Every team relies on rookie deals and cheaper veterans to round out their roster. When they overperform, the team overperforms. The Buffalo Bills are no exception and during the 2019 season they had a solid group of overperforming players.
Coming in at number nine on our countdown of these overachievers is wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. He started eight games as the third wide receiver and played in 15 in 2019. He had the 11th-most snaps on offense, playing 42% of the snaps, placing him third among wide receivers on the team. He finished with 27 catches (fifth on the roster) for 254 yards (fourth) and a touchdown in addition to eight runs for 49 yards.
McKenzie was solid in his role, but that role was very limited and defined. The majority of his work came out of the jet sweep motion, which artificially elevates his receiving numbers, including catch percentage.
All-in-all, McKenzie was tied for the 129th-highest cap hit among NFL wide receivers at $645,000. For comparison, Buffalo’s other receivers John Brown ($7.5 million) and Cole Beasley ($6.9 million) made considerably more than McKenzie. Duke Williams ($378,534) and Robert Foster ($570,000) didn’t have nearly the production that McKenzie did.
McKenzie could have been tendered as a restricted free agent this offseason, netting him more than $2.1 million in salary for 2020. Instead, Buffalo chose to re-sign him to a one-year deal for less than $1 million after he sat on the market for a while.
Top Ten Bang for the Dollar Bills, 2019
10. G Quinton Spain ($2.5 million)
9. WR Isaiah McKenzie ($645,000)
8. Coming Saturday