Is Dawson Knox the 3rd best receiver on the team?

[Buffalo Junction]

Just now, MAJBobby said:

screen game gets hurt because of Josh Allen. Running QBs will hurt the screen game because of the Spy. 

Always... Unless they can put enough pressure on the secondary to make a spy a liability. Not many QBs reach that point (Rodgers, Wilson, and Mahomes?)
 

Having motion as a threat can counteract some of the spy’s effectiveness though. Nothing is completely reliable, but teams have been utilizing the jet sweep to open up screens on the opposite side. 

[MAJBobby]

4 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Always... Unless they can put enough pressure on the secondary to make a spy a liability. Not many QBs reach that point (Rodgers, Wilson, and Mahomes?)
 

Having motion as a threat can counteract some of the spy’s effectiveness though. Nothing is completely reliable, but teams have been utilizing the jet sweep to open up screens on the opposite side. 

makes sense. Just wanted to point out the way defenses defend Allen with the Spy and the controlled rush do make it harder for Teams with those Mobile QB to execute Screens. 
 

but Screens and Quick Hitters our to WRs are very underutilized in this Offense. 
 

with Joshs Arm he can throw that Pop Pass like right now. And the Amount of Cushion Brown gets that is an easy 5 yard completion with Potential to turn Huge. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by MAJBobby

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, billsfan_34 said:

McKenzie belongs- just in the same roll he is in now. Other than that your right.

 

I've been waiting for this

 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

2 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

He was so under utilized at Ole Miss that there is no way he could be even close to a finished ball catcher as a rookie.  He has done well so far, imo, and will do more.  If the offense makes a late season surge, he'll be part of the reason.  He showed well against the Browns.  Two balls he did not come up with were part on Josh and part on his not having his big body in quite the right position.  He is learning fast and will be a tough matchup going forward.

Plus one.

[Luka]

DiMarco should be inactive and they should move towards using Knox in an H Back role when they feel the need for a FB. Not convert him to H back, just move him there when needed. Imagine those FB wheel routes going to Knox instead of DiMarco. I mean if they are willing to run a jet sweep with Knox, I don't see this as being too big of a stretch.

 

Daboll needs to scheme for his best players rather than trying to fit players into his best scheme.

 

McKenzie is also a victim of this. You see small, fast guys like Sproles for instance, get built into an offense all the time. But there has to be a very specific instance where McKenzie sees the field currently.

 

The constant rotation of personnel has probably created quite a few tendencies that make this offense very predictable to defend.

[CincyBillsFan]

I sure as hell would rather see Knox split out wide then either Gore or DeMarco! 

 

Knox is interesting in that right now he is a below average TE in the passing game and is probably doing more harm then good.  Yet, he has shown enough to indicate that over the medium term he's going to be an absolute stud catching the ball down the field. 

 

As others have noted his experience in the passing game is almost nonexistent.  And this I'm sure has contributed to some of his drops but I suspect the bigger concern for Bills coaches is that Knox was not an experienced route runner even at the college level.  He doesn't seem to get sitting down in a zone and he routinely brings his cover guy(s) into an area where Allen is throwing the ball to someone else. 

 

At the same time Knox has made some nice catches and his YAC can be impressive if he gets up a head of steam.  At this point I think we should turn him lose and have him on the field on almost every passing play.  He is at least capable of creating a big play.

 

And IMO next year the conversation around Knox is going to be completely different as the guy catches 50 passes and 10 TD's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[C.Biscuit97]

With as bad as this regime is at scouting offensive talent, when they drafted a TE with zero tds, it seemed like another terrible move.  But Knox looks like a keeper.  

[frostbitmic]

2 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

He only gets 36.8% of the offensive snaps.

 

I DO say he SHOULD be the 3rd WR coming into the Game.

 

One thing is for sure they should NEVER us Andre Roberts at WR

https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/andre-roberts/

 

I disagree ...

