The McKenzie Campaign
It's that time again! Time for another first here at the Buffalo Sports Collective, an article written by yours truly. I do have one small correction to make to PK’s opening article. I did in fact take one class on sports journalism. That being said, it was a very long time ago. Speaking of PK’s article, I have a few things to say. Pat and I would be absolutely nowhere without him. The amount of hard work and effort he puts into this podcast is second to none. The research he does, excel spreadsheets that he makes, social media accounts he keeps up with, interviews he schedules and hosts, simply put, I would not be writing this article without him. Now let’s get into it!
If you have listened to our show, you know that we have been running a variety of campaigns for Isaiah McKenzie, aka the face of the franchise. During the 2020 season, we were pushing for him to get more play time. Ever since the season concluded, we have been pushing for the Bills to bring him back. We are quite the fans of McKenzie, both on the field and off the field. With recent news we now know he is going to be back in Buffalo for at least two more seasons. Let’s find out why this is great for the Bills.
I am going to start this argument with some stats. Last season McKenzie split time with Marquez Stevenson as the Bills main return man. However, I'm not here to talk about McKenzie the return man, I'm here to discuss McKenzie the wide receiver. I believe McKenzie deserves a true chance to be the wide receiver three for a few different reasons.
In three full seasons with the Bills, McKenzie has averaged 33 targets per year, 25 receptions, 238 yards and just over 2 touchdowns. On top of his receiving stats, he is averaging 9 rushes a season, 35 yards and 1 touchdown. Those stats aren't going to blow anyone away but opportunity matters.
When the Bills played the New England Patriots on December 26th Cole Beasley was out and McKenzie stepped in. Josh Allen looked McKenzie's way 12 times this game with McKenzie hauling in 11 of those 12 targets. Isaiah finished the game with 11 receptions, 125 yards and 1 touchdown. The next two games after that McKenzie saw a combined 3 targets.
Let's look at one more example. Two seasons ago, the Bills played the Miami Dolphins on January 3rd, 2021. In what would turn out to be quite the blow out McKenzie saw a season high 9 targets. He ended the game with 6 receptions for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns.
McKenzie simply offers something that no one else on the Bills offense really can, game changing speed. McKenzie is occasionally used in the run game on jet sweeps when the offense needs to mix it up. In 2021, when given the opportunity he averaged just over 5 yards a carry. Towards the end of last season, we saw his role continue to develop. McKenzie was used as a pre-snap motion man to get the defense moving. This type of pre-snap movement helps Allen dissect the defense. This is further proof of the unique skill set he offers.
When “Lil Dirty” has been called upon to step into a bigger role, he has not only stepped in but stepped up. At only 26 years old, McKenzie still has plenty to offer the Bills with room to grow. I think it's finally time to give McKenzie a true opportunity to be this teams slot receiver and change of pace weapon. With his official return to the Bills, we could not be prouder of our first successful campaign. Many may see Allen as the face of the franchise but here at the BSC, we know it’s Isaiah McKenzie.