K J Hamler the new speed threat?

[bearstobills]

10 minutes ago, NeverOutNick said:

You could be right brother on Hamler, who knows. But my eyes tell me McD has a big say. He stands next to Beane intimately whenever a selection is made. Either they’re just that close of friends or he’s micromanaging everything since he did get Beane the job 🙄 (I may still be salty that we passed on Franklin and Walker for another rotational DT 😆)

Body language is key when dealing with people and when the cameras scan over to Brad Holmes, he’s clearly making the calls and Dan Campbell is off in the distance high fiving people. 

This is such a great topic.  It deserves its own thread.  First and foremost, I'd still be dancing if we took Walker.  That being said, the Carter pick makes so much sense.  Every year it's the same song and dance about how we have no long term D Line guys signed past this year.  This pick takes care of a huge yearly concern.

 

Yes, McD hovers over him like a nagging step mom.  And yes, Beane owes his job to McD.  Yet, if one of them get canned, it aint gonna be Beane.  If the Bills flame out this year, I could see McD being shown the door out, and Belichick being shown in.  I also don't think McD is short-sighted enough to believe offense doesn't matter.  They met with and worked out both Walker and Franklin so many times they could probably tell you what each got for Christmas last year.  If they reached the conclusion that adding a possession guy like Keon and a vertical threat like Walker was the key to unlocking everything, I gotta believe McD would have been on board with that over a rotational D lineman.  They, and the rest of the NFL, passed on both of those guys over 3 times.  It just may be they aren't difference makers on the NFL level.  And my hope, bringing this full circle, is KJ is secretly running 4.33 over in the field house.

 

Finally, the Bills drafted Vosean Joseph LB out of Florida years ago.  In the embedded video, Beane turns to McD and says "You'll like him."  McD had his usual intense but slightly clueless look on his face.  Don't me wrong.  He's a huge part of the process and of course has a respected opinion.  But he can't run a draft.  He wouldn't have identified or picked Kincaid.  But he can watch tape, pinpoint a safety he likes, and push hard for what he wants (as can Joe Brady and the rest of the staff).  It was Eric Washington who was ultimately pounding the table for Rousseau.  Lastly, Beane's "F**K Yea" reaction to Bishop being available was the reaction of a GM getting HIS man.

[Augie]

I’m sure nobody has mentioned Rich Eisen, but I think he’s out there. Questions about his hands have to be answered. 

[Beck Water]

13 hours ago, Commish said:

Keon Coleman shouted him out specifically as someone he looked forward to playing with. Isn't it probably/likely that the Bills had Hamler more highly-rated than any of the "speed" receivers available in the later rounds of the draft?

 

I think it's probable that Beane/the Bills value Shorter, Shavers, Thompson, Isabella, and /or Hamler more highly than any of the receivers available from late Round 4 on.  

 

Thing is, Hamler has been "that guy" who makes ya wonder if Doug Whaley was right when he said the human body just isn't made to play football.  So I don't think the Bills are counting on him.

 

Or maybe I just hope the Bills aren't counting on him.

[harmonkillebrew]

Looked up Hamler's injury history. Man, this guy is the definition of injury-plagued.

Chronic hamstring strains - didn't even run at the combine or his pro day; two ACL tears on same knee; hip injury; and then was out all last year with a heart condition.

Poor guy.

Foolish if Beane is thinking anything other than a flyer

Even when healthy, he had problems with drops and isn't great at tracking the ball

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

11 hours ago, NeverOutNick said:

I wanted multiple WRs in this draft more than anyone. And I wanted explosive WRs like Franklin and Tez Walker (both could’ve had round 3) BUT I do have optimism in KJ Hamler. He’s a guy I liked coming out of Penn state. I know he had the health issues that Denver parted ways with him on but he’s only 24 with electric speed who will finally have a legit QB throwing him the ball. I’m hoping he’s the vertical threat we need since there really isn’t anyone else available to fill that roll

A friend of mine that works in the NFL (not the Bills) told me not to discount the impact that Hamler will have. He said that Hamler has the speed and deep ball tracking skills that will make him a real threat.  Hamler has never had a QB like Allen.  He also told me that other teams were interested in him before he chose the Bills.  I hope my friend is correct but I will remain skeptical until I see him in the preseason.

