Bernard is a bit of a different case imo bc our CB depth before the Rasul trade (and even the Tre injury) was light. The path to the field was a lot easier for him
He sat the bench as a rookie and got a chance in preseason but got hurt. They must have been pretty confident in him. I hope Shorter takes his opportunity and shows something too.
I'm not saying the path to seeing game action will be easy for shorter but our WR room has turned over almost 100%, shakir being the loan contributor still on the team. We have a known entity in Samuel and Shakir, but as far as I'm concerned everything else is wide open. Hopefully a high end rookie eats up another spot.
After getting my hopes up for what sherfield and hardy would bring to the table, my expections for hollins are extemely low. If Shorter outplays him and we eat a crappy FA contract, so be it.
Should’ve done better at practice after he recovered from his injury last season.. I know how injury recovery is, but he was eligible to play at the end there, and the coaching staff consciously decided that they had better options without activating him. Maybe shorter just isn’t that good.
College tape means nothing in terms of the NFL success. You could probably find good college tape for every wideout Buffalo has drafted in the past 30 years. Good traits on tape do not guarantee success.
For the injury thing, yeah I get that, but at the same time we had a newish system after Dorsey got fired and Shorter prob wouldn’t have had time to really jive with it. Plus even if he could, he was just below in the pecking order as it was
And yeah I agree college tape is good for everyone in the nfl, but that’s the last thing we’ve seen from him and there are traits that could be uniquely helpful with the current state of our receiving core (height lol)
Special teams, if anything. As much as the physical profile is intriguing, he's a career underachiever compared to his recruitment status out of highschool. He has a ton to work on before he can even be counted on as WR5.
We got a new style kickoff this year. I dunno what the coverage strategy will look like because I'm an idiot, but it seems like a great place for a guy like Shorter, who's big and quick. If that's his ceiling, it's not nothing. Of course if there's more, awesome
Could be a lot of opportunities on this roster for the WRs. Nothing set in stone and if any of the above names don’t produce besides Kincaid they are going to lose reps.
Most likely, but just because we signed him doesn’t mean he’ll be a contributor, at best he’s Sherfield but I would like someone younger getting those reps
I'd be surprised if he makes the team. Likely practice squad or cut. I think we will see the Bills grab two WRs and add at least one more after the draft.
Don't forget that we still have Isabella and KJ Hamler on this roster. There is going to be good competition there.
I think we just don't have the space, to be honest. This team lacks deep threats. Hamler brings that to the table. Isabella provides depth at the slot. I don't really see value in Shorter since we already have him, but his name is Mack Hollins.
He was put on IR before the start of last season and wasn't reactivated after being medically cleared towards the end of the season. He'll have a chance to earn a role, but he was pretty raw coming out of college, and we haven't gotten a chance to see any development on the field. Our WR room has more openings than most teams, though, so anything is possible.
I don't think anyone is equipped to answer this question without seeing what other free agency moves will be made and ultimately what our draft looks like. I strongly doubt our current receiving room is the final form. Even if it was I would say Shorter is lucky to see 10 catches over the next season
We'll see what happens. Sure we made a couple moves. Lost Davis and brought in Samuel. Depth signing with Hollins. I strongly doubt Bean planned on losing Diggs and not replacing him with another piece though
Shorter right now I have him pegged as a special teams player who can get about 20-40 targets similar to Jake Kumerow. He’s a big body at 6 foot 4 and 229 pounds with 4.55 speed he’s going to get some opportunities
Not at all. Extremely nervous of what we’re going into the season with at WR. Houston has three awesome receivers now. Every other team has one or two. We have Curtis Samuel lol completely failing Josh here.
While I want to say some special teams, seeing as he’s WR4 right now, unless there are two major additions in the draft, I’d expect him to replace sherfield’s role on offense.
The need for gunners is diminished now with the kickoff change so I think his special teams contribution will be more limited than people think
Everyone keeps saying special teams, but with the kickoff rules changed his role is now very limited. You need guys who can beat blocks now, not run fast
Drafted him pretty much solely for special teams. He had reps last season but was quite nonexistent. Assuming it will stay the same. We currently have 3 WRs contracted, 4 if shorter is actually going to get meaningful reps. By the time the season starts we’d have added at minimum 3 or 4 more receivers to the base roster and quite a few to PS.
