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Wade as the return man?


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4 hours ago, Logic said:

 

Take it easy, Francis.

 

First, no one said anything about dumping Roberts. You pulled that idea out of thin air.

 

Second, as difficult as it is to learn to field punts, I’d be willing to bet any amount of money that learning to play the running back position from scratch and learning an entire offensive playbook are more difficult feats.

 

In truth, Wade will likely never make an NFL roster. My contention is simply that trying to teach him a special teams specialty gives him a better chance than having him try to learn an entire offense.

 

But by all means, Blow things out of proportion and get upset.


 

Who is upset or blowing anything out of proportion.  
 

All I am saying is that there is no way that I see - that the team would keep 2 players on the roster that can not really contribute on offense (as per your contention that it would be easier to learn special teams than RB).  Therefore, the contention that he can return kicks, but not be ready to play the RB position would mean you have really look to dump Roberts (a guy that has been All Pro and was just in the Pro Bowl last year as an alternate).

 

I agree that I am not sure Wade ever makes an NFL roster - especially as he still has a roster waiver for this year - but the best chance for him to make a roster long term is to continue to learn and grow at the RB position.  Taking time away from that to teach him how to return punts seems like a counter productive measure.

 

Returning Kick-offs is a whole other story and he may or may not be good at that as his Rugby training could enter into the instincts needed there, but I just do not see a reason to waste time trying to figure that out with a guy on the roster that does this at a high level already.

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5 hours ago, buffalojedwardo said:

Giving someone a shot and totally writing someone off are two different things. I can’t be the only one to not be impressed with Roberts. Also all pro and pro bowl are two different things. He was also a substitute. 

https://www.newyorkjets.com/news/jets-returner-andre-roberts-name-first-team-all-pro-safety-jamal-adams-gets-seco
Believe me, I know they are different. He was an All Pro the year before. 

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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/bills-t-j-yeldon-more-competition-for-final-roster/

 

 

 Yeldon and Singletary are the two best receiving options in the RB room, but Yeldon isn't much of a special teams player, which should ensure a spot goes to Taiwan Jones.

 

In the end, it might come down to a battle between Yeldon and ex-rugby star Christian Wade for one of the team's final roster spots.

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So far the Wade thing is turning out to be more a PR thing for the league than anything else, not that any of us would mind if he turned out to be a good player, but I get the feeling it’s 99% PR for over seas consumption. I don’t think the Bills would have taken him on if not for this league initiative. 

Edited by Don Otreply
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2 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/bills-t-j-yeldon-more-competition-for-final-roster/

 

 

 Yeldon and Singletary are the two best receiving options in the RB room, but Yeldon isn't much of a special teams player, which should ensure a spot goes to Taiwan Jones.

 

In the end, it might come down to a battle between Yeldon and ex-rugby star Christian Wade for one of the team's final roster spots.

Or Antonio Williams. Who was suggested by Bleacher Report. He is a special teamer RB

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14 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

We have one of the best, if not THE best KRs in the league. But let’s replace him with a guy that has barely even played football. I don’t understand why Bills fans, are always obsessed with these underdog stories. Like Duke Williams. The guy isn’t even going to make the team. We have awesome WRs now, but there will be 20 threads this offseason about a player that’s on the fringe of making the league. A guy like John Brown that had an incredible season last year...no talk. Duke Williams, hero. We have 2 young RBs that could easily be the strength of the offense going forward...nobody talks about them. Rugby player that might not even understand the rules of Football: savior. Now our all pro return guy needs to be replaced by him. 

 

It's just the mind set of being a Bills fan always considered the under dog, always given no respect from the so called "Experts" around the NFL we as fans have always done it .

 

Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson, Duke and many others that have come through Buffalo that have become fan favorites there are so many the have come & gone that for what ever reason the Bills fans just gravitate to because of their back story I'm very surprised that Levi Wallace hasn't been one of those adoptions by Bills fans given his path to the NFL .

 

I believe that if your a Bills fan rooting for the underdog weather it be our team or a player on the team will always go hand in hand !! GO BILLS !!  

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On 5/12/2020 at 8:15 PM, Peace Frog said:

With a slew of talented receivers that could also be the return man, who knows if Andre Roberts even makes the team.

Which if these receivers can replace Robert's as kick returner? None of them have ever  been featured returners,have they?

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I like Andre Roberts but let's not get over the top about his play.

Last year there was 38 punter returners with over 10 punt returns.

Roberts was ranked 17th at just under 8 yards per return.

 

At best he is an emergency WR and taking up a roster spot for PR is a tough sell unless you are tearing the position up.

I have him penciled in on making the roster again this year but I don't think he will be returning punts next year for the Bills.

There is a reason that he has been on 5 different teams in the past 5 years.

