Are we overrating the WRs?

Before the Lee Evans trade, I think everyone was in agreement that the Bills wide-receiving corp was the deepest unit on the team. A number of fans had visions of 4-5 wide receiver sets with Roscoe Parrish being healthy, Lee Evans having a bounce-back year and tons of other expectations. However, in one fell swoop of the Evans trade, the Bills suddenly have questions at the position. Mark already went through who should be the 2nd option for the Bills, but after I carefully went through the Bills stats from last year, I came away and wondered:

Are we overrating this corp?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Stevie Johnson can be a #1 wideout in the league, I think he showed a lot last year and if it weren’t for the drop pass against the Steelers and starting the season with Trent Edwards as QB, his stats would have been better. However, I’m not so sure about the rest of them. How’s this for a scary stat? The Bills 2nd leading pass catcher last year had 37 receptions (Evans) which ranked last in the NFL for 2nd options on a team. I know some will say that injuries played into it, especially with Parrish and Evans, but that’s still a pretty crappy stat. Yardage-wise? It gets even lamer as Evans’ 578 yards (2nd on the team) ranked 71st in the league last year.

Those are Lee Evans stats, but how about the rest of them…not really impressive.

David Nelson: 31 catches
Naaman Roosevelt: 9 catches 
Donald Jones: 18 catches

I think we are counting on our wide receivers to make too much of an impact. We are possibly relying on a 2nd year undrafted player as our 2nd option, a guy who made only 18 catches last year. I don’t care what Peter King – who BTW, said that he thought James Hardy was going to catch 8 touchdowns in 2008 – says, I think we are putting too much pressure on the unit.

I’m all for letting the young guys play, but just because they played well as rookies last year, it doesn’t mean they are going to take another step forward. Plus, and this is the biggest factor for me, I can’t ignore that a lot of these guys are late round picks. I know there are wideouts in the NFL who have proven that draft status means nothing, but you normally don’t turn the keys over to undrafted wideouts after year one.

I think what made the Bills wide receiving corp deep last year had to do with how they came out of nowhere. One guy went down and then another guy picked up the slack. I also think the fans started liking the unit because they are all pretty personable players. Everyone likes Stevie.  Darryl Talley couldn’t help but gush on Twitter about how nice of a guy David Nelson was when #56 was at training camp. What about Naaman Roosevelt? Being a hometown kid definitely helps his popularity with the fans (see: Tim Kennedy). Of course, sports fans love the new guy, especially when they surprise you.

I think the underdog perception, which all of these wideouts have, factors into the high hopes for the group. However, I’m not sure if I’m buying it. Actually, I don’t think I am. Everyone knows that wideouts seem to breakout after their 3rd year as a pro. We saw it firsthand with Eric Moulds, Lee Evans and Stevie Johnson. To bank on these kids to really step up, is just too much to ask in my opinion.

That’s why the Evans trade bugs me. I think it was too soon to deal him because his replacements aren’t ready. I’d rather have him be a bridge-gap for another season because it would make the transition to the younger guys a lot easier. I still believe Stevie can get his numbers, but I don’t think he’s going to get a lot of help from the other guys.

Hey, I’m not rooting against these guys. I like them as a group, and I’m sucker for a decent feel-good sports story. But I don’t think a legit 2nd option at wideout is on this roster.