The Buffalo Bills, after taking a dive in week seventeen, ended at 10-6. They are one of five teams in the AFC to hit double-digit wins this season. If they didn’t have to contend with, and look up in the standings at, the New England Patriots twice this season, they might have secured a home game this season. That having been said, their season was a big success. The defense stayed strong, their quarterback took a big step forward, and they found studs at wide receiver and running back. For fantasy football purposes, they provided some fertile ground, but there are some things you have to remember for 2020 in fantasy football about the Buffalo Bills as we head into the offseason.
What to Remember from the 2019 Buffalo Bills Season
- For whatever reason, the Buffalo Bills thought it a great idea to bring in the embodiment of longevity, Frank Gore. Many, including me, thought that he would enter into a mentorship role for Devin Singletary. People, me not included, thought that T.J. Yeldon was the player to worry about in Buffalo. Gore ended up playing at least 44% of snaps in every game from weeks two through seven. After that, he never played more than 34% of snaps, but still had way too many touches. Frank Gore had at least ten touches in eleven games. Finally, with sixteen touches in week seventeen, Singletary ends the season with double-digit touches in just ten games.
- That having been said, Frank Gore’s continued existence in Buffalo portended bad things for Devin Singletary. Gore had eleven carries inside the five (tied for tenth) this season. Conversely, Devin Singletary had two. Even Josh Allen had five of the dang things. With Frank Gore riding off into the sunset, that means many more goal-line opportunities for Singletary, which means a big breakout in 2020.
- John Brown topped 1,000 yards for the second time in his career this season but didn’t do it how you would think. Generally, we think of John Brown as a deep threat artist, who can take a few targets to the house. However, John Brown was not that player in 2019. Despite our perception, he thrived on volume in Buffalo and had just one game over 53 yards in which he had five or fewer targets. That means he’s not exactly a deep threat, but that created a more usable weekly player.
- The breakout campaign for Josh Allen in week sixteen (Allen threw just five passes in week seventeen). Allen bottomed out in week four against the Patriots but played much better after that point. Allen had just five turnovers in the eleven games after the Patriots game, which was his major bugaboo.
- A lot of writers spilled a lot of ink about Josh Allen’s accuracy issues his rookie year, but here are Allen’s top-targeted wide receivers and their catch rates in 2019:
John Brown (62.6%), Cole Beasley (63.2%), Isaiah McKenzie (69.2%)
And in 2018…
Zay Jones (54.9%), Kelvin Benjamin (37.1%), and Robert Foster (61.4%)Maybe Josh Allen was never the problem?
Check out the rest of the What to Remember series as it develops!
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(Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Josh_Allen_%2843569465444%29.jpg/800px-Josh_Allen_%2843569465444%29.jpg under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)
