Buffalo Bills: How should they address WR position?

There’s no doubt that Sammy Watkins is the Buffalo Bills No. 1 wide receiver after he blew up for 1,047 yards, nine touchdowns, and 10.9 yards per target last season. However, the Bills don’t seem to be pleased with Robert Woods and could be looking for a better player as their No. 2 receiver.

Tyrod Taylor played better than anyone could have reasonably expected in his first season as the Buffalo Bills starter, and his best games came when he started to rely on Watkins’s playmaking ability in the air and vertically. The trust between QB and WR should cause Watkins to have one of the best receiving seasons next year, but you can’t help but feel that the Bills are looking for more help.

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Recently, Bills GM Doug Whaley, who made the gutsy move to mortgage his future draft to acquire Watkins, hinted that the team could be looking for an upgrade at the wide receiver position across from Watkins. Whaley said that they could use something of a platoon with Woods, Greg Salas, and Leonard Hankerson (among a pot consisting of a handful of backup-caliber receivers), and there are two messages I’m getting here.

1. The Bills want a better receiver, since they know that sort of platoon is less-than-ideal, even in an offense that is undoubtedly run-first and built more on OL than WR talent (you know, as long as Watkins is healthy).
2. They are starting to sour on Woods.

“Hank Time” earned himself some fans last season after making some big plays for the Atlanta Falcons early in the season before being surprisingly cut by the organization, but Woods is definitely the biggest name of the bunch. A former second-round pick out of USC who was seen as a safe prospect that could own the intermediate regions of the field with his steady hands, toughness, and route-running, Woods’s contributions have been sporadic to this point in his NFL career.

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After catching 65 passes on 104 targets in a decent enough 2014 season, Woods played through a groin injury last year and finished with below-average numbers. He was third on the team with 47 receptions, averaged just 6.9 yards per target, and went above 100 receiving yards just once. In fact, he didn’t even move the chains effectively enough for the Bills offense, as he caught under 60% of the passes thrown at him, had just two games with at least five receptions, and had a ghastly 50% catch rate on third downs.

That said, it’s hard not to like Woods as a player. After all, he was suffering from an injury, and he is one of those wide receives who quietly does the little things right. Even though he’s only 6’0″, 190 pounds, Woods did an excellent job of chipping in as a blocker to support the Bills elite rushing attack, and the traits that made him valuable on draft day are still there.

As with any player who had to slog through injury troubles, such as Watkins in his rookie season, it’s hard to tell just how much we can attribute to the injury. Given that Woods is just 23 and saw his production decline sharply in his third season despite playing in a more effective offense, I’d say that injuries may have played a big role. When he hit the injured reserve, WGR 550’s Joe Buscaglia reported that the injury was “pretty severe”.

I find it interesting to look at Whaley’s full quote on the No. 2 wide receiver situation:

"“We’d love to (have a bona fide No. 2 receiver), but we think with the mix of guys we have we can generate a number two receiver, between (Marquise) Goodwin, (Robert) Woods, (Greg) Salas who we signed. Leonard Hankerson if we can get him back and then Greg Little that we signed. So we’ve got a mix of guys who might not be a bona fide number two, but we can use those guys in different roles and have a complementary number two just by mixing some guys in.”"

The first part of the quote underscores the reality of the situation for the Bills. Adding a big-name receiver as a No. 2 guy would be great, but it might not be realistic for the Bills. While this is technically a position of need for Buffalo, they do have bigger issues elsewhere. Adding some more talent at linebacker, safety, edge rusher, or on the defensive line would benefit the Bills more, and they have to worry about saving up money for Cordy Glenn and Richie Incognito in free agency. Offensive linemen are at a premium, and we all know just how much better LeSean McCoy does with good blocking in front of him.

Chris Trapasso is one of my favorite NFL writers, and, if you read the replies to this tweet, you’ll see that he would like the Bills to go after a No. 2 receiver with size. Josh Doctson is an excellent wideout and top prospect, but if the Bills want him, they would have to spend a first-round pick on him. A top option on defense would probably make more sense for the Bills there, but Doctson wouldn’t be on the board for them in the second round.

An astute follower pointed out to Trapasso that UMass prospect Tajae Sharpe, who is seen as one of the biggest sleepers at the position in the class, could be a more realistic option for Buffalo.

The Bills would ideally like to grab a guy of Doctson’s caliber, but, again, judging by the quote from Whaley, the Bills know they have bigger fish to fry. It’s all about allocating resources here. And while the Bills don’t seem to be as high on Woods as most teams would be in a 24-year-old former second-round pick, I don’t think they’ve completely soured on him either. If they want to platoon receivers, it would make a lot more sense to use Sharpe and Woods to help out Watkins, as opposed to using some sort of a utility carousel consisting of Goodwin, Salas, and Hankerson.

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Woods has shown that he’s good enough to be a No. 3 receiver, though he is on the hot seat heading into a contract year. The Bills don’t seem to be confident in him as a “starter”, but the fact of the matter is that the Bills will be more than fine at wide receiver if they can add one more competent body there. Hopefully, that body carries a big frame with him, since they need a tall receiver who can move the chains on the outside and win at the catch point, which is one reason why the 6’4″ Doctson seems like an attractive option.

Drafting a mid-round receiver with size like Sharpe or signing a free agent (Jermaine Kearse is the biggest WR I can think of among the impending FAs) seems like the right answer to me, and it would make more sense for them to draft someone.