Phil The Thrill Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Here’s an interesting take that I heard on the Bills Beat podcast. The hosts were talking about Zay jones and I believe it was Matt Fairburn who wondered whether the dropped pass against Carolina in 2017 messed with Zay’s confidence. Zay was supposed to be a WR with some of the best hands in the draft. He caught everything in college and broke records. He was thought of to be NFL ready and an immediate contributor. He was quiet in preseason but as far as I can remember, no one questions his hands. But since the drop drop in Week 2 of the season, Zay was inconsistent and couldn’t catch routine passes. He had an extremely high drop rate which was among the highest in the NFL his rookie year. There was one game against NYJ on Monday where it FINALLY looked like he was coming into his own. But then, he was tripped and left the game with an injury. Last year he led the Bills in Receiving but he has yet to eclipse a 100 yard performance. He also had a few costly drops. He has contributed at times, but when you consider his draft status, he’s been somewhat of a disappointment at WR. So how do you explain the lack of production from Zay? Is it an issue of confidence? Or is he just not very good at getting open and catching the ball? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatdrought Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) I mean, that was only a minimal drop, as far as drops go. Wasn’t a great ball. but either way, Zay has been inconsistent and made a lot of mental mistakes. Edited September 18, 2019 by whatdrought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Egg Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) A metaphor for the whacked out notion about Zay Jones implied here. Edited September 18, 2019 by I am the egg man 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Guapo Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 He’s just not as good as we hoped. Many a miss in player evaluation. If it was an exact science, every team would have an awesome roster. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil The Thrill Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 3 minutes ago, Rocket94 said: Are you trying to say he is suffering from PTSD? Not PTSD. Just that it shook his confidence. It has been known to happen to athletes when they don’t deliver on big moments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaCrispy Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) Soon the Bills will draft a 1st round WR and Zay Jones will not likely be given a contract extension....Bills still need a guy opposite Smokey Brown...that person is not Zay Jones. Edited September 18, 2019 by JaCrispy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big C Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I think it weighed on him considerably. However, two years is a long time to have the yips. I hope that's not still holding him back. Zay has been inconsistent, but this year he has made the tough catches he needed to make - notably one to convert a 4th down against the Jets. He is doing a little better this year, so far. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 That was the 2nd game he only ever played, wasn't a great ball so no. Recall reading in Jay S column according to Football analytics or whatever they call themselves, he only had 3 drops last year so question how bad his hands really are compared to what fans seem to think. More than anything he's just become fans #1 whipping boy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 58 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said: Here’s an interesting take that I heard on the Bills Beat podcast. The hosts were talking about Zay jones and I believe it was Matt Fairburn who wondered whether the dropped pass against Carolina in 2017 messed with Zay’s confidence. Zay was supposed to be a WR with some of the best hands in the draft. He caught everything in college and broke records. He was thought of to be NFL ready and an immediate contributor. He was quiet in preseason but as far as I can remember, no one questions his hands. But since the drop drop in Week 2 of the season, Zay was inconsistent and couldn’t catch routine passes. He had an extremely high drop rate which was among the highest in the NFL his rookie year. There was one game against NYJ on Monday where it FINALLY looked like he was coming into his own. But then, he was tripped and left the game with an injury. Last year he led the Bills in Receiving but he has yet to eclipse a 100 yard performance. He also had a few costly drops. He has contributed at times, but when you consider his draft status, he’s been somewhat of a disappointment at WR. So how do you explain the lack of production from Zay? Is it an issue of confidence? Or is he just not very good at getting open and catching the ball? Josh isn’t targeting him. There has to be a reason. Maybe something he’s seeing in practice. Maybe he just like other other guys hands better? Brown made an incredible snare over the middle. Zay seems to get open... maybe he’s got a small catch radius or maybe his hands are just bad. Really wish that slant v giants connected to see what he did with it. Edit: Btw on EZ near TD pass: Just looked at all 22. It’s annoyingly close. Seems like it hit his fingertips but he completely sold out to get it. Tough catch.... REALLY tough catch for Zay Edited September 18, 2019 by Over 29 years of fanhood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Egg Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, I am the egg man said: A metaphor for the whacked out notion about Zay Jones implied here. One bad play shouldn't eliminate the player. Edited September 18, 2019 by I am the egg man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real McClappy Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LABILLBACKER Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 That drop/bad TT throw probably didn't help Zays psyche. Last year was decent but not earth shattering. I think this season will be his last with the Bills unless he all of a sudden explodes. I'm sure will be drafting a 2nd/3rd rd wr in April. And there's always the "Duke" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie's Dead Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Why just that one drop, when there are so many to choose from? I think he should change his jersey number. Bad juju from Scrub Johnson and TJumptomakeacatchGraham, neutral juju from 'scoe. Yeah, that's the ticket, a better number. