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

[Mikie2times]

6 hours ago, ProcessTruster said:

Bills play against zone a great deal, limiting the deep ball. 

So not sure a speed guy adds a lot.    

Once the league saw Josh take off and gash them against man (2019,2020) , they went zone.   

Not sure that will change much. 

Zone limits the value of a speed guy.  

Bills seem to have decided they need to play more man to enable rush to get there with only above average talent

In order to play man, you need guys like Max and Benford who can track every route on their own

Bills are tight on the cap , therefore need lots of top 150 draft picks to fill in when the D Jones of the world head out at year end

Therefore you don't trade up for a speed guy WR (bc they won't add much), you go get fast man-to-man corners and big D line rush guys

 

This really isn't that hard to understand.   

 

Defenses have gotten smaller over time to defend the pass .... and teams on now running on them.   Bills are no different.  

 

We all loved the go-go 2020 offense, but the league has largely took that away with cover 2 zone, so the fan base needs to let it go and move on.   In fact, defenses are now switching again to playing man against the Bills, so a seperator like Palmer is a great add.   

 

I am not disturbed much by the OP. 

 

 

 

 

What happens when you run the ball effectively? Does the defense come up? How do you prevent the defense from coming up? 

[NeverOutNick]

1 minute ago, Bigstu said:

Let's hold the horses on Keon, he was a rookie and suffered an injury - expect big things

 

Shakir is an excellent receiver with big things to come, great connection with Josh

 

Watch the tape on Palmer, his separation skills are excellent, will be even better with Josh

 

Plus, all our RBs are good receivers, this offense is designed not to have to rely on one superstar player

 

 

Valid points but does this mean we should avoid drafting potential star WR talent?

[FireChans]

5 hours ago, LEBills said:

Exactly. Josh and the offense are subsidizing the defense.

Since Josh was drafted, in the first 3 rounds we have drafted 4 DTs, 4 DEs, 3 LBs and 2 CBs (both firsts). In that same timeframe we have drafted 1 WR, 2 TEs and 3 RBs (two no longer with team and the other, second best player on offense is in a contract battle).

 

People say we don’t need better players bc the offense was already legendary last year. It took a Herculean, MVP effort from Josh to get there. And in the end when Josh needed a player to step up when he didn’t make a perfect defensive read, the game was lost. But because a defense that has had so many resources poured into it sucked, we have to do it again instead of making an honest effort to improve both sides of the ball.

 

I loved the first three rounds of the draft. But then not even trying to get Josh a weapon until the last pick in the draft is malpractice. There is no new talent in the pipeline so that if Keon or Kincaid don’t progress and if Palmer and Samuel are who they have always been, the team has nothing at least being developed behind the underwhelming cast. Which is exactly how we got to this spot when we never drafted anyone when Diggs was here.

I type this like this will get to Beane, it won’t. This is who the Bills are. I’m just frustrated as a fan because I want what is best for the Bills and feel like giving Josh good talent on the offense is what would be best bc I trust him more than our coaches to get the most out of players. 
 

Go Bills, pay James Cook.

This is the best post in the thread, 100% accurate and true.

 

This is also why this topic is so heated. Because it’s a referendum on Beane/McD and the entire org.

 

Even folks who love and agree with 100% with this entire offseason’s moves, love the direction, think this is our year, etc etc etc, will NOT be surprised when KC drops a 30 piece on our heads next playoffs. We will hear “the defensive draft class will need more time to develop, the backup safety was hurt, we will get it right next year”

[Since1981]

Offense scores avg 31 points 2024

—Josh makes all WR better (Hollins v KC)

—Josh can’t coverup for D (Miller/Elam v KC)

 

I’ve wanted a deep WR since Brown. 
But: D needed more guns right now. 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Since1981

[Success]

I look at the 2 top AFC teams while the Bills were going through the drought.

 

The Patriots rarely made big investments in WR's.  Moss was the exception, and they didn't win the SB with him. They did win the SB fairly often w/ not much more than what we have at WR, and sometimes less.

 

The Colts DID invest in WR's, often - 1st round picks, FA acquisitions.  They made 2 SB's and won 1.

