Let’s meet the 2019 Bills Wide Receivers.
Player-by-player:
Cole Beasley
Beasley came in as a part of the offense-renovating tirade GM Brandon Beane went on this offseason. He’s an iron man, having missed just three games since his second season, and has incredibly reliable hands. He averages 10 yards per reception while catching 319 of 450 (74.7%) of targets. Beasley is incredibly agile from the slot and can create separation from just one cut on intermediate routes.
The Bills made an investment in Beasley. He’s their third highest-paid skill position player and is locked in for three years. His secure catches and aptness in the middle of the field will prove invaluable with sophomore QB Josh Allen still developing his game. With a young QB, you need a safety valve like Beasley to dump a three-yard in-route to, but the Bills got much more, as he can turn that three-yard reception into a seven-yarder.
NOTE: Beasley underwent surgery for an abdominal injury earlier this year and is currently listed as “probable” for the preseason. He’s expected to play against the Jets in Week 1.
Victor Bolden Jr.
Bolden is on the faster side of average and consistently makes opposing defenses pay when they give him just a glimpse of green. However, getting him that open pasture to run isn’t a walk in the park.
Bolden stands at just 5’8”, making him an incredibly small target. His tiny frame not only exponentially decreases his catch radius, but it makes it notably difficult to throw him a ball while a man corner is shading him. You get the feeling of a short basketball player trying to shoot over a much taller opponent; not impossible but the angles are difficult.
Because of this, he’s spent his career as a return man. He has just one career reception but ran kicks back an average of 23.2 yards last season. Buffalo is in a situation where they aren’t in need of another return man (they already have two to use at the position). With that said, Bolden could be used on some nasty jet sweeps and reverses should the Bills want to keep him.
John Brown
Like Beasley, Brown was a part of the offensive upheaval this offseason. He’s blazingly fast, which combined with the cannon that is Josh Allen’s right arm will force teams to defend the deep ball.
After signing with the Bills, Brown had high praises for the future of the Buffalo passing game. “I didn’t know what the quarterback situation would be [in Buffalo],” he said in reference to rejecting an offer from Buffalo just one year ago. “Now that I see that they have a great quarterback, we can do a lot of things together.”
Despite the Bills’ reluctance to give anyone the label of WR1, Brown will likely emerge as such in the game plan. He was on pace for a career-best year before the sloppy QB transition in Baltimore.
Nick Easley
After some time in JUCO, Easley walked on with the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was a cog in their offense, although overshadowed by what may be the best college tight end duo ever. He failed to receive an invite to the NFL Combine despite being named the MVP of the Outback Bowl. Easley made up for this at Iowa’s Pro Day, where he ran the short shuttle in 3.77 seconds – 0.04 seconds quicker than the Combine record.
Easley ultimately went undrafted. He has the physical capabilities to be a depth receiver on an NFL roster, but he’s going to have to put in loads of work if he wants a shot at the 53.
Robert Foster
Foster surpassed every expectation for him last season. He was signed as an UDFA from Alabama, where he tallied just 35 catches in four years. In a Week 10 matchup against the New York Jets, he caught one-fifth as many balls in just one game. The game was the first of three 100-yard games he had last season. His others came against the Jets again in Week 14 and the Dolphins in Week 15. Neither team was a defensive menace last season, but it’s no easy feat for a guy to rack up multiple 100-yard games.
Don’t let the numbers fool you. Foster is a solid receiver, no doubt about it, but he’s by no means a dependable number one. He relied heavily on massive chunks of yardage. Of his 27 receptions last season, only eight were for less than 10 yards. If he can keep that monster pace, he’ll be on his way to Canton in no time. However, even Jerry Rice didn’t scrape that number over his career.
Zay Jones
Jones was the most consistent Buffalo receiver last season, but that’s because he was the only one to be a part for all sixteen games. For the first half of the season, he was the number one guy in Buffalo before Foster became Josh Allen’s best friend. While he won’t be taking back the mantle of top option, Jones could have a solid season.
Despite the additions of Brown and Beasley, Jones is still a favorite to see lots of the looks this season. He can play both the outside and the slot, creating a useful weapon on throwing downs and in receiver heavy sets.
Ray-Ray McCloud III
McCloud served as a versatile utility player when the Bills were strapped for talent, but when they began to pick up the pace his role dwindled. He played in the slot, returned kicks, and even took a couple of rushing attempts. However, much as the saying goes, McCloud is a jack of all trades but master of none. He played ten games, and in that span, he gained 38 return yards and just five receptions from the slot.
McCloud mainly plays the slot, a position Buffalo has oversaturated. Mentions of him from all media outlets are few and far between, and that’s to be expected.
