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James Lofton 1989 and Amari Cooper 2024


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Two different eras but similar great players.  Both solid veterans when they came to the Bills with wonderful, calm personalities and physical speed.  James got the Bills over the hump to the Super Bowl.  Can Amari do the same for this group of Bills?  That would be interesting!

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1 minute ago, Bill51390 said:

Not really comparable. Bills had Lofton and Reed both Hall of Fame receivers then. None of our current receivers are gonna be Hall of Famers.  

Every move the Bills make now has to have a parallel 90's team move though, make it fit!!   And bring back all those hall of famers to be the position coaches already!

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1 hour ago, Bill51390 said:

Not really comparable. Bills had Lofton and Reed both Hall of Fame receivers then. None of our current receivers are gonna be Hall of Famers.  


Same could have been said  about Reed entering the 1989 season. Entering his 5th year he didn’t have a HOF resume. He had one 900 yard season up to that point.
 

 

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1 hour ago, T master said:

After what Cooper has done for Coleman by taking some pressure away from him to allow him his first 100 yd game if Coleman continues on his upward trajectory he could be on his way to a HOF career only time will tell ...

 

It's tempting to mention that Cooper wasn't on the field during any of Coleman's catches last week.

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3 hours ago, Bill51390 said:

Not really comparable. Bills had Lofton and Reed both Hall of Fame receivers then. None of our current receivers are gonna be Hall of Famers.  

 

3 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

Every move the Bills make now has to have a parallel 90's team move though, make it fit!!   And bring back all those hall of famers to be the position coaches already!

 

1 hour ago, US Egg said:

Point is moot being there is no Lofton/Reed like combo presently, nor a Thurman.

 

I'll defend the OP.

 

Yes, some of us old heads like to draw parallels to the 90s teams at times. And many times, I'm sure, it is more wishful thinking rather than a solid comparison. But, I think the OP's comparison is a pretty fair one. Doesn't predict we'll see the same results, but it's definitely not an out-of-the-blue analogy.

 

1989

Jim Kelly: If you include his USFL years, Jim was in his 7th year and established as a very good QB in the league.

James Lofton: Arrived to Buffalo in his 11th season with approx. 10,000 receiving yards under his belt.

Thurman Thomas: Thurm was in his 2nd year, with approx. 1,100 yards from scrimmage the previous (rookie) year.

Andre Reed: Reed was in his 5th year with 3,096 receiving yards in his basket. (avg. of 774 per season, not quite the HOFer yet).

Kenny Davis: Played three seasons already, but in his first season with Buffalo, nice compliment back to Thurman. [Threw this one in for HansLanda 😉.]

 

[Other weapons: TE Pete Metzellars, TE Keith McKeller, WR Don Beebe, WR Chris Burkett.]

 

2024

Josh Allen: In his 7th year and already established as one of the best QBs in the league.

Amari Cooper: Comes to the Bills in his 10th year with close to 10,000 yards in his career.

James Cook: Cook is in his 3rd year having just had approx. 1,500 yards from scrimmage the previous season.

Khalil Shakir: Khalil is in his 3rd year with 1,086 receiving yards, with his snap count and production up significantly from his first two years.

Ray Davis: Rookie year, so first year with the Bills, nice compliment to Cook.

 

[Other weapons: TE Dalton Kincaid, TE Dawson Knox, WR Keon Coleman, WR Mack Hollins, WR Curtis Samuel.]

 

 

It's not an outlandish comparison by any means...again, not predictive, but pretty similar in fact, with the 2024 team having a clear advantage in the "other weapons" department, and probably at the QB position also (Sorry Jim...I love you). Now whether Cooper, Cook, Shakir, and Coleman can match what Thurman, Reed, and Lofton did remains to be seen (and are lofty goals no doubt...no pun intended). But again, pretty fair comparison overall.

 

Obviously, the other big question would be the offensive line. We have a very good line currently, but that 90s line was pretty special. If you compare the 1990 line (since Devlin retired after the '89 season) with this year's, at least the experience level is at about the same as it was when Lofton arrived.

 

                   1990                              2024

LT     Wolford 4th year          Dion Dawkins 8th year

LG    Ritcher 10th year           Edwards 6th year

C      Hull 4th year                 McGovern 5th year

RG    Davis 3rd year             Torrence 2nd year

RT    Ballard 2nd year           Brown 4th year

                     23 years                       25 years

 

 

 

Edited by folz
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Why can’t Cook, Kincaid, Coleman, Cooper and Shakir build HOF resumes?  Cooper adds another couple 1000 yards seasons he could easily be in the conversation.  The others are still NFL kids.  Coleman is just a rookie.  Shakir is proving himself to be one of the best possession and YAC receivers in the NFL.   
 

It’s way pre-mature to put a ceiling on any if these guys careers.

Edited by GASabresIUFan
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