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 41 minutes ago, whatdrought said: I mean, that was only a minimal drop, as far as drops go. Wasn’t a great ball. but either way, Zay has been inconsistent and made a lot of mental mistakes. It was a great ball actually, it was not a clean route where Zay tripped on his own feet slightly on his cut that threw him just off where he he didn’t get a clean turnaround and wasn’t where he would have been if he hit the route clean. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I think Zay crapped himself on that route knowing that the play was designed to go to him for a TD. He nearly fell on his face running against air and stumbling he didn't get to his spot and it made what should have been a routine catch into a very difficult catch..........but one he had shown himself capable of at the Senior Bowl. He knew it and was very emotional about it so I think doubt in himself might have crept in there. Something similar happened with Josh Reed in Jacksonville in 2003. Reed had been velcro handed as a rookie but when elevated up the depth chart after Peerless Price was franchised and dealt Reed cracked under the pressure............he dropped a wide open bomb from Bledsoe to the astonishment of Bills fans everywhere. He was never the same. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 IMO Zay’s issue isn’t the one drop. I question if the issue is that he just doesn’t have the mental toughness to handle the rigors of the NFL, ups and downs, focus, etc. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCBills Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 He needs one good game. As pointed out, last year vs the Jets looked to be it, but then he burned their DB, and the DB ended up injuring him in desperation. It seems like he and Josh are rarely on the same page. Josh has only had a few blatant misses this year, one was the John Brown would-be TD and the others have all been to Zay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayray808 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 OBJ scored on the same route that Josh under threw Zay on... imagine if he was on target and scored Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 14 minutes ago, SCBills said: He needs one good game. As pointed out, last year vs the Jets looked to be it, but then he burned their DB, and the DB ended up injuring him in desperation. It seems like he and Josh are rarely on the same page. Josh has only had a few blatant misses this year, one was the John Brown would-be TD and the others have all been to Zay. He's had a number of good games.......even in his rookie year he played a tremendous role in that key win at KC.............he just always reverts to inconsistency catching the football. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 5 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said: He's had a number of good games.......even in his rookie year he played a tremendous role in that key win at KC.............he just always reverts to inconsistency catching the football. So much so that virtually every catch he tackles himself because he immediately stops and goes to the ground to make sure that he catches it, ensuring no YAC. It's pitiful to watch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Landing Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 If that one drop had anything to do with him “losing confidence,” then that drop was not the issue. Be that as it may, Zay has not appeared to be what he was predicted to be out of college, and that is not out of the ordinary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 2 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said: So much so that virtually every catch he tackles himself because he immediately stops and goes to the ground to make sure that he catches it, ensuring no YAC. It's pitiful to watch. Great point........I think this is lost on a lot of fans. YAC is actually a thing for most WR's. But we don't even CONSIDER the possibility that Zay will get anything after a catch anymore.............just always so relieved when it doesn't hit the turf that it feels like a win. 5 minutes ago, Rocky Landing said: If that one drop had anything to do with him “losing confidence,” then that drop was not the issue. Be that as it may, Zay has not appeared to be what he was predicted to be out of college, and that is not out of the ordinary. It's unusual for a WR to go from being great at catching the football to being poor at it.............but as mentioned earlier it's not foreign to Bills fans after Belitnikoff winner Josh Reed went from incapable of dropping a pass as a rookie to the shakiest handed of possession receivers for the rest of his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagon127 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 The lack of productivity is due to Cole Beasley and John Brown being on the team now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassHog Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I always thought that play was more on Tyrod than Zay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Why all this psychologizing? His problem is he lacks fundamental, in the bone football instincts. He's just not that good. