Jump to content

Is having a #1 WR that important or just good to have?


Recommended Posts

There is an article in Foebes on WRs. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtisrush/2019/07/08/the-buffalo-bills-dont-have-a-true-no-1-receiver-so-whats-the-big-deal/#4e432bb56727

Some of it is economic:

Quote

By contract value, the Bills are putting most of their trust in Brown, who carries a $7.5 million cap hit, and Beasley at $6.9 million. But those contracts pale in comparison to the league's elite like Kansas City's Sammy Watkins at $19.2 million and Cleveland's Odell Beckham Jr. at $17 million.

He put Sammy in same sentence as word elite without mentioning availability or rehab and that is tough! Of course  6' 2" Robert Foster and Zay Jones will not get mentioned based on rookie contracts.

 

Some of which is percentage caught which I think is most important.

Quote

 

Jones. The Falcons' No. 1 threat was targeted 170 times and made 113 receptions for a catch rate of 66.5%, which wasn't the best by any stretch. It ranked him No. 102 for catch-rate efficiency. He didn't get them into the playoffs (Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints had the best catch rate among NFL wide receivers at 85%.)

 

Obviously catch rate, not the number of times you've been targeted, is what marks a good receiver.

 

When you look at catch rate, Beasley ranked in the top 35 last season with an efficiency rate of 74.7%, which is a big reason why he could be the most valuable Bills receiver this season.

 

 

I think availability is also very important, when you spend most of your time being rehabbed you cannot be catching the ball  - Beasley was available 93 of 96 games.

 

If you depend on a #1 WR I think you are more vulnerable.  Andre was #1 WR for Bills but it teams slanted coverage to him too much Bills could beat teams with other players.  Unlike Cole he played a lot over the middle but he was a big WR like Foster and Jones (he was at our tailgate but he did not seem much bigger than me, maybe his body is compressing as he gets older).  He always was available playing in 234 games and missed most games year he was injured before contract year.  He also played in 21 playoff games.  If a team has a dominant #1 WR it can lose its identity without the player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's important, not the be all and end all but it's an important position in a league that prioritizes passing the football. Cowboys last year getting Cooper helped turn Prescott's season around. Having a stud wideout improves your quarterback and gives your offense a ton of flexibility. If you have a guy who can get open it makes playcalling that much easier...you can build a gameplan around a top wideout whereas if you don't have a #1 (or a Brady/Rodgers/whathaveyou) you're going to have to play near-perfect offense. A #1 wideout is like Astroglide if you're stuck he can get things moving again

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you had asked Johnny Unitas if he had a number one receiver, he would have laughed at you.  He went to Raymond Barry, Jimmy Orr. and his tight end interchangably and successfully, and undoubtedly was never concerned with who could possibly have been "numero uno."  You obviously have a number one if you have few viable options other than a single outstanding receiver.  But do you necessarily want that?  That individual will be double teamed incessantly.  Let's have as many good receivers on the Bills as possible, drive defenses crazy, and not worry about who's on first.

  • Like (+1) 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I would rather have two great $9M receivers than one elite $18M receiver.  There is a bigger drop off to the second or third corners than the gap between an elite receiver and the other team's top corner.  What would have been your #2 WR is now on their #3 CB.

  • Like (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jauronimo said:

Its asinine to make diminish the impact of OBJ, AB, Julio, AJ Green based on playoff appearances.  

 

 

If you were the owner. would you feel the same ?

 

lets take money out of the equation and ask what #1 WR would look like in Buffalo with Josh Allen.

How could we improve the position  dramatically for sure ?

26 minutes ago, Chemical said:

I want 3 elite receivers. 

I want 4 dependable consistent receivers  lol
and ?  one of them is preferably a tight end

 it could happen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

It's a match up league.

 

You need guys who can get open against the tougher secondaries of the league. 

 

The elite WRs do that against ANY defense.

 

 

 

Johnny Unitas? 

 

This isn't the 1950s AFL anymore bud. 

 

 

Even Tre ?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

While I wouldn't put him in as an elite reciever to this point and also another guy the Bills could've easily had over Zay Jones, Kenny Golladay is a very good reciever and had his way with Tre White late in the season.

 

 

 

Bad day for Tre perhaps. or McD over confident in coverage scheme?
No reason not to always improve the WR room.
if it can be done via draft i would go for potential elite as indulgent luxury pick. Just as soon as the rest of team is thick with depth and contending.

Team game thing and all that : )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was shocked to see the ignorance of the writer to name Watkins as an elite/#1 receiver, he who had under 600 yards receiving each of the last two years.  I think the writer is confused because of his salary, but earning an unseemly 20 million next year does not make Watkins a #1 receiver. Watkins is not a #1 or elite NFL receiver, but a receiver who couldda been one, and may be one day, but that can be said for many.

 

Foster, Brown, Beasley, Jones--this is the best group of receivers the Bills have had in many years.  The wide receivers will be considered a strength of this team next year, not a weakness. If a tight end comes through as well, the Bills' receivers may be the team's most improved unit.  We will see in a few months.

 

So happy the Bills did not get Antonio Brown--our Brown may have the better year..

 

 

Edited by Mister Defense
  • Like (+1) 3
  • Thank you (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t think you have to have that elite #1. But I do think a player that can consistently make those area code catches helps a TON. 

 

A player that comes to my mind from last year would be Kenny golladay. Mid tier #1 guy but holy crap that guy was the king of the area code catch last year. Just can go get about anything. He posterized our own Tre white a couple times last year along with quite a few other amazing catches throughout the season. 

 

So maybe an all around elite #1 is more of a luxury than a necessity but I truly believe having a TE or WR that can go get ANYTHING  on any given play will help a guy like Allen immensely. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You don't "have to" have the elite #1, but it makes you have to compensate in a ton of other areas. there's a lot of ways to build a great year-in-year-out team. You don't even need a #1 RB or a #1 QB. You either need to out-skill your opponents or you need to be able to out-scheme  them and you need the requisite talent to make that happen. Having elite players at positions that help you score or prevent the other team from scoring makes that whole process a hell of a lot easier.

Winning the Super Bowl takes a bit of luck, but the better you are, the better position you put yourself in to get lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why is it that we have a thread about this every couple months? Could it be that we all know the wr unit is subpar still and trying to justify it somehow? 

 

No couldn’t be that. Do other teams fans have threads like this or do they just agree that having the best receivers possible is important AND good to have?

 

This theory of having a bunch of complimentary guys only works if the other teams secondary doesn’t also have a bunch of complimentary guys. 

 

Even the best example of a team that doesn’t need elite WRs took one in the first round this year and took a flier on Josh Gordon last year. 

 

Honestly I don’t even understand the question being posed here. 

Edited by Chemical
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...