Watching the Buffalo Bills’ offense this past week against the Cincinnati Bengals was painful for many fans. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor posted a 54.1 percent completion rate and only passed for 166 yards, as stated by Pro Football Focus. He missed wide open receivers on a few plays. Dropped passes plagued the team. The running game looked dead. A knee injury to tight end Charles Clay has him out for several weeks. Wide receiver Jordan Matthews is out for at least another three weeks. The Bills’ offense need help a.s.a.p. if they want to stay in the AFC East playoff hunt.
Signing tight end Gary Barnidge would be a good move that can solve some of their issues.
Gary Barnidge is good fit
Gary Barnidge visited the Bills during the offseason. He also talked with the Jacksonville Jaguars and some other teams. He currently remains unsigned. Barnidge has the size that Buffalo needs. At 6 ft.6, the tight end put up his best numbers during the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He had over 1600 yards and 11 touchdowns, according to NFL.com. Bills’ tight end Nick O’Leary did well last week with over 50 yards of receiving. However, having O’Leary and Barnidge on the field at the same time would give opposing defenses some tough match-ups. O'Leary is also a solid guy who has some height on him at 6 ft.3.
While it would take some time for Barnidge to get up to speed on the Bills’ offense, signing him now would be a perfect time. Buffalo is on a bye this week. That would give Barnidge over 10 days to get prepared.
Wide receiver dearth
Not having Jordan Matthews on the field has made things more of an uphill battle for the Bills.
Rookie Zay Jones has the talent but seems to be facing some psychological demons this year. He has a few dropped passes and failed to pull in a potential game-winner against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2. While rookies make mistakes, Jones cannot be counted in right now to take on the burden of the Bills’ weak wide receiver unit.
Andre Holmes and Kaelin Clay are average receivers. Tyrod Taylor has also been hesitant on airing the ball to them. While trust and chemistry should come along with time, Barnidge could give Taylor that trust. Taylor has mentioned in press conferences that Charles Clay gives many defensive players a difficult match-up. A taller Barnidge could pose even more of a problem for opposing defenses and provide Taylor with that safety net he is looking for on the field.
Bad running game
The Bills, who have had the best rushing unit in the NFL for the last two years, are struggling this season. LeSean McCoy cannot seem to break away from loaded boxes teams are putting him in. Teams are not respecting the Buffalo wide receiving unit enough to create some holes on the line of scrimmage.
The Bills were on the Bengals’ 12-yard line this past Sunday and failed to get into the end zone. Backup Mike Tolbert is not having much success on the ground. Signing Barnidge would force teams to cover him, which could open the running game for Buffalo.