Isaiah McKenzie
McKenzie was a waiver wire signing from Denver last season after a tumultuous stay with the Broncos. He caught just four passes his rookie year, but the action really began early in his sophomore season. Broncos GM John Elway waived, cut, signed, waived again, cut again, and then signed McKenzie in the span of twelve days. There, he sat on the Broncos practice squad for about a month-and-a-half before being activated to the 53-man roster. He was waived for the third time in his career just a week later.
Buffalo claimed McKenzie, where he caught 18 passes in seven games. Most of his production came on special teams, where he returned punts an average of 6.2 yards and kickoffs 19.8 yards. The Bills signed someone in the offseason to be their designated returner, but if McKenzie can show that he’s a viable contingency plan on offense, he could stick around.
Cam Phillips
Like McCloud, Phillips was just a “Band-Aid” for the gunshot wound that was the 2018 receiving corps. He was undrafted after running a 4.74 40-yard dash as an undersized receiver but put on a solid showing during his senior season at Virginia Tech.
In two games for Buffalo, Phillips caught one pass for nine yards. That’s it. That’s the extent of his NFL career. He has no value on the return team and there’s no room for such a raw prospect to be on the team for a second year.
Andre Roberts
Roberts was added to help the monstrosity that was the Buffalo return team. Last season, the Bills had the 24th kickoff return unit and the 21st punt return unit. Roberts’ 2018 team, the New York Jets, were the elite of the elite on returns. They were third and first in yards per kickoff and yards per punt return, respectively.
Of the 71 returns the Jets made last season, Roberts accounted for 63. He led the league in total kickoff return yards and came second in punt return yards. He was one of only two players to record a touchdown on both a punt and kickoff return. The other was Jakeem Grant of the Dolphins.
Roberts spent the front end of his career as a true receiver, but in recent years, he’s shifted to almost purely returns. He averaged 1.06 targets per game last season compared to 3.93 returns. Buffalo holds a couple of return men on their roster, but none come even close to earning All-Pro honors as Roberts does.
David Sills V
You might remember David Sills V as the quarterback who got an offer from USC before he was old enough to drive a car. And, you might also remember that he took a hit to his throwing hand. That injury marked the beginning of the end of his quarterbacking career. Sills V tried throwing with West Virginia and the JUCO El Camino before he returned to West Virginia as a wideout. He was a great pass catcher there and led the nation in receiving touchdowns his junior year.
However, Sills V went undrafted but not without a struggle. Bills GM Brandon Beane said that the former Mountaineer was on Buffalo’s radar going into the draft, and they were happy to see he went undrafted.
Sills V wasn’t deterred after he ended his quarterbacking campaign. His love for football has led to a high work ethic and drive, traits both Beane and HC Sean McDermott value. If he can produce in the preseason, Sills V could be on the roster come September.
Duke Williams
Duke Williams is a player full of fun anecdotes. For example, Bills fans may remember that a man by the name of Duke Williams has already played in the blue and red. That Duke, aka Michael Williams, played 58 games at safety for Buffalo from 2013-16. This Duke, aka D’haquille Williams, is a wideout heading into his rookie season in the NFL.
That leads to another fun fact, one which is much more important than a shared name by two unrelated men. While D’haquille Williams is heading into his first NFL season, it isn’t his first season of professional football. He spent two years tearing up the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos.
Williams was originally a top prospect at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He made easy work of the secondaries in the MACJC before moving over to Auburn. There, he was quickly dismissed after punching four people in a bar, throwing a drink at a fellow patron, and harassing security at that same bar. He then went undrafted in 2016 and had a quick stint during camp with the Rams, before turning to the CFL.
Williams spent two seasons with the Eskimos and was the league’s top receiver in 2018. He was named an All-Star after gaining 1,519 yards with 11 touchdowns. While no one expects Duke to recreate that production in the NFL, he has proven he has the skill set to excel on the professional stage.
Projected Depth Chart
John Brown
Robert Foster
Cole Beasley
Zay Jones
Andre Roberts
Duke Williams
Recap:
While they don’t have anywhere near an elite set of WRs, Buffalo is in a far better situation than they were this time last year. They have four locks for the roster right now – Brown, Beasley, Foster, and Roberts. This leaves two open positions to split between eight guys. It’s a safe bet to say that those spots will go to veterans Jones and Williams, but a strong preseason from the others could create chaos.
GRADE: C
How do you grade the Bills receiving corps? Did you check out the RBs?Which position should we look at next? Let me know, either on Twitter (@zekepersources) or Instagram (@zekepersources)