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Another Gear | WR Kolby Listenbee

By Erik Turner
— 1 week ago

The Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver group will feature one of the most competitive battles going into training camp. There are several holdovers from the prior regime, some names that were signed in free agency, and then a few undrafted free agents that were brought in to compete.

Kolby Listenbee falls under the prior regime category, as he was drafted in the 6th round, pick #192, in the 2016 NFL Draft. However, he never saw the field due to a double sports hernia. Listenbee underwent surgery in March 2016 and was placed on the Reserve/Non Football Injury list, which would have allowed him to return in week 7 of the 2016 season.

Unfortunately, he never did return due to pelvic inflammation. Listenbee said in addition to the hernias, he was also experiencing pain from some pelvic instability that resulted from a hit in college.

“It’s always been my adductors,” he said, referencing the upper leg/midsection muscles that were injured with the hernia, “and then my pelvis, my pelvis has always been an issue too. Everybody’s been saying it’s the double sports hernia but the pelvis has always been an issue too.“

Listenbee is continuously working to get stronger and healthier on a daily basis.

No promises just testimony. Nobody ever came back & played in the NFL after surgically getting a plate placed in the middle of they pelvis. pic.twitter.com/vWJ3AwUeM8

— Kolby Listenbee ™️ (@List10bee_Swagg) May 6, 2017

The 4.39 speedster has speed that not many receivers on this team possess. He may be able to carve out a niche if he can get back to 100%.

Commentary

2017 Buffalo Bills Offense – Early Depth Chart by Personnel Groupings

By Rylan Pangborn
— 2 weeks ago

The Buffalo Bills capped off their 2017 draft last week, and they’re now in the process of solidifying their roster for the upcoming season. During this offseason the Bills’ offense has undergone a considerable overhaul. It improved on a weak wide receiver group with the key additions of Zay Jones, Philly Brown, and Andre Holmes. The offensive line gained strong depth with the retention of Ryan Groy, the signing of Vladimir Ducasse, and the drafting of a potential starter in Dion Dawkins. However, the primary change for the Bills’ offense is a new offensive coordinator. Rick Dennison comes to the Bills after spending the past two seasons with Denver Broncos in the same role. His play calling revolves around a zone-run scheme with a heavy amount of play-action and deep drop backs. Dennison ran the majority of his plays out of four main personnel groupings: 21, 10, 11, and 12. Looking at the Bills’ current roster, I will explain to you which players are expected to be seen on the field, depending on the personnel grouping called.

11 Personnel

11 personnel is the most commonly used personnel group in today’s pass happy NFL. With three wide receivers on the field and a tight end, most teams smartly play nickel coverage against this offensive package. Rick Dennison ran 53 percent (539/1019) of his offensive play calls out of 11 personnel in 2016. In 2017, I’d expect to see this number increase. With LeSean McCoy at running back and a capable run blocker in Charles Clay, the Bills could have lots of success running the football against a defense lined up in nickel. Dennison’s offense utilized 11 personnel 200 times on first down and ten. This could be a smart and effective way for the Bills to get positive yards on first down, making second and third downs more manageable.

21 Personnel

21 personnel is more often than not the base personnel grouping of any offense. It offers the ability to call a multitude of run plays, while also offering opportunities in the passing game. Rick Dennison utilized 21 personnel on 19 percent (194/1019) of the plays he called last season. In 2017, expect to see a running back, fullback, tight end, and two receivers on the field quite often. This will allow Dennison to remain balanced between the run game and pass game, while not giving away any significant keys to an opponent’s defense.

10 Personnel

10 personnel puts four receivers on the field with one running back, most likely in the backfield. The 2016 Denver Broncos’ offense, under Rick Dennison, employed this personnel set 11 percent of the time, most often in passing situations. When the Bills send out their 10 personnel in 2017, expect it to include Sammy Watkins, Zay Jones, Andre Holmes, and Philly Brown. If the play call involves the running back in the quarterback’s progression, expect it to be LeSean McCoy. However, if the running back is assigned to block, expect it to be Jonathan Williams or Mike Tolbert, as LeSean McCoy struggles in pass protection.

