Is there an NFL team with a weaker WR group than the Bills?

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Just now, Ralonzo said:

 

Demario Douglas is their slot, and they also have last year's TSW crush (one of many) Jalynn Polk as well. I don't know how many they're going to carry but resources have been expended that will not be helping that position in 2025 for the Pats.

 

 

Figure diggs is a lock.  Douglas probably too.  Hollins too.  Washington likely as well.  So thats like 1 maybe 2 spots - for Polk, Bourne, Boutte, Baker.

[H2o]

If you go back and look at the SB's New England won with Brady, it's either middle of the pack WR's or one good WR and a good TE. He never had a plethora or riches at the position until he got to Tampa. He won 6 rings prior to that and got a lot of mediocre guys paid. Peyton Manning, on the other hand, had good WR's (one HOF'er) while in Indy, a HOF RB in Edgerrin James, and Dallas Clark. He still only got one Lombardi in that time because the Pats, Steelers, and Ravens pretty much ran things in the AFC. 

[ndirish1978]

6 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

So, they drafted Elam in the first the year before. They wouldn’t even put him on the field to improve. Basham was a 2nd and the same. Carter was a 3rd and a healthy scratch. That’s my point. They are saying, we need to replace guys like that along with solid back of the roster players in Lewis and Ingram. On offense they are saying, “everyone should get better.” They’re banking on improvement there but replacement on defense.

 

To be clear, the defense was in worse shape than the offense. The majority of the assets should have been allocated to the defense. I’ve yet to see anyone dispute that. With that being said, 1 of those mid round picks should have been dedicated to securing a field stretcher. No one is suggesting the defense shouldn’t have been addressed. 

 

Understood. Elam was a big miss. It must have become pretty obvious to them that Elam just didn't have the tools or mental makeup to do well in their system. Defensive players generally have a shorter time to adapt to systems because as a rule they usually expect to get production earlier on that side of the ball, which makes sense.  

[Kirby Jackson]

2 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

 

Understood. Elam was a big miss. It must have become pretty obvious to them that Elam just didn't have the tools or mental makeup to do well in their system. Defensive players generally have a shorter time to adapt to systems because as a rule they usually expect to get production earlier on that side of the ball, which makes sense.  

There’s a level of hypocrisy that’s frustrating too. They traded a 3rd for 1/2 year of Cooper because they didn’t believe the room was good enough. They talked about how Coleman and Kincaid needed to get better. They talked about how they needed to stretch the field vertically. They used a significant portion of their top 30 visits on sub 4.4 guys that can get down field. They wouldn’t have wasted those visits as a “decoy.” They clearly wanted a guy there. Then when asked about it, they (Beane in this case) got all defensive and acted as if WR was never on the table. You’re not fooling anybody. Just say, “we had our eyes on a few guys to fill that role but it didn’t work out. We like Prather and think he had a chance to grow into that.” That’s much more respectable and believable than his interview yesterday.

 

I wouldn’t have been hard to satisfy in this draft. Had they added Thornton, for example, I would have been good. There were other guys in that range too. I didn’t need Golden to be satisfied just one of those guys in the middle rounds with that skill set. Hancock, Hawes and Porter are all decent value and football players. If they HAD to have Walker, so be it. I would have sacrificed 2 of those other 3 to secure 1 of those field stretchers. It’s so much more important IMO, than competition for Cam Lewis, Davidson/Gilliam and Ingram. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

12 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

 

Because they drafted Kincaid and Coleman with their first pick the last 2 years, they need to get better. We know who we have on defense and Defense has been awful when it counts in the playoffs. If you want to quickly improve a team overall that has a B+ offense, A+ QB  and a C- defense it's pretty clear you upgrade the defense to B or B+ and you're going to get dividends because they are dragging the team average down. 

 

From a coverage perspective - the weakest players were probably Douglas, Lewis, Elam, and Williams.  Of the 4 - two are off the roster, one is on the bubble, and the other projects to be a backup.  They brought in 3 rookies, and 2 former bills to improve the play at CB2 and depth for all three spots.  Williams moves into more of a part time role behind Milano who hopefully can stay healthy.  Interested to see if hoecht gets some snaps at LB in some sub packages - i'm not sure exactly what position he's going to play but i'd sacrifice LB depth.  