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 15 minutes ago, MassHog said: I always thought that play was more on Tyrod than Zay It's really hard to know. IMO he just didn't track the ball well in the air. He doesn't do that well. So by the time the ball got there it looked like a bad pass when it likely wasn't. He looked lost to me running the route and looking for the ball, and then lunged. IIRC some teammates brought that up and he took the blame, which was big of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uticaclub Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 14 minutes ago, MassHog said: I always thought that play was more on Tyrod than Zay At the time I blamed Tyrod, Veteran QB should have thrown a better ball to the Rookie WR. But -he just doesn’t look like he’s going to develop into an NFL caliber WR. He might be better in a more pass heavy offense. I always compared him to Robert Woods as a Bill, but Woods was so much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, rayray808 said: OBJ scored on the same route that Josh under threw Zay on... imagine if he was on target and scored Wait...OBJ and Zay in same sentence? Don't you think thats quite the stretch? Especially since if you watch the OBJ play there is not a chance Zay scores in the exact same conditions as OBJ was nearly caught before he broke away and is faster and more explosive than Zay. But I will bite...lets imagine he makes that catch, reality is he probably gets 12 to 20 yards on that reception as he isn’t known for RAC and doesn't have game breaking speed. So whats that really likely change? Takes him to 2 receptions for about 26 to 34 yards on the day with a dropped TD. So yeah, guess the only thing you can do to prop up Zay at this point is imagine things that didn't happen because he isn't doing it on the field. Edited September 18, 2019 by Alphadawg7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaCrispy Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) Zay Jones is the EJ Manuel of wide receivers...? Edited September 18, 2019 by JaCrispy 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Sack Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 To me he’s an average depth NFL receiver. He’s inability to separate coupled with the fact he doesn’t have top end speed means he’s not quick enough to play slot, and not fast enough to play on the edges. His best attribute is his hands if schemed into the offense like he was in college, WR screens / slants / hooks. He will never be more than a 11YPC guy. He could be a guy who plays a decade and amasses 40 reception seasons at around 450 yards and 2-5 TDs per year. Because of all these facts I’ve listed, I would still like to see him run deeper decoy routes. We should throw him the occasional 50/50 jump ball given his 6’2” 36.5” vertical. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Zay will be fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmur66 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) Since everyone is kicking him I will jump in too. Makes routine NFL catches look difficult and no RAC. I really hope he pulls it together. You can see the effort is there but something is missing. Confidence comes with success. Edited September 18, 2019 by bmur66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan1959 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 6 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said: It was a great ball actually, it was not a clean route where Zay tripped on his own feet slightly on his cut that threw him just off where he he didn’t get a clean turnaround and wasn’t where he would have been if he hit the route clean. 6 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said: I think Zay crapped himself on that route knowing that the play was designed to go to him for a TD. He nearly fell on his face running against air and stumbling he didn't get to his spot and it made what should have been a routine catch into a very difficult catch..........but one he had shown himself capable of at the Senior Bowl. He knew it and was very emotional about it so I think doubt in himself might have crept in there. Something similar happened with Josh Reed in Jacksonville in 2003. Reed had been velcro handed as a rookie but when elevated up the depth chart after Peerless Price was franchised and dealt Reed cracked under the pressure............he dropped a wide open bomb from Bledsoe to the astonishment of Bills fans everywhere. He was never the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextmanup Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 6 hours ago, El Guapo said: He’s just not as good as we hoped. Many a miss in player evaluation. If it was an exact science, every team would have an awesome roster. I love these myths that spring up around sports. A single drop from several years ago "destroyed his confidence?" Yeah, that's it. Well, either that or he's just not that good. I wonder which is more plausible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlbillsfan1975 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Zay doesn’t excel at running down the ball. Not sure he is really good at catching the over the shoulder passes. I do think Zay is a decent slot receiver who can run crossing routes and come back or hook patterns. I think it’s on Daboll to get Zay lined up correctly and running the right routes. I have always been a Zay supporter, however this is the last year for me in that regard. Particularly when Duke is sitting on the PS and showed some value as a red zone target and can block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale with Cheese Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I believe Zay had a drop earlier in the game and also game 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbomb Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 But it was a bad pass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 If he can improve on special teams then he can make a career in the league as a #4 WR / special teamer. Otherwise, he may be in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSE Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Give him a hug 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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