12 Personnel

12 personnel can be ever so dangerous in the NFL if you have the right players for it. A pass catching tight end and a blocking tight end make this personnel group effective. Defenses have two choices when they are presented with 12 personnel. They can: 1) choose to stay in their base defense, or 2) elect to play a nickel coverage, bringing an extra defensive back on the field. If a defense stays in base, a mismatch is created with the pass catching tight end. If a defense decides to bring on an extra defensive back to cover the pass catching tight end, a run strength is created with the blocking tight end. Coach Dennison utilized 12 personnel 10 percent of the time last season. With the Bills, he may not have the luxury of having a pure blocking tight end on the roster. Nonetheless, he could potentially have success with Clay, O’Leary, and possibly Logan Thomas.

The Buffalo Bills have a talented offensive roster that can be utilized in many different ways. With Coach Dennison known for his zone scheme and play action pass, I would expect to see the 2017 Bills in a lot of 21 and 11 personnel sets. Looking at the roster, the players the Bills have on offense can be very successful in these two sets. I fully expect OC Rick Dennison to put the Bills’ offense in a position to succeed each Sunday.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/embed?layout=gallery&listType=playlist&list=UUlL6eJS1s8xmRoYRQbYgxQQ[/embedyt]

Commentary

Remaining Buffalo Bills Free Agent Targets

By Kevin Massare
— 2 weeks ago

The Bills have a few final holes to fill, most notably at the OLB, S, RB, and TE positions. Here are the best remaining players at each position. Let us know who you want the Bills to sign.

Running Backs
LeGarrette Blount (30)
DeAngelo Williams (33)
Chris Johnson (31)
Denard Robinson (26)
Khiry Robinson (27)
Christine Michael (27)
Jonathan Grimes (27)
Bobby Rainey (29)
Jordan Todman (27)
Rashad Jennings (32)
Dexter McCluster (28)
James Starks (31)
Antone Smith (31)
Ronnie Hillman (25)
Stepfan Taylor (25)
Matt Asiata (29)
Joique Bell (30)

Tight Ends
Gary Barnidge (31)
Jacob Tamme (32)
Larry Donnell (28)
Tim Wright (26)
Kellen Davis (31)
Clay Harbor (29)
Jim Dray (30)
Brandon Myers (31)
Chris Gragg (26)

Linebackers
Perry Riley (28)
Sio Moore (26)
Gerald Hodges (26)
DeAndre Levy (30)
Josh Bynes (27)
Justin Durant (31)
Daryl Smith (35)
Josh Mauga (29)
Bryan Braman (29)
Spencer Paysinger (28)
Kelvin Sheppard (29)
Philip Wheeler (32)
Donald Butler (28)
Michael Morgan (29)
D’Qwell Jackson (33)
Akeem Dent (29)
Sean Weatherspoon (29)
Rey Maualuga (30)
Brandon Spikes (29)
Rolando McClain (27)

Safeties
Tre Boston (24)
Marcus Gilchrist (28)
Daimion Stafford (26)
Jairus Byrd (30)
Bacarri Rambo (26)
Duke Ihenacho (27)
Kendrick Lewis (28)
Dashon Goldson (32)
Antonio Allen (28)
Matt Elam (25)
Shamarko Thomas (26)
Jeron Johnson (28)

As you can tell, there is plenty of talent remaining.

I’d take

LB- Hodges/Bynes,
S – Boston/Byrd,
TE – Barnidge
RB – Blount.

