Buffalo Bills Sleeper Players You Should Target in Your Fantasy Football Drafts

Much like the NFL news cycle, fantasy football no longer has an offseason. Serious fantasy football players have already begun their draft preparation, top ball fanatics have 50+ teams, and every Tom, Dick and Housh-mazilly has a magazine that was published a month ago. You have to be at the top of your game to find an unsung gem in fantasy football these days.

You can pore over the rankings of hundreds of fantasy sites, or you can dive into each team and get so familiar with the rosters that your league mates start wondering if you still have your job or not. That’s where we come in. We’re here to make you look so smart you must be unemployed. Wait. Oh, never mind.

This article will introduce you to three Buffalo Bills players who are undervalued in fantasy football right now. They will cross a depth of mid-draft positions and could be considered sleepers or revelations or whatever the High Reverand algorithm decides is trendy today.

If you’re a Bills Mafia advisor, you already know about Khalil Shakir, but chances are your friends don’t. They may have heard his name or seen his crazy TD in the Wild Card Round game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but did they know that he led the Bills in receiving yards from Weeks 10-18? He outgained Stefon Diggs by nearly forty yards (387-349) during that span on nearly 30 fewer targets (64-26). Things get even more impressive when you compare Shakir to the rest of the NFL during those weeks (receivers with 20 or more targets):

Shakir’s ADP on ESPN is 183rd overall, ranking 69th among WRs. At PFF, those numbers are 148th and 63rd. Fantasy Life experts rank the third-year receiver 124th overall and 55th in his position group.

The Bills appear to be preparing to go with a wide receivers committee behind Dalton Kincaid, but Shakir may end up being the most targeted of that group. Shakir thrived under interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady, and now that the interim coordinator job has been vacated and Diggs has moved to Houston, Shakir’s star is as bright as any in the Bills’ receivers room.

Related: Young WR named Bills’ ‘most underrated’ player, gets comparisons to former All-Pro

Ray Davis should already be on your radar if you’re playing Dynasty, but the Bills’ rookie running back has late-round value. Davis has potential as a versatile running back, having been the first player to rush for over 1,000 yards at three different schools. At 5’10” and 210 pounds, Davis averaged over four yards per carry on A-gap runs and over six yards per carry on wide runs, so he brings both inside and outside running ability. His excellent footwork and vision more than make up for his average athleticism, and combine with his contact balance and determination to create a formidable RB2.

Additionally, Davis has over 90 receptions in his college career, along with seven TDs and over 10 yards per reception in 2023, so there’s no concern about him losing touches due to a lack of versatility.

Consider this recommendation because it’s also based on Bills history. From Weeks 1-6, when Damien Harris was still healthy, he and Latavius ​​Murray had twice as many rushing attempts inside the five-yard line as the rest of the team (10-5), and Allen had just three. After Harris’ injury and Murray’s decline, from Weeks 7-18, Allen had 12 of the team’s 20 rushes inside the five-yard line. Allen is a great weapon, but the Bills want to protect him, and they’ve been looking for an effective alternative for goal-line runs for a few years now. I’ll just leave it at that:

Davis was tenth in the FBS in 2023 in EPA/Att inside the five-yard line (RBs with 10 or more attempts), including eight TDs.

I’m already saying what I’m saying: Davis is part of two of my dynasty teams.

Related: VIDEO: Savannah Bananas pay tribute to Bills mob, smash table during game against Buffalo

Dawson Knox is a bit of a forgotten man in the hype surrounding Dalton Kincaid’s rookie season, but it’s wise to remember that the Bills are paying Knox nearly $10 million in 2023 — 12th-highest amount for a tight end — and he was a big part of their offensive plans before an injury disrupted those intentions.

Heading into the 2023 season, the addition of Kincaid in the 2023 draft had analysts talking about the Bills potentially moving to a 12-man scheme. The 12-man scheme uses one RB with two TEs, leaving room for two WRs in the formation. The two TEs considered in this scheme for the Bills were Kincaid and Knox, and the season started that way. From Weeks 1-7, the Bills used 12 players at the fourth-highest rate in the NFL, 32%. Then Knox got hurt.

From Weeks 8-14 (Knox returned in Week 14), the Bills ranked 28th overall in usage of 12 players, playing 10% of the offensive snaps. Knox was probably never 100%, even after he returned, and the offensive shakeup due to the midseason offensive coordinator change likely contributed to that group falling by the wayside.

Then came the Bills’ offseason, which saw veteran starters get released one after another, traded or leave in free agency. All that turnover has drastically reshaped the wide receiver group, making Kincaid the presumed top target. Even though Kincaid is the center of the passing game, he won’t absorb all the targets the Bills lost in 2023. When all those wide receivers are gone, 55.5% of the Bills’ passing targets are gone with them, so even if Kincaid proves to be the prince that was promised, there are still plenty of targets, and Curtis Samuel won’t get all of them, no matter how good he was with Brady in 2020. Add to that the fact that Knox and Josh Allen have had a special connection on and off the field since Knox was drafted.

All three of these players should outperform their investment in the draft, and it’s always more fun to back your favorite team’s players if they’re also fantasy assets. Plus, winning because you outplayed those jerks in your league will put a silent, smug smile on your face, which is what fantasy football is all about.

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