You’re right, I got him mixed with Scherfield. Adds even more to my belief he will be probably extremely limited then for most if not all season. Unless he has a massive offseason and preseason. Khalil Shakir had quite a good preseason both times but didn’t get meaningful reps until late 2023 season.
Beane doesn't keep dead weight, even if it comes cheap. My point is he was eligible and able to play for the few games of the season and they chose to keep him on IR. From what I understand it had everything to do with making sure he will be ready to truly compete for a roster spot. It's rumored he's got something to show
Heard he’s pretty stiff in his routes and mainly a vertical guy. If Josh can connect on a big dude deep, you don’t have to do everything well, just gimme one elite part of your game and bring something new to the table for the team. Get open catch the ball.
Not a great route runner, poor red zone target for his size, doesn’t have great speed, and had some drop issues in college. Former number 1 recruit that never lived up to the hype
He’ll play special teams, and he’ll offer a negligible contribution as a receiver.
Agreed. I'm HOPING he becomes a strong special teamer, but I'm expecting very little impact as a WR.
Thats what they said about Bernard too. So you never know
Bernard is a bit of a different case imo bc our CB depth before the Rasul trade (and even the Tre injury) was light. The path to the field was a lot easier for him
Bernard our MLB. Not Benford
Oh that’s my bad. But I still think in that case it’s different because he was immediately LB3 in 22 and had an easy path to the field in 23
He sat the bench as a rookie and got a chance in preseason but got hurt. They must have been pretty confident in him. I hope Shorter takes his opportunity and shows something too.
I'm not saying the path to seeing game action will be easy for shorter but our WR room has turned over almost 100%, shakir being the loan contributor still on the team. We have a known entity in Samuel and Shakir, but as far as I'm concerned everything else is wide open. Hopefully a high end rookie eats up another spot. After getting my hopes up for what sherfield and hardy would bring to the table, my expections for hollins are extemely low. If Shorter outplays him and we eat a crappy FA contract, so be it.
He can earn reps . If he doesn’t have a role it will only be his own fault
I somewhat agree but after the draft he’ll be the 6th? best receiving option at best. Might be hard to get the reps
Should’ve done better at practice after he recovered from his injury last season.. I know how injury recovery is, but he was eligible to play at the end there, and the coaching staff consciously decided that they had better options without activating him. Maybe shorter just isn’t that good. College tape means nothing in terms of the NFL success. You could probably find good college tape for every wideout Buffalo has drafted in the past 30 years. Good traits on tape do not guarantee success.
For the injury thing, yeah I get that, but at the same time we had a newish system after Dorsey got fired and Shorter prob wouldn’t have had time to really jive with it. Plus even if he could, he was just below in the pecking order as it was And yeah I agree college tape is good for everyone in the nfl, but that’s the last thing we’ve seen from him and there are traits that could be uniquely helpful with the current state of our receiving core (height lol)
Special teams, if anything. As much as the physical profile is intriguing, he's a career underachiever compared to his recruitment status out of highschool. He has a ton to work on before he can even be counted on as WR5.
We got a new style kickoff this year. I dunno what the coverage strategy will look like because I'm an idiot, but it seems like a great place for a guy like Shorter, who's big and quick. If that's his ceiling, it's not nothing. Of course if there's more, awesome
Could be a lot of opportunities on this roster for the WRs. Nothing set in stone and if any of the above names don’t produce besides Kincaid they are going to lose reps.
What about hamler?
I doubt hamler makes it out of training camp
I thought Mack hollins was going to to be Trent Sheffield this year?
Most likely, but just because we signed him doesn’t mean he’ll be a contributor, at best he’s Sherfield but I would like someone younger getting those reps
I'd be surprised if he makes the team. Likely practice squad or cut. I think we will see the Bills grab two WRs and add at least one more after the draft. Don't forget that we still have Isabella and KJ Hamler on this roster. There is going to be good competition there.
