What is the Bills’ plan at receiver without Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis?

The Buffalo Bills will enter 2024 without their starting wide receiver tandem and team captains from last season, Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. As head coach Sean McDermott said Buffalo Podcast CenteredThe Buffalo Bills WR room will have “a different vibe, for sure.” With superstar QB Josh Allen at the helm, new faces are bound to emerge as Buffalo’s top receiving threats. As training camp approaches, fans and analysts alike are eager to see who will step up and become key contributors to their revamped receiving corps.

Let’s set the table with the current situation of the receiving corps and how it has changed since the end of the 2023 season.

Key departures

Steve Diggs
Buffalo’s former true number one receiver leaves a huge hole behind him after averaging 111.25 receptions, 1,343 receiving yards and 9.25 touchdowns during his four seasons in Buffalo. He was traded to the Houston Texans.

Gabe Davis
A former fourth-round pick became the number two option in the Bills’ offense, but never eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in a season. “Big Game Gabe” was known for his propensity to show up when it mattered most, but he now plays with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Key additions

Curtis Samuel
The seven-year veteran was signed to a three-year contract via free agency by the Buffalo Bills this offseason. Samuel has electric speed and big game juice that Buffalo’s offense was looking for.

Keon Coleman
Coleman was Buffalo’s top selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. The rookie gives the Bills a new flavor in their WR room and gives Allen a major target to “play above the rim.”

Marquez Valdés-Scantling
Buffalo took a WR away from its nemesis by signing MVS to a one-year deal via free agency. The speedster appears to add depth and is a big playmaking threat for Allen to throw the ball to.

Key turners

Khalil Shakir
Shakir is the Bills’ starting WR, but I would expect to see him used on the outside as well. From Week 8 through the end of the 2023 season, Shakir surpassed Stefon Diggs in receiving yards, and he did so with half the targets Diggs had. Shakir enters 2024 as one of Allen’s preferred options.

What is the Bills’ game plan at receiver?

With two big names out and an influx of new faces, the Bills offense will face a significant transition this offseason as it looks for solutions to revamp its passing attack. Bills general manager Brandon Beane has certainly presented various options for finding the right fit, but will it be enough? Let’s explore potential game plans for the Bills’ new passing attack in 2024.

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It may be concerning to some that Josh Allen doesn’t have a proven number one WR to throw the ball to, but Beane doesn’t necessarily feel that way. In a recent interview with Go long, he said: “Don’t get too caught up in, ‘You don’t have a No. 1 wide receiver. “Let’s look at this as a whole and remember that different guys bring different skill sets.

The downside to not having a true “number one” wide receiver is that Allen won’t have a reliable security blanket to fall back on. However, the upside is just as valuable: Allen will have the freedom to track his progression and find the open receiver without worrying about forcing targets for Stefon Diggs.

I believe the Bills are building a receiving corps with diverse skill sets to exploit mismatches on the field. They have acquired special talents at wide receiver, and their pass-catching options at running back and tight end are also formidable. Here’s what some of the specialized skill sets look like when put together:

• Khalil Shakir: Emerging talents, do-it-all guys, can be used anywhere on the field
• Keon Coleman: Jump ball monster, big target, red zone threat
• Curtis Samuel: A gadget guy for jet plane scans and screens, a major threat, chasing capture
• Márquez Valdés-Scantling: Deep threat, quality depth, played in big games
• Dalton Kincaid: Large slit, opens in the middle, nightmare of discordance
• Dawson Knox: Good blocker, difficult to defeat, excellent rapport with Allen
• James Cook: Athletic receiving asset out of backfield, mismatch against linebackers

Tight ends need love too

“I read the rules, it’s legal to throw it to a tight end,” Beane said. Go long. The Bills have one of the best tight end duos in the league with veteran Dawson Knox and former first-round pick Dalton Kincaid. With the wide receiver room featuring only one player who caught a pass from Josh Allen to Shakir, the Bills will rely on their tight end duo for production due to their established chemistry with Allen. Last season, Kincaid finished third in receiving yards on the team and had the second most targets. Head coach Sean McDermott said on the Buffalo Podcast Centered that Kincaid “is going to be ready for a great season and the relationship with Josh is going to be critical for us.”

New leader

With Diggs gone, someone will have to step in and take over the “top dog” wide receiver position. While it remains to be seen, Bills first-round pick Keon Coleman appears to be a strong contender. Brandon Beane highlighted Coleman’s potential with Go long, saying: “He has game speed. I saw him live at LSU. He grabbed a skinny post, made a guy miss, split the safeties and took it. And you saw his athletic ability returning punts. You don’t see 6’3, 6’4 guys who can track and bend and adjust.

The rookie receiver faces an uphill battle to become a significant force in the Bills’ offense, but the recent success of rookie WRs in the NFL gives the Bills hope he can contribute sooner rather than later.

While Coleman is a strong candidate to become the Bills’ number one WR, he may not be the most likely. Shakir has thrived in the second half of 2023 and is a sneaky candidate for a classic third-year breakthrough. Games like his playoff TD against the Steelers should be an exciting sign of things to come. Don’t overlook him when building your Fantasy team this year, because there’s nothing stopping him from exploding onto the scene next season.

Wildcards

As previously mentioned, the Bills have introduced a variety of options at the wide receiver position via free agency and the NFL Draft, but they also have a few deep sleeper options to consider. The Bills took a chance on two former second-round receivers, KJ Hamler and Chase Claypool. Both showed brilliance, even if their careers ended.

Plus, Justin Shorter is still hiding in the weeds. After being drafted by the Bills in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Shorter had to sit out the entire season on IR. The former 5-star recruit looks like a WR built in a lab, but his potential has yet to translate to the football field.

These three wild cards will have the opportunity to earn a spot on the Bills roster, although their chances are slim. Still, if one of these rehab projects succeeds and contributes, the Bills’ WR room could unexpectedly surpass its 2023 performance.

The mix of seasoned veterans, a promising rookie and potential recovery projects will create an exciting and unpredictable offensive dynamic. The stage is set for a rebuilt receiving corps that is poised to redefine the Bills passing game, paving the way for a new era of success.