Ray Davis - What am I missing?

[boyst]

He reminds me of Zach Moss who we couldn't use for beans. Until we utilize him in all schemes, including passing, we will waste him. He's a running back and we need to expect him to drop more than a few. 

[BrooklynBills]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

The issue is how they are using him and Cook.  They keep pulling Cook to run a handoff or two to Davis when there is no reason to pull Cook out.

 

RB’s need rhythm, and expecting a rookie to come in cold and succeed on the next carry and pull him back out isn’t an approach that is going to win a lot.

 

2nd issue is he also got carries when we were obviously running in blow out wins to chew clock in 2 games.  So that’s gonna also hurt his YPC.  
 

I am still very high on him, but they need to let Cook get in rhythm and bring Davis in when Cook needs a rest and let Davis run some consecutive snaps to also get into a flow.  I hate how they are rotating them now.  

 

I'm not comparing these players right now but if you can recall the 2017 - 2018 NO Saints when they had both Ingram and Kamara (which I think is somewhat of the high level of what they want this running game to be), they would often switch up the backs mid series. This is just my guess but I would think that alot of that is going towards establishing tendencies and getting a fresh guy on the field. BTW, those were Joe Brady's 2 seasons in NO.

 

Ray Davis is equally adept at pass-pro and catching out of the backfield so I think it is just a matter of time before we see some of these 2nd and shorts going PA or passes IMO.

 

But I agree that putting Davis in there mid series is doing him a disservice right now. A more experienced RB could handle that role probably. I actually like the way Davis has run some when he has gotten consecutive touches.

[Bruffalo]

Everyone knows when Ray Davis comes in on 2nd down they're gonna run it. I don't understand why we can't let Cook just run more than one time consecutively.

 

Pulling our most explosive offensive weapon besides Allen just seems like bad game theory. 

[zow2]

I thought he'd be better.  But it's still very early.  I thought he'd be a power running guy that just hits the open gap and gets what he can get.  Not dancer.

[Xwnyer]

35 minutes ago, Sweats said:

 

 

 

 

 

Like motions or play action?.........none of which happened last night.

Looked very different than frat three games with lots of motion and play action.  Terrible game plan and than calling the “play” when your team had some momentum killed it all for a gadget play.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Every time he's in I get Zach Moss vibes. Not sure if they are using him to his strengths z but I have been very underwhelmed so far from what we've seen.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

McD and his stupid rotations.  Does Cook look like he is being overused or need to come out??? No. 

The most maddening thing is when the offenses starts a new drive and they have a backup in there. Why? 

Cook should only come out when he wants to. 

[Matt_In_NH]

He has not been impressive.......yet

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 hour ago, MiracleAtRich1393 said:

 

Wondering if this is part of a long game to put vanilla tendencies on tape earlier in the season to hit teams with counters down the stretch when it really matters. At least I'm hoping so lol

Appreciate your enthusiasm but that is a real , real stretch.

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, BrooklynBills said:

 

I'm not comparing these players right now but if you can recall the 2017 - 2018 NO Saints when they had both Ingram and Kamara (which I think is somewhat of the high level of what they want this running game to be), they would often switch up the backs mid series. This is just my guess but I would think that alot of that is going towards establishing tendencies and getting a fresh guy on the field. BTW, those were Joe Brady's 2 seasons in NO.

 

Ray Davis is equally adept at pass-pro and catching out of the backfield so I think it is just a matter of time before we see some of these 2nd and shorts going PA or passes IMO.

 

But I agree that putting Davis in there mid series is doing him a disservice right now. A more experienced RB could handle that role probably. I actually like the way Davis has run some when he has gotten consecutive touches.

 

Yeah I agree with this, just with Davis they are giving him one carry on a predictable run call.  They need to leave him in a series and maybe even put both him and Cook back there together like Saints used to do.  Right now when they put Davis in it has been pretty predictable what the next play is going to be.  I want to see them run the offense the same whether Cook or Davis was back there to keep the defense guessing

[GunnerBill]

What we are missing so far is some plays.

