Stevie Johnson, Kyle Williams, Christian Benford... Tyrell Shavers...?

[transplantbillsfan]

2006 our 1st round draft pick was John McCargo and we picked Kyle Williams in the 5th round.

 

Meatball was a pillar of the team during the drought years and made 6 pro bowls and will eventually probably end up on the Wall of Fame.

 

2008 our 2nd round draft pick was James Hardy (RIP) and we picked Stevie Johnson in the 7th round.

 

Stevie earned a big role relatively quickly and eventually became our #1 WR posting back to back 1,000 yard seasons.

 

2022 our 1st round pick was Kaiir Elam and we picked Christian Benford in the 6th round.

 

Benford has turned into what many would argue is an Elite CB and has earned a lucrative extension from the team.

 

 

 

Could Tyrell Shavers be the next in line? 

 

We all saw what he did in preseason.  Granted, it's preseason... but he had a great game against the Bucs and it wasn't just on the TD.  I heard a stat yesterday that he was getting a ton of separation on all of his routes and in Joe Marino's All-22 he talked about how good Shavers played overall.  He looks like a MUCH more natural WR than Keon.  This isn't perfect because Shavers was actually a UDFA in 2023 rather than 2024, but he stuck around and gained the most attention last offseason and I think a lot people believe he's a 2nd year player.  I think we're all rooting for him, but I think based on McDermott's and Allen's PCs this week he may have earned himself a legitimate shot to become the WR Keon was supposed to be.

 

 

[BillsPride12]

Sure why not...he's already the next John Stallworth

[machine gun kelly]

For me you keep the best crew on the field, and Shavers is proving not just this game as he played s9me the last two years at least in spots, much much better than Coleman.  No one owes him literally anything at all.

[The Jokeman]

Shavers has been with the team since 2023, a full year before Coleman. Also he seemed like a better athlete coming out of high school but lost in the shuffle at Alabama and transferred 2x to show off his skills. Took the slow path to develop and has proven a good depth WR. Time will tell if develops into more. 

[rusty shackleford]

Very well could end up being a diamond in the rough and continue to shine for us. The analogy is a little off though, with those others outplaying their draft positions by a wide margin, but showed what they could be pretty early on. Shavers went undrafted in 2023 and bounced on and off our practice squad that year, then practice squad last year, then finally made that last roster spot this year. He really had to put in the time and effort and make big steps to get to where he is now. Those other guys had their talent leap frog them into starting spots fast.

[GASabresIUFan]

Hopefully he’ll end up better than another former Bama UDFA in Robert Foster.  
 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

30 minutes ago, rusty shackleford said:

Very well could end up being a diamond in the rough and continue to shine for us. The analogy is a little off though, with those others outplaying their draft positions by a wide margin, but showed what they could be pretty early on. Shavers went undrafted in 2023 and bounced on and off our practice squad that year, then practice squad last year, then finally made that last roster spot this year. He really had to put in the time and effort and make big steps to get to where he is now. Those other guys had their talent leap frog them into starting spots fast.

Stevie didn’t break out until his 3rd year. He was a dominant training camp receiver so the talent was definitely there from the jump. But prior to then he had barely over 100 yards receiving combined for those first 2 years. He definitely had to work hard for it in practice just like Shavers. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

49 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

Sure why not...he's already the next John Stallworth

beat me to it. 😁

[rusty shackleford]

7 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Stevie didn’t break out until his 3rd year. He was a dominant training camp receiver so the talent was definitely there from the jump. But prior to then he had barely over 100 yards receiving combined for those first 2 years. He definitely had to work hard for it in practice just like Shavers. 

Maybe Stevie doesn't fit into my comment that well, but he was on the roster his rookie year and played in 11 games (1 start), but as you pointed out didn't have any meaningful production until year 3. It just took Shavers a lot longer to get a chance at meaningful snaps is was what I was trying to point out.

[MJS]

I remember when I thought Rpbert Foster was going to become a good receiver. And then he disappeared forever.

 

We'll see what Shavers turns into. That game could have been the highlight of a forgettable career, or it could be a springboard to something more. Time will tell.

[BVBILLS]

I'd like to see someone unexpected really step up on this team

[BillsFanForever19]

1 hour ago, machine gun kelly said:

For me you keep the best crew on the field, and Shavers is proving not just this game as he played s9me the last two years at least in spots, much much better than Coleman.  No one owes him literally anything at all.

 

Huh? 

 

I get people like Shavers, his work ethic, and are disappointed in Coleman. There's good will towards Shavers and not towards Coleman right now. I get that. But let's not rewrite history...

 

Shavers had a single catch all last year from Mitch Trubisky in Garbage time.  It was a cool TD when the other team had given up. But that's the grand total of his contributions prior in "the last two years".

 

And up until Sunday, while being active for all 9 games prior just like Coleman, he had a grand total of 7 catches for 81 yards in all 9 games *combined*.

