Peter King (Sports Illustrated) spent his Sunday in Pittsford taking in Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher. He came away with several observations - most of them chronicled in this morning's MMQB - and also believes the Bills will be better than their 4-12 record from a year ago.
Of particular interest to me was King's thoughts on quarterback Brad Smith and receiver Donald Jones. King seems bullish about both players in Chan Gailey's offense.
King lays out the reasons Smith left the New York Jets to sign with Buffalo, then talks about how the Bills will use Smith more than the Jets used him. Gailey all but confirmed this to King: "I don't know if he'll touch the ball four times in a game or 14," Gailey told King. "All I know is he's going to get it a bunch."
King's praise for Jones was slightly more effusive - to the point that Jones is now suddenly a fantasy darling in King's eyes.
King makes sure to note that he's not as up to speed on Jones as many of us may be, but seemed impressed by the fact that Jones snuck into five-receiver sets. He is also impressed by his physicality, and because he's so high on the Bills' spread offense, he even writes that Jones could be the team's second-most productive receiver.
"The Bills are going to throw it a lot," writes King. "Jones could be the second-most productive receiver to Stevie Johnson, with apologies to Lee Evans. Don't worry if you haven't heard of him. No one in your (fantasy) league has, either."
I'm not sure that Jones will have enough priority in the pecking order for touches to reach King's lofty expectations, but it's noteworthy praise all the same. I, however, am not expecting to see an awful lot of Jones in five-receiver sets, as it's more likely that Gailey will sneak Smith or a second running back (whether Fred Jackson or C.J. Spiller) onto the field in lieu of a fifth receiver.