 

As for the defensive line - gone are Phillips, Jefferson, Miller, Jackson, smoot, and toohill.   and rousseau give you a really nice pair of run stoppers at end, which can allow you to use Bosa a bit less during the regular season.  Epenesa isn't great but I do think depth there is valuable.  They probably have 6 rosterable DTs in Oliver, Jones, Sanders, ogunjobi, carter, and walker.  I'd assume if there's an odd-man out it's probably soloman, but I don't know that he can't make the practice squad assuming everyone's healthy to begin the year.  23 DE's were drafted this year, factor that with how many were picked a year ago - the late round 2024 guys get forgotten fast.  

[Success]

So much rests on Coleman, imo.  I feel like Samuel will have a much better season if he's healthy and he & Palmer can be the good 3rd & 4th options we need. Shakir is ever-reliable.

 

I don't think Coleman will be elite, but he showed some flashes before he was hurt last year of having a decently high ceiling.  He needs to become that 6-8 catch per week guy. 

 

Here's hoping.

 

[Lothar]

4 minutes ago, Success said:

So much rests on Coleman, imo.  I feel like Samuel will have a much better season if he's healthy and he & Palmer can be the good 3rd & 4th options we need. Shakir is ever-reliable.

 

I don't think Coleman will be elite, but he showed some flashes before he was hurt last year of having a decently high ceiling.  He needs to become that 6-8 catch per week guy. 

 

Here's hoping.

 

6-8 catches a week? That would break franchise records. This kind of unrealistic approach will lead to constant disappointment.

[Gugny]

On 4/27/2025 at 3:50 AM, Pete said:

Who is our outside WRs?  Where are they?  Did Keon play so good that we can count on him to be WR2?  Is Palmer WR 1?  Can we count on Samuels to be healthy the entire season?  Who is our 5th WR?
 

Palmer 1

Keon 2

Shakir slot

Samuels 

 

Buffalo saw more man to man coverage last season, because no one respects our WR.  We have had FA and the draft to correct that, and Beane has done Jack *****.

 

its going to take another Ravens curb stomping to make Beane panic and make another Amari like trade.

 

It’s the emperors new clothes.  We have yet to replace John Brown.  This offense needs a vertical component which it is sorely lacking.

 

I know Bills had great offense- after we acquired Amari.

 

We lose Mack and Amari, and added Palmer.  

 

Name a worse WR group.

 

What happens if there is a WR injury?  Is WR Beanes Achilles heal?

 

 

The offense scored 65 TDs last season. 
 

Only one team (DET) scored more. 
 

[jahnyc]

Agree that this season for the WRs will be about whether Coleman develops.  I assume that Palmer will be one of the two boundary WRs, but I am not sure he can be counted on to be that given his role and prior production with the Chargers.  I have doubts that Coleman can be a #1 WR (or even a #2), but we will see.  Shakir is great and I expect Samuels to be more effective this year.  The question marks are the #1 and #2 WRs. 

[Kirby Jackson]

56 minutes ago, Success said:

So much rests on Coleman, imo.  I feel like Samuel will have a much better season if he's healthy and he & Palmer can be the good 3rd & 4th options we need. Shakir is ever-reliable.

 

I don't think Coleman will be elite, but he showed some flashes before he was hurt last year of having a decently high ceiling.  He needs to become that 6-8 catch per week guy. 

 

Here's hoping.

 

So as a 6-8 catch a week guy that puts him between 102 and 136 catches. If you go in the middle at 7 catches, that puts him at 119 on the season. Exactly 1 player had more than that last year. Hell, at 102, only 6 guys had more (4 WRs). 102 would be 1 reception behind Justin Jefferson and 1 ahead of Lamb and Wilson. If Coleman was a 4 catch a game guy we should be happy.

Edited 3 hours ago by Kirby Jackson

[Pete]

On 4/27/2025 at 6:41 AM, Simon said:

 

It's April

Well last May 3 we added Valdez-Scandling and May 15 we added Chase Claypool- so there is hope for fifth WR

[BullBuchanan]

16 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

While I don't disagree, we do need a 5th WR. Would you rather just have a competition between Shavers, Shenault, and Prather to decide that?

