We know that if the Baltimore Ravens do well against the Buffalo Bills, Lamar Jackson will shine. Here are three other standouts:
3. Willie Snead:
He’s the most dependable Baltimore Ravens receiver you don’t talk about, Willie Snead. It’s been a while since Snead had a big game for the Ravens, yet he hasn’t gone anywhere. Snead had a catch in all but two of the regular season games for Baltimore. He only had two receptions for nine yards last week against the Tennessee Titans. So why am I pitching him as a potential standout?
Well, Snead matches up very well against this Buffalo defense. The Bills also have bigger things to worry about with Lamar Jackson doing his thing, and with Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown.
If you told me that the Bills would take away Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin/Dez Bryant on the outside, that would make sense. Tre’Davious White will challenge Brown and Josh Norman can hold his own against mildly productive players. While the Bills may have a hard time stopping Mark Andrews, you have to expect him to garner a lot of attention from them.
Willie Snead is the man who can sneak out and make a play, right? The Ravens seemingly never throw the ball to Devin Duvernay (…Don’t get me started). Bryant has been good in the red zone but the receptions aren’t coming in high numbers.
Snead is here to be a third in the progression receiver that can move the chains when Jackson needs him to. He’s probably not having a 150-yard game or anything like that. That being said Snead did have 106 yards in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and 64 yards against the New England Patriots. What do those games have in common? Brown had little to nothing to speak of in the box score.
If the Bills can neutralize Jackson’s favorite wide receiver, somebody has to surprise Buffalo with production. Give me Snead for that job on Saturday. Look for Snead to get four or five grabs in this game, a couple of first downs, and 40 yards. It may not sound like a lot, but in a run-heavy offense, that’s a good day for a complementary receiver. Those 40 yards are going to keep a couple of big drives alive.