LOVEMESOMEBILLS

Would the 2 TDs skew the number much lower, let's see? The catch against the Lions his momentum brought him out of bounds soon after catching the ball. The other TD he went up high and landed on the ground. If it's in the middle of the field the safety most likely touches him down and the play is over or he gets up and gets minimum YAC. If they do start making those passes in the middle of the field, the defense will adjust and Duke will be getting blown up time and time again. There are trends, I'll give you that, but the players & the game have been getting consistently faster and faster for 50 or 60 years.

Your not going to throw jump balls all over the field are you, especially from the slot position? As far as receiving is concerned, it's the only thing he has shown to excel in. He caught a couple 9 yard slants, but can he do it against 1st stringers. Based on where he currently is with the Bills, my guess is they don't think so. Take the Lions game for an example, he caught a nice 16 yard jump ball TD, but got minus 1 yard on his other two recs. That was in the second half playing against players who will not be on the field come Sunday. IMO people have fallen in love with a couple jump balls and his comeback story. I looked through the top receivers and admit I didn't look at all the TE, but of the top 8 TE last year all were either 6'3", 6' 4" & 6' 5". Duke is listed at 6' 3", based on that I think he would be tall enough. He would have to put on weight though.

On bringing up Duke to see what he has, that's what training camp & preseason were for, he wasn't good enough to make the 53 man roster. He averaged under 9 yards a catch against players who are no longer in the league. The only people Zay has anything to prove to is the GM & the coaches, not fans. Your thoughts on where Zay & Duke sit on the roster is off the mark in my opinion. I mean if Zay's job is in such jeopardy as you mentioned can you produce articles or videos of any coaches or Beane talking of this? Because the depth chart off the teams own website currently has Zay with the first team and it was recently updated as Shady is not listed. https://www.buffalobills.com/team/depth-chart Are really making a case using Buddy Nix as your GM in your example?

There was in the 80s and 90s, but the game has changed since then. He slow and really couldn't be used in between the 20s, only for Redzone plays at this point. IMO put on 25-30 pounds and spend the year on the PS making the switch to TE, where I think he could be top 10 at that position.

If you're going to go that route, this is from what most on here have called a WR with great hands: 2017: 83 targets, 46 rec. 2018: 152 targets, 88 recs. Is it a little better, sure is, but one is against NFL CBs & one is against CFL CBs. One could argue Zay has played with an NFL QB, which once again at face value is true. But the 2 year QB rotation since Zay has been here has been: Taylor, Peterman, Taylor, Peterman, rookie Allen, Anderson, Barkley & finally rookie Allen. They're scaring no one. All things considered, which is better? Believe me no one can answer this question, I've asked it a couple times, there's never a reason given. Not even the Pats*** claimed him and they have shown to be a team that is willing take a chance on a player if they think he will be good and they are in need of WR help especially early this year.

When talking of the difference between Zeke & an average RB Bill Barnwell fails to take other factors into account. If Zeke is in the backfield who is the defense is going to key on? How many 7 & 8 in the box looks are you going to see? He opens everything else up for the offense and makes everyone better. With an average RB the defense is going to key on the passing game making the "average" RB beat them. At that point Dak folds like a deck of cards.

Exactly, I just saw a stat. In the last 8 years the top paid QB missed the playoffs 5 times, top RB - 5 times, top WR - 6 times.

That's a bit of a slanted argument to make. The RB position is just starting to recover from the last decade or so in terms of salary. However the top 4 teams in terms of spending in 2019 on the RB/FB positions are 1.) The Pats***, 2.) the Rams, 3.) the 49ers & 4.) the Cowboys. In the top 4 were 3 out of the final 8 teams in the playoffs, including the two Super Bowl teams from last year. The current best of the best seem to value the RB position, including the one team everyone has been pointing to for years as the team that doesn't spend on RBs. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/positional/breakdown/

You may have made the case for the other side with the Cincy vs Ravens reference. Now of course down with little time left, Cincy was passing at the end, but they ran 30 times in that game and passed 23 times. That's not even counting Andy's 2 rushes otherwise it was 32/23. In regards to never paying a RB ever....Team's overall rushing numbers have stay pretty consistent from 2004 till now, it's just the #2 RB are getting a little more of the overall carries(The ratio varies from team to team). I believe the decision should and appears to be is made on a case by case basis. Would I pay a RB like Gurley top end money, heck no? But I would for solidly put together RB like Zeke or Barkley.

Maybe maybe not. It seems like you're just trying to throw everything neatly in a box and wrap it up with a bow. It's odd that it's the same QBs over & over though. Mahomes -10, Goff - 8, Luck - 8, Big Ben - 8, Ryan - 8, Brady - 7, Brees - 7. On the flip side, Zeke - 8, Gurley - 7, Barkley - 7, Michel - 6, Carson - 6. To say teams only get 100 yard rushers these days when running out the clock is short sighted. The top 10 teams in rushing totals nowadays are still pretty much even to the early 2000s(That's as far back as I could go at the moment).

Fans get hooked on the 300 yard passing games, 300 yard passers were only 65-65-2 last year. Teams with 100 yard rushers were 84-26-1 last year and a whopping 49-9-1 through the first 11 weeks. The narrative is it's a pass first league, but the records for teams with 300 yard passers & 100 yard rushers say otherwise.

