Cover 1 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 The Bills will need to find ways to get Sammy the ball more in 2016. Using him in the slot will help the offense produce more through the air. In 2015, Sammy was only in the slot 50 times where he caught 6 passes. Roman used Crabtree in the slot 3x as much in 2011 and 2012. Check out this article. It has film and advanced stats to show that using the #1 WR in the slot could pay huge dividends. http://www.cover1.net/2016/08/slot-production/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmalibu Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Maybe everyone knows more about offensive game planning than Greg....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Slot, slants, screens. Get the ball in your best playmaker's hands as much as possible. He shouldn't just be used as a big Goodwin. Sammy could easily challenge for best wr in the NFL with more touches (and better health). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Maybe everyone knows more about offensive game planning than Greg....... If we fans weren't allowed to criticize people smarter than us, what else would we have to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 The Bills will need to find ways to get Sammy the ball more in 2016. Using him in the slot will help the offense produce more through the air. In 2015, Sammy was only in the slot 50 times where he caught 6 passes. Roman used Crabtree in the slot 3x as much in 2011 and 2012. Check out this article. It has film and advanced stats to show that using the #1 WR in the slot could pay huge dividends. http://www.cover1.net/2016/08/slot-production/ OK, we'll bite, then where does Woods, who's a classic slot receiver, play? Who plays the splits? What, Listenbee, Goodwin, Lewis? 2 Slot WRs and no wides. I'm curious as to your take there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 The Bills will need to find ways to get Sammy the ball more in 2016. Using him in the slot will help the offense produce more through the air. In 2015, Sammy was only in the slot 50 times where he caught 6 passes. Roman used Crabtree in the slot 3x as much in 2011 and 2012. Check out this article. It has film and advanced stats to show that using the #1 WR in the slot could pay huge dividends. http://www.cover1.net/2016/08/slot-production/ The Bills need to line up Sammy all over the field to make it harder to gameplan against him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountDorkula Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 OK, we'll bite, then where does Woods, who's a classic slot receiver, play? Who plays the splits? What, Listenbee, Goodwin, Lewis? 2 Slot WRs and no wides. I'm curious as to your take there. Move Sammy around, play him everywhere. Get him the ball. That's my take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 If we fans weren't allowed to criticize people smarter than us, what else would we have to do? Assuming that these guys are smarter than all fans is a mistake. The problem with fans is that most run purely on opinions and buzzwords relegating facts, data, analysis, trends, patterns, etc. to the trash bin. Some of them definitely don't possess common sense. The Bills need to line up Sammy all over the field to make it harder to gameplan against him. That makes sense to a degree, but still, who's going to play the wides? Woods is not a great candidate for that. That's the question that no one in the thread will answer, and for good reason, it was a deliberately overlooked area of need in the offseason. We couldn't spend a relative pittance on Hogan who at least would have brought back some continuity, so now we're left with our pants down in terms of options. This of course also assumes that Sammy's going to be fine injury wise. That's a horrible wager to undertake. This entire discussion is going to be a "sounds good on paper thing." The bottom line is that you need talent at positions, including WR. We have marginal talent on a good day after Watkins. Our genius GM yielded entirely to our all-talk coach that's obsessed with defense in the Draft and otherwise dropped the ball (PI) bigtime in the offseason at WR. I know I know, we didn't have the cap. Whose fault is that. Once again, the revolving door comes back around to kick our GM in the ass despite that a minority sees it that way. Last season we had the 28th ranked passing offense. I don't see that improving. If Sammy's injury woes continue, in one form or another, I think we're looking, easily, at 32nd this season. The question will then become how good the D and running game will be. The D isn't looking even average right now or likely to even hit the 15th ranking that Ryan got from it last season. The running game is going to have trouble without a decent passing game. Add it all up ... Of course during and after the season the crocodile tears express is going to be crooning for Whaley & Ryan because of injuries, as if we're the only team with significant injury issues. Last season the Panthers lost Kelvin Benjamin (another topic