I'm really starting to love this WR room. We quietly got better

[JerseyBills]

Lets just start with the top 5 WRs, Bills just dropped a video yesterday or the day before , so pretty much confirmed our top 5..

 

Last year                This year

Diggs                       Coleman

Davis                        Samuel

Shakir                       Shakir

Harty                         Hollins

Sherfield                   MVS

 

There's obviously a huge question mark with Coleman, as with any rookie WR but should be dynamic in this O. 

 

I'm huge on Shakir, I really think he's going to be a stud this year and eclipse 1k yards. 

 

Huge fan of Samuel,  he does it all, you can put this guy anywhere, including the backfield and he's explosive and makes plays and that was on a terrible O with terrible QB play. Skys the limit, loved the signing. 

 

Hollins is interesting but he's an elite run blocker , which Brady has shown,  we're running the ball, bottom line , and not a great year statistically last year but I could see him having his 22 season where he put up 57 rec 690 yards 4 TDs. This was Gabe his first 2 years and this is his replacement for much cheaper. Plus he's a certified leader..

 

MVS , yes the drops and statistically wasn't great in the regular season but you can argue he's the reason KC won the SB. In our game he had 62 yards, 17 more yards than Kincaid who was our top guy w 45 yards. Would've loved to have him in January last year. Made huge big , long catches. Meanwhile Diggs is dropping wide open TDs which win us that game.. 

 

And at 6 , Claypool, Hamler, Shorter etc will fight it out 

 

Bottom line , this is a much deeper WR group. Harty/Sherfield were busts, they were awful. And with Gabe injured vs KC, it showed how weak our depth was. No offense,  but I never want to see Andy Isabella playing in a playoff game and that won't happen again with the depth added. Sherfield/Harty also had no business being out there. 

 

Obviously Coleman is a huge key to this group and puzzle but I see no reason he can't be the guy we expect him to be. Plus Kincaid year 2. Cook year 3. Upgraded RB room

This is going to be a fun O to watch. Probably the best we've seen with Allen because of WR depth, elite RB/TE and Brady calling plays

 

*Not to crap on Diggs, I really admire his game and intensity, I have him as my profile picture but the fact that Beane ate 30+ mil and took a future 2, clearly they thought he was just to disruptive in the locker room, as a leader. The Cincy game leaving his teammates,  as a captain, speaks volumes.

McBeane has built this team on family and doing your 1/11th on o and d and Diggs just didn't fit that culture. Good luck but good riddance 

 

Edited June 23 by JerseyBills

[tomur67]

I totally agree.  I want this WR group to surprise and disappoint all those naysayers.

[wppete]

I agree. I think its an overall better WR room. 

[Dave_Bills]

Good post. There’s potential there for sure but personally they’ve got to show me first

[Thurman#1]

Deeper, yes, I think that's completely legit.

 

Better? Without Diggs? No, absolutely not, unless somebody like Coleman or Claypool takes a huge step up. But could they be a functional efficient group that can move the ball and give defenses a lot of trouble? Yeah, I think so, particularly with Josh throwing to them and a run game that threatens.

[NewEra]

the WR group is deeper- definitely 

the WR group is better-  I don’t see it.  Maybe come December or 2025.  

 

 

With the improvement of Kincaid, a healthy Knox (maybe), improved cook and addition of Davis, I think we have more legit playmakers than we did last season.  
 

I just don’t see the WR room as “better” at the moment……and I’m not a naysayer.  I’m on board with what we did this offseason.  Deeper-  💯 

 

 

[JESSEFEFFER]

12 minutes ago, wppete said:

I agree. I think its an overall better WR room. 

Among the players that don't make the cut to 53, the Bills should have some decent practice squad options and it matters because they pull WRs off the practice squad every year.  It's as if Beane made a mental note that signing Beasley and Brown back to the roster were desperation moves of a kind that reflected poorly on his roster planning.   Many of his moves this off-season seem geared toward preparing good players to stash there too. 

[OldTimer1960]

I admit that I didn’t like Coleman as their WR choice in the draft, but I’ll root for him to succeed.  I would not expect very much from him yet - he is young and needs to learn to run better routes to get open.  Hopefully, he can do that well enough to be a big contributor in 25.

[PBF81]

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

I'm huge on Shakir, I really think he's going to be a stud this year and eclipse 1k yards. 

 

That's going to depend upon Brady's offense.  I can envision Shakir being a top-10 WR though depending upon the scheming.  A good OC uninhibited by his HC should be able to get that out of him.  

