Buffalo Bills: Cole Beasley is carving out crucial offensive role
Injuries have opened up a chance for Cole Beasley to be featured in the Buffalo Bills offense and he’s making the most of his opportunity.
Over the past few weeks, the Buffalo Bills offense has been challenged in many ways but they remain atop the AFC East thanks in part to their depth at the wide receiver position.
With the addition of Stefon Diggs and John Brown a favourite deep threat for Josh Allen, it looked like Cole Beasley was being pushed into a diminished role on offense. Against the New York Jets in Week 7, Beasley had a career day, catching 11 of his 12 targets for 112 yards showing that he still remains a key part of this offense.
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This was the second time this season the 31-year-old had 100 or more receiving yards and is well on his way to surpassing the 778 yards he had in 2019. What’s crucial to this is getting the ball in his hands more and that was part of the reason for his success last season as he drew a career-best 106 targets.
Approaching the midway point of the season, Beasley is within that range again and he is averaging a career-high 12.1 yards per reception. He isn’t seen as a redzone threat and part of that has to do with Diggs being a better option in the endzone.
Regardless, there are a lot of reasons to be thrilled with Beasley’s play this season especially when you consider the Bills’ focus on improving on the offensive side of the ball. Beasley has also shown a willingness to attack the middle of the field which is usually not a place small receivers like to venture.
Beasley has also shown that he can be productive through smaller receptions rather than try to drive deep down the field. Teams have tried to take away the deep ball from Allen which has put Beasley in more one-on-one matchups underneath.
"“With them taking the deep stuff away, that gives a lot of room for me to work inside and underneath,” Beasley told reporters. “When we play teams like that, that’s got to be games where I have my best games, and I’ve got to be on point for him.”"
Eventually, the Bills will need to re-establish their deep threats but that will come as defenses learn to adjust to Beasley and the run game pulls in coverage rather than making them sit back.
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Do you think Beasley can continue his strong play? Do you think he passes 1000 yards this season? Let us know in the comments below.