Any Breakout Stars This Year?

[Sierra Foothills]

 

[The Frankish Reich]

Hiding in plain sight: Dawson Knox.

He's looked ready to break out into the top tier of NFL TEs for a couple years now. I think it happens this season.

[Robert Paulson]

On 8/12/2023 at 8:05 PM, BuffaloBillyG said:

 

For a less than obvious answer: If Dorian Williams finds snaps he is going to flash big time this year. The hype about his instincts....isn't hype. 

 

INSTINCTS- this is what Edmunds was missing- could not hit the right hole or deviate from his assignment to make a big play: looking forward to see if Williams can earn some more playing time

 

and I think we are way below our Williams quota right now

[Kirby Jackson]

Andy Isabella is a blue collar guy. He works hard. Isabella is a high IQ guy. He’s tough. He is quicker than fast. Isabella is sneaky athletic. He brings his hard hat and lunch pail to work everyday. Isabella is the kind of scrappy, high motor gamer that the Bills have been lacking since Beasley went to the Giants. He has heart and the intangibles that this team needs. Isabella is a gritty winner that’s willing to get his hands dirty. He has heart and passion. Isabella will outwork the other 52!!

 

James Cook is the best breakout candidate. 

On 8/13/2023 at 1:35 AM, JayBaller10 said:

Is it too late to get a refund on Harty? 

 

On 8/13/2023 at 12:50 PM, Chaos said:

I hope to be very wrong. Harty seems like he will be a waste of cap space.  

 

On 8/13/2023 at 1:23 PM, JayBaller10 said:

Yeah he signed a 2 year $13.5M deal and for that amount of money you’d hope he would look miles better than bottom of the roster Andy Isabella. Nothing I’ve heard out of camp suggests he’s worth that sort of coin, especially when we could’ve got a legitimate (former all pro) starting MLB for close to the same. That’s not to say Harty won’t make plays this season - as long as he doesn’t get hurt - but that money definitely could’ve and probably should’ve been allocated elsewhere. 

We need to stop overreacting the the preseason. Harty is an explosive playmaker that has made plays in the NFL. He’s a big play waiting to happen. Harty is what we wanted McKenzie to be. Relax

[NoSaint]

2 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Andy Isabella is a blue collar guy. He works hard. Isabella is a high IQ guy. He’s tough. He is quicker than fast. Isabella is sneaky athletic. He brings his hard hat and lunch pail to work everyday. Isabella is the kind of scrappy, high motor gamer that the Bills have been lacking since Beasley went to the Giants. He has heart and the intangibles that this team needs. Isabella is a gritty winner that’s willing to get his hands dirty. He has heart and passion. Isabella will outwork the other 52!!

 

James Cook is the best breakout candidate. 

 

yea, it’s got to be in ranked order:

 

cook

rousseau

Davis(not holding breathe)

Either tight end 

 

if calling someone a breakout star I can’t say anyone else is really in the running. Definitely other guys could outperform expectations but stardom is very unlikely even in best cases for many mentioned in the thread. 

[Kirby Jackson]

1 hour ago, NoSaint said:

 

yea, it’s got to be in ranked order:

 

cook

rousseau

Davis(not holding breathe)

Either tight end 

 

if calling someone a breakout star I can’t say anyone else is really in the running. Definitely other guys could outperform expectations but stardom is very unlikely even in best cases for many mentioned in the thread. 

100% agree!! The only other guy for consideration would be Elam. He has the ability to have a bunch of picks if he won the job.

[Bigvinny]

Dorian Williams 

[NoSaint]

26 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

100% agree!! The only other guy for consideration would be Elam. He has the ability to have a bunch of picks if he won the job.

I came really close to including him as the last one on my list. I won’t push back on him being the last option. Elite tools, premiere position and not yet a star 

[LABILLBACKER]

Love what I'm seeing from Kincaid, Torrence and Williams. Hoping Isabella sneaks on the roster.  Spencer Brown and his backups terrify me.  If Josh gets injured it's going to be from the right side. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

I'm going to go with Gabe Davis.  60-70 Catches, 1000ish yards, and 7+ TDs.  

On 8/12/2023 at 10:49 PM, machine gun kelly said:

I can see Isabella possibly making it as a returner, and Shakir may get relegated to the PS.

 

Probably got that flip flopped tbh.  

[machine gun kelly]

7 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

I'm going to go with Gabe Davis.  60-70 Catches, 1000ish yards, and 7+ TDs.  

 

Probably got that flip flopped tbh.  

Triple B, you might be right.  Shakir has not been impressing at camp. Beane has been trying perpetually to get

more and more speed.  Sherfield is fast and didn’t hesitate to say when asked the fastest guy on the Bills is now Isabella.  If he has hands, he, Harty and Sherfield will provide the speed Beane wants.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

3 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Triple B, you might be right.  Shakir has not been impressing at camp. Beane has been trying perpetually to get

more and more speed.  Sherfield is fast and didn’t hesitate to say when asked the fastest guy on the Bills is now Isabella.  If he has hands, he, Harty and Sherfield will provide the speed Beane wants.

 

If he had plus hands he wouldn't be a free agent with his measurables.  At the same time - he was a 2nd round pick just 4 years ago.  Just hasn't been able to translate it to an NFL field.  The athletic measurables are there, clearly he didn't mesh well with murray, and before that they had trash QBs so that makes it more difficult as well.