 

1. Brown

2. Beasley

3. Duke - At least this guy can catch the ball

4. Knox - The kid is looking good

5. McKittrick - When he gets the ball it's usually a good thing

6. Roberts

7. Poyer, Hyde, White, Milano

8. Kroft - Meh, but better than the rest

9. Sweeney

10. Foster

 

[r00tabaga]

I didn't have time to sort through all of the comments but it's clear that he needs to work on his hands and he uses his body way too much to catch.

[CaptnCoke11]

He has potential to be a really good tight end but too bad he can’t catch the ball.  Probably will be his downfall 

[MDH]

3 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

I'd put him 4th on the team after Brown, Beasley and Duke.

 

Why they're giving Foster active duty over Duke is weird to me.

 

Because even when they dont throw Foster’s way the D is still very aware of him because of his speed. They slide a S over to his side most of the time thereby clearing out room underneath for another WR. Foster’s presence on the field helps the rest of the team. 

 

 

[london_bills]

When he stops dropping passes. He has his moments but worries me with these drops he does. 

[starrymessenger]

IMO Knox will break out big time. It prolly won't happen next week but it'll happen before the end of next year. Knox and Singletary encourage me to think that Beane and his boys can identify talent on offence. If so that's great because it's now job 1.

[Augie]

He’s certainly had some bad drops. I also like what I see in general. He blocks pretty well, he’s got some fire in his belly and he makes plays. I hope he learns to focus on the catch and keep growing into a special TE. 

[berg1029]

There's a lot of hating on Foster here, but the guy hasn't really had a chance to catch any long balls.  Allen hasn't been accurate enough for Foster to be of use, that's not on Foster.  I know he had issues tracking the ball last year in preseason, but he had a good year last year and he showed he can be a good player

[Solomon Grundy]

That's a scary thought if he is!!

[Buffalo Junction]

6 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

with Joshs Arm he can throw that Pop Pass like right now. And the Amount of Cushion Brown gets that is an easy 5 yard completion with Potential to turn Huge. 

You know.... I’m not sure if they’ve run any “slant & go” routes. With his arm strength that could be extremely effective just like it was with Favre. 

[Hebert19]

Sadly maybe.  

[CEN-CAL17]

13 hours ago, Motorin' said:

 

Definitely need to add another option at least of Brown's quality.

I’d like to see them go after Geronimo Allison (6-3 205, 25 years old) in the off-season..... I’m not saying he’s star quality but would be a good fit.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I would say yes but he has had some bad drops, McKenzie might be third due to overall effectiveness.

 

 

[Doc Brown]

14 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

I'd put him 4th on the team after Brown, Beasley and Duke.

 

Why they're giving Foster active duty over Duke is weird to me.

The Browns were shifting their safety to help the corner every time Foster ran a go route.  It helped open up the field giving Brown, Beasley, and Knox more opportunities.  They obviously respected his speed.  Duke Williams doesn't provide that.

[frostbitmic]

4 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

The Browns were shifting their safety to help the corner every time Foster ran a go route.  It helped open up the field giving Brown, Beasley, and Knox more opportunities.  They obviously respected his speed.  Duke Williams doesn't provide that.

They would need to respect John Brown's speed running the same go route, and Brown can actually track and catch the ball.

 

Duke is a great guy to use in the red zone, The TD that he caught seemed like he had plenty of separation. Duke seems like the guy that is open even when he's not open, I think we need that on the field.

[ILBillsfan]

20 hours ago, BuffaloBillies said:

This list shows why Foster should be inactive every week and Williams and McKenzie should be active...just a bit more value

[Kmart128]

Id say McKenzie is our 3rd best

[CircleTheWagons99]

I hope so, being forced to start him in Fantasy this week and hoping for a good showing.

[Tcali]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:40 AM, Motorin' said:

I noticed Rambo split out wide on several occasion against the Browns. His stats show he has the 3rd most receiving production after Brown and Beasley, with Singletary next behind him.

 

Should the Bills be utilizing Knox as the #3 or #4 wr on clear passing downs?

 

 

YES.-Because he is a tough guy/tough runner after the catch.

