroud was a TE for the Chiefs. Played 5ish years and was on their Super Bowl team back in the Len Dawson era. Skipper is an OL and has bounced around for 6 squads most recently last year for the Detroit Lions.

This made me think of Dan McGwire (brother of Mark McGwire), who was 6' 8".  Didn't really help a lot, but seeing over the offensive line was never a problem.

[BuffaloBillyG]

6 minutes ago, Whites Bay said:

This made me think of Dan McGwire (brother of Mark McGwire), who was 6' 8".  Didn't really help a lot, but seeing over the offensive line was never a problem.

The odd thing about him that I remember...I only watched one of his games with the Seahawks. He had something like 5 balls batted down at the line of scrimmage that game and the announcers were completely baffled.  

[Inigo Montoya]

4 hours ago, BillsDad51 said:

Good point, especially about playoff refereeing. Problem  I see is that after Diggs, Davis, Shakir, Harty and Sherfield, only one of those tall receivers will make the roster. Kincaid will make as a tight end, but Shorter, Shavers, Wayne and Patmon could be fighting for one spot. Although there could a surprise cut. Bills could end up with  a deep practice squad, assuming none of the tall receivers get poached. Will make for an interesting camp. 

 

Fair point BD51, but I think the Bills end up carrying seven WRs this season because both Shorter and Shavers are apparently special teams phenoms and should make the game day roster that way.  Unlike Taiwan Jones and Kumerow who were special team guys who offered nothing on offense, I think the Bills hope these guys can do both.  Throw Knox and Kincaid out there as well and the pass catchers are much bigger this year.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Inigo Montoya

[BillsDad51]

4 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Fair point BD51, but I think the Bills end up carrying seven WRs this season because both Shorter and Shavers are apparently special teams phenoms and should make the game day roster that way.  Unlike Taiwan Jones and Kumerow who were special team guys who offered nothing on offense, I think the Bills hope these guys can do both.  Throw Knox and Kincaid out there as well and the pass catchers are much bigger this year.

 

 

That would be cool if it happens. Doesn't Shavers run a 4.3? Size and speed. The optimist in me says "why not."

[SoCal Deek]

I don’t want to throw monkey wrench into this but why does it seem that the Bills are reacting rather than acting? They’ve been a great regular season team for quite a few seasons now. But now it’s time for the coaching staff to step up during the playoffs and outsmart their opponents. There is no silver bullet. It’s not size, speed, or strength. It’s about being a step ahead of your opponent with game day adjustments to what your opponent does to counter what you’re doing.

[bigK14094]

I was hhoping they could get the kid from Tennessee, but, that didn't work out.  Another tall fast guy with better production than our UDFA's

[SCBills]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

It's great to see we've gotten bigger.  And TampaBillsJunkie is right when he says that Beane is now going for sure-hands guys.   That's also good news.  

 

But did we get faster? 

 

We lost Lil Dirty who was, I believe, our fastest receiver last year.  But Sherfield and Harty are both about as fast.  And if we involve Hines in the passing game, he's faster yet.  Cook has good speed as well.  

 

I like our current receiving corps, but it would be nice to find someone as rapid as Smoke Brown.   I'd love to be able to put defenses in a quandary.  If their best CB is also their fastest, do they put him on Diggs or our fast guy?  Either way, they lose.  

 

It's an interesting group when viewed through the lens of "speed"

 

-Cook & Hines have top tier speed out of the backfield

 

-Knox & Kincaid have top tier speed at Tight End

 

-Harty is a burner with a sub-4.4 40 time

 

-Shakir, Sherfield & Diggs can win with speed, as all have run in the 4.4's

 

-Davis & Shorter have decent speed for their size/build and are both deep threats in terms of usage and production

 

This offense doesn't have Miami speed, but most teams don't.. what they do have is a pretty solid blend of size and speed .. and at every position on the field. 

 

Singletary brought down our team speed on offense quite a bit.  Beasley certainly didn't scare anyone in terms of speed.  McKenzie has speed, but it's negated a bit by his inability to be a vertical threat.  Even on the fringes of the roster... Sherfield and Shorter bring speed to the WR room over a guy like Kumerow or Crowder. 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by SCBills

[The Wiz]

2 hours ago, HOUSE said:

Cole Beasley will be back with a brand new Twitter account. 

 

don't forget the rap album also.

[ticketssince61]

12 hours ago, I'm Spartacus said:

I wonder who the tallest NFL player there ever was. Ernie "the cat" Ladd? He was 6'9", 270 lbs.

 

https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/tallest-nfl-player/

 

"the Cincinnati Bengals selected 7'0" Richard Sligh in an expansion draft. Sligh, who played for the Raiders in 1967, was the tallest player in NFL history."

 

12 hours ago, I'm Spartacus said:

I wonder who the tallest NFL player there ever was. Ernie "the cat" Ladd? He was 6'9", 270 lbs.

 

https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/tallest-nfl-player/

 

"the Cincinnati Bengals selected 7'0" Richard Sligh in an expansion draft. Sligh, who played for the Raiders in 1967, was the tallest player in NFL history."

 

[BillsShredder83]

23 hours ago, DCofNC said:

It’s about time they realize the finesse guys win regular season games, but when the going gets tough, the bully’s win.  Rex was a bumbling fool, but he at least had the right concept.  I’m really happy to see the direction they are heading.  I wish Beane had the balls to fire McD and bring in an aggressive coach too, but one step at a time.

A guy that physically imposing that can’t beat up on lower level competition, stands little chance of ever seeing a snap on O, he’s here for special teams.

That dude needs to live inside the 20 at practice. Learn that area of the field, learn to highpoint. And also play ST's

 

I refuse to believe you cant weaponize a guy like that in the RZ, even if he can hardly get to the field outside of it. Get him competent enough to draw extra attention towards him and serve to free up other players. Even with average routes hes a mismatch for high throws. not even just high point catches, just a bigass long arm sticking up on a crosser. high throws period

[Chaos]

9 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

I don’t want to throw monkey wrench into this but why does it seem that the Bills are reacting rather than acting? They’ve been a great regular season team for quite a few seasons now. But now it’s time for the coaching staff to step up during the playoffs and outsmart their opponents. There is no silver bullet. It’s not size, speed, or strength. It’s about being a step ahead of your opponent with game day adjustments to what your opponent does to counter what you’re doing.

The only way a good coach can be expected to win it all, is to have the best QB, and the best roster in the NFL on both sides of the ball.  If you don't give the coach those tools, you can't judge his performance.

[Jon in Pasadena]

15 hours ago, I'm Spartacus said:

I wonder who the tallest NFL player there ever was. Ernie "the cat" Ladd? He was 6'9", 270 lbs.

I  seem to remember the Bills had a OT named Mike Rockwood in camp like 25 years ago or something. He was around 6'10" if I'm not mistaken.

 

His nickname was "Redwood" but I think he lost it because a real Redwood has more bend to it than Mike could manage.