Elijah Moore Visiting the Bills today (Update: Signed!)

[Mat68]

12 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

I meant day 2 guys like the Packers did with Watson and Doubs.  Texans did with Collins and Dell, etc...  The odds of finding a WR on day 3 are really slim.  Shakir dropping to the 5th was one of Beane's best picks.

Sure.  I didnt see much value this year in the class.  Top to bottom it felt over drafted. Biggest needs for the Bills were dline and secondary.  They seemed to fill it with value.  I cant complain about it.  Would have liked a wr but Moore is as good value vs who was available.  

[Matt_In_NH]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

How is the phrase "he doesn't value wide receivers" out of context? That sounds like a direct indictment. They questioned his acumen.

Not only that but it is clear to me this was not really a one time thing.  Those guys can’t stop talking about the need for wrs.  It has been happening for years even when Diggs was on the team.  

[JP51]

15 hours ago, HOUSE said:

I still want more wide receivers 

LOL... Run 9 into the flat.. leave the C and Josh back.. like we did in the playground...  LOL 

[Mat68]

38 minutes ago, Rockinon said:

That would be the politically correct thing to do. Me personally, I like that he spoke his opinion without fear. It was an honest take on his part and I prefer that to holding back what's really on his mind.

He said that Saturday at the post draft presser.  Almost verbatim. 

[JP51]

2 minutes ago, Slippery Rubber Mats said:

 

Huh, you sure you don't want to hedge that bet a little bit?

 

Quite the limb to go out on to say that you think a WR who has proven nothing so far will be closer to your average replaceable WR than a Hall of Famer LOL

LOL, not sure I am hedging but clearly I am not committing... I just dont think we are  getting our savior here (like we did Lofton back in the day) ... I think he ends up in the range of a guy who doesnt make the team like an Claypool or eventually MVS to a moderate contributor say a healthier Samuel...   Maybe he goes off and becomes the next greatest thing... I have no idea... we can hope he does... but I think he ends up being a 4th/5th guy on the roster... certainly not your WR2...  Not sure that is a hedge, I might venture its probably where most people sit...  so let me ask you in all honesty...  Where do you think he slots in the WR rankings and production... 

[BeastMaster]

They should've just signed Moore instead of that absurd contract that they gave Palmer.

 

 

[PrimeTime101]

3 hours ago, eball said:

 

I don’t think there is agreement on that at all.  Beane has been pretty widely praised for taking WGR to task, and it was refreshing to hear it because those WGR guys are blowhards.  They think they have a bully pulpit and nobody will ever call them on it.  Beane has never said he didn’t want a speed WR; he just has to build an entire football team and has done a damn good job of it.  How many entire rosters in this league do you want to trade the Bills’ for?

 

It’s exhausting.  Some people want to continue to talk about the “WR room” and compare it to the rest of the league.  Well, what about every other position group on offense?

 

QB — top 1-2

OL — top 5

RB — top 10 (maybe higher)

TE — top half

 

That’s a lot of really good stuff, and YOU CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING in the salary cap era.  This team scored nearly 30 points per game and put up 29 in the playoffs against the Chiefs.  Don’t tell me “the offense had the ball and didn’t get it done” because while technically true, that’s not why Buffalo lost that game (or the game the year before).

 

Beane was right to tell them to “quit your b-i-t-c-h-i-n-g” given these facts, and the signing of Elijah Moore isn’t an “admission” of anything by Beane.

 

 

and before you know it.. you had 3 people that did not agree to this post.. next topic lol.... 

[Slippery Rubber Mats]

8 minutes ago, JP51 said:

LOL, not sure I am hedging but clearly I am not committing... I just dont think we are  getting our savior here (like we did Lofton back in the day) ... I think he ends up in the range of a guy who doesnt make the team like an Claypool or eventually MVS to a moderate contributor say a healthier Samuel...   Maybe he goes off and becomes the next greatest thing... I have no idea... we can hope he does... but I think he ends up being a 4th/5th guy on the roster... certainly not your WR2...  Not sure that is a hedge, I might venture its probably where most people sit...  so let me ask you in all honesty...  Where do you think he slots in the WR rankings and production... 

 

lol my point is that literally everyone in the world would agree this pickup is likely closer to your average replaceable WR than Hall of Famer James Lofton

[SCBills]

Why do so many people have to think of him as a cut candidate or the next best thing?

 

He’s probably neither.