All this spending lately could get the Cowboys in trouble down the road. Over the last 5 months they've signed 4 players, all to 5 or 6 year contracts totaling $313M. I understand some of the back end of the contracts may never come to fruition, but they haven't signed Dak yet either. Let's say he gets around what Goff got and going with what Dallas has been doing this offseason it's a 5 year deal for ~$167.5M. That's 5 contracts totaling ~$480M over a 5-6 year span & they still would have to sign Cooper. Once they get him signed, 6 players will absorb about 50% of the cap space. On average that'll leave about $2M/yr per player to round out the roster. It doesn't leave much margin of error or any space if they hit on a few players and want to resign them.

If Allen pops get ready for a 40M/yr hit against the cap. Goff just got 33M/yr and Allen isn't up for a few years, by then it'll be 40 million a year.

1.) I didn't say Zay has proven to be a great or even good player, but he is a proven player especially in this comparison. 2.) Maybe Duke has to work harder but it's because he screwed up a bunch of times, it's not like he messed up once or twice, it's all been self-inflicted. He needs to be the one to dig himself out of the hole he dug, no one can do that for him 3.) Zay's not the one that's disappointing between the two. Duke had the opportunity to play for a SEC Team and blew it. He tried out with the Rams in 2016 and couldn't land a spot on any NFL team, Since 2016 through at least to start the season 2019 he has failed to make a 53 man roster. He wasn't claimed by a single team when he was just cut and put on waivers. Not even by the Pats*** who could use some help at WR especially early on this year and have shown they aren't afraid to take a chance on a player. Zay on the other hand was drafted in the second round two years ago and has been a starter in 25 of his 32 games as a Bill. He's made much more of his opportunities, not squandered them. Duke trying to turn his life around and make the 53 man roster is a great story and here's hoping he can. But I can't see him sticking on a NFL roster as is, he's the equivalent of a specialty player. One more thing....they may not play with Nerf footballs in the CFL, but they also don't play with NFL talent.

I believe they cut him to avoid a sticky situation during the season when Devin's reps started going up and Shady's started going down. But they can't make that move until they are comfortable Devin can carry the load both physically & mentally. Letting Shady catch on to a team now is better on all accounts than if it all went south and they had to do it mid-season. In Beane's defense he can only tell it the way he currently sees it. He can't say Shady is our man unless Devin is showing signs he's ready to take on that role.

I agree it wasn't about the money. By all accounts Devin is further along than they thought he might be at this point. I think Beane & McDermott didn't want a sticky situation part way through the year when Devin started taking more and more carries from Shady. Right here, right now, Shady is the better option at RB, I don't see how many could deny that, but McBeane clearly thought that was going to change in the near future.

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1168861731889848320

With every piece that get's signed before Zeke, his piece of the pie seems to be getting smaller.

The 300 yard game, never has there been a stat that means so very little, but is wanted ever so much by fans in this pass happy league. Last year throwing for 300 yards only gave teams a 50/50 chance to win. Total record for 300 yard passers in 2018........65-65-2. 100 yard rushers on the other hand, 100 yard rushers were 84-26-1 last year, including 49-9-1 in the first 11 weeks. Run the ball, play good defense and throw more when you want to, not when you have to. If Josh shows he's really the man. throw a bit more.

I don't think that's true at all. When the bright lights come on and games really count Peterman has a way of embarrassing himself and his team like no one ever has been able to. One of the worst QBs ever(Or maybe the worst, can't remember) with at least 100 pass attempts. Let's be clear, there's absolutely nothing worse than keeping Peterman rather than keeping _____.

Absolutely bud. This is spot on. He doesn't have nearly the value everyone talked themselves into. A few plays a year...maybe.

Ray Ray was picked up before Duke...no way!! Wonder what the masses will think about that!!!

Dude you thought Duke should have a place on the team, but didn't think Zay was a lock lol. If Duke is ever able to disconnect the 100 pound weight he's dragging behind him he might have a chance. He's a 1980s-1990s type WR......the problem with that is it's 2019 and the game has totally changed.

You can't teach speed either...or in this case lack of speed. My grandma can run faster than Duke. Here's his draft profile, the cliff notes are... he lacks speed, acceleration, stiff hips(Not what you want your WR to have), "Restricted, semi-strider off snap and slow into routes, won't slip many tackles, very little acceleration for separation out of breaks. And the biggest thing I've been saying..... Can't shake free underneath and will have to live off contested catches. Not much has changed since then, he's still pretty much the same player. WEAKNESSES Consistent discipline issues at Auburn. Suspended for Outback Bowl after 2014 season, missed practices for "personal reasons" this August and was kicked off of the team in October admitting he "made mistake after mistake" which lead to his dismissal. Stiff hips and below average athlete. Restricted, semi­-strider off snap and slow into routes. Wont slip many tackles in the open field after the catch. Despite his size, blocking not a priority for him. Small hands for his size. Can't shake free underneath and will have to live off of contested catches. Very little acceleration for separation out of breaks. Could be forced into slot role only. Looked like he was going through the motions in 2015 before his dismissal. Scouts dont trust his personal or football character at all.