Commentary

Cam’s Take: The Pegulas, Doug Whaley, and Rational Choice Theory

By Cameron Edsall
— 2 weeks ago

On the morning of April 30th, 2017, the day immediately following the conclusion of the NFL Draft, owner Terry Pegula made the decision that it was time to relieve general manager Doug Whaley and the rest of the scouting staff of their duties. The decision as to exactly why Whaley was fired remains up for debate, but many believe that the team’s performance under Whaley’s four-year tenure was merely mediocre. As Mike Rodak of ESPN.com notes, the team made the playoffs zero times with only one winning season, when Doug Marrone led the team to a 9-7 record. Marrone then chose an opt-out clause in his contract that let him collect $4 million in base salary and leave the team to pursue jobs elsewhere. Many Bills fans and players were left incredibly frustrated at Coach Marrone. Then came along the Pegula family who purchased ownership rights of the team and conducted a new head coaching search. Russ Brandon, the team’s president, informed The Pegulas that one of their candidates, Rex Ryan, should not leave the building. The Pegulas listened to Brandon’s advice, as a week later Ryan was hired as the head coach of the Bills. Whaley was left with a new head coach in the outspoken Ryan, who promised a playoff berth in his first season as Buffalo’s head coach. Whaley was not the one who chose the head coach, so when the team failed under the Ryan experiment in two seasons, many sympathized with Whaley. Yet others were skeptical of Whaley, since he remained devout in his faith of QB EJ Manuel, who was a first round draft pick in 2013, while Whaley served as assistant General Manager under Buddy Nix. Whaley also made the questionable move of trading up for WR Sammy Watkins in the first round of the 2014 draft. The team gave up multiple picks in order to switch with the Cleveland Browns, and Sammy Watkins proved to be a talented player, but for the past few seasons he has been injury prone. Analysts and fans argue that the team could have stayed at the no. 9 position and drafted WR Odell Beckham Jr., who has been a phenom for the New York Giants.

I can understand why fans argued for Whaley to stay, since he never had the chance to work with his own preferred head coach. Even head coach Sean McDermott was the choice of the Pegulas, so if Whaley had stayed, he would have been forced to work with McDermott, whether he liked it or not. In the mind of the Pegulas, however, it was time for Whaley to go. The scouting staff and personnel staff, including Kelvin Fisher and Jim Monos, had done their duties. Their assessments of players in this year’s draft were complete, and it was time for a new wave of personnel to be a part of the organization. The reason I sympathize with The Pegulas’ move is because of one theorem: Rational Behavior. Rational Behavior theory argues that decisions are made based on the assumption that the outcome results in the optimal level of benefit for an individual or group. Rationality means that the behavior makes logical sense. Furthermore, financial website Investopedia notes that “often the decision is made without significant emotional response over the choice”. Often in business decisions, emotions may play a factor, since it is human nature to avoid hurt feelings. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the 17 year playoff drought continues. Therefore, Terry and Kim Pegula felt the need to set emotions aside and inform Whaley of his departure.

As we all know, tastes are subjective and always changing, so someone’s opinion of what is rational might differ from someone else’s. While The Pegulas may feel that their choice is rational, others may feel that Whaley wasn’t given a fair chance, since he never had his own head coach of choice, and since two of the coaches with whom he cooperated were hard to deal with (Marrone and Ryan). Yet, others will argue that despite differences, the NFL is a results-oriented business based upon optimal outcomes. If the Buffalo Bills failed to make the playoffs under Whaley’s tenure, then Terry and Kim felt that they had seen enough. Rational Behavior revolves around satisfaction obtained from advantageous decision making. Whether Whaley was irrational or the Pegulas were irrational is a topic of discussion among Bills fans, yet one thing’s for certain: Whaley’s time in Buffalo is done.

Commentary

Flag Players, Over-Draft Candidates, and a Number of Rankings and Predictions!

By Robert Slisz
— 3 weeks ago

Here’s a mish-mash of my different draft thoughts and rankings:

Bills 7 round mock draft (what I think the Bills SHOULD do):

Note: Picks are numbered in order of Bills selection, not by round. Bills picks are rounds 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6.

