Ahead of the Broncos’ showdown with the Bills on Sunday, we asked Nick Wojton of Bills Wire five questions about the Buffalo-based team. Here are our questions and Nick’s answers.
1. Isaiah McKenzie had fumbling problems in Denver, which is ultimately why the Broncos cut him. Has that problem popped up in Buffalo and if so, does his explosiveness cancel out the risk of his fumbles?
This season Isaiah McKenzie hasn’t had any sort of problems with fumbling to this point. He did have a couple with the Bills last season, but it was never a glaring problem. But those fumbling issues came up as a returner and now the Bills have All-Pro returner Andre Roberts, so McKenzie actually factors into the Bills offense much more. Speaking of which, he’s going to be a player to watch this week. As you mentioned, this is the “Isaiah McKenzie revenge game.” Semi-kidding, but he did play a season-high 78 percent of snaps on offense as the Bills used a ton of 11 personnel last week against Miami. His explosiveness comes in very handy when the Bills get creative and give him carries on trick plays and end arounds.
2. Is seems like Josh Allen is protecting the football better this year than last season but he still has 10 turnovers in 10 games — is that a concern?
In regard to Allen’s giveaways, it’s a flip of a coin. In the past five games, he actually doesn’t have an interception. The Broncos have a good secondary so there’s a chance he could have the streak snapped. The MUCH bigger issue is his fumbling. When he carries the ball, he loses the ball far too often. I would bet the Broncos are well aware of this and will be swatting at the pigskin any time he takes off.
3. Do the Bills have any underrated players — on offense or defense — who Broncos fans should keep an eye on?
Linebacker Matt Milano is truthfully a Pro Bowler and borderline All-Pro some weeks. As a first-rounder in the middle of their defense, Tremaine Edmunds gets a lot of the credit and it’s deserved, too. He’s an athletic freak at 6-foot-5 who is all over the field. Milano is an undersized former safety and fifth-round pick who’s all over tight ends and backs and is just consistently impressive. Tre’Davious White at cornerback didn’t have his best game last week, but he’s also arguably amongst the best at his position in the league. On offense, to our shock here in Buffalo, John Brown leads the AFC in receiving yards entering this game. Yes, it’s true. He’s not a dynamic, explosive, guy. He’s just consistent. At least 50 yards in every game this season and he’s on pace for 1,300 yards. That simply doesn’t happen for Bills wideouts… or at least not in the past two decades.
4. Should we pick up Dawson Knox in dynasty fantasy football leagues (or even season-long leagues)?
Great question. I wouldn’t peg him as a top-tier guy type of potential, but he’s got some. When Tyler Kroft came back off injury, he was inserted as the starter. That lasted about a game and a half and over the past few weeks, the Bills haven’t been able to keep Knox off the field. He’s still a bit raw, but there is obvious upside with him as both a playmaker and blocker. A nugget for your readers: before scoring this season with the Bills, he actually had not scored a touchdown since high school. At Ole Miss he made plays, but AJ Brown and DK Metcalf were scooping up all the scores because he never once found the end zone in college. Go figure.
5. What’s your prediction for Sunday — who wins and why?
I’ve been back and forth on this one all week. The Broncos defensive improvements have been impressive, but I’m going to go with the home team here since Denver hasn’t had the most success on the year and the Bills shut down Tom Brady. No offense to Brandon Allen, but… yeah. I don’t think Josh Allen does much either, but this might be a game where a special teams or defensive score from the Bills makes all the difference at home so we’ll go 17-10 Bills.
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