Yes. I would rather have cheaper younger players with upside at our depth positions than more expensive veterans who have proven they can't play.

[billsfan714]

One thing about the 5th WR that Sal mentioned is they'll have to play special teams.  Its why I think letting Hollins go was a mistake,he was a very good special teamer and a good blocker in the run game, beside his timely catches and tds.  I dont see that in any of the top 4 guys.   Shakir did some returning, but thats about it. Palmer played some special teams so maybe it is him. Can Shavers be that guy, maybe.

Edited 3 hours ago by billsfan714

[Simon]

20 minutes ago, Pete said:

Well last May 3 we added Valdez-Scandling and May 15 we added Chase Claypool- so there is hope for fifth WR

 

I have no doubt they will be adding more guys to that room before the season (and maybe even during). They might not be the kind of high-end athletes we all want, but they won't be complete stiffs either. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to (or surprised by) them giving Claypool one last shot. They seemed to really like what he was doing in camp last year and he should be fully recovered from the toe injury.

I'm also not yet fully convinced that Cooper is completely out of the picture. Initially I thought the Elijah Moore visit spelled the end of Amari's chances here, but now I'm wondering if it was nothing more than them trying to apply a little pressure to Cooper to shlt or get off the pot. It's an outside chance, but not totally out of the ballpark.

Hang in there, brother. They are not done yet. 🤙

[Pete]

Also, new kickoff rule, I thought speedy receivers would be in more demand.  Marino was guessing that the preferred returner might be a fast running back.  He explained it’s basically a running play, with how close the kicking team is 

Edited 2 hours ago by Pete

[Heitz]

This is just like last season, we're doomed before the season even starts!! 🤣  

[Cash]

22 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I have no doubt they will be adding more guys to that room before the season (and maybe even during). They might not be the kind of high-end athletes we all want, but they won't be complete stiffs either. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to (or surprised by) them giving Claypool one last shot. They seemed to really like what he was doing in camp last year and he should be fully recovered from the toe injury.

I'm also not yet fully convinced that Cooper is completely out of the picture. Initially I thought the Elijah Moore visit spelled the end of Amari's chances here, but now I'm wondering if it was nothing more than them trying to apply a little pressure to Cooper to shlt or get off the pot. It's an outside chance, but not totally out of the ballpark.

Hang in there, brother. They are not done yet. 🤙

 

My two cents:  I think it'll be very similar to last year - within the sever contstraints of available cap space and who's available, they'll do what they can to improve the team.  Maybe it's only 1 stab at a bargain-bin vet instead of 2 this year.  I'm guessing the list of guys they'll look at is something like Moore, Cooper, Claypool, Agholor, Chark, and MAYBE Deonte Harty if there's no bad blood from him being such a dud last time around.  Both years WR has kind of been the runt of the offseason litter.

 

6 minutes ago, Pete said:

Also, new kickoff rule, I thought speedy receivers would be in more demand.  Marino was guessing that the preferred returner might be a fast running back.  He explained it’s basically a running play, with how close the kicking team is 

 

I've seen that thought a few places.  It makes some sense, but I think it's important to note that it's like a goal line running play in the sense that there's basically 1 row of defenders then no one behind them.  So for my preference, I want someone at least fast enough to not get caught if he breaks through the line.  So I think I'd stil favor speedy guys who are good in the open field over convential halfbacks.

[Success]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

So as a 6-8 catch a week guy that puts him between 102 and 136 catches. If you go in the middle at 7 catches, that puts him at 119 on the season. Exactly 1 player had more than that last year. Hell, at 102, only 6 guys had more (4 WRs). 102 would be 1 reception behind Justin Jefferson and 1 ahead of Lamb and Wilson. If Coleman was a 4 catch a game guy we should be happy.

 

Alright, I went a little overboard.  I was thinking more "generally" - there are weeks were even the top receivers only get 2-3 catches, and there are often a few games missed.   

