Stock up, stock down following win over Dolphins

Stock Up: Dawson Knox

Heading into the season, the expectations were extremely high for Knox after landing a pretty hefty extension, and so far, his 2022 campaign has left a lot to be desired. Inconsistencies, drops, and lack of targets have been reasons for Knox’s subpar season. This past Saturday, Knox might have had his best game of the season, posting a stat line of 6 catches, 98 yards, and the game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. He did this on eight total targets, as he was very efficient with his opportunities. He also posted a PFF grade of 67.9, which ranked 6th on the offense against the Dolphins. The hope is that he can string together a couple more of these games, but at this moment, Knox is trending in the right direction, as he was Allen’s best weapon in the win over the Dolphins.

Stock Up: Kaiir Elam 

Looking towards the defense in the ‘stock up’ category, we look at rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam. Elam has had an exciting rookie season. When he has been on the field, he has been pretty good overall, but the problem is that McDermott and the staff have been reluctant to put him on the field and keep him there. Against the Dolphins it was a different story, as he split snap shares with Dane Jackson opposite of Tre White. In Elam’s snaps he was terrific. PFF gave him a grade of 66.4, which ranked him 4th on the Bills defense. In 18 coverage snaps, Elam was targeted only four times, allowing two receptions for a total of 11 yards and only 2 yards after the catch. Remember, this was going up against Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. In a very tough matchup for any cornerback, Elam held his own, and the expectation for his snap count is that it should continue to increase.

Stock Up: Shaq Lawson

The final ‘stock up’ goes to the player who once again had some revenge on his mind: former Dolphin Shaq Lawson. With the loss of Von Miller for the season, the rest of the edge rushers will have to step up, and Lawson, in the last couple of weeks, has done just that. He was a menace in getting after Tua Tagovailoa this week, but when the run defense struggled, Lawson was there to help the run as well. According to PFF, Lawson was the number one overall player on the Bills Saturday, posting a grade of 89.4 and a pass rush of 87.6. On the stat sheet, he contributed in several ways, posting a sack, a quarterback hit, and a pass deflection. Lawson has been more than the Bills could have asked for when they brought him in this season, and I believe he is just getting started. 

Stock Down: Damar Hamlin 

Now shifting to some of the disappointments from the Bills’ victory on Saturday. We have to start with Bills safety Damar Hamlin. There is no denying that the role he has had to play replacing Micah Hyde is no easy task, and at times he has looked terrific at the position, but this game was not one of them. He was beaten over the top a couple of times; the major one that comes to mind is that touchdown pass to Hill in the endzone where White did get beat, but Hamlin was a step too slow in closing on the ball. The second big play that comes to mind is the bad angle he took on the Waddle touchdown. If he makes that tackle, maybe the game isn’t so close. PFF wasn’t super harsh on Hamlin as they graded him as the 10th-ranked defender on the Bills defense, but they only handed out 16 grades to the defense. Hamlin finished with a tackling grade of 37.6, which is not the grade you want to end up with. Overall, Hamlin has been solid this season, but he ain’t Micah Hyde, which is okay. He just needs to be a little more consistent on the back end.

Stock Down: Rodger Saffold  

Rodger Saffold had high expectations heading into the season and was supposed to help anchor the left side of the offensive line next to Dawkins. So far, that has yet to go to plan, and it didn’t go according to plan against the Dolphins, either. PFF ripped into him, giving him the lowest grade on the Bills offense with a 27.3 and a pass blocking rate of 12.5. Saffold’s stock could not be any lower. He was also flagged for a couple of penalties in the Dolphins game that set the Bills back on offense. He is a significant clog to this offense, and if the Bills want to make a Super Bowl run, his play has to improve down the stretch. 

Stock Down: Boogie Basham  

The final stock down from the Bills victory over the Dolphins on Saturday is Boogie Basham. After the Von Miller injury, his role has increased significantly, but he has yet to live up to the new role and the second-round pick label that follows him around. This isn’t a one-game thing for Basham. It has been most of the season where he has struggled to sustain any consistency. In this particular game, PFF gave him a grade of 41.4 and a tackling grade of 27.6. There is a silver lining here: his pass rush grade was solid, mapping out to a 60.0, so there is some promise. But overall, it was another game of just not enough production and not enough impact in a game where the Bills could have used that additional sack.