 

Even as disappointing as Coleman has been this year, Shavers was even more invisible. And Shavers performance was good. But it wasn't better than Coleman's Week 1.

 

Right now, Shavers is the better option bc he's going about the work the right way and isn't missing meetings. And it was a good outing this week. But saying he's been the "much, much better player than Coleman" is completely inaccurate. 

 

2 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

2006 our 1st round draft pick was John McCargo and we picked Kyle Williams in the 5th round.

 

Meatball was a pillar of the team during the drought years and made 6 pro bowls and will eventually probably end up on the Wall of Fame.

 

2008 our 2nd round draft pick was James Hardy (RIP) and we picked Stevie Johnson in the 7th round.

 

Stevie earned a big role relatively quickly and eventually became our #1 WR posting back to back 1,000 yard seasons.

 

2022 our 1st round pick was Kaiir Elam and we picked Christian Benford in the 6th round.

 

Benford has turned into what many would argue is an Elite CB and has earned a lucrative extension from the team.

 

 

 

Could Tyrell Shavers be the next in line? 

 

We all saw what he did in preseason.  Granted, it's preseason... but he had a great game against the Bucs and it wasn't just on the TD.  I heard a stat yesterday that he was getting a ton of separation on all of his routes and in Joe Marino's All-22 he talked about how good Shavers played overall.  He looks like a MUCH more natural WR than Keon.  This isn't perfect because Shavers was actually a UDFA in 2023 rather than 2024, but he stuck around and gained the most attention last offseason and I think a lot people believe he's a 2nd year player.  I think we're all rooting for him, but I think based on McDermott's and Allen's PCs this week he may have earned himself a legitimate shot to become the WR Keon was supposed to be.

 

I don't want to make it seem like I'm sh-tting on Shavers. Again, it was a solid performance. But people need to relax. It was one solid performance in 10 games. Before that game he showed to be a solid blocker a decent Special Teams player, but a guy who wasn't getting open or making plays when he was on the field.

 

Hopefully, he can build off of the Tampa game. But saying he could be the Stevie Johnson to Keon Coleman's James Hardy, talking about him in the same breath as Kyle Williams and Christian Benford at other positions, and other posters comparing him to Hall of Famers... it's out of control. Take a breath - it was 1 game in 10. We need to see a lot more before we can be saying things like that.

 

Right now, until he shows more, the more apt comparison is Robert Foster. And Robert Foster showed more than Shavers in quicker fashion.

Edited 1 minute ago by BillsFanForever19

[Augie]

 

I don’t care WHERE we get a competent WR, I just care THAT we get a competent WR. 

[Mark Vader]

1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said:

2006 our 1st round draft pick was John McCargo and we picked Kyle Williams in the 5th round.

 

Meatball was a pillar of the team during the drought years and made 6 pro bowls and will eventually probably end up on the Wall of Fame.

 

2008 our 2nd round draft pick was James Hardy (RIP) and we picked Stevie Johnson in the 7th round.

 

Stevie earned a big role relatively quickly and eventually became our #1 WR posting back to back 1,000 yard seasons.

 

2022 our 1st round pick was Kaiir Elam and we picked Christian Benford in the 6th round.

 

Benford has turned into what many would argue is an Elite CB and has earned a lucrative extension from the team.

 

 

 

Could Tyrell Shavers be the next in line? 

 

We all saw what he did in preseason.  Granted, it's preseason... but he had a great game against the Bucs and it wasn't just on the TD.  I heard a stat yesterday that he was getting a ton of separation on all of his routes and in Joe Marino's All-22 he talked about how good Shavers played overall.  He looks like a MUCH more natural WR than Keon.  This isn't perfect because Shavers was actually a UDFA in 2023 rather than 2024, but he stuck around and gained the most attention last offseason and I think a lot people believe he's a 2nd year player.  I think we're all rooting for him, but I think based on McDermott's and Allen's PCs this week he may have earned himself a legitimate shot to become the WR Keon was supposed to be.

 

 

Let's wait a little bit longer to put Shavers on a list like this.

 

I'm glad to see that he made the most out of this opportunity, and it was great to see something from one of our receivers.

 

He needs to do more than this to get a comparison like this.. I hope he can.

Edited 29 minutes ago by Mark Vader

[transplantbillsfan]

1 hour ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Stevie didn’t break out until his 3rd year. He was a dominant training camp receiver so the talent was definitely there from the jump. But prior to then he had barely over 100 yards receiving combined for those first 2 years. He definitely had to work hard for it in practice just like Shavers. 

 

Well... this is Shavers' 3rd year

[LabattBlue]

38 minutes ago, MJS said:

I remember when I thought Rpbert Foster was going to become a good receiver. And then he disappeared forever.

…and Duke Williams. 😈

Edited 1 minute ago by LabattBlue