Watkins-Keith Allison-Flickr
OK Buffalo Bills’ Nation. I know you have officially hit the panic button. You more than likely have began looking up new curse words to later use on your television, due to the news of starter Sammy Watkins breaking a bone in his foot. Relax, it is just the preseason. If you must know Rex Ryan has a fix for the problem. Robert Woods will not be the only hope of this team’s WR corps. Listen to me! Kolby Listenbee can fill in day one, should Sammy Watkins not be able to go.
Competition will be key
Jarrett Boykin, Greg Salas and Greg Little are on the roster, battling for spots but I am confident Rex Ryan will see through all of this thick, and give his sixth-round pick a chance to be the legit #3 on this squad. I say this because of his belief in Tyrod Taylor last offseason. Tyrod started his career behind Joe Flacco, and was still given a chance to fight for the starting job. Listenbee will have opportunity come training camp.
Goodwin good as gone
What is that you say? Marquise Goodwin is already a “burner” on the team and can fill in for Sammy? No, NO NO, emphatically NO! Do you really want a guy who pulled a complete disappearing act on the 2015 season to step in and be the #2 to Woods again? His 2-games, 2-receptions, and 12-total yards are in no way convincing enough. Is he not one of the main reasons E.J. Manuel did not produce? Goodwin should be as good as gone after the offseason as long as Ryan allows true competition to take place. Besides Goodwin is busy trying out for the Olympics. He is completely disinterested with football.
Even NFL.com’s Mark Dulgerian had this to say about the Bills drafting Listenbee:
“The former track star has big time deep speed and should push Marquise Goodwin for the team’s “field-stretcher” title. Listenbee will need to expand his route tree to be a regular in the rotation, but the NFL tends to find spots for kids with his wheels.”
Why Listenbee?
Why am I so high on Listenbee? Because the TCU product is built in the same mold as Sammy Watkins.
This can be both a good and a bad attribute. For those of you who have followed my posts know I am not the biggest Sammy supporter but it is because of his inability to get off the “jam”. Both Sammy and Listenbee have this issue, but their speed is dangerous.
Faster but slightly smaller
With Listenbee on the field, Tyrod will not have to worry about stretching the field due to his 4.39 40-time (faster than Watkins 4.43) and ability to kick it into second gear against defenders in the secondary. Both he and Sammy have good concentration and soft hands and attack the ball.
Sure there is a height difference with Listenbee listed at 6ft even and Watkins at 6-1, but the talent is the same. That sounds great for Bills fans but this former Hornfrog has the same issue as Sammy. He can’t run crisp routes.
Ugly baby!!!
Bang Bang!!! Shots fired!!! Ya, that’s right I said it! And normally I put a positive spin on things, by saying there is light at the end of the tunnel but look at the WR coach. Sanjay Lal may be a Washington Huskie Hall of fame receiver but he has not had the most successful history of producing quality receivers in the past. His most notable product was one who was already a star in Eric Decker. Lal coached Decker in his 2014 tenure with the New York Jets helping him attain 74-962-yds and 5-TDs. Other that that, he has comes from a line of terrible WR corps.
You can’t coach speed
Lal may not be a stud WR coach, but one talent he can’t screw up is the speed of these young bucks. Look for Ryan to be blown away as Listenbee and Taylor hook up on a couple of nice bomb in an offseason training camp near you.
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Jermaine Lockett is a Writer and CEO for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or twitter.