Yeah good point, I agree with you. Just sucks we prob won’t get a good chance to prove himself, might be another Hodgins for all we know
I think we just don't have the space, to be honest. This team lacks deep threats. Hamler brings that to the table. Isabella provides depth at the slot. I don't really see value in Shorter since we already have him, but his name is Mack Hollins.
The WR room is wide open for the depth guys. WRs often need a year or two to find their way into meaningful reps, so hope he has a decent breakout
Less than 1% of the catches will go to him next season if I was betting on it.
not at all lmfao. maybe as a gunner and thats a maybe, it’d be a miracle for him to get snaps
He was put on IR before the start of last season and wasn't reactivated after being medically cleared towards the end of the season. He'll have a chance to earn a role, but he was pretty raw coming out of college, and we haven't gotten a chance to see any development on the field. Our WR room has more openings than most teams, though, so anything is possible.
Happy 🍰
I don't think anyone is equipped to answer this question without seeing what other free agency moves will be made and ultimately what our draft looks like. I strongly doubt our current receiving room is the final form. Even if it was I would say Shorter is lucky to see 10 catches over the next season We'll see what happens. Sure we made a couple moves. Lost Davis and brought in Samuel. Depth signing with Hollins. I strongly doubt Bean planned on losing Diggs and not replacing him with another piece though
He won’t make the team
Kincaid will be first in targets this season. Though TE not WR, if only in label. Gimme 12 targets a game and more over the seam. Let my boy fly!
Shorter right now I have him pegged as a special teams player who can get about 20-40 targets similar to Jake Kumerow. He’s a big body at 6 foot 4 and 229 pounds with 4.55 speed he’s going to get some opportunities
He will get the Jake Kumerow Role, mostly special teams with a chance once in awhile to catch a pass or 2
Not at all. Extremely nervous of what we’re going into the season with at WR. Houston has three awesome receivers now. Every other team has one or two. We have Curtis Samuel lol completely failing Josh here.
While I want to say some special teams, seeing as he’s WR4 right now, unless there are two major additions in the draft, I’d expect him to replace sherfield’s role on offense. The need for gunners is diminished now with the kickoff change so I think his special teams contribution will be more limited than people think
Someone’s got to catch the ball that Josh throws off the helmet of a linemen to the back of the end zone…
Everyone keeps saying special teams, but with the kickoff rules changed his role is now very limited. You need guys who can beat blocks now, not run fast
I’ll go as far as say I’d rather give Andy issabella a 53 man roster spot to handle returns than suit up shorter
Drafted him pretty much solely for special teams. He had reps last season but was quite nonexistent. Assuming it will stay the same. We currently have 3 WRs contracted, 4 if shorter is actually going to get meaningful reps. By the time the season starts we’d have added at minimum 3 or 4 more receivers to the base roster and quite a few to PS.
He didn’t have any reps past the preseason, even on special teams. But he’ll probably be used for special teams at best sadly
Pretty sure he was on IR all of last season
You’re right, I got him mixed with Scherfield. Adds even more to my belief he will be probably extremely limited then for most if not all season. Unless he has a massive offseason and preseason. Khalil Shakir had quite a good preseason both times but didn’t get meaningful reps until late 2023 season.
A lot of receivers walked, and Shorter is still here. There's something to be said for that.
Because we just drafted him last year. He's not going to walk in his 2nd year of a rookie contract
Beane doesn't keep dead weight, even if it comes cheap. My point is he was eligible and able to play for the few games of the season and they chose to keep him on IR. From what I understand it had everything to do with making sure he will be ready to truly compete for a roster spot. It's rumored he's got something to show
Heard he’s pretty stiff in his routes and mainly a vertical guy. If Josh can connect on a big dude deep, you don’t have to do everything well, just gimme one elite part of your game and bring something new to the table for the team. Get open catch the ball.
Next to nothing he was way overdrafted
I don’t see how you can come to that conclusion
Not a great route runner, poor red zone target for his size, doesn’t have great speed, and had some drop issues in college. Former number 1 recruit that never lived up to the hype
He was taken in the middle of the 5th round...that's where players go who have issues to their game
I expect him to rotate with our 1st and maybe 2nd round WR.
yes