 

Sherfield is a plus blocker, flexible player, and special teamer.  Harty can play inside and out, really good deep ball tracker, has some elite quickness, and is a one time all-pro returner.  Shakir also has shown the ability to line up in both positions, as well as contribute in return game if necessary.  Kincaid is going to also take a lot of the slot snaps.  At the end of the day you have to evaluate where you see him fitting on offense and whether he'll see enough snaps to take a job from a shakir or shorter.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Spencer Brown. 
 

 

[MiltonWaddams]

13 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Spencer Brown. 
 

 

That is a ***** load of wishful thinking. Here’s hoping that you have spoken it into existence 

[wppete]

Torrence will have a solid year. 

[colin]

james cook for players who played last year.

 

kinkaid for our new guys

 

isabela as a dark horse.  seems like he was over drafted, but speed kills.

[Billl]

4 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Andy Isabella is a blue collar guy. He works hard. Isabella is a high IQ guy. He’s tough. He is quicker than fast. Isabella is sneaky athletic. He brings his hard hat and lunch pail to work everyday. Isabella is the kind of scrappy, high motor gamer that the Bills have been lacking since Beasley went to the Giants. He has heart and the intangibles that this team needs. Isabella is a gritty winner that’s willing to get his hands dirty. He has heart and passion. Isabella will outwork the other 52!!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he a coach's kid, too?  He's the kind of guy you'd like your sister to date.

[The Frankish Reich]

4 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Andy Isabella is a blue collar guy. He works hard. Isabella is a high IQ guy. He’s tough. He is quicker than fast. Isabella is sneaky athletic. He brings his hard hat and lunch pail to work everyday. Isabella is the kind of scrappy, high motor gamer that the Bills have been lacking since Beasley went to the Giants. He has heart and the intangibles that this team needs. Isabella is a gritty winner that’s willing to get his hands dirty. He has heart and passion. Isabella will outwork the other 52!!

Well played. 😀

[billsfan89]

Cook is an obvious choice on the offensive side of the ball. I also think Shakir might have a mini-breakout. I think people are overreacting to one pre-season drop, he had a solid game otherwise and I think will show up to be a reliable slot WR as he continues to grow in year two. On the defensive side of the ball Groot is at a point where I could see him having a breakout.

[Alphadawg7]

On 8/12/2023 at 1:40 PM, ToGoGo said:

Cook looked good. Shakir looked nice until the bad drop. 
 

Anybody else look like they could make the leap to stardom this year? 

 

I am not going to count rookies in this, because hard to call them breakouts with a baseline to breakout from.  But I will give honorable mention to both Kincaid and O'Cyrus who I think will both have significant contributions this season to the team.  

 

Offense:  I have 2 which are Cook and Gabe Davis.  

• Cook down the stretch was starting to emerge to be more of a runner than we expected when we drafted him.  I think what everyone thought, including our FO and Coaches, was that he could be a real weapon as a receiving threat primarily out of the backfield and an occasional change of pace as a runner in space we can get into space.  Signing Harris I think a lot of impressions was the Cook would be more of a compliment to Harris as that guy in space and as a receiver.  But all throughout camp Cook has really emerged and felt more like an RB1 and I think he is going be more of an RB1 for this team with Harris complimenting him as more of that tougher yards type RB.  Ive been targeting Cook in my fantasy drafts, I think he could be a league winner type player with the great value you can get on him right later in drafts.  
• Gabe Davis breakout was expected last year, and I will admit I came into the offseason down on him.  But since then, we have learned that his ankle situation really impacted more than I think many realized last year and this kid has been sensational all through camp.  It takes me back to Emmanuel Sanders high praise and expectations of him heading into last year as well.  Its a contract year and I think we are going to see Davis have his best season to date, especially with all the upgrades across the offense as well.  

Defense:  I have 3 here which are Groot, McD, and Elam

• Groot - Our DL is stacked right now with 11 guys that could start for other teams.  I think he hits double digits this season personally and I also think the Bills might lead the AFC in sacks this season
• McD - I think this defense is going to be more aggressive and like I said before might even lead the AFC in sacks.  Since arriving in Buffalo, Hughes has played 10 seasons...5 with Frazier and 5 without (4 before and then last year in Houston).  Under Frazier, Hughes averaged 4 sacks a season, without Frazier it was double at 8.  I really think McD is going to show his defensive prowess this year and this defense will play with more bite than it has ever before.  
• Elam - I know there is a battle going on right now, but Elam emerged late last year and made some key INT's in some key games and playoffs.  He is having a good camp along with Dane, but I think the skill set is just better with Elam with the type of WR's we will face and the more aggressive nature McD wants to play with.  Nothing against Dane, I just think the physical ability Elam has in a division facing the kind of weapons Miami and Jets have along with AFC WR groups like the Bengals will lend to Dane's speed and better press game than Dane.  

Honorable mentions:

• Sherfield - the kid is better than a lot of people realize and I think he will make some plays and contribute well to this offense this season
• AJE - Coming off an overlooked 6.5 sack season, he has the potential to build on that especially with the talent on this D and McD calling the D.  His biggest challenge actually is just that with all the talent in our defensive front he will be in a rotation limiting his opportunities.  Especially once Von is back full speed.