Gabe Davis caught an abysmal 51.6% of his 93 targets this year. Update: High% off target

[streetkings01]

1 hour ago, MrEpsYtown said:

That's the thing with a first round receiver. If we draft one, they are still going to start Davis and McKenzie and never really use the rookie. It's going to be tough for a rookie to come in and unseat Gabe Davis and we will continue to watch him drop passes. 

 

One of the major issues with the franchise is its unwillingness to play rookies and their blind faith/devotion to mediocre vets. That has to change, otherwise they will be held back from putting the most talent on the field. It has stunted the growth of DL like Epensa, Rousseau and Basham, as well as Oliver. Cook is one of the most explosive players on the team, and he spent a lot of time on the bench. Heck hey started Nate Peterman over Josh. It's why they lost Teller, it's why they lost Hodgins, it's why Shakir wasn't ready to make that big play in the playoffs. Draft these guys and let them play.   

I disagree with this team not playing rookies over vets. White, Dawkins, Allen, Edmunds, Oliver, Moss and Rousseau started pretty much from day 1. The problem I have with the staff is sticking with underperforming players too long in the starting lineup based on how comfortable they are with them. 

[BarleyNY]

Just now, Lane Meyer K12 said:

Not making any projections, but Buffalo had a receiver by the name of Eric Moulds who dropped a lot of passes his first few seasons. He was considered a disappointment. However, around season four, Moulds became one of the better receivers in the league. He ended up having a productive career in Buffalo. Possibly, Davis has the same upside and just needs a little more time. He has talent and has shown flashes. Maybe, year four it clicks.

I think Davis should be here for year four, but that the Bills should also put some resources into improving the WR position. That means either upgrading WR2 or at least bringing in real competition for it. Year 4 is the last of Davis’ rookie contract so next season will be the now or never year for him with the Bills. 

[BuffaloRebound]

It’s almost a must that the Bills give Josh at least a 1B to Diggs 1A.  He’s hard not to like but Diggs seems like a ticking time bomb.  Plus he’s not getting any younger.  

[78thealltimegreat]

1 hour ago, colin said:

he's a pure JAG.

 

allen has made brown and older beat up bease look like dynamic threats, when they are in fact very limited and can be erased by a D.

 

he and mckenzie run just trash routes way too often and have bad hands.  they just don't have any special talents or skills.

 

upside take: an above average to good wr in his place would add a ton to our O

Greg Cosell agrees with you 

[OldTimer1960]

22 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

It's not just the catch rate, it's the (lack of) targets.  Buffalo had 551 attempts in 2022, 154 of which went to Diggs which is understandable.  But on the ~400 other targets, Davis had less than a quarter of those on a team with a decent but not exceptional option at TE and little at the slot WR.    

 

I have to believe that after that KC game, McBeane and their All-Star Personnel Team assumed Davis would start catching more passes and getting open more jumping from WR3 to WR2.  Or, they wanted to believe in their assessment of Davis because they wanted more defense.  

 

People care about firing Frazier, but those doing the self-scouting of their own players at OBD and/or prioritizing positional needs really need to be examined.  Especially on offense where they continually fail to invest and, when they do, the results are underwhelming.  Too many misses at the skill positions. 

 

 

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that they didn’t know that Davis might not progress.  There are only limited number of draft picks and very limited money for other issues.  
 

Beyond the above, I don’t think it would have been unreasonable to think Davis was improving after the KC playoff game.  It hasn’t materialized clearly, but he played really well that game.

[colin]

Just now, 78thealltimegreat said:

Greg Cosell agrees with you 

 

ya, very few of my thoughts are even approaching original.

 

it's pretty clear to me josh just didn't trust his guys near the end of the year.  i think that's the reason for us just blasting the ball deep so much.  if you can't count on precision on short routes, you risk turnovers close, so you might as well go deeper where the rewards are bigger and teh penalties are smaller.

 

i think either mckenzie is always out of position, or josh has zero faith in his hands.

[OldTimer1960]

7 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

It’s almost a must that the Bills give Josh at least a 1B to Diggs 1A.  He’s hard not to like but Diggs seems like a ticking time bomb.  Plus he’s not getting any younger.  

So, who is that 1B going to be in the draft?  They will be picking among consolation prizes at WR at end of round 1.  Can they find a good one there?  Maybe…

[billieve420]

14 hours ago, GolfandBills said:

Gabes problem other than he can’t catch is that he’s horrible in the short and intermediate areas of the field.  

 

Yeah everything was deep to Gabe so didn't see a lot of easy completions in the short to intermediate range.

[BuffaloRebound]

5 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

So, who is that 1B going to be in the draft?  They will be picking among consolation prizes at WR at end of round 1.  Can they find a good one there?  Maybe…

Seems like the QB’s and Edge guys will go early.  Haven’t watched enough college football to know who the good WR’s are, but I’d love for Beane to move up a to get a difference maker at WR. Garrett Wilson went 10th last year.  Chris Olave went 11th. Somebody of that ilk in that range.  

[BillsVet]

12 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that they didn’t know that Davis might not progress.  There are only limited number of draft picks and very limited money for other issues.  
 

Beyond the above, I don’t think it would have been unreasonable to think Davis was improving after the KC playoff game.  It hasn’t materialized clearly, but he played really well that game.

 

Every single team is bound by resource limitations...it's how an organization scores their positional priorities that matters.    

 

Compare any position group on defense versus the offense and you'll see this.  The DB's, LBs, and DL all have received more in picks/UFA dollars compared to the OL, RB/WR/TE position groups. 