 

This has nothing to do with Wade but it would be nice for Roberts to get back to something close to his numbers the previous year of 14 yards per return.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&year_min=2019&year_max=2019&season_start=1&season_end=-1&pos[]=qb&pos[]=rb&pos[]=wr&pos[]=te&pos[]=e&pos[]=t&pos[]=g&pos[]=c&pos[]=ol&pos[]=dt&pos[]=de&pos[]=dl&pos[]=ilb&pos[]=olb&pos[]=lb&pos[]=cb&pos[]=s&pos[]=db&pos[]=k&pos[]=p&draft_year_min=1936&draft_year_max=2020&draft_slot_min=1&draft_slot_max=500&draft_pick_in_round=pick_overall&conference=any&draft_pos[]=qb&draft_pos[]=rb&draft_pos[]=wr&draft_pos[]=te&draft_pos[]=e&draft_pos[]=t&draft_pos[]=g&draft_pos[]=c&draft_pos[]=ol&draft_pos[]=dt&draft_pos[]=de&draft_pos[]=dl&draft_pos[]=ilb&draft_pos[]=olb&draft_pos[]=lb&draft_pos[]=cb&draft_pos[]=s&draft_pos[]=db&draft_pos[]=k&draft_pos[]=p&c1stat=punt_ret&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c5val=1.0&order_by=punt_ret_yds_per_ret

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I don't see why he couldn't be a great return man. Can he beat out Andre Roberts for a roster spot? Maybe not, but the dude is a world class, veteran professional athlete and mature adult who has dedicated his life to learning American football. He's got lightning reflexes, speed for days, an incredible instincts as a runner in space (and not just as a runner, but as a ball carrier). People in here are equating the kick return to building a nuclear submarine, but it's not that big of a stretch for a guy like Wade. He has a better chance at success than people think.  

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On 5/12/2020 at 8:04 PM, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

We have one of the best, if not THE best KRs in the league. But let’s replace him with a guy that has barely even played football. I don’t understand why Bills fans, are always obsessed with these underdog stories. Like Duke Williams. The guy isn’t even going to make the team. We have awesome WRs now, but there will be 20 threads this offseason about a player that’s on the fringe of making the league. A guy like John Brown that had an incredible season last year...no talk. Duke Williams, hero. We have 2 young RBs that could easily be the strength of the offense going forward...nobody talks about them. Rugby player that might not even understand the rules of Football: savior. Now our all pro return guy needs to be replaced by him. 

 

Duke can go to the practice squad - teams are more likely to poach foster off the practice squad i think.  We'll see what happens with Hodgins too - but Duke/hodgins/foster are all looking like PS candidates. 

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11 hours ago, ColoradoBills said:

I like Andre Roberts but let's not get over the top about his play.

Last year there was 38 punter returners with over 10 punt returns.

Roberts was ranked 17th at just under 8 yards per return.

 

At best he is an emergency WR and taking up a roster spot for PR is a tough sell unless you are tearing the position up.

I have him penciled in on making the roster again this year but I don't think he will be returning punts next year for the Bills.

There is a reason that he has been on 5 different teams in the past 5 years.

 

This has nothing to do with Wade but it would be nice for Roberts to get back to something close to his numbers the previous year of 14 yards per return.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&year_min=2019&year_max=2019&season_start=1&season_end=-1&pos[]=qb&pos[]=rb&pos[]=wr&pos[]=te&pos[]=e&pos[]=t&pos[]=g&pos[]=c&pos[]=ol&pos[]=dt&pos[]=de&pos[]=dl&pos[]=ilb&pos[]=olb&pos[]=lb&pos[]=cb&pos[]=s&pos[]=db&pos[]=k&pos[]=p&draft_year_min=1936&draft_year_max=2020&draft_slot_min=1&draft_slot_max=500&draft_pick_in_round=pick_overall&conference=any&draft_pos[]=qb&draft_pos[]=rb&draft_pos[]=wr&draft_pos[]=te&draft_pos[]=e&draft_pos[]=t&draft_pos[]=g&draft_pos[]=c&draft_pos[]=ol&draft_pos[]=dt&draft_pos[]=de&draft_pos[]=dl&draft_pos[]=ilb&draft_pos[]=olb&draft_pos[]=lb&draft_pos[]=cb&draft_pos[]=s&draft_pos[]=db&draft_pos[]=k&draft_pos[]=p&c1stat=punt_ret&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c5val=1.0&order_by=punt_ret_yds_per_ret

 

And after wade catches a punt and fumbles will we re-think the decision?  

 

Also - 10 punt returns is a bit of a small sample size (a little over 1/2 a return per game).  Not to mention PR's are largely blocking related.  

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2 hours ago, dneveu said:

 

And after wade catches a punt and fumbles will we re-think the decision?  

 

Also - 10 punt returns is a bit of a small sample size (a little over 1/2 a return per game).  Not to mention PR's are largely blocking related.  

 

Wade's chances of making the team are slim to none.  I think Roberts probably stays one more year to catch punts and return kicks.

My main point was that PR is not a big part of the game anymore and Andre was a bit of a disappointment compared to what he did the year before.

 

I used 10 punts to get somewhere around a figure for 1 PR man per team.  The fact is that most punts are not returned.  Fair catches, kicks OOB,

kicks into the end zone and kick in bound not fielded are the usual result of a punt.  Andre only had 28 returns all season which was 5th in the league.

 

FWIW I ran the numbers for 15 or more punts and there was only 24 players that made the list.  Andre was 11th on that list.

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