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PFF rankings of NFL teams receivers 2016 and 2017

August 12, 2017 07:12AM
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-all-32-nfl-receiving-corps

2016
26. Buffalo Bills
Projected starters: WR Sammy Watkins, WR Robert Woods, WR Marquise Goodwin, TE Charles Clay
Key depth: WR Greg Salas, WR Walt Powell, TE Jim Dray, TE Nick O’Leary
Key stat: Charles Clay tied for the league-lead among tight ends with 16 missed tackles forced last season.
Right now, injury might be the only thing keeping Sammy Watkins from pushing himself into the NFL’s top-tier of wide receivers. Averaging 17.5 yards per catch in his second year in the league, he has now racked up 2,029 yards as a receiver since entering the NFL. Reports about his recovery from offseason foot surgery are good, but the rest of the Bills’ receivers leave a lot to be desired. Robert Woods has never really improved since entering the league, and with four dropped passes from 51 catchable, is coming off his lowest-graded season as a receiver. Charles Clay is one to watch at tight end, with 16 missed tackles on 51 receptions a year ago, tied for the most at the position.

32. Los Angeles Rams
Projected starters: WR Kenny Britt, WR Tavon Austin, WR Brian Quick, TE Lance Kendricks
Key depth: WR Pharoh Cooper, WR Mike Thomas, WR Marquez Bradley, TE Cory Hakrey, TE Tyler Higbee
Key stat: Tavon Austin has graded higher as a runner than as a receiver every single season since entering the league.
This isn’t an ideal welcome to Los Angeles for Jared Goff (California), with—in our opinion—the lowest-ranked group of wide receivers and tight ends in the NFL waiting for him. Lance Kendricks dropped four of the 29 catchable passes thrown his way last season, and doesn’t look ready to be the team’s top tight end, so it may not be long before Tyler Higbee (Western Kentucky), who had the fifth-highest receiving grade among tight ends in college a year ago, takes his spot in the starting line up. At wide receiver, Tavon Austin has graded higher as a runner than as a receiver in every season since entering the league. He can make people miss in space, though, forcing 19 missed tackles on 52 receptions, and 14 on 52 carries a year ago. Kenny Britt is the default top receiver on this roster, but had more drops (five) than touchdowns (three) a year ago.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2711007-nfl1000-ranking-every-nfl-receiving-corps
2017
21. Buffalo Bills
Receivers: Sammy Watkins, Zay Jones, Corey Brown, Andre Holmes, Walter Powell, Brandon Tate, Dezmin Lewis, Kolby Listenbee, Jeremy Butler
Tight Ends: Charles Clay, Nick O’Leary, Blake Annen, Logan Thomas
The Bills declined the fifth-year option on Sammy Watkins this year, which means that barring some other form of extension, he’ll be a free agent after the 2017 season. Injuries have played a factor in this—he hasn’t played a full 16 games since his rookie season in 2014 and he missed eight games last season—but Watkins flashes potential to be a top-flight receiver, and he’d certainly get a ton of offers next offseason. When he’s healthy, Watkins combines speed, toughness and separation ability in a rare package, and he’ll be only 24 at the end of this year. This decision could come back to bite the franchise, though at least it’ll have a high-potential receiver in a contract year.
Perhaps to offset the eventual loss of Watkins, the Bills selected East Carolina’s Zay Jones in the second round of the 2017 draft. Jones comes to the NFL as the FBS’s all-time leader in receptions with 399—including an astonishing 158 in 2016. Jones is not just a stat-collector—he’s a good speed receiver with route awareness that can be developed, and he should be an outstanding complement to Watkins.
Beyond that, it’s a bit fraught. The Bills experienced a receiver exodus in the offseason, with Marquise Goodwin, Justin Hunter and Robert Woods off the books, which places even more importance on Jones getting up to speed in a hurry. Buffalo signed Philly Brown, Jeremy Butler and Andre Holmes as depth players, but that’s about all any of those players have been in their careers. Holmes was a decent bigger receiver in Oakland, Brown is a reserve speed receiver and Butler caught just two passes last year for the Chargers.
The real No. 3 receiver will probably be Charles Clay, who has been reasonably productive in his two years with the Bills. He led the team in receptions with 57 last year.  

30. Los Angeles Rams
Receivers: Tavon Austin, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Pharoh Cooper, Josh Reynolds, Mike Thomas, Nelson Spruce, Brandon Shippen, Bradley Marquez, Paul McRoberts
Tight Ends: Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett, Temarrick Hemingway
Put simply, the 2016 Los Angeles Rams offense was a disaster. Somehow, offensive coordinator Rob Boras managed to put together a set of schemes that exposed all the worst traits of rookie quarterback Jared Goff and made running back Todd Gurley—by far that offense's most talented player—an invisible afterthought.
The hope is new head coach Sean McVay, one of the more respected offensive play designers in the league, will improve things, but there's nowhere to go but up. Losing receiver Kenny Britt, who managed to top 1,000 yards despite everything falling apart around him, was a hit right off the bat.
McVay, the Redskins' OC from 2014 through 2016, has said he wants Tavon Austin to be the DeSean Jackson of his new offense—the speed receiver who blows by safeties and forced defenses to adjust, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com.
That's quite a projection, considering that, according to Gonzalez, Austin has caught just 15 passes that traveled 15 yards in the air or more. That's partially due to the restrictive offensive systems in place under former head coach Jeff Fisher, but it also shows—as the tape reveals—that Austin has never developed into more than a gadget guy. And at 5'8" and 176 pounds, there are legitimate questions regarding his ability to do more.
More likely, Robert Woods or Cooper Kupp will be Goff's primary target. The Rams signed Woods, a former Buffalo Bills receiver, to a five-year, $34 million deal, despite the fact he's never come close to a 1,000-yard season. Woods is a good second receiver with speed (4.51 40-yard dash) and possession receiver attributes, but he's not likely the alpha dog this group desperately needs.
Neither is Kupp, but the third-round rookie from Eastern Washington could be the sleeper of the group. Kupp caught an astounding 117 passes for 1,704 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, and while he doesn't have the speed to separate from defenders on deeper routes—he ran a 4.62 40-yard dash at the scouting combine in Indianapolis—he has a great sense of how to get open outside and in the slot. Given the extent to which Goff needs to progress before he's NFL-ready, Kupp could be a major help with easy first-read throws.
Tight end Tyler Higbee is at the top of the depth chart following the release of Lance Kendricks, and though the second-year player caught just 11 passes for 85 yards in 2016, McVay told reporters to "expect big things" from Higbee.
Right now, McVay has some potential in this group of receivers but few sure things.

This is designed to point out that the rams have upgraded their WR/TE group significantly but we are still not top 10-15. That said, Watkins is a big step up from Britt (at least if he gets in say 12 games), Woods is a big step up from Quick (I would say this is a much bigger improvement), and I prefer Kupp/Tavon over Tavon. I am willing to defer judgment on the TE group until there is some evidence.
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  PFF rankings of NFL teams receivers 2016 and 2017

The Professor472August 12, 2017 07:12AM