As the Buffalo Bills and NFL move towards free agency and the draft, my position-by-position "State of the Bills" offseason series continues with a look at the wide receivers.
Because there are so many at the position, I’ve divided this position up into two groups and write-ups. Part 1 covers those wide receivers who are under contract for the 2022 season.
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This is the second part, those receivers who are pending free agents next month:
Pending Free Agents:
- Isaiah McKenzie (UFA)
- Emmanuel Sanders (UFA)
- Jake Kumerow (UFA)
Under contract:
- Stefon Diggs
- Gabriel Davis
- Cole Beasley
- Marquez Stevenson
- Isaiah Hodgins
- Tanner Gentry
State of the position (pending free agents):
No Bills receiver, arguably player, had more of a rollercoaster season than Isaiah McKenzie.
The 26-year-old went into the year as the team’s primary kick and punt returner, but was used sparingly on offense, which was a head-scratcher for a lot of fans and media, considering the versatility he can bring.
After a horrible fumble on a kickoff return Week 11 against the Indianapolis Colts, McKenzie was outright benched the following two games, replaced just four days later on Thanksgiving night by rookie Marquez Stevenson. He eventually got back into the lineup, but did not return a single punt until the team’s Week 18 finale against the New York Jets.
McKenzie saw a bit of an increase in offensive usage over the final five regular season games and exploded with an 11-catch, 125-yard performance against the New England Patriots the day after Christmas, filling in for Cole Beasley.
Outside of that game, he grabbed just nine passes for 53 yards, finishing the season with a total of only 20 catches for 178 yards. He also ran nine times for 47 yards and a touchdown. The Miami, Florida native had a combined six touches for 92 yards in the Bills' two playoff games.
McKenzie was in the same situation last year as an unrestricted free agent. Considering how everything unfolded this year, it’s hard to know what he’s thinking, as far as a possible return again.
His production when he was given his opportunity on offense may mean he’s looking at a nice pay day from a team that’s willing to give him more than the Bills will. What happens with Beasley could have a ripple effect on McKenzie’s situation, too.
While it certainly wasn’t a complete bust, the Emmanuel Sanders signing last offseason didn’t go quite as well as the Bills maybe had hoped, either.
For whatever reasons, Sanders and Josh Allen just didn’t seem in sync most of the year. Sanders caught 42 passes for 626 yards, but those came on 72 targets. That is a very low catch percentage of 58.3%.
Sanders' best work came early in the season when he topped 50 yards in five of the first six contests, scoring two touchdowns in two of those games. However, from Week 10 through the rest of the regular season, Sanders never caught more than three passes in a game, never reached even 30 yards in any of them, and didn’t find the end zone again until the team’s Wild Card Round game against the Patriots when he caught a pair of passes for 36 yards and a score.
Even at 34-years-old, Sanders was used as a deep threat in the Bills offense, finishing second in the entire NFL with an average depth of target per-reception of 12.88 yards. He was 15th in the league in average yards per-catch at 14.90, the second-highest total of his entire 13-year career.
Sanders missed three games over the last month of the year dealing with a knee injury. He’s about to be 35-years-old, and has only played one full season since 2016. In the other four seasons since then, he’s missed 13 games, and both his total catches and receiving yards have declined over each of the past two years.
With the uncertainty surrounding both Cole Beasley and Isaiah McKenzie, there’s still a chance the Bills could re-visit Sanders being re-signed to the team again in 2022, especially because he has the ability to play both outside and in the slot. However, it feels like the Bills will, most likely, move on and look for someone different, and younger.
Heading into the season, it seemed like Jake Kumerow might have the ability to carve out a small role for himself on offense. If only even for the one pass he caught in 2020, a laser beam from Allen for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos, even though he rarely played on offense through seven games with the team.
However, Kumerow’s role really didn’t change at all.
The 30-year-old was a core special teams player for the Bills all season, playing over 60% of the special teams plays. And once again, he was hardly used on offense, on the field for only 116 snaps - less than 10% of all offensive plays - only catching two passes for 28 yards all season.
With a talented and crowded wide receiver room, there are only so many snaps and passes to go around. But it also seems pretty clear what role the Bills want Kumerow to play, and that is mainly only as a special teams player.
It’s hard to see that changing, especially for a player who just turned 30 last week.
Kumerow may want to look elsewhere for a better opportunity on offense next season. That could include re-joining his former quarterback Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers - if Rodgers stays there - after the veteran mentioned him by name last year as someone he was upset the team got rid of after 2019.
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He also could be very content with the niche he’s carved out on the Bills, and knowing how much they value him in that spot. He certainly won’t get paid a ton of money in free agency, so if the Bills really want him back it shouldn’t be a money issue that doesn’t get it done.
This will most likely come down to what the player is looking for, and where he might find it.
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