 

He’s what this team needs… a WR4/5 with speed & likely WR3 upside to round out the room and serve as insurance for a grouo that, before this signing, was 4 deep, dependent on a guy at WR4 who has a history of injuries. 

And we can compare him to MVS (I guess.. Moore has a higher upside), but MVS did fine after we let him go.  Not a world beater but seemed to be doing things we could’ve used.  In 8 games for NO, he had 17 catches for 385 yards and 4 TD’s. 

[rusty shackleford]

24 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I think the correct answer is the Moops. 

[Shaw66]

2 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Why do so many people have to think of him as a cut candidate or the next best thing?

 

Right. Especially because it's obvious that Bills have very little interest in signing the next best thing.

 

All the Bills are looking for is reliable receivers with decent speed, decent hands, and solid blocking skills.  Plus, the standard for all Bills players: intense competitor, team player, growth mindset.  

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

34 minutes ago, TPS said:

I think it's more accurate to say it forces Beane to decide which other position(s) he should spend big on?  Beane's choice has typically been to spend on an Edge rusher. In addition, he has spent a lot of cap money on the D-line in general--it's a long list of folks he's signed to one-year contracts to bolster the DL over the past several years, with mostly average performance. 

 

This year he finally decided to make a major investment in bodies through the draft, in a draft that was loaded with talent across the line.  A wise move.  I think he also tried to address a weakness that was made glaring in the AFCCG, depth at CB.  Benford's injury was a major reason they lost that game.  

 

At any rate, wrt to the WR discussion, I think with this addition, the group is stronger than last year's.

 

Yea across the board really. 

• Elam was unprepared and looked terrible.  Was always a handsy player, just imo doesn't have it between the ears to play in this defense.  
• Lewis is a swiss army knife but was the main extra in dime looks this past year, and he was not very good.  When TJ missed time he moved into that role as well.  I think writing is on the wall with 3 corners picked (plus tre) that he's looking at a full-time safety switch to have a shot making the team.
• Douglas seemed to have lost a step, which usually leads to penalties and mistakes.
• Ingram made some plays (mostly off tipped balls), but if they didn't feel comfortable playing him in that playoff game i think writing is on the wall.  

Inbound 

• Tre White - who if he can be back to what he was can be a very good player.  If he can't (pretty big if), then the dead money isn't terrible
• Dane Jackson - knows the system, probably ends up on the PS 
• Hairston - White's there to block him so he has to beat him out.  Benford beating out elam before is a good indicator that its not just White in his way.  
• Hancock - Projects inside 
• Strong - Ideally he sticks as boundary depth.  Tre white's an injury timebomb

Like one season and they flipped the entire unit.  Older players brought in, and 3 rookies.  

10 minutes ago, BeastMaster said:

They should've just signed Moore instead of that absurd contract that they gave Palmer.

 

 

 

Then you don't have both... 

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Or Beane thought no WR after rd1 was better then the free agent he was already negotiating with. These weekly conversations with WGR don't come with an obligation to reveal everything Beane is working on.

 

It's pretty true to say - Free agent or draft capital for your... #5 WR. Who's going to have more contributions in 2025? Plus ur not married to the free agent like you are a 3rd round pick (i know ur not "married" but it comes with a time commitment, and changes what you might do at the position a year later for example).  

[JP51]

9 minutes ago, Slippery Rubber Mats said:

 

lol my point is that literally everyone in the world would agree this pickup is likely closer to your average replaceable WR than Hall of Famer James Lofton

Well I wont disagree with you there... Clearly Lofton was the extreme example... but I would say lots of folks that I am reading seem to be more excited about this pick up than me, thinking he is really going to change our offensive dynamic... he might... but I dont think so... Conversely, I am seeing a lot of he just isnt that good... etc.. To that I am simply saying look maybe his one or the other... but likely he will be a fair pickup that will give us modest production he will likely not be either extreme and  I don't mind taking a shot with players that may come in and over produce... like lets say a Jerry Hughes (better example than Lofton) ... who at pick up I never thought you would get that kind of production out of him..   every now and again it works... 

 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

11 minutes ago, JP51 said:

I like that they are trying to find someone to resurrect cheaply based on our cap situation... that said, I dont have hopes that this guy turns into the next James Lofton pickup back in the 90s.  I think he will be closer to MVS ... but one can always hope.. and at least this gives us something to hope for...  but all too often those resurrection candidates you get cheaply amount to very little... (Coop, MVS, Claypool etc... and no I am not comparing this guy to Coop etc... just in general) ... we shall see and we shall hope... 