altogether) and still went to the SB. Move Sammy around, play him everywhere. Get him the ball. That's my take. So that's it then in your world, Sammy's going to do the work of 3 WRs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cover 1 Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Slot, slants, screens. Get the ball in your best playmaker's hands as much as possible. He shouldn't just be used as a big Goodwin. Sammy could easily challenge for best wr in the NFL with more touches (and better health). Couldn't agree with you more! He can dictate soo much. The Bills need to line up Sammy all over the field to make it harder to gameplan against him. Exactly and I think they will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 OK, we'll bite, then where does Woods, who's a classic slot receiver, play? Who plays the splits? What, Listenbee, Goodwin, Lewis? 2 Slot WRs and no wides. I'm curious as to your take there. A few thoughts: - Woods played very little from the slot last year; he played mostly from the boundary. - Ideally, you'd have a group of guys that can play from multiple spots; it appears that both Sammy and Woods can do that. What they're missing is the 3rd guy. - Just because Sammy gets more snaps from the slot, that doesn't mean he gets exclusively snaps from the slot. Even if Sammy's slot snaps increase to match Crabtree's in 2012, that would leave over 600 snaps from elsewhere. The same can be said for Woods. What the team is really in need of is a 3rd option (or a combination of guys) that can take targets in both locations. For example, they'd like to see a guy like Salas or Little prove that he can be a solid possession guy from the slot, and then have a guy like Lewis or Goodwin prove to be able to garner 4-5 targets/game on the boundary. It can be a platoon thing provided that they mix up where Sammy and Woods line up. We'd all like to have another bona fide boundary target to compliment Sammy, but for a team with a QB that went 0-5 when attempting 30 or more passes last year, that wasn't a priority in the draft. I don't want to speak for Erik, but I felt that the point was clear: getting Sammy into the slot will create cleaner opportunities for the others--situations where they won't have to be as good in order to get open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cover 1 Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 OK, we'll bite, then where does Woods, who's a classic slot receiver, play? Who plays the splits? What, Listenbee, Goodwin, Lewis? 2 Slot WRs and no wides. I'm curious as to your take there. Just bc Woods is outside doesn't mean he can't be effective. You can still use him on crossing routes short and to the intermediate part of the field. Put Sammy in the slot and have woods flexed like they did vs. KC where Taylor couldn't hit him for the quick pass. Woods route running is perfect for the slot much like Stevie was in the clips I used in the article, which you may not have looked at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Couldn't agree with you more! He can dictate soo much. Exactly and I think they will. Put him in motion from the backfield, line him up in stacks, and keep the defense guessing whether he'll be the X, Y, or Slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cover 1 Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 (edited) A few thoughts: - Woods played very little from the slot last year; he played mostly from the boundary. - Ideally, you'd have a group of guys that can play from multiple spots; it appears that both Sammy and Woods can do that. What they're missing is the 3rd guy. - Just because Sammy gets more snaps from the slot, that doesn't mean he gets exclusively snaps from the slot. Even if Sammy's slot snaps increase to match Crabtree's in 2012, that would leave over 600 snaps from elsewhere. The same can be said for Woods. What the team is really in need of is a 3rd option (or a combination of guys) that can take targets in both locations. For example, they'd like to see a guy like Salas or Little prove that he can be a solid possession guy from the slot, and then have a guy like Lewis or Goodwin prove to be able to garner 4-5 targets/game on the boundary. It can be a platoon thing provided that they mix up where Sammy and Woods line up. We'd all like to have another bona fide boundary target to compliment Sammy, but for a team with a QB that went 0-5 when attempting 30 or more passes last year, that wasn't a priority in the draft. I don't want to speak for Erik, but I felt that the point was clear: getting Sammy into the slot will create cleaner opportunities for the others--situations where they won't have to be as good in order to get open. Thank you and you nailed it with the last line. I don't think people read the article, stats or watched the GIFs. But thats ok, bc that was my point. It'll create opportunities for everyone if they use him in the slot. Which plays to your point, with no number 3 yet, Roman will have to scheme more until someone steps up. Put him in motion from the backfield, line him up in