Here's the Bills news of note for June 15th.
**1 - LeSean McCoy stands out again
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Everyone knows that McCoy can do some pretty incredible things from the backfield. He has the ability to change games with just one play, if given the opportunity. Pro Football Focus recently tweeted an infographic which shows "Most Rushing Yards outside the tackles" where McCoy came in first last season.
Last year, McCoy rushed for 835 yards outside of the tackles, which led the league in front of Demarco Murray and Ezekiel Elliot. McCoy finished last season with a total of 1,267 yards rushing which in turn means that 69 percent of his yards come from rushing outside rather than inside.
While it is known that McCoy is an elite back here is what his back up, Jonathan Williams has noticed.
"He's not just a running back. He can run the ball between the tackles. He can run outside. He can line up outside and threaten a defense there," said Williams. "LeSean is a great guy, a great professional on and off the football field, so I'm just learning from him. He's a playmaker."
**2 - Shaq Lawson excited about the new scheme
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Buffalo Bills DE Shaq Lawson was selected in the first round last year but was not able to participate as much as he'd like. He required shoulder surgery after being drafted, which barred him from offseason work last year, which may have affected his ability to produce.
Lawson recently appeared on the Bills flagship radio station, WGR Sportsradio 550 to talk with Howard Simon about the upcoming season. Something to mention is that with new head coach, Sean McDermott, he is bringing over a 4-3 defensive scheme while Rex Ryan used a 3-4. Both schemes have their advantages and disadvantages but for Shaq, he will have different roles and he seems to be quite excited about it.
"I am very happy. It's something I've been doing my last three years in college at Clemson. It's something that I'm very comfortable with and easy to learn." Lawson said.
Having experience there can be a great asset for Lawson but the scheme also better fits his size and abilities.
"I will always have my hand in the dirt. I was always an attack defensive end," Lawson said. "You know not having to stand up and drop into coverage a lot of the times. It's what I've been doing and it's what got me drafted in the first round, things like that. I'm just very comfortable with it because I've been doing it all my life."
3 - PFF: Tyrod Taylor is a fantasy steal
Pro Football Focus provides in-depth football analytics and from there they are able to make predictions based on the data. They believe that he is in line for a very productive year and that will translate to fantasy points.
Last year, Taylor threw for a little over 3,000 yards and scored 17 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He was also a threat on the ground where he ran for 580 yards and six touchdowns as well. Taylor finished eighth in fantasy scoring last year among quarterbacks, just ahead of Derek Carr, Russell Wilson and Phillip Rivers.
Here is what Tyler Buecher of Pro Football Focus had to say about the Bills QB:
Over the last two years, Taylor has finished with 19.3 and 18.1 fantasy points per game. Those are pretty remarkable numbers. His best receiver, WR Sammy Watkins, has only played in 19 of the 29 possible games they could've played together. Taylor now gets some additional help with second-rounder Zay Jones out of East Carolina. Jones thrived as an intermediate target at ECU, finishing with a 0.43 market share of receiving yards and 0.31 market share of receiving touchdowns en route to a 158-1,746-8 stat line. Jones and Watkins should thrive immediately as intermediate targets in Dennison's West Coast offense. It just so happens that's exactly where Taylor makes his best plays.
Taylor also comes with the built-in safety of a rushing floor. Over the past two years, Taylor leads all quarterbacks with 14 games with at least 40 yards rushing. That's essentially an extra four-point passing touchdown built into his fantasy score before taking passing statistics into account. 14 of his 29 games – 48.3 percent – provide that safety net with him consistently provided additional fantasy points on the ground.
The full article can be found here.
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