 

 

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

Huge fan of Samuel,  he does it all, you can put this guy anywhere, including the backfield and he's explosive and makes plays and that was on a terrible O with terrible QB play. Skys the limit, loved the signing.  

 

Samuel had 92 & 91 targets the past two years.  Not sure why that changes much, particularly in a run first offense.  His YPR likely won't be much more than his career 10.7-ish.  

 

Brady's approach with McD breathing down his neck is troubling.  If Allen's completion % and rating under Brady don't improve from the 60.7% and 85.5 that it was, it will be problematic regardless of who's playing WR.  

 

 

Edited June 23 by PBF81

[MJS]

46 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

Deeper, yes, I think that's completely legit.

 

Better? Without Diggs? No, absolutely not, unless somebody like Coleman or Claypool takes a huge step up. But could they be a functional efficient group that can move the ball and give defenses a lot of trouble? Yeah, I think so, particularly with Josh throwing to them and a run game that threatens.

Better without the version of Diggs we saw the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs...

[Gugny]

We didn’t have a true WR1 last year. 
 

We will have even less of a WR1 this season. 
 

We might have gotten better.  We might have gotten worse. 
 

Since we replaced Diggs with a rookie, there’s no way to know right now. 
 

Beane’s comments re: Coleman certainly don’t make me feel great. 

[PBF81]

18 minutes ago, MJS said:

Better without the version of Diggs we saw the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs...

 

What we're going to find out this season is that "the 2nd half version of Diggs" was entirely due to Brady's use of him, not because of Diggs himself. 

 

Just as these progressive revelations have revealed, there's more to the Diggs drama than is now out publicly.  

 

Just remember, last year at this time, any notion of any Diggs drama was a "nothing burger," which clearly wasn't true.  

 

Allen's completion % and rating under Brady didn't plummet into the realm of the bottom-dwelling because of Diggs.  

 

Season long under Brady if it held for a full season, Allen would have finished ranked 30th & 23rd respectively, and ahead of absolutely no one significant.  

 

If that doesn't change, drastically, them were in trouble this season.  

 

 

14 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Beane’s comments re: Coleman certainly don’t make me feel great. 

 

When the last time a 21-year old WR did anything in the NFL?

 

IDK, I'm sincerely asking, but it's tough to envision that it happened to any significant extent. 

 

... Just looked.  Jefferson, Keenan Allen, Chase, Moss, Cooper and Evans.

 

Coleman's not even close to being in their company.  

 

 

Edited June 23 by PBF81

[hondo in seattle]

One of my worst takes ever on TBD...  I thought Harty and Sherfield - especially Sherfield - were good additions.  In my defense, I'm guessing Beane thought so, too.  Now it seems whoever you want to chart as Harty's and Shefield's replacements are going to be upgrades because both were huge disappointments.  

 

Shakir is an upgrade over Shakir because he's getting better.

Samuel is an upgrade over Davis because he's faster, more versatile, and has better hands.

 

So 4 of our top  5 wideouts are upgrades.  That leaves Coleman versus Diggs, and that's highly unlikely to be an upgrade.  Hopefully, Coleman finds a role with the Bills where the downgrade isn't extreme - and then the 5 versus 5 comparison is an upgrade overall.  If Coleman struggles but Claypool plays up to his potential, we could be okay.  

 

It helps that our TEs could be better this year.  Kincaid seemed to improve as the season progressed and he learned the offense and how to succeed in the pros.  And Knox, with a little luck, will be healthy this year.  

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

I was pissed on draft night and let down that we didn’t make a trade for one of the SF guys…but the longer I sit with it, the more I’m ok. I think we might be really deep at WR. As long as these guys can create separation and can’t just get completely smothered from a lack of explosiveness I think we will be ok.
 

I wanted us to transition more to a balanced, physical point of attack team for 3 years. I have wanted the 15’ panthers offense from day 1. My favorite offense may have been our 2019 Texans loss offense. As inconceivable as that sounds. I want balance. I like the move towards a more consistent, less top heavy look. I just hope a good corner tandem can’t completely neutralize us. And all along I have expected Samuel to be the actual number 1 option at WR. I have envisioned him as the (early) Jon Brown and maybe Shakir/Kinkaid as the Beasley. Sort of a hybrid of 19/20/late23 offense with better RBs.