 

When you have a QB as good as Allen, Brady, Manning, et al. - the best thing you can do is build the O-line into a top unit.  If that QB has time, he doesn't need superstar receivers.  Allen was MVP last year with arguably a worse WR corps than what we will have this season.

 

There is too much hand-wringing about WR.

 

[Mikie2times]

1 minute ago, Cray51 said:

My guess, the team had substantially better grades on who they picked than the WR on the board.

 

Thornton is all traits - I wonder if the Bills had a low grade on him and think he isn’t an impact player for a few years.

 

Horton I liked as a day 3 guy, but they took Hancock who I really liked and Lundt has legit starting guard potential.

 

they do lack in vertical threats, but I don’t think they were sold on anyone in this class

It would be easier to conclude they don't value the role then they didn't value any players that can fit the role this year. We have not drafted a vertical threat since Beane and McD got here.  

3 minutes ago, Success said:

I look at the 2 top AFC teams while the Bills were going through the drought.

 

The Patriots rarely made big investments in WR's.  Moss was the exception, and they didn't win the SB with him. They did win the SB fairly often w/ not much more than what we have at WR, and sometimes less.

 

The Colts DID invest in WR's, often - 1st round picks, FA acquisitions.  They made 2 SB's and won 1.

 

When you have a QB as good as Allen, Brady, Manning, et al. - the best thing you can do is build the O-line into a top unit.  If that QB has time, he doesn't need superstar receivers.  Allen was MVP last year with arguably a worse WR corps than what we will have this season.

 

There is too much hand-wringing about WR.

 

I think that was more a result of a horrible playoff system known as the Tampa 2, which we also have the pleasure of running. Joy. 

[chris heff]

8 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Not really sure the point here.

 

the offense wasn’t good enough to score more than 10 points lol. What is the Bills record scoring 10 points or fewer? Probably horrific, right? 0-50?

The point is DapperCam said the Bills WR contributed greatly to the Bills loss to the Ravens. The Bills top three WR out preformed the Ravens top three and yet the Ravens scored 35, while the Bills only scored 10. Could it be that the Bills defense was bad?

[WideNine]

Some folks act like OBD had a lot of options to pass on a deep defensive class with all the expiring contracts across our D-line.

 

Addressing the line and DB position was not optional.

 

As far as the doom and gloom time will tell this season. We are not the only AFC team that hits the KC wall...and likely one of the few that is close enough to topple them.

 

One would think we had a sick offense last year. We did not.

 

More than a few games where Allen got to sit and relax as his backup closed out the games.

 

Teams that know us better play us better, but that is not unique to the Bills.

 

 

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, chris heff said:

The point is DapperCam said the Bills WR contributed greatly to the Bills loss to the Ravens. The Bills top three WR out preformed the Ravens top three and yet the Ravens scored 35, while the Bills only scored 10. Could it be that the Bills defense was bad?

The Bills defense was bad and contributed greatly to the loss. The Bills offense was also bad and contributed greatly to the loss lol.
 

If you don’t think only managing 10 points is very bad, then you’re just wrong. Categorically and definitively 

[Dablitzkrieg]

I said the same thing last year and was proven wrong.  I would argue it's actually stronger than last year 

Edited 13 hours ago by Dablitzkrieg

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

10 hours ago, 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?

 

 

They clearly have the worst WR group of any of the teams we faced in the playoffs last season and only added Josh Palmer. We have a top QB in the NFL and he makes them all better than they are but man could we use another Stefon Diggs before he lost a step.

[Alphadawg7]

36 minutes ago, Pete said:

Why did the Bills face more man to man coverage than any other team, last season?

 

It means the rest of the league has zero respect for our WR.  I’ll answer my own question, because too many are in denial 

Yet…we still scored the most points in the NFL.  
 

And most points per game and total points in AFC Playoffs.

Edited 13 hours ago by Alphadawg7

[Magox]

Is the WR group one of the weakest in the NFL?   Most likely not but it’s debatable.  What isn’t debatable is that the Bills have one of the two best offenses in the NFL and has consistently been at the top year after year.