 

[without a drought]

Maybe for a change of pace we can see what teams have #1 receivers that would instantly be the #1 here. Then we can do #2 receivers that would be #1 here and if anyone's willing we could do #3 receivers. 

 

Should we stop there?

[ndirish1978]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

There’s a level of hypocrisy that’s frustrating too. They traded a 3rd for 1/2 year of Cooper because they didn’t believe the room was good enough. They talked about how Coleman and Kincaid needed to get better. They talked about how they needed to stretch the field vertically. They used a significant portion of their top 30 visits on sub 4.4 guys that can get down field. They wouldn’t have wasted those visits as a “decoy.” They clearly wanted a guy there. Then when asked about it, they (Beane in this case) got all defensive and acted as if WR was never on the table. You’re not fooling anybody. Just say, “we had our eyes on a few guys to fill that role but it didn’t work out. We like Prather and think he had a chance to grow into that.” That’s much more respectable and believable than his interview yesterday.

 

I wouldn’t have been hard to satisfy in this draft. Had they added Thornton, for example, I would have been good. There were other guys in that range too. I didn’t need Golden to be satisfied just one of those guys in the middle rounds with that skill set. Hancock, Hawes and Porter are all decent value and football players. If they HAD to have Walker, so be it. I would have sacrificed 2 of those other 3 to secure 1 of those field stretchers. It’s so much more important IMO, than competition for Cam Lewis, Davidson/Gilliam and Ingram. 

 

I understand that you wanted a WR. It's also possible that they brought in people they needed to meet with at a position of interest to check on their personalities and to test their processing speed. It's entirely plausible that several players didn't "pass" the meeting process and were simply not around to be picked at the value of pick they had been assigned. I don't really agree with the "he wanted a WR so it's a valid criticism to say they failed by not taking a WR." You can see the need for a field-stretching receiver but value the players available when you pick lower than another available position. Teslaa was projected to go in the 5-6th and went in the third in a trade up right before we picked. Not sure what you want Beane to do, throw away the value on his board to take a WR? The earliest spot I can see for them to have taken a specific-role WR over a position of extreme need would be 170 with Jordan Hancock. If you listen to Bean's interview on OBD he said the pick the scouts got the most excited about value was taking Hancock. They see him being a big nickel/safety and see a need to replace Cam and they thought that was more valuable that getting a WR 4-5 so that's a direct response to your opinion, they disagree. To give a specific response to a general complaint I see a lot of people making here I am copying this over from another post I made yesterday:
 

These are the WRs selected after we drafted Walker. Arian Smith 110, Jaylin Lane 128, Jalen Royals 133, Lambert-Smith 158, Tory Horton 166, LaJohnTay Wester 203, Jimmy Horn 208, Tommy Mellot 213, Tex Johnson 235, Ricky White 238, Kaden Prather to us at 240 and then 3 other jags. 

 

I liked Lane, Royals and Horton. Let's see if we could have gotten them assuming teams would have traded us a pick in that range

Jaylin Lane pick 128 -  20 pts, Jaylen Royals pick 133 - 18 pts, Tory Horton pick 166 - 9 pts

 

At this point in the draft we had added CB, DT, Edge, DT. To trade up for Lane or Royals we would have needed to give up these players:

173 Jackson Hawes, 177 Dorian Strong, 206 Chase Lundt

 

To trade for Tory Horton would have cost us 170 206 and 240. I would have been happy had they done that, but they didn't and if they wanted Horton they could have traded 3 picks to get him. It's also possible the teams at 160-165 didn't want to trade with us. I don't see "hypocrisy" in any of that. We traded a pick for a receiver cause we thought he could help, he didn't help all that much. We replaced him with a younger receiver they expect can actually contribute. Beane NEVER acted like WR was not on the table, he reacted to two morons complaining about a draft that fell heavy on D and acted like we ignored the most important position, if you listen to their whining right before he went on that is what was happening. That is what annoys me about the contingent of fans hand-wringing and acting like Beane did anything wrong, he did not. He didn't say we didn't need a WR, he said specifically in response to their claim that he devalues the position that we took value in the draft and we scored 30 pts in each of the last 8 games. We didn't lose in the playoffs because we didn't have a vertical threat, we lost because the Defense was garbage.