DeShone Kizer QB ND
Taywan Taylor WR WKU
Will Holden OT/Gareon Conley CB OSU (if available go Conley)
Nate Hairston CB TEMP
Jalen Reeves-Maybin LB TENN
Xavier Woods S
Whoever falls that is the “bad character” guy (Kelly, etc. Talent>effort>character) For now, Kelly

My Top 32 Big Board

Myles Garrett EDGE TAMU
Malik Hooker S OSU
Marshon Lattimore CB OSU
Solomon Thomas EDGE STAN
OJ Howard TE BAMA
DeShone Kizer QB ND
Haason Reddick LB TEMP
Malik McDowell DT MSU
Charles Harris EDGE MIZZ
David Njoku TE MIA
Gareon Conley CB OSU
Jonathan Allen DT BAMA
Christian McCaffrey RB STAN
Garrett Bolles OT UTAH
Mitch Trubisky QB UNC
Tim Williams EDGE BAMA
Reuben Foster LB BAMA
Corey Davis WR WMU
Forrest Lamp OG WKU
John Ross WR WASH
Joe Mixon RB OKL
Cam Robinson OT BAMA
Jarrad Davis LB FLA
Mike Williams WR CLEM
Derek Rivers EDGE YST
Tak McKinley EDGE UCLA
Marlon Humphrey CB BAMA
Evan Engram TE OLE
Ryan Ramczyk OT WIS
Chris Wormley DT MICH
Chidobe Awuzie CB COL
Marcus Williams S UTAH

Bold Predictions:

Dalvin Cook is not taken in the 1st round
Jamal Adams falls out of the Top 20
Derek Barnett is not taken in the first round
Malik McDowell is the first DT selected
Nate Peterman is not selected on the first two days of the draft
The Bills will take a QB round 1, and it will be Deshone Kizer ? (let me have fun)

Flag Players
DeShone Kizer QB ND- Have I said it all already? Kizer is my favorite QB, and it is not even close. Rule of thumb: draft the “he is not a good person, says every anonymous person and media member” guy. Fake narratives. If it feels fake, it probably is, and it definitely is with Kizer. Also, always remember the Dan Marino effect. Expectations being high and then not being met. Find out what changed and determine if the player changed or the circumstances damaged the player. In Kizer’s case, all of the above apply. The team was expected to be great, and it was simply bad. It really hurt his chances of success. Even still, I saw pocket traits and rare throws from different platforms that demonstrated his unique abilities. DeShone Kizer. Ride or die.

OJ Howard and David Njoku TE BAMA & MIA- Top tight end prospects since 2000: OJ Howard, David Njoku. These two are athletic freaks and can be grouped together. Both are receivers in Tight End bodies and are absolute defensive coordinator nightmares. How do you cover a guy that is bigger than all of your defensive backs, but so much faster than your linebackers? They can run routes like receivers, but make contested catches like tight ends. Both are scheme-changing players and are the next generation of great mismatches. I will take both over the top receivers in this class without hesitation.

Charles Harris EDGE MIZZ- Harris is just a damn good football player. He was used so improperly this past season that I was scratching my head watching just about every game. Your best EDGE rusher and penetrator, and you have him doing the opposite? Why? This is the problem with defensive scheme changes. An extremely talented player does not fit your scheme? Change your scheme. Let Harris terrorize QBs off the edge with his quick first step, an explosive counter spin and speed off the edge. Positional value: QB, then edge rusher. Guys like Harris do not fall. He needs to be an early selection.

Derek Rivers EDGE YST- He is not a universal defensive fit, but as a stand up outside rusher, he can flash double digit sack potential. Great first step paired with excellent initial hand usage. He can bend the edge and lean without sacrificing balance or speed. Converts speed to power, a key trait on the edge. He has disruptor written all over him, and that is what you need on the edge. He is going to make the scout that jumps on the table for him a lot of money. His two biggest flaws: low level of competition and power versus the run. He dominated the lower competition, and I just am not really concerned with how a great pass rusher does against the run in a passing league. Excellent day 2 selection.

Malik McDowell DT MSU- Bet on talent over effort. Effort guys who are not talented seem to have a much lower ceiling than the talent guys who lack effort, and for obvious reasons. A part of the draft is taking a chance and determining if it is worth the reward. Guys with McDowell’s skill set do not come along very often, and those are the guys I am taking chances on. The payoff is excellent. McDowell is a top notch disruptor in both facets of the game. He is the total package, using both strength and quickness to penetrate. Some worry about the effort. His team was horrible, so some are worried that will translate to the NFL. Here is where I get confused. If your team is that bad, why do you care if a guy is not trying? If you are good, you know he will try, and give you elite level production. So why do you care, even if he has effort issues on the next level?

