Jump to content

Re-sign or “wave good-bye” series: Player 6 - Isaiah McKenzie


YoloinOhio

WR Isaiah McKenzie  

295 members have voted

  1. 1. Re-sign or wave good-bye?

    • Offer whatever it takes to keep him
    • Make an offer, but if he gets one elsewhere that exceeds the value the team has assessed on him, let him walk
    • Don’t make an offer, thanks for the memories


Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, DCOrange said:

If he comes relatively cheap (like just a few million dollars per year), I'd bring him back, but he's a guy I'm hoping we can upgrade via the draft. The jet sweeps and stuff are an important piece of the offense, but we need someone that's more effective at other WR-things than McKenzie is IMO. A guy like Kadarius Toney or Rondale Moore would be a suitable replacement.

 

re Toney or Moore, my sense is that those guys are mocked as 1st/2nd round picks. I can see the Bills being skittish for spending a high pick on a WR. Are you thinking one of these guys is going to fall a bit?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

 

re Toney or Moore, my sense is that those guys are mocked as 1st/2nd round picks. I can see the Bills being skittish for spending a high pick on a WR. Are you thinking one of these guys is going to fall a bit?

No I definitely think it would require a 1st or 2nd round selection for those guys. I personally wouldn't hesitate to take them but I get that it's not at the top of the list of needs either. I do think a player that can do gadgety-stuff while also being a good WR in their own right is an underrated need though. I assume John Brown is gone this offseason and Davis slots in to his spot, but Beasley is old and will probably need to be replaced within a couple years at best and I think we'd be able to get someone like Toney or Moore on the field a lot even if they're technically the #4 WR on the team.

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

22 hours ago, eSJayDee said:

I think it's more a matter of him not wanting to sign w/ us.  He's a solid contributor here, as a 4th or 5th WR.  One can't afford to pay a 5th WR well.  Further, I would suspect someone desperate to upgrade their WR position would see his productivity here & think he's got a (good) chance of being a significant contributor for them & of course offer him commensurate pay.

As for KR, I think he could be good & therefore worthy more $.  I'd be hesitant to let him return punts as I think he'd be a noticeable downgrade relative to Roberts WRT fielding the ball.

 

He made it sound like he wants to be back....he told BillsMafia and Brandon Beane to come find him selling meat at some local market

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

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Question: What's a "great 40" to you? 

 

McKenzie ran a 4.42 (and had a 36" vertical jump).  It's not John Brown but it's probably the 2nd fastest on the offense 

Andre Roberts, regarded as a speedster, 4.46.  Stefon Diggs, 4.46.  Cole Beasley, 4.49.  Gabriel Davis 4.54.  Isaiah Hodgins, 4.61.  Kumerow, 4.54.  Taiwan Jones faster at 4.33 but he's apparently there to be the gunner.  Kenny Stills slightly faster 4.38. 

 

I think he's within measurement error of being a damn fast guy.

 

His problem is that he's a Beasley-size guy without the surgical precision that helps Beasley undress coverage on routes over the middle.  So he can be jammed and pressed and taken away.

 

 

 

 

Curious

1) what you guys think is "a fair offer"

2) why @billsfan89 believes WR4 money to be $3M-ish?

 

 

3 million isn't WR4 money but I feel like a team like Jacksonville looking for a gadget player who can add some speed and versatility to their WR corps will pay him 3 million and that's just too much for the Bills. I think Mac also is someone who has been effective returning kicks. So I can once again see a team looking at Mac and seeing a player that can be their return man and give them 30 catches, 300 yards and 3-4 TD's to the offense, which is worth 3 million esp to a team flushed with cap space. 

 

I would love to have Mac back, I think he adds a nice wrinkle to the offense. But I think another team really talks themselves into paying him a bit more than he might be worth to the Bills.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Keep and get him on the field more often.  The dude makes plays in his limited action.  

 

He doesn't have a great 40 but he's fast and shifty on the field.  

 

Him and Beasley in the slot and Davis/Diggs on the outside....I think that's a good package (that's what she said).  If we keeps Stills, he can just be on our vertical packages.

:thumbsup: For your analysis on McKenzie.