stacks, and keep the defense guessing whether he'll be the X, Y, or Slot. That will most definitely create mismatches and dictate coverages. Edited August 12, 2016 by TurnerE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 What they need to do is move him all over the field......if we want to get Sammy his 10 touches a game then move him around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 What they need to do is move him all over the field......if we want to get Sammy his 10 touches a game then move him around Yesh. Quite simple, it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Maybe everyone knows more about offensive game planning than Greg....... When the Bills were about to hire Roman, some of you may remember that I ran into Brandon and Roman. At that time I told Roman not to take it personally when I screamed at him through the television, after all I do know more about football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I like Sammy near the sidelines to avoid injuries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Slot, slants, screens. Get the ball in your best playmaker's hands as much as possible. He shouldn't just be used as a big Goodwin. Sammy could easily challenge for best wr in the NFL with more touches (and better health). Thanks for making me remember my made up song. Sammy in the slant! Hey fans, the bills have got together the spotlights hitting Rexy and he's gonna make 'em better the playoffs are almost in sight so stick around You're gonna hear the 12th man like a wall of sound Say, Goodwin and Woods, have you seen them yet OH but the true hot route, s-s-s-s-sammy and the slant Oh but their fast and wide open oh Sammy is in the seam He's got electric moves, got great hands too I think they're gonna run a bubble screen oh. S-S-S-S-Sammy and the Slant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountDorkula Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 (edited) Assuming that these guys are smarter than all fans is a mistake. The problem with fans is that most run purely on opinions and buzzwords relegating facts, data, analysis, trends, patterns, etc. to the trash bin. Some of them definitely don't possess common sense. That makes sense to a degree, but still, who's going to play the wides? Woods is not a great candidate for that. That's the question that no one in the thread will answer, and for good reason, it was a deliberately overlooked area of need in the offseason. We couldn't spend a relative pittance on Hogan who at least would have brought back some continuity, so now we're left with our pants down in terms of options. This of course also assumes that Sammy's going to be fine injury wise. That's a horrible wager to undertake. This entire discussion is going to be a "sounds good on paper thing." The bottom line is that you need talent at positions, including WR. We have marginal talent on a good day after Watkins. Our genius GM yielded entirely to our all-talk coach that's obsessed with defense in the Draft and otherwise dropped the ball (PI) bigtime in the offseason at WR. I know I know, we didn't have the cap. Whose fault is that. Once again, the revolving door comes back around to kick our GM in the ass despite that a minority sees it that way. Last season we had the 28th ranked passing offense. I don't see that improving. If Sammy's injury woes continue, in one form or another, I think we're looking, easily, at 32nd this season. The question will then become how good the D and running game will be. The D isn't looking even average right now or likely to even hit the 15th ranking that Ryan got from it last season. The running game is going to have trouble without a decent passing game. Add it all up ... Of course during and after the season the crocodile tears express is going to be crooning for Whaley & Ryan because of injuries, as if we're the only team with significant injury issues. Last season the Panthers lost Kelvin Benjamin (another topic altogether) and still went to the SB. So that's it then in your world, Sammy's going to do the work of 3 WRs? Where did I say that. I said move him all over the field, line him up in different spots, disguise him to fool the defense. AS you said earlier "Some of them definitely don't possess common sense." Edited August 12, 2016 by CountDorkula Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivermont Mike Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Thanks for making me remember my made up song. Sammy in the slant! Hey fans, the bills have got together the spotlights hitting Rexy and he's gonna make 'em better the playoffs are almost in sight so stick around You're gonna hear the 12th man like a wall of sound Say, Goodwin and Woods, have you seen them yet OH but the true hot route, s-s-s-s-sammy and the slant Oh but their fast and wide open oh Sammy is in the seam He's got electric moves, got great hands too I think they're gonna run a bubble screen oh. S-S-S-S-Sammy and the Slant. Ummm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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