Christian McCaffrey RB STAN- There are a few critical abilities a successful running back must have. Ability to make defenders miss? Check. Vision? Check. Ability as a receiver? Big check. He is built for a modern day offense. His play in space is incredible, and that is how the NFL is played today. Who can make more plays in one-on-one space, and who can create space? With his ability to make guys miss, McCaffrey creates. I normally dislike first round RBs greatly, but McCaffrey is an exception.

Taywan Taylor WR WKU- Arguably the most underhyped day 2 WR in this class, Taylor is explosive. His separation skills are evident in all areas of the field. He is not limited like many others in this class. While his size is not ideal, he actually plays bigger than his size suggests. This could be a result of his longer arms, and he does have a contested high point catch ability you would not think a player of his size would have. I like him a lot as a round 2 player, and he is my #5 WR.

Jalen Reeves-Maybin LB TENN- If he is not off the board at the beginning of day 3, the league is not doing this draft thing right. He is the perfect WILL linebacker who can run and chase, but most importantly COVER. It is a passing league, and when your linebacker slides out to nickel CB and Safety, you are in a good spot. He’s an athletic, instinctual player that disrupts. Reeves-Maybin is Buffalo’s dream linebacker. I kind of like him blitzing, too. He proved to be effective at Tennessee in that area. A part of me thinks he should go on day 2. Draft him, Buffalo.

Joe Williams RB UTAH- A big reason I put him on my flag players is because of the Buffalo fit. This is another player that the Bills should be all over. He is a zone, one cut style of runner that runs with decisiveness and quickness in the hole. He’s a really good athlete (seeing a theme yet?) that is falling, mainly due to character concerns (seeing another theme?) and a question of his commitment to football. When you get a guy with that kind of speed, vision and game breaking ability behind a very good offensive line that fits his skill set, you have the potential for a good starter on day 3. Steal.

Nate Hairston CB TEMP- This is the perfect McDermott mid round CB selection. He is your long, athletic, cover 3 corner that can be built into a long term starter. I will take Hairston in round 4 over Humphrey in round 1 every day. He shows excellent change of direction and tackling ability, which are necessary in this defense. He fits the mold of what you are looking for in today’s styles. He is far from a finished product, but should be a starter in 2-3 years.

Overdraft Candidates

Derek Barnett EDGE TENN- Strength is demolishing in the run game. He does not just set the edge, he makes disruptive plays with great hands. Unfortunately, these players are not valued in today’s NFL. It is a passing league, and if you are not an elite edge rusher, then you are not worthy of a first round pick. To be an elite edge rusher, you need an elite athletic profile. Barnett does not. He is incredibly average, and will be a serviceable run stopper. Day 2.

Pat Mahomes QB TTU- It is almost impossible to completely alter a player’s throwing style. They revert back to what they know. Think Tim Tebow. You can try to rebuild them all you want, but it just won’t happen. Mahomes is this. He has zero discipline in his game. When push comes to shove, he will revert back. Poor decision maker. Some fan base is going to be very unhappy in a few years.

Jamal Adams S LSU- I want nothing to do with him. At safety, if you are not exceptional in coverage, then you don’t belong in round 1. Adams is average in his change of direction ability. He is average in anticipation. Strong safeties whose skill set is in the box do not have high value in the NFL. Their pay reflects that. Adams is talked about in the same way LaRon Landry was. He will be a fine player, but he just won’t be important. He’s a day 2 player.

Jabrill Peppers S MICH- Guys who don’t have a definitive role or position do not belong in round 1. Same as Adams, “tweeners” are not valued. He has playmaking potential, but he is way too much of a projection for where he is supposed to be taken.

Jonathan Allen DT BAMA- I always worry about Alabama players with injury issues. They tend to linger. I have long term concerns here with his shoulders.

Marlon Humphrey CB BAMA- You can find zone corners relatively easily, especially in this draft. Humphrey struggles with the deep ball and often overreacts to receiver movements. While he does have raw skills to be coached up, I will let someone else draft him and get someone later that can be just as good.

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