BADOLBILZ

1. If Singletary's production can be replicated by any dime-a-dozen RB.........then I guess you are declaring that Cook should easily produce 5-5.5 ypc and plant Motor on the bench, then. That would be fine by me but league average is only 4.2 yards per carry. 2. RB receiving yardage is fun for fantasy football players.................but that role was replaced in importance/usefulness in the NFL by small, quick slot receivers like Wes Welker a couple decades ago. Because it turns out that you can get a lot more yardage just using a receiver to fill that role. Some fans on here want to turn back the clock to the days of Thurman Thomas when he was getting matchups against 250# LB's. Nowadays the LB's often run just as quick and fast as the RB's. The game has changed.

If Cook proves he can burn teams running the ball he will be effective as a receiver...........if not........he's just a dime-a-dozen undersized receiving option. Devin Singletary is a career 4.7 yard per carry RB..........fans hate the guy because he's not Alvin Kamara catching the football..........but Singletary has PRODUCED better than a whole lotta' brand names when he's handed the football. When you use a 2nd round pick on a RB he better kicka$$ on the ground.........but he's still gotta' prove that because he didn't carry the ball much in college. There is a reason why an ACTUAL receiver turned RB like JD McKissic only got $3.5M per year..........the position isn't that valuable because it isn't that impactful.

Davis has been a pretty "meh" YAC guy in his first two seasons. Their best chance at changing the YAC narrative is to stop spreading the field and start stretching it...........they don't have the guys with both speed AND quickness to be able to turn short passes into big gains..........teams figured that out last year and some of them were able to really shut the Bills offense down that way. Top 8 in the NFL isn't the goal though.

Cole Beasley? Tavon Austin? It's the slot.........they are dime-a-dozen............the Bengals don't need a 6'2" dynamic outside talent like Boyd playing in the slot they just can't keep a 1,000 yard receiver type like that on the bench.

Cinci fans don't have to worry.........Tyler Boyd has averaged 935 yards receiving the past 4 seasons and didn't drop a single pass all regular season on his way to 828 yards as their 3rd receiver option. You couldn't have made a worse choice to make an example of. Shows how much you follow the NFL.

McCoy produced a paltry 4.0 yards per carry in 2017. Some of that is on McDermott for hiring Rick Dennison, but they'd been keeping McCoy fresh by keeping his carries way down and instead McD ran him like he was still the 300 carry type of player he was in his prime in Philly. Which he clearly was not. They had also been maximizing his production by designing run plays between the tackles under Roman/Lynn. The outside zone style of Dennison just put him back outside the tackles, where he had lead the NFL in fewest yards per touch in 2014. Just a brutal offensive season to watch. No receivers and an OC that insisted on putting players into his ill-fitting scheme.

Are you typically not really interested in the Bills rookies? Even when the Bills picked Erik Flowers in round 1 when I had a 6th round grade on him I was still "really interested" in how that class would play.

Allen took a big leap in 2020.............but he moved into yet another category in the playoffs last season. But the primary reason they were on the road in the playoffs was because the offense as a whole had been inconsistent for most of the regular season.........the pass blocking was terrible and the receiving corps couldn't produce yards after the catch. The Bills response to those events was to sign a bunch of run-block specialists for the OL and continue a two offseason trend of getting less explosive at receiver.

Sure......among other things. You and @Buffalo_Stampede need to get on the same page if you think you are making the same argument............because he doesn't understand the differences between an actual slot receiver and just being a RB who is "good for his position" in the passing game. The fact is that you aren't going to get 10-14 yards per reception......average receiver production..........in any volume from any RB.

Taylor wasn't a good quarterback.......there is a lot that goes into being that and he didn't have all the traits. But he was the best combination of offensive player/durability that they had at the QB position in the time between Jim Kelly and Josh Allen. Taylor produced, he made some great plays in the air and on the ground........ he averaged 8.0 yards per attempt in his first year with Buffalo(contrary to the "dink and dunk" narrative.........and his 2015-2016 offenses put up points whether his receivers were available or whether his OC could draw up a passing game or not........oh...and he didn't turn the ball over. The 2016 offense was the best offense the Bills had since the SB era..........7th in scoring and fewest turnovers of any NFL team thru 15 games in the SB era......until they tanked their stats in the finale by benching Taylor.......which was management tanking so that the Bills could get a better pick so the Chiefs could take their franchise QB with it. As for the drought stuff..........if that's the only reason you appreciate him, you are probably a homer who secretly hated him. That first McDermott team was BAD. There was no offensive skill position talent left around Taylor. Un-f*cking watchable offense. Worst point differential of any team to make the playoffs in the AFC since the 1980's. Many drought teams were better. That was a 6-7 win team that got some ball luck. The drought wasn't really broken until Josh Allen arrived and a Bills playoff team actually deserved to be there............but 2017 allowed a bunch of posers and fair-weather fans an opportunity to flop around on social media and act like they had been grinding out the drought. "I can't believe we got a wildcard 'Lizbeth......take me now Lawd!"