But when you start talking about who the 'best' receivers are--remember that they are dealing with a QB who cant hit the broadside of a barn from more than 25 yards away.

Not really fair to the receivers.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

On 11/14/2019 at 12:47 PM, PaattMaann said:

 

also has more targets than anyone else other than Brown and Beasley....also has a terrible catch %

 

How many are actual drops vs un-catchable?  Brown isn't a whole lot better, so to say he has a terrible % considering he's a 3rd round draft pick when compared against Brown, doesn't really look all that bad. 

 

But overall a meaningless stat without knowing how many were catchable. 

[Turk71]

  The Bills offensive weapons don't scare anyone. Two decent but undersized wrs, an underutilized rookie rb paired with a 40 yr old and little else. The fact that a rookie te with problems catching the ball is their 3rd best receiver says it all.

   Not surrounding their young QB with weapons but asking him to throw 40 times a game is not a good plan.

[Buffaloed in Pa]

Stone hands

[Nextmanup]

2 hours ago, Turk71 said:

  The Bills offensive weapons don't scare anyone. Two decent but undersized wrs, an underutilized rookie rb paired with a 40 yr old and little else. The fact that a rookie te with problems catching the ball is their 3rd best receiver says it all.

   Not surrounding their young QB with weapons but asking him to throw 40 times a game is not a good plan.

Yeah well the guy throwing the rock plays a role in all this too, you know.

 

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

1. Bench Gore. Yeldon and Singletary are a better duo at this point

2. Knox has the physical tools to be great. 

3. Brown, Beasley, and Knox should get at least 7 targets per game

4. Duke should get 4 targets 

5. Bench McKenzie

6. Foster should get 3 targets

7. The rest of the targets go to the backs and Kroft

[Victory Formation]

Yes, he is. Matter of fact I could see him rising up that list. I love Knox, TEs typically take a year or two to find their niche. I think Knox can be a damn good player for us.

[benderbender]

 

[3rdand12]

On 11/14/2019 at 12:50 PM, Boatdrinks said:

Probably, and that shows just how lacking the Bills are in offensive weapons. They have 2 WRs that should be on an NFL roster .

it shows something. not sure it is how limited they are with weapons honestly.

[3rdand12]

On 11/14/2019 at 1:37 PM, JESSEFEFFER said:

He was so under utilized at Ole Miss that there is no way he could be even close to a finished ball catcher as a rookie.  He has done well so far, imo, and will do more.  If the offense makes a late season surge, he'll be part of the reason.  He showed well against the Browns.  Two balls he did not come up with were part on Josh and part on his not having his big body in quite the right position.  He is learning fast and will be a tough matchup going forward.

excellent post
I would like to get Sweeney on the field.
Kroft was picked up before the draft if i recall.
Not sure how i feel about him. But Knox ? Yes i see him getting better and better in all aspects of his game , and playing for the Bills long term ( hope)

[EmotionallyUnstable]

I think he is a good player, and very well might be the 3rd best receiving threat on the team. 

[Bookie Man]

I was surprised by his acceleration. I'd like to see more of those quick TE screens to him. Or those middle TE screens that KC uses to Kelce. Dude has the speed to break one.

[Mike in Horseheads]

They signed Yeldon to catch the ball out of the backfield, so he's inactive every week.

[3rdand12]

3 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

They signed Yeldon to catch the ball out of the backfield, so he's inactive every week.

That was more insure they had one. In case Singletary did not work out i bet.
 

Yeldon still fumbles btw

On 11/14/2019 at 8:28 PM, Augie said:

He’s certainly had some bad drops. I also like what I see in general. He blocks pretty well, he’s got some fire in his belly and he makes plays. I hope he learns to focus on the catch and keep growing into a special TE. 

He has made some fine catches as well.
I agree with bolded

[Mike in Horseheads]

2 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

That was more insure they had one. In case Singletary did not work out i bet.
 

Yeldon still fumbles btw

Ok, that happens when you don't play lol