[NORWOODS FOOT]

1 hour ago, bearstobills said:

McD had his usual intense but slightly clueless look on his face.

Literally had me laughing out loud…

[NORWOODS FOOT]

15 minutes ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

A friend of mine that works in the NFL (not the Bills) told me not to discount the impact that Hamler will have. He said that Hamler has the speed and deep ball tracking skills that will make him a real threat.  Hamler has never had a QB like Allen.  He also told me that other teams were interested in him before he chose the Bills.  I hope my friend is correct but I will remain skeptical until I see him in the preseason.

I was griping about passing on X Worthy because of what he would bring to the offense. If Hamler can be the guy that strains the secondary then this bodes very well for this offense. But he’s just never been able to really do it yet. We shall see. Maybe Hamler will be the NFL Comeback player of the year… 🤞 😂 

[offyourocker]

Watching his highlights it seems he never had a good QB.  Looked very promising rookie year

[Dubie54]

2 hours ago, harmonkillebrew said:

Looked up Hamler's injury history. Man, this guy is the definition of injury-plagued.

Chronic hamstring strains - didn't even run at the combine or his pro day; two ACL tears on same knee; hip injury; and then was out all last year with a heart condition.

Poor guy.

Foolish if Beane is thinking anything other than a flyer

Even when healthy, he had problems with drops and isn't great at tracking the ball

Correct - the guy has been an injury machine. He may have some  skills but I doubt we’ll ever see them in a Bills uni.

[BuffaloBill]

22 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

Isabella and Hamler are similar in that they were smallish, fast, early day 2 draft prospects that failed on their original teams which have proven to have been rather poor situations.  There's a good chance that the Bills liked them in their draft years and are thus willing to give them a chance within their organizational walls and see what they might unlock.  There is such a thing as bad luck with injuries and poor environments where one's career begins.  Josh repeats his dad's "bloom where you are planted" mantra but there are some franchises that are asphalt parking lots surrounded by overfilled dumpsters. Little chance to make roots and bloom there. 

 

They are also decent candidates for one or two of the six veteran slots on the practice squad.  Remember the Bills 2022 season when they were running thin in their WR group heading into the playoffs and brought Beasley and Brown back late in the season?  I think Beane might be inclined to do more to prevent that from happening again.

 

 

What you say here is why I go Meh over the chiefs taking Worthy at 28.  He’s fast but will he be durable over an 17 game season?  I think the Bills have done a sneaky good job of building a WR room with multiple styles, sizes and talents. Everybody here wants the splash name.  However, the splash for the Bills this year is likely to be Kincaid. 

[RyanC883]

On 5/2/2024 at 7:36 AM, SoonerBillsFan said:

Yes, it is possible.  Shakir and Samuel are fast as well.

Our WR room is better than many fans think.  

 

our WR room does have a bunch of above-average guys, none elite.  This does pose an issue for other Ds because they have to cover a bunch of above average guys (and perhaps Kincaid, Coleman, or Shakir becomes elite), instead of 1 stud and a couple other JAGs.  

[NeverOutNick]

Woke up and saw this, just when I was trying to get over passing on Franklin and Walker 😭…Ravens are such a great drafting team year in and year out 

 

Tez Walker - because he’s an explosive deep threat our QB needs

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, NeverOutNick said:

Woke up and saw this, just when I was trying to get over passing on Franklin and Walker 😭…Ravens are such a great drafting team year in and year out 

 

Tez Walker - because he’s an explosive deep threat our QB needs

 

I wonder if Ravens fans are more or less upset than so many Bills fans. They have an actual MVP QB, and yet they have produced very little in the playoffs. Are they calling for heads to roll? Just curious. 

[NeverOutNick]

8 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I wonder if Ravens fans are more or less upset than so many Bills fans. They have an actual MVP QB, and yet they have produced very little in the playoffs. Are they calling for heads to roll? Just curious. 

It’s not for lack of trying with their FO and HC. They just don’t have the guy to win the SB at QB. 

[BADOLBILZ]

20 hours ago, Logic said:

I really WANT to like Hamler and be excited about him.

He was a 2nd round pick, and he posted 900 yards and 8 touchdowns as a freshman at Penn State. He's got great speed and quicks.

