Why You Don't Trade Robert Woods

by Paul “The Closer” Wanecski
The Eagles came calling for WR Robert Woods this offseason, looking to swap him for RB LeSean McCoy, but the Bills countered with another player. Shockwaves were sent through Buffalo when young linebacker Kiko Alonso was dealt to Philadelphia instead; bringing to halt one of the funniest hashtags circling the 716 and Twitter-verse in #TheLegendOfKiko. Kiko was seen as disposable when compared to Woods, which seems like insanity to a lot of Bills fans. Hopefully you will get a bit more clarity here.

Profootballtalk.com posted an article April 1st, 2015 discussing how the Eagles dealing McCoy wasn’t much of a surprise, quoting Malcom Jenkins’ opinion of Chip Kelly’s offensive playing style compared to LeSean McCoy. I don’t think it is unfair to say that sounds like a bit of revisionist’s history. McCoy was the transmission that drove the bus, logging a lot of miles and establishing himself as one of the best 5 running backs in the NFL. The Bills were able to acquire an established player in MCCoy for a player that has flashed potential. Clearly Kiko's connection with his former coach with whom he already has familiarity is an exhausted topic at this point. I think most teams would be willing to part with a player with one season of NFL playing time after missing all last season recovering from knee surgery for the 2013 NFL Rushing Leader (he was also ranked #5 in 2014 by NFL players in the yearly “NFL Top 100”, a survey taken of active players ranking). This trade speaks more about the Buffalo Bills belief in Robert Woods than it does of the teams concerns over a recovering Kiko Alonso.

One of the biggest traits about Woods that is hard to dismiss is his passion. He is an amazingly dedicated worker. Most scouts were not as high on Woods as they were Marquise Lee when both were at USC. However, Lee suffered once Woods left for the NFL. Through Woods rookie season, he displayed some frustration when he was targeted and missed. This could be seen through the start of last season as well, but, he should have been frustrated. In his two years in the league, he has caught passes from 4 different starting quarterbacks during the regular season. While so much of the NFL is based on timing and chemistry, Woods has had the same challenge as other wide outs; getting on the same page with a quarterback is something that doesn’t happen without trust and repetition. Other teams around the league would love to add a player like Robert Woods, who could be undervalued in the statistics category, as he has yet to break 700 yards receiving in a season. This is not a product of the type of player he is, but a product of his production falling victim to the carousel under center. The Bills and Doug Whaley are not blind to the player that Woods is, or more importantly, what he will mean to the Bills in 2015 and beyond. He demands attention on the field, does not shy away from contact, and is the possession type receiver that each NFL looks to add to their roster. On top of that, he also has contributed on special teams the last two seasons.

The only thing that we can say wasn’t a surprise about the McCoy trade was that the Eagles asked for Woods, which speaks to the need at that position. The depth of the Eagles WR core is really thin. Recently signed Miles Austin could actually turn into the primary receiver. The rest of the players on the roster from last year include WR Josh Huff who had 8 receptions last year, Jordan Matthews will slip to one of the outside receiver roles instead of the slot where he played most of his snaps last season, and Riley Cooper as he tries to rebound from a season where he only brought in 57% of his targets (55 receptions to 95 targets). They are in desperate need of a great route running WR, which is why the interest in Woods was so high. They will no doubt draft at least one more WR early.

The Bills were wise to keep Woods over Kiko. The best thing for the Bills offense will be to make the right decision on who will be the starting QB and giving Woods the opportunity to show how dynamic and dangerous he really is.