Here's the Bills news of note for June 30th.
**1 - Bills O-Line top of league in all run concepts
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It is no secret that the Bills were a dominant run-first offense in 2016. Last year, the Bills led the entire NFL with 2,630 yards and averaged a league high 5.3 yards per attempt. They were dangerously good.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Bills ranked first in the inside and outside zone concept and came in second for the gap scheme. This is a huge feat for both the offensive line and the running backs. It's proving even more that the two work well together in executing plays.
Another thing that it shows is versatility. Gap and zone schemes are frankly quite different in terms of how they are to be performed. PFF proved that the Bills use both at a very high level relative to the rest of the NFL. When calling offensive plays, this will give them some options to work with that some teams may not have the luxury of having.
With new offensive coordinator, Rick Dennision, it is expected that he implement a zone heavy scheme with gap concepts mixed in. This should not be a hard transition for the Bills because it is proven that they can run both quite well. The Bills rushing attack projects to be towards the top of the league, once again.
2 - BR: Cordy Glenn is a building block for the Bills
While the Bills are rebuilding to get back towards that playoff caliber football, they will need cornerstone franchise players in order to do that. They have already gone out and got the coach and new GM that will help move the process along.
Recently on Bleacher Report, Gary Davenport, wrote a column that points out every team’s building block. For the Bills, it was LT Cordy Glenn. The 27-year old has played exceptionally well throughout his career. Here is what Davenport had to say about him:
Of course, that nod might have just a bit to do with Glenn being one of the best blindside blockers in the NFL.
Per the NFL1000, Glenn ranked sixth among left tackles last year with a grade of 78.9. That's better than Donald Penn of the Oakland Raiders, Taylor Lewan of the Tennessee Titans and Andrew Whitworth of the Los Angeles Rams. The 2012 second-round pick allowed just a single sack.
In other words, Glenn earned the first season of that five-year, $60 million extension he signed last May. The Buffalo line may have struggled at times, but Glenn was a rock on the left end.
**3 - Fantasy Footballers: Sammy Watkins path to WR1
**The Fantasy Footballers provide in-depth analysis to their fans in an effort to help them study for their leagues. With league drafts right around the corner, it's time to get to business. Sammy Watkins has been dealt injuries in his career but, when on the field, he is explosive.
Kyle Borgognoni of the Fantasy Footballers recently wrote a column "The Path to a WR1 Fantasy Season: Sammy Watkins" where he looks at his chances of taking that next step.
Here is a tidbit of what he had to say:
"*In order for Watkins to shake the injury bug and ascend to WR1 territory, there are a number of statistical benchmarks he must meet to become truly an elite fantasy option. *
Target Share: For Watkins to sustain a WR1 season, he needs to grab hold as the mainstay target hog in Buffalo. With little ancillary pieces other than Zay Jones, Charles Clay, and Andre Holmes, it's possible Watkins can see upwards of 23% to maybe even a quarter of the volume of targets. This total may seem daunting but let's put this in perspective: when Watkins did see the field last year (8 games), he saw 23.1% of those Taylor pass attempts.
In 2016, WR1-ville began with players who saw upwards of a 22% share with Davante Adams being the major outlier in last year's top 12 at 20.03%. His fantasy numbers were fueled by 12 TDs. Remember that in Watkins' breakout 2015, he held a 26.7 share of the team's targets in those 12 games. Unless you're welling to lay claim to another pass catcher stealing looks, I can see a high-end of 130 targets if health is assumed at a 23% target share."
Check the rest of the piece right here.