 

If (and it's only 'if) they believed Davis could graduate to being a WR2 on the basis of that 2021 AFC Divisional Round game, then their decision makers are extremely lacking.    

[CincyBillsFan]

12 minutes ago, colin said:

 

ya, very few of my thoughts are even approaching original.

 

it's pretty clear to me josh just didn't trust his guys near the end of the year.  i think that's the reason for us just blasting the ball deep so much.  if you can't count on precision on short routes, you risk turnovers close, so you might as well go deeper where the rewards are bigger and teh penalties are smaller.

 

i think either mckenzie is always out of position, or josh has zero faith in his hands.

This is a great point.  I remember a couple of examples of this:

 

*  One was in the Detroit game Cook stopped in the spot that a D Tackle was blocking Allen's vision.  Allen expected him to keep moving into an open space and threw the ball to that spot.  Only by pure luck was that pass NOT intercepted in what would have looked to people like a terrible Allen throw.

 

* And remember the pass to Shakir that went for about 30 yards.  It was a short pass where Shakir came back to the ball as Allen moved up in the pocket.  The camera caught Allen making an expressive thumbs up sign to Shakir which led me to believe that they had talked in film/practice about this and Shakir actually ran the pattern correctly for the first time.

 

There were others to but my guess is that it would be eye opening if we were a fly on the wall in the film room.  I bet we would be stunned by how often Bills receivers ran the wrong pattern or didn't react properly as a play broke down in the 5 - 10 yard zone. Folks are quick to blame Allen for not taking the short passes but if guys are not getting where they're supposed to be a QB will back away from those throws real quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, colin said:

he's a pure JAG.

 

allen has made brown and older beat up bease look like dynamic threats, when they are in fact very limited and can be erased by a D.

 

he and mckenzie run just trash routes way too often and have bad hands.  they just don't have any special talents or skills.

 

upside take: an above average to good wr in his place would add a ton to our O

Yep.  Allen clearly elevated Beasley & Brown's game extending their careers in the process.  And don't forget how Allen elevated Sanders play last season.  Just like he did with Foster in 2018. 

[OldTimer1960]

11 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

Seems like the QB’s and Edge guys will go early.  Haven’t watched enough college football to know who the good WR’s are, but I’d love for Beane to move up a to get a difference maker at WR. Garrett Wilson went 10th last year.  Chris Olave went 11th. Somebody of that ilk in that range.  

Me too, but I don’t think there is any chance of that.  I don’t think there is a WR as good as either of those two this year and Bills can’t afford to trade their picks and still get help for OL and S.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

14 hours ago, CoudyBills said:

Can't be.  I read here that he is a solid number 2 option.  

I think you inadvertently added the word option and misread the context of a ‘number 2’

[Your Brown Eye]

I was an idiot and drafted him very high in our fantasy draft based on last year Chiefs playoff game...wooof

[Drew21PA]

Begs the question

 

Did Allen really “regress” with his number 2 drop off being because of his number 2 dropping a lot of passes - potential TDs, and responsible for some picks?

 

im not in the camp to say Allen regressed I saw some things Davis struggled with and caused some issues with Allen (INT and comp %}
 

since it was a down year - could he gain another 35-40% production in his last year of his rookie contract ?  Or too much of a liability?

 

last question

if Gabe actually does his job - is Dorsey REALLY that bad?  I have to wonder myself now that the wounds are slowly healing.

 

I feel our defense is too giving and Dorsey is too young for McDermott to be saying “screw it our offense can score a gazillion points” 

 

maybe Dorsey matures it can be that way…idk 

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

10 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Me too, but I don’t think there is any chance of that.  I don’t think there is a WR as good as either of those two this year and Bills can’t afford to trade their picks and still get help for OL and S.

Then trade up to the 10-12 range for the best Offensive Tackle still available and sign a premier WR free agent.  Josh desperately needs an influx of premier talent at WR and OL.  Ed Oliver + pick 27 for Houston’s pick 12.  

[CoudyBills]

1 hour ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

I think you inadvertently added the word option and misread the context of a ‘number 2’

I see what you did there.  

[Straight Hucklebuck]

10 hours ago, pennstate10 said:

I don’t believe Gabe YAC was 2.9 yds. 
Do you have a reference for that stat?

It was either in this video:

 

or this video:

McKenzie was only at 3.9 yards after catch. 

[Nextmanup]

He's way too inconsistent to be a No. 2 on any team in the NFL.

 

Move on from him!

 

 

[billieve420]

1 hour ago, Drew21PA said:

Begs the question

 

Did Allen really “regress” with his number 2 drop off being because of his number 2 dropping a lot of passes - potential TDs, and responsible for some picks?

 

im not in the camp to say Allen regressed I saw some things Davis struggled with and caused some issues with Allen (INT and comp %}
 

since it was a down year - could he gain another 35-40% production in his last year of his rookie contract ?  Or too much of a liability?

 

last question

if Gabe actually does his job - is Dorsey REALLY that bad?  I have to wonder myself now that the wounds are slowly healing.

 

I feel our defense is too giving and Dorsey is too young for McDermott to be saying “screw it our offense can score a gazillion points” 

 

maybe Dorsey matures it can be that way…idk 

 

 

 

There were some easy completions out there to be had where Allen decided to force the issue deeper so definitely things for him to work on in the offseason. I still think he needs an upgrade at offensive line where he is not constantly looking to escape once the ball is snapped and a line that can effectively run the ball consistently.