[hondo in seattle]

29 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

That's going to depend upon Brady's offense.  I can envision Shakir being a top-10 WR though depending upon the scheming.  A good OC uninhibited by his HC should be able to get that out of him.  

 

 

 

Samuel had 92 & 91 targets the past two years.  Not sure why that changes much, particularly in a run first offense.  His YPR likely won't be much more than his career 10.7-ish.  

 

Brady's approach with McD breathing down his neck is troubling.  If Allen's completion % and rating under Brady don't improve from the 60.7% and 85.5 that it was, it will be problematic regardless of who's playing WR.  

 

 

 

I've never heard Brady say anything to the effect that McD is breathing down his neck.  So I'm not sure what your source is for this.  

 

I agree, though, that Brady needs to get better.  I assume he was involved in some of the offseason WR moves and told McD and Beane what kind of receivers he wanted for his offense to work.

 

Allen has said that Brady is installing new concepts and it's like learning a new offense.  In other words, it doesn't sound like we'll see the same aerial attack this season that we saw at the end of last year.  There will be new players running new plays.  Without knowing more, it's hard to guess  how it'll all work out.  

[BillsDad51]

I'm hopeful about new additions too. But I was hopeful about Sherfield and Harty at this time last year. Here's to a better result this season.

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

the WR group is deeper- definitely 

the WR group is better-  I don’t see it.  Maybe come December or 2025.  

 

 

With the improvement of Kincaid, a healthy Knox (maybe), improved cook and addition of Davis, I think we have more legit playmakers than we did last season.  

 

I just don’t see the WR room as “better” at the moment……and I’m not a naysayer.  I’m on board with what we did this offseason.  Deeper-  💯 

 

 

 

I think the appropriate label is the weapons as a whole for Josh are better.  Kincaid is going into year 2, Knox is a good TE, and Cook and Davis should be better than Cook and Murray last year.  

 

But if we isolate the WR room, whether its better or worse depends on how you view a group.  Do you prefer to be top heavy or do you prefer to be more well rounded and deeper?  Either way, it is still just a guess because we have no real information on this current group to truly weigh it against last year as only Shakir has caught a pass from Allen and we don't know what the new pieces will do yet.  

 

Personally, in this offense, I do think this WR group is likely "better" in terms of fit for both Brady's offense and Josh Allens game.  I do believe in addition by subtraction and I think we will see that with Diggs and Davis gone and instead the offense built around having a diverse group that can uniquely attack all areas of the field.  

[CookieG]

idk.  I'm definitely in wait and see mode.

 

It just seems to me that nearly every guy they have now thrives more in the short/intermediate area of the field, often in the middle of the field.

 

Shakir- well maybe there is hope, I liked what I heard a few months ago, him working with Moulds.  But it was what they were working on, explosiveness 20 yards down the field.  That extra gear, the ability to create separation deep.  Ive always liked what he does, but he might be expected to get open deep more often;

Samuel- despite his speed, has never shown to be a deep threat. Again, good at what he does, but not a deep threat;

Coleman- Another Anquan Boldin, or another N'Keel (sp) Harry?  I'm not big on guys that don't get much separation.  One of the many times I'm hoping I'm wrong';

AVS- a deep threat, sometimes, but that's all he does;

Claypool- If he has gotten his head out of his butt, he could be. But he's also on his 4th team;

Hamler- speed to burn, if he's healthy.  He also seems to be more of an underneath guy with YAC potential.

 

When I talk about a guy getting open deep, I don't mean chucking it deep on every play.  If a guy can run a deep route and is good enough to draw double coverage, he can pull a safety with him and open another area of the field.   

 

Instead, with the emphasis on guys we have and the area of the field where they are best, as well as the emphasis on the run game, I see them playing in a 10-15 yard box from the LOS.  That might sound good, but its also easier to defend. Maybe Brady has a nice plan for PA passes.

 

Again, idk.  there were guys available, BT Jr, Legette, or AD Mitchell, who could both go up for the contested catch AND get open downfield.  I'll wait and see.

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, Dave_Bills said:

Good post. There’s potential there for sure but personally they’ve got to show me first

 

"They've got to show me first" - exactly.

 

Does the WR have the potential to be good?  Sure.

 

Can we say at this point that they're better?  Hell to the noes - any more than we could say, before the season, that the Bills got better at MLB.

 

Obviously Beane saw the potential with Bernard, but he had to prove he could do it on Sunday.  Same with the crew of WR we have at this point.

 

[klos63]

If the Dolphins or the Jets had this group of WR, we'd laugh at them.