I'm never against bringing in young, high draft picks into TC to compete. I love that we signed Shenualt and Moore instead of aging names.

[buffaloboyinATL]

1 hour ago, Simon said:

 

A-oooo werewolves of London. 🎶

[JP51]

Just now, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I'm never against bringing in young, high draft picks into TC to compete. I love that we signed Shenualt and Moore instead of aging names.

and understanding sometimes they dont work out... but at least we aren't paying millions to OBJ or Cooper etc... and there is an upside potentially... 

[PayDaBill$]

19 hours ago, khlax3 said:

I don’t get why people are writing him off like he is gonna be lucky to make this team. Cleveland put a tender on him that guaranteed him 3.4 million this year so he will likely make more or close to that in guaranteed money.
 

He is an equivalent player to John brown and Cole Beasley when they joined the bills

 

here are the starts for all 3 for the 4 years prior to joining the bills:

 

Moore-  joined bill at age 25

  200 catches 2162 yards 9tds

 

Beasley- joined bills at age 30

  228 catches 2355 yards 17 tds

 

Brown- joined bills at age 29

  167 catches 2534 yards 17 tds

 

Moore is just getting to his prime while brown and Beasley put up similar numbers during their prime 

He’s played on two bad football teams, with bad qb play and 3 different OC’s.   He was also a   pretty good football player in the SEC.  
 

It’ll be interesting to see what he does with a good OC and QB.

Edited 30 minutes ago by PayDaBill$

[buffaloboyinATL]

I wonder how Elijah Moore and Dawson Knox get along.  They over- lapped for one year at Ole Miss.  I always like when a new guy has connections on the team, it helps them get in the rhythm quicker.

[Shaw66]

19 minutes ago, JP51 said:

 but I would say lots of folks that I am reading seem to be more excited about this pick up than me, thinking he is really going to change our offensive dynamic... he might... but I dont think so... Conversely, I am seeing a lot of he just isnt that good... etc.. To that I am simply saying look maybe his one or the other... but likely he will be a fair pickup that will give us modest production he will likely not be either extreme and  I don't mind taking a shot with players that may come in and over produce... like lets say a Jerry Hughes (better example than Lofton) ... who at pick up I never thought you would get that kind of production out of him..   every now and again it works... 

 

Meaning no disrespect, I think you're misperceiving, more or less completely, what signing Moore is about.  The Bills signed him to be part of their receiver-by-committee approach. They don't expect him to be a 1000-yard receiver - if that happens, great, but that's not what they signed him for.  They signed him to play maybe 30-40% of the wide receiver snaps, get maybe 500-600 yards - just like the receivers did last year. 

 

The way we all used to think about receivers is that the team had three wideouts - like, for example, Diggs and Davis and a slot guy, and the other guys were backups who played only when the Bills went four-wide or when someone got injured.  That isn't how they play any longer.  Now, they want to have, essentially, five starting wide-outs, all of whom play, and all of whom can play pretty much any of the wideout positions. The Bills put them on the field in all kinds of different combinations and different formations. It all changes from play to play. They challenge the defense to get the right personnel on the field, play after play, to match the Bills personnel, and even then the defense doesn't know what positions those receivers will be playing. It's almost impossible to adjust the defensive personnel to be ready for everything and to get the defensive matchups they want everywhere. 

 

So, there's a lot of reason to be excited about Moore, because he certainly could be exactly what the Bills expect - an upgrade to the total talent on the wider receiver committee. I'm excited, because every player who makes the committee better makes the Bills better. If he turns out to be Valdez-Scantling and gets cut, okay, but that's always a risk.

 

He's a good candidate to improve the committee. How do I know that? He was a second-round pick, which means he has the athletic skill set to be a threat on the field.  So, I'm excited. 

 

They aren't expecting the equivalent of Jerry Hughes. I'm not sure why you didn't think the Bills would get production from him - he was a first-round draft pick who didn't fit the Bears' scheme.  I was hoping he'd be a solid player for the Bills when they got him.  But Hughes is irrelevant in the discussion of Moore, because the Bills don't particularly need Moore to be anything like the equivalent of what Hughes became. 

 

 

[ddaryl]

27 minutes ago, PayDaBill$ said:

He’s played on two bad football teams, with bad qb play and 3 different OC’s.   He was  pretty good football player in the SEC.  
 

It’ll be interesting to see what he does with a good OC and QB.

 

 

and he still pulled in 59 and 61 catches his 2 years with Cleveland...