The issue is that he just CANNOT stay healthy. He's about as snake-bitten health wise as any player I've ever seen in the NFL. I don't have the laundry list of injuries here in front of me, but it's not pretty. There's a reason that the team that drafted him finally said "enough is enough". After a slightly promising rookie year, he played just 10 games across the next two years combined, during which he posted just 12 total receptions. Then last season it was discovered that he has pericarditis. So he has a chronic condition AND an injury history.

I'd love him to be past his injury woes as much as the next guy, but to expect him to suddenly break out and be any kind of consistently healthy and consistently productive receiving threat four years after he left college seems ill advised.

I'll consider him to be in the same boat as Andy Isabella until further notice: A fast guy to compete in training camp, but the odds of him making the 53-man roster and producing seem very low.



 

Wishful thinking and "potential" only, as far as I can see.

As BADOL pointed out recently (God, what has my Bills fandom come to when I'm quoting BADOL?!), we don't have a receiver on our roster who has ever posted a 1,000 yard receiving season.

People feel like Samuel has the potential to do it, but even in his best season under our current OC, he didn't crack 875. 
People feel like Coleman has the potential to do it, but he's a 20 year old rookie.
People feel like Shakir will take a big step forward and year three and may be able to do it, but he has yet to prove that he actually can.

If everyone's most optimistic outlook for our WR corps comes to pass, then the "underrated WRs" take will be true. But how often does the entirety of the most optimistic outlook come to fruition?

Hope is not a strategy, unless you're the 2024 Buffalo Bills offense, apparently.

 

 

See......like I said.........I knew you were trending in the right direction.   The truth will set you free. 

 

The funny thing about that last period where the Bills started a season with nobody in the WR corps who had proven at any point that they could produce 900-1,000 yards in the NFL is that at that time they had a player in Chris Burkett who had lead the entire NFL in yards per reception with a ridiculous 22.99 and had put up over 700 yards in the process in JK's first Bills season in 1986.    It was presumed Burkett was going to just become a force.   Strong parallel to the Shakir situation.   Burkett's game didn't scale up to more usage/attention.   It happens a lot.   The Bills passing offense took a step back and didn't really take off until 3 years later.  

 

The game was very different then.    It's different than it was 5 years ago in that WR corps around the league are MUCH deeper.   The Diggs/Beasley/Brown/Davis 2020 room that was for sure top 3 in the league wouldn't rank anywhere near that high now.    Teams are trying to stack 3 WR1's if they can.  

[cale]

The guy is fast. But for someone so fast, he gets no separation. It's the darnest thing. He is not a homerun threat. Shakir is the guy. I believe Shakir will have an All Pro season. But not sure the rest of the WR room is going to scare anybody. Unless something happens post June 1.

Just now, cale said:

The guy is fast. But for someone so fast, he gets no separation. It's the darnest thing. He is not a homerun threat. Shakir is the guy. I believe Shakir will have an All Pro season. But not sure the rest of the WR room is going to scare anybody. Unless something happens post June 1.

strength and conditioning is going to have to work miracles with KJ.

[LABILLBACKER]

3 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

 

our WR room does have a bunch of above-average guys, none elite.  This does pose an issue for other Ds because they have to cover a bunch of above average guys (and perhaps Kincaid, Coleman, or Shakir becomes elite), instead of 1 stud and a couple other JAGs.  

There won't be one receiver that they can double.  Opposing D coordinators will have to adjust on the fly if Brady & Josh do a good job to spread the targets.

[BillsVet]

Khalil Shakir is becoming the Bills equivalent of Bill Brasky.  Every time the TBD'ers mention his name it's on some level of magnitude greater than the last time.

 

It's funny, but so TBD.  By the time camp rolls around I'm sure someone will project him as an All-Pro.  

 

"To Khalil Shakir!"  

[Warriorspikes51]

Hmmm well if he wakes up,  Claypool runs a 4.42 at 6'4  230 lbs .... 

[White Linen]

5 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

What you say here is why I go Meh over the chiefs taking Worthy at 28.  He’s fast but will he be durable over an 17 game season?  I think the Bills have done a sneaky good job of building a WR room with multiple styles, sizes and talents. Everybody here wants the splash name.  However, the splash for the Bills this year is likely to be Kincaid. 

 

Agree completely with this post.