By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills, as a team, need a strong finish to the 2018 season if they want to make something of themselves.
At 4-7 overall, the Bills currently have a 37 percent chance to make the postseason… if they run the table and win five games in a row, according to the New York Times’ playoff simulator machine. Because of that, the final five games will likely turn into an evaluation period for the Bills.
Rookie quarterback Josh Allen will be the focal point of those evaluations by Sean McDermott and the Bills’ coaching staff. However, Allen won’t be alone. A lot is riding on the final five games for a number of Buffalo players.
With that, here are 9 Bills players who need a strong finish to 2018:
1. TE Charles Clay
Clay’s health seems to be finally trending in the right direction. As of Wednesday, Clay was practicing on a limited capacity with a hamstring injury. In regard to his play, things haven’t trended upward at all in 2018. While never considered one of the premier offensive tight ends in the game, for Bills’ standards, Clay’s been solid during his career with the team. Clay has consistency been near the top of the Bills’ passing charts in catches in yards over the past few years.
This year’s been a completely different story. After a 49 catches and 449 yards with two scores last season, the 29-year-old tight end only has 19 grabs for 169 yards and hasn’t scored once in nine games this season. With one year left on his contract after this year, Clay needs a big final five games to show he deserves to be brought back.
2. WR Isaiah McKenzie
In the case of McKenzie, he appears to be a guy that McDermott has had on is radar for awhile. When Buffalo tried to sign him off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad, Denver signed him to their 53-man roster a few weeks back to prevent Buffalo from taking. Then the Broncos cut him and the Billsgot him anyway. Since joining the Bills, his versatility and speed have been on display. He’s featured as a wideout, returner, and even a running back, the position where he scored a touchdown from last week.
Despite his opportunities, they’ve still been pretty low totals. The touchdown is nice, but as a pass-catcher, he only has three grabs for 25 yards and as a runner he has five carries for 40 yards, which isn’t bad, but he needs to keep building on those totals to secure a place moving forward.
3. WR Robert Foster
In a sense, Foster could be battling with McKenzie for a roster spot, but there could be a scenario where both return to the team next season. However, the Bills have to like the results they’ve gotten in recent weeks after adding speed both of their speed to their wide receiver room and they’ll probably continue to do that over the offseason.
Foster’s second stint with the Bills over the past two games has been much, much more productive than his first one. In six games the first time, the undrafted rookie from Alabama had two catches for 30 yards. Those both came in Week 2. In his second stint, Foster has 199 yards on five grabs with a touchdown. Like McKenzie, Foster needs to show he can provided consistency and it appears he’s going to get the chance to show that based off the past two games.
4. WR Kelvin Benjamin
Nobody needs a good final five games more than Benjamin, but unfortunately for the big-bodied target, he might have the highest hill to climb. Prior mentioned wideouts, McKenzie and Foster, are part of the youth movement the Bills are going with on the offensive side of the ball. Benjamin isn’t old at 27, but McDermott might be finally admitting that he knows what he has in the under-preforming wideout.
In recent weeks, the percentage of snap totals Benjamin has played on offense has continued to decrease. In Week 12, Benjamin only played in 40 percent of offensive snaps compared to Foster and McKenzie who saw 57 percent. As a former first-round pick, Benjamin will likely, at minimal, sign a prove-it deal with another team if the Bills don’t re-sign him next season. But if he wants to stick around, he has a lot of work to do and dwindling opportunities to do so.
5. OL Jeremiah Sirles
The Bills traded away right tackle Marshall Newhouse earlier this season and promptly signed Sirles a few weeks later. As a versatile player, he fits the McDermott mold. He’s even showed that in his brief time with the Bills. Three games ago for the Bills, Sirles saw playing time at right tackle, the same game Wyatt Teller made his NFL debut. However, only Teller stuck as a starter at the time.
In that brief time for Sirles, he did earn a positive outcome via PFF. As a pass-blocker, Sirles, 27, clocked in with a grade of 76.8. His run blocking day came in at 68.0, which is about average for PFF’s grade scale, but average is much better than Buffalo’s typical output as a run-blocking unit this season, explaining a lot of LeSean McCoy’s struggles.
Now, Sirles is reportedly going to see his first chance at guard with the Bills. Starter John Miller (abdomen) is down and Ryan Groy, the player who replaced Miller in-game last week, didn’t do enough to keep that job. Sirles will get the look if Miller doesn’t play. If he preform well enough, Sirles isn’t an aging player by any means yet and could lockup a future starting spot.
6. OT Jordan Mills
Aside from losing a few snaps to Sirles against the Bears, Mills has held down the Bills’ right tackle position. While a player who’s noticeably struggled, at times, during his tenure with the Bills, Mills desires credit where it’s due. Multiple times during his career Buffalo has tried and failed to replace him. He’s beaten out the competition during training camp each time. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t keep trying, though.
Mills’ performance this season mirrors that of the Bills. The unit is an average group as pass-blocking. As run-blockers, they’re awful. Pro Football Focus ranks the Bills as the worst second worst run-blocking line in the entire NFL. Against the pass-rush, Buffalo’s even dropped down to 19th in PFF’s ranks. Against the pass, Mills has a season-overall grade of 68.9, PFF’s scale has 70 as about average. His run blocking grade of 46.6 is… ugly.
7. OG Wyatt Teller
The rookie fifth-round pick in Teller has won a couple of fans over so far during his brief run. On Sunday against the Dolphins, he’ll make his third-straight start. Regardless, Teller’s position at left guard is far from secured. With how much cap room Buffalo has next offseason, near $84 million, general manager Brandon Beane can certainly afford some strong competition, or the draft is always an option. Because of that, Teller’s final five games are certainly an audition, especially considering Teller wasn’t even worthy of being active over Buffalo’s first five games.
Like Mills, in his brief time, Teller’s reflected the rest of the offensive line. He’s performance above average as a pass-blocker with a season grade of 78.1 via PFF. His run blocking abilities have been atrocious, though. He’s at a 46.3 run-blocking grade for the year. The rookie has to improve there if he’s going to lock down a position.
8. DE Shaq Lawson
It’s true, Lawson’s improved this season. His sack numbers aren’t quite up to par yet, but he’s consistently getting more pressure and he continues to be a stout run defender for the Bills. His role in the team’s brawl last weekend appears to be something the team is looking upon positively as well. So far Lawson only has two sacks on the year with 13 total tackles. While Trent Murphy was out with a knee injury, the defensive line didn’t miss a beat.
Here’s where things come into play for Lawson: The Bills could have a very early draft pick. Currently the team is slated to select No. 9 in the first round. If Buffalo dips down into the top-five at the end of the year, that might not bode well for Lawson’s future since the 2019 draft is top-heavy with pass rushers that could easily slide into Lawson’s spot, such as Nick Bosa or Clelin Ferrell. Lawson also was not a Sean McDermott draft pick. Noteworthy.
9. CB Levi Wallace
Wallace is a fantastic story as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Alabama who walked on with the Crimson Tide and has now essentially done the same with the Bills. In his first two career starts, Wallace has been OK. Nothing spectacular. In his first game, he dropped a sure interception. In his second game, the only big throw the Jaguars completed was with him in coverage on the goal line. That’s been overlook since a total brawl broke out seconds later.
So far in those two games, Wallace has one pass defended and six tackles, five of which came last week. With Tre’Davious White across from him, opponents are going to pick on him so he has to hold his own. The challenges down the stretch with the Dolphins, Lions and Patriots still on the schedule will be much tougher for him, too. The opportunity is right there for Wallace.