Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs‘ departures brought scrutiny on the Bills’ wide receiver group this offseason. While some of the players the perennial AFC East champions have turned to have enjoyed moments, the passing game has regressed against stiffer competition over the past two weeks.
Down his most reliable target (Khalil Shakir) in Week 5, Josh Allen completed 9 of 30 passes for 131 yards. Allen’s 4.37 yards per attempt marked the third-lowest figure of his career, with the only two showings south of that place coming during the passer’s developmental 2010s seasons. The Bills might be running into a problem, though Shakir and second-round pick Keon Coleman have shown they will be regular contributors this season as long as they are healthy.
[RELATED: Texans Initiated Diggs Talks At Combine]
That said, Sean McDermott indicated (via the Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski) concern exists with the team’s wide receiver group. While the eighth-year Buffalo HC otherwise expressed confidence in the recently assembled WR cadre, the Bills may well be a player short here. They have been mentioned as a Davante Adams suitor, but they are among the teams who are believed to view the Raiders’ asking price — at least a second-round pick — as too high for an expensive, soon-to-be 32-year-old standout.
Buffalo threw a few darts at this group in free agency, signing Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Chase Claypool. While Samuel, Hollins and Valdes-Scantling remain on Buffalo’s roster, none has moved the needle. Samuel has been the biggest disappointment, given where the Bills went to reunite him with OC Joe Brady (three years, $24MM); he has nine receptions for 48 yards in five games. Of this group, only Shakir (230 yards) and Coleman (175) have posted more than 75 yards.
If Adams is not a true Bills target, the team — if it, in fact, does attempt to belatedly equip Allen with a starter-level option — should have some other available WRs to target. DeAndre Hopkins, whom the Bills discussed with the Cardinals last year, may be available. Christian Kirk has been brought up as a trade chip, and despite acquiring Diontae Johnson via trade in March, the Panthers have not engaged in extension talks. The ex-Steeler has come up as a player teams are monitoring as well, and The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia mentions Johnson as a name to watch in connection with the Bills’ need (subscription required).
While the Bills have been no stranger to hiring ex-Panthers, this would not exactly qualify for the McDermott-Brandon Beane pipeline since Johnson only arrived in Carolina this offseason. Johnson carries $4.91MM in prorated base salary, were a team to acquire him this week. That number will drop as we head toward the Nov. 5 deadline. The Bills filled a need at last year’s deadline, acquiring Rasul Douglas from the Packers. Douglas remains a Buffalo starting cornerback.
Johnson’s skillset would somewhat overlap with Shakir’s, but the sixth-year veteran obviously brings more experience. He is among the NFL’s top separators, having finished in the top four in ESPN’s Open Score metric from 2019-22, ranking first in multiple seasons during that span. Regardless of any overlap with Shakir, Johnson would give the Bills a borderline No. 1 target and upgrade their passing attack. If the team is not keen on paying up for Adams, who still looks to be eyeing a reunion with either Aaron Rodgers or Derek Carr, a player like Johnson would make sense.
As mentioned in an offseason Trade Rumors Front Office piece, the Bills seemed a man down if only due to this being the age-28 season of a quarterback who has absorbed more punishment compared to some of his top-tier contemporaries. Allen runs the risk of his prime being shorter than the likes of Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow due to his run-game workload, and the Bills maximizing these years would seem prudent. For now, the team is going with its Shakir- and Coleman-fronted group. After two straight losses, however, the heat may be on this contingent. Otherwise, noise about a Douglas-style pre-deadline swap will become louder.
The Bills look great beating bad teams. Different story against better opponents.
Haters keep saying this but forget the Dolphins were favored in the week 3 matchup
That Miami game was Week 2 (when Tua got his latest concussion). Dolphins are the ones who bottle it vs. good teams.
Hey Sean Baby???!!!!???
How about the Play Calls?
You could have killed the Clock versus the Texans this past Sunday, but Nooo!!!!!!! you knew better!!!!!
SMH
I’m not thrilled he’s revealing publicly he has a position group that isn’t confident in its ability to do it’s job, or the team isnt confident in. Doesn’t matter if he’s confident in them or not, if they are concerned about themselves, or the organization has concerns about them, he shouldn’t be telling us that.
For real. Clock management has been an issue with McDermott for years and he hasn’t improved a bit.
When I said we need to hold on to Davis after we knew Diggs was leaving everyone said I was crazy . Drop MVS and give Shavers a chance. Sit Bishop and give CINE a chance
Overpaying Davis was not the answer, but it would be nice to have the cap room from Hollins and MVS to bring in a better receiver.
Bishop needs to play. Definitely needs to work through the learning curve, but the dude is going to be a stud. The defense settled down and played well enough the second half. That loss was on the o-line, wr’s, and coaching. The D was good enough to win even though there are issues.
Gabe Davis never moved the needle. He would not have solved the present problems, especially at his price point. He is WAY overpaid.
Hopkins AND/OR Cooper would be a DREAM! Hollins has gots to go. Even though he is a great blocker, he is completely useless as a receiver.
Too bad they can’t dump Samuel. That cut will have to come next year… too big a cap hit.
By design.
Im just hoping they correct it before it gets away from us.
Im not even sure what that looks like.
The AFC east is a mess. Not one good team in this division. Probably will only take 9 wins.
Still don’t get the Stefon Diggs thing.
He was a pariah. A locker room problem.
Would you rather win with a pariah or lose with alter boys? McDermott had to know the receiving corp would regress without Diggs…still