I wouldn't invest much hope into Knox or Davis taking discounts..........they are already playing on 3rd and 4th round deals so they've been bargains and would be smart to get all they can on their second deal. I don't expect the Bills to be very competitive on the open market if they both play out their deals without an extension, like Knox is doing now. They are more likely to try to replace them with prove-it deal guys like they did with Crowder replacing Beasley. Their MO is invest in defense and patch and develop around Allen on offense. Like what GB does with Rodgers. Will probably take an offensive face-plant for them to change that formula.

Maybe Cook is just a slot receiver and won't work out as a RB, you could be right. But let's put his ceiling at Alvin Kamara as a receiving option out of the backfield because Kamara is the current gold standard for receivers out of the backfield. Kamara is a career 8.7 yards per reception guy.........whereas Cole Beasley has a career 10.4 yards per reception average. There is always a difference between a RB and an ACTUAL slot receiver. An average slot receiver is still a better pass option than the best RB. Beasley was panned for having a lousy year last year and getting no YAC and his ypr was actually still better than the great Christian McCaffrey's career AVERAGE.

There is a very big, very "offseason" misconception that spreading out a defense takes the starch out of them in run defense or pass rush. Quite the opposite.........it puts a ton of pass blocking stress on your OL and the QB has to get the ball out quick. Bills found out last year that teams were just pinning their ears back and going for the TFL/sack when the Bills tried to spread them out. The solution to that problem isn't just run blocking better..........it's asking A LOT of a bunch of run-block first OL to excel in the run game with only 5 blockers AND pass block under duress 50 times per game. The solution if you want to run 10-11 all the time is getting yards after the catch because 4-5 receiver sets turn you into a quick passing, dink and dunk offense.........you gotta' be able to toast defense's with short passes. Not a Bills strength. Worst team in the league in YAC. James Cook might help with that when he's on the field subbing for Singletary..........and Crowder at one time was a really good YAC guy(lousy last year)............but I suspect they are indeed planning A LOT more 12 personnel and trying to be a more physical front to combat teams that will be VERY hesitant to come out of nickel/dime looks. The downside of that is, as Ron Jaworski always said, you score points in the passing game. If you run the ball more, you are taking the ball out of JA's hands more and requiring more plays to score, which is what defense's prefer as opposed to be scorched for chunk plays in the pass game.

That's a very Ralph-Wilson-era mindset you have ol' timer..........where the season ticket holders are captives who have to buy the tickets and all that matters is that the ticket gets bought. The thing is.........the future of maximizing revenue is getting actual people in the stadium and impulse selling the hell out of them. Merchandise, food, gambling....... There is a reason Casino's aren't kept at -5 degrees.

1. You are absolutely correct. Explaining to people that there is a difference between a blazing fast, elite ball tracker like John Brown and the Bills 3 slots is difficult when they don't understand the different abilities necessary to succeed at the two positions. 2. Beasley made some plays outside........I remember a great, leaping one hand catch he made to convert a first down from the Z last season. But it was like a 3 yard gain. There is no footage of him streaking down the sideline and catching a 9 route TD along the sideline because he doesn't have the skillset to get over the top of many boundary CB's. I'm interested to see what Shakir becomes.........but they should have addressed the position in the draft sooner.

Not exactly........the Z can line up off the LOS in 11 personnel.........but only one player can be in motion........that's typically going to be the slot. It's not at all an apples/apples comparison wrt to the ease of release off the ball.........you are still starting from a dead stop and have to make more out of less space(sideline limitations). You aren't going to see players the size of McKenzie or Crowder on the outside very often. Shakir is a weird one because you don't see that T-Rex body type much at receiver. They are all "quicker than fast" typical slots. The Bills offensive approach has not been that unusual.......they aren't operating the run-and-shoot in 1990..........every team with a top passer spreads the field in the passing game. The Bills actions in the offseason were to add run-block first OL.........and the skill players they put the most investment in were a RB and TE...........it feels like we are actually going to see more 12 personnel and less spread. As for Diggs.........yeah, he can play everywhere.........and the Bills would be best served if he could play in the slot a lot.........and they then had two other players who matched up well against boundary CB's on the outside. That's not the case, on paper. People who think McKenzie or Crowder could become the second boundary receiver and play well out there for 50 snaps per game have a very vivid imagination.