[BrooklynBills]

18 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Yeah I agree with this, just with Davis they are giving him one carry on a predictable run call.  They need to leave him in a series and maybe even put both him and Cook back there together like Saints used to do.  Right now when they put Davis in it has been pretty predictable what the next play is going to be.  I want to see them run the offense the same whether Cook or Davis was back there to keep the defense guessing

 

I think they can work toward that dual RB thing but I think I would like to see Ty Johnson get those mid series changeup carries and just give Davis his own series or two per game right now to get him going. He's had some nice runs but also some runs where you can kind of tell he's trying to figure things out.

 

I do understand the philosophy of switching the RB mid series. If Cook hits and 8 yard run on 1st down, I don't hate the idea of hitting the defense right again with a more downhill RB. I know its heresy but explosive plays are allowed to come out of the running game too. Every 2nd and short doesn't have to be a PA or shot play.

[T master]

2 hours ago, FireChans said:

Full disclosure - I didn't like the Ray Davis pick. However, he's a Bill now so that means I am going to root that he is the second coming of Thurman Thomas.

 

I saw a lot of love for the kid in preseason. Even some rumbling that if he could push Cook for the #1 job.

 

Now at the quarter mark of the season, I'm wondering what is going on.

 

Ray Davis' stats. 26 for 75 and 1 TD. Y/A is 2.9. 3 catches for 14 yards.

 

To my eye, it feels like whenever he is in the game, the defense is keying into the run. They are usually right, and it's almost always 2nd and medium that ends with 3rd and medium.

 

So how do the Bills get Davis going?

 

 

Not to mention that last season Ty Johnson was a stud and they aren't using him nearly as much i thought he would be the number 2 RB & Davis 3 . Last night Johnson scored & you didn't see his numbered called much through out the game which left me scratching my head & asking WHY ???

[colin]

he's at risk of being another zach moss bust for us (guy has had better play in indy tho).  i hope he works out.

 

agreed w the above that says he and our other backs need to cook (lol, pun) more.  they need burn and they need rhythm.

 

brady has some real tendency problems -- it did look like cook on first down was making money tho.  lots of 2nd and short in the game. 

[Reks Ryan]

I didn't really understand the pre-season enthusiasm. He looks terrible to me.   Although there are some good points in this thread about how the timing and tendencies of Davis usage are not doing him any favors.   Maybe he will improve if he gets a chance to develop some rhythm.   I'd prefer to give his snaps to Johnson, except for blow-outs.

 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

He looked good in Camp and Preseason

[somnus00]

Given the skyrocketing cost of WRs. I think we're going to start seeing more of RBs being drafted and used in the downfield passing attack. Not just screens. Davis was a good receiving threat in college. Just like Cook was.

 

Having said that, this was only his 4th game as a pro...and a backup at that. He needs time for the game to slow down.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

4 hours ago, KentuckyBillsFan said:

Kentucky football fan. Loved Ray Davis at Kentucky but he was athletically limited and I was always skeptical about how he would translate to the NFL. He's a dime a dozen back at this level. I'm sure McBeane fell in love with his story (which is inspiring no doubt) and overlooked his clear limitations. It is what it is.

Seems like something Mcbeane does often. 

[Scott7975]

I'm not all that impressed with him and I wasn't before this game either. It also doesn't help that the Bills are pretty predictable in their playcalling.  They almost never take a shot on 2nd down for instance.  Last week was a little different but this is 3 weeks out of 4 that they have been like this.

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

2 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

McD and his stupid rotations.  Does Cook look like he is being overused or need to come out??? No. 

The most maddening thing is when the offenses starts a new drive and they have a backup in there. Why? 

Cook should only come out when he wants to. 

Cook should stay in more.

 

This offense is very stale and predictable when Cook comes out.  He's a major weapon