 

The offense is in great shape for 2025, that’s not in dispute.  Where this team lacks is on defense and I have been arguing on this board for the past 3 months that the vast majority of resources should be spent on the defense and that is exactly what they have done.  
 

So I’m over the moon with the allocation of resources towards the defense.  Now it’s just a matter of whether or not the resources allocated are going to pan out.

[Alphadawg7]

10 minutes ago, FireChans said:

The Bills defense was bad and contributed greatly to the loss. The Bills offense was also bad and contributed greatly to the loss lol.
 

If you don’t think only managing 10 points is very bad, then you’re just wrong. Categorically and definitively 

But it was week 4 though.  Teams all over the league had bad weeks during the regular season.  Come January, we ended their season  

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Alphadawg7

[FireChans]

2 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

But it was week 4 though.  Teams all over the league had bad weeks during the regular season.  Come January, we ended their season  

Absolutely. Both the offense and defense played much better for the second round, and we got a lead and let playoff Lamar take us home lol.

 

The key to beating the Ravens in the playoffs is ALWAYS get a lead and make Lamar beat you. It was true in 2019 and true today. He’s much better today than he was in 19 but it’s still his Achilles heel.

5 minutes ago, Magox said:

Is the WR group one of the weakest in the NFL?   Most likely not but it’s debatable.  What isn’t debatable is that the Bills have one of the two best offenses in the NFL and has consistently been at the top year after year.

 

The offense is in great shape for 2025, that’s not in dispute.  Where this team lacks is on defense and I have been arguing on this board for the past 3 months that the vast majority of resources should be spent on the defense and that is exactly what they have done.  
 

So I’m over the moon with the allocation of resources towards the defense.  Now it’s just a matter of whether or not the resources allocated are going to pan out.

So seeing as this is your ideal offseason, what is your take if we get 30 pieced by KC again? Just need to allocate more resources to defense?

[Mikie2times]

For those that want to know it, this is 2014-2016 for Carolina, then 2017 to current with Buffalo. What WR's Beane has drafted. I'm sure some will say he didn't have as much involvement in 2017 and he wasn't technically the assistant GM in Carolina until 2015. So if you want to exclude those years, Benjamin and Jones would be removed and the list would start with Coleman. I think it's more than a fair question at this point to wonder if we can draft and develop players at WR which seems to be our formula everywhere else.  

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

Would I someday like a speed WR1 who develops crazy chemistry with Josh....yes.  Is it mandatory for the success of our offense...no.  Last season we were the #2 offense in the NFL scoring 31pts/ game.  So you could argue we had the #2 wr group in the NFL.  Is our wr room riddled with big names....no.  But we clearly saw Josh spread the wealth.  Running the ball successfully and hitting on a ton of intermediate routes worked just fine.  Our speed wr will come eventually. 

[Cray51]

32 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

It would be easier to conclude they don't value the role then they didn't value any players that can fit the role this year. We have not drafted a vertical threat since Beane and McD got here.  

Davis was considered a pretty decent vertical option out of the draft.

 

but I agree, I don’t think they value the position in their offense

[Kwai San]

9 hours ago, Mister Defense said:

I think one of the fun things in the next few weeks will be watching the haters start to crawl out from the sewers. foaming at the mouth, as they don't know what to do with themselves after such an excellent and consequential draft, one that clearly should move the Bills to the next level.

 

I have often said they will do the same thing after the Bills win the Super Bowl, and for the same reasons. Confused, disoriented, and seething with anger, they will soon crawl out, lashing, bashing in an even more bizarre, confrontational manner than before, challenging the stupid fans who could still support a team even after it took them much too long to win it all.

 

Several great examples so far, and many more to come!

Many will be the same as above, "Oh yeah, you think this is so good, what about..." and then the hater will challenge Bills' fans to answer some of the most super negative, bizarre questions they can think up in their rage, one after another.  A clear pattern.

 

 

 

The best part about this post???  Just by looking at the reaction emoji's you know precisely whom he is calling out and they did react!!!!!  LMFAO!

[BuffBillsForLife]

The Bills easily have the worst WR corps in the league, but Josh drags them to 30 points every game regardless. The D collapsing in the playoffs every year is the real problem and that's why they (over)committed to it this year in the draft.