Yeah I'm sure he'd be disappointed if he didn't get back to his 2020 form, stay healthy and put up close to 1,000 yards............that's why he came to Buffalo........to rebuild his stock in a dynamic offense in 2022 and get back on the market. Crowder is a more talented, higher pedigree player than Cole Beasley.........his stock is just down due to injuries.

Emmanuel Sanders is 5'11" with 32" arms to get off the press and extend in contested catch situations........your assertion that he was a small receiver is false........he was an average sized target on the boundary. McKenzie is 5'7" Crowder 5'9" Shakir is 6' but has very short 29" arms......same length as the 5'7" McKenzie......and over 3" shorter than a CB like Tre White who he would be facing on the perimeter. Those players are not well suited to matchup physically with bigger CB's on the perimeter.........they function best in the slot where they can be in motion at the snap and run routes horizontally in both directions and take advantage of their quickness. On the boundary bigger CB's have the sideline at their disposal to negate a great deal of the quickness that smaller, quicker slot receivers can use in the slot. Then you have the fact that they are are size disadvantaged in contested catch situations..........and that they represent a smaller catch radius for the QB to throw into............and this is all before you know whether they can actually track a ball thrown 30 or 40 yards and catch it without stopping their feet........as opposed to 10-15 yards like they tend to see from the slot. This is passing game 101.

Yeah the anti-domers don't care about the covering..........they just argued that seats would be covered to shout down the people who wanted a dome. Like the people who now insist that Jake Kumerow isn't the 3rd boundary receiver option for the Bills going into camp..............they know he is.......but they do not care and are just perturbed that depth at the position is a discussion point.

Honestly I shouldn't even indulge your trollish, fact and football deficient responses. But for the purpose of informing.......my proof is simple.........there isn't another larger receiver near the top of the depth chart OR any extraordinarily fast average sized veteran or high pedigree draft pick in line to take the job from Kumerow. He will enter camp as that 3rd option outside. Maybe Stevenson gets into the mix but other than that it's just a bunch of slot receivers. You can play a shorter player like the 5'10" 30 1/2" armed Brown on the outside.........7 players gotta be on the LOS..........so when you are in 11 personnel you can have 2 receivers off the LOS..........that would be the Z receiver in this case. But John Brown was very good at the Z because he was a VERY FAST......a legit 4.3 guy......as well as being a PROVEN great tracker of the football downfield. Crowder and McKenzie have proven to be slot-only players in their career.......they aren't beating anyone deep on the outside. Shakir ran a 4.43 on the new, faster track at Indy.........about the equivalent of a 4.5 in past testing seasons. Shakir has shown the ability to track the deep ball well, IMO.........but he isn't running past NFL boundary CB's like a John Brown with that modest speed.

The Peerless trade was more of a mutual disaster for both organizations. The Bills passing game dropped to the bottom of the league the next season and Josh Reed couldn't handle the pressure of being the #2 receiver replacing Price and was never right again. The Bills tried to be thrifty signing Bobby Shaw to replace Price. They used the pick they acquired on Willis McGahee..........who had to sit out a season........when they already had a 1,000 yard RB. Nothing but a f*cking shitstorm unfolded from that Price trade.

WR is one of the 3 most valuable position groups in the NFL today based on salary distribution to the best players. We aren't comparing the Bills to "most teams" anymore........this season is a SB window season where they are actually the Vegas favorite. If you are expecting to play for a title..........you better be juiced up at receiver...........and ESPECIALLY on the boundary. Slot's who can't matchup outside are a relative dime a dozen........that's how the Bills got a whole pack of them for about $4M in guarantees and a 5th round pick. Despite average height, Shakir is a small target due to 29" arms........about identical length to the arms of the 5'7" McKenzie...........so until proven otherwise he's just part of the group of guys in the slot that you hope to never have to run out there against legit boundary CB's.

@GunnerBill generally does such a good job of assimilating to some very American discussions that you take for granted that there isn't a barrier.............but that is most certainly the case here. Calling someone a retread is an insult. Por ejemplo.......when you quit being a mod and stormed off for a while.........nobody that I am aware of called you a retread board member when you returned because that would have been a low blow. I generally refer to overseers who end up in Gen Pop again as "comeback" or "breakout" posters.

Not in this country. Our version of the language is a little newer and influenced differently due to our diversity..........so perhaps we haven't reached the point where we don't use nouns to describe people, places or things anymore. It's American Football. It's a country about 3,000 miles wide. We burn a lot of rubber over here. 80+ mile round trip car commutes to work every day aren't at all uncommon. Trust me, it's a tire reference.