 

:thumbdown: For your overused joke.

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

10 hours ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

It was not a coincidence that after McKenzie had his best game he also wasn’t effective the next week or two. Isaiah is fast but doesn’t seem to be able to take the regular hits that come with playing considerable time.

I wonder if the Bills will look for a later round smaller back with speed and pass catching ability to fill in for some of McKenzies edge rushes?

I assume you're talking about our 3 playoff games. Call me crazy but it's kinda hard to be effective when you hardly touch the ball. Isaiah had 0 touches against the Colts and only 2 targets each against Baltimore and KC. He could easily assume the roll of our WR4 / PR / KR and save the team money to focus on other players.  I think that's what McB will do. Roberts & Brown will be gone.

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

3 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I assume you're talking about our 3 playoff games. Call me crazy but it's kinda hard to be effective when you hardly touch the ball. Isaiah had 0 touches against the Colts and only 2 targets each against Baltimore and KC. He could easily assume the roll of our WR4 / PR / KR and save the team money to focus on other players.  I think that's what McB will do. Roberts & Brown will be gone.

So I remember that they were reporting that he was injured after week 17. Does anyone know the what the actual extent was?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Issue with measurements are most are from when players joined league.  Some measurements are redone although a lot of weight ones I am skeptical about but speed ones are almost never redone.  Most WRs should be looking for specialists in off season to work on their skills like QBs do with so much of NFL becoming an offense-first game.  Diggs has a specialist he works with, the one whose facility Barkley arranged for offense to do offseason workout in Florida last year, and they should be looking for someone like that.  If they can workout together even better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was he hurt for the playoffs? I just dont understand he goes off week 17 against Miami scoring 3 TDs every way you can score a TD, and then goes completely unused in the playoffs. And that was with Beasely, Brown, Diggs, and Davis all injured to varying degress. WTF happened?

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the WR position this year is going to come down to what they think they have in Isaiah Hodgins. If the staff thinks Hodgins can develop like Gabriel Davis did then it is a no brainer to cut John Brown and let Roberts walk, and hand more PR/KR duty over to McKenzie. Plus if they want to keep it safe they can always put Hyde back to catch punts when they are near their own end zone. 

 

I'd keep McKenzie around though if it were up to me. Couple years, maybe 2.5-3 million a year.

Edited by Justin C
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/11/2021 at 8:29 PM, letsgoteam said:

So I remember that they were reporting that he was injured after week 17. Does anyone know the what the actual extent was?

 

Not really.  It was an ankle sprain, and I believe he DNP then was limited, but I remember he practiced in full the last day and didn't have an injury designation for the game.

 

All season his use in games varied (aside from the end of the NE game then the Miami game) from a low of 7-10% to a high of 34%.  I assume it had to do with perceived match-ups.   Average snaps were 21%.

 

His use in the playoff games was consistent with this: 7%, 14%, 21%.

 

I think he's improving, but his weakness as a WR has been getting physically taken out of the game.  At 5'8", 173 he's the same size as John Brown, who is a much more polished WR but has the same struggles. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He is a solid gadget guy and id like to see him back on a reasonable deal. However, if there is a little speedster sitting around late in the draft it may be better to take a shot for Beane. I like Isaiah as a player and person especially after getting to meet him at Bills Panthers camp. I see him as a bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/13/2021 at 6:47 AM, Justin C said:

I think the WR position this year is going to come down to what they think they have in Isaiah Hodgins. If the staff thinks Hodgins can develop like Gabriel Davis did then it is a no brainer to cut John Brown and let Roberts walk, and hand more PR/KR duty over to McKenzie. Plus if they want to keep it safe they can always put Hyde back to catch punts when they are near their own end zone. 

 

I'd keep McKenzie around though if it were up to me. Couple years, maybe 2.5-3 million a year.

Considering everything McKenzie can do, 2.5M hardly breaks the bank for the organization. Especially when one player can replace 2....

5 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

He's an adventure in the PR/KR department.

 

He had some fumbling/muffed punt issues as a returned prior to getting Roberts and was benched a couple times there IIRC. 

At least he scored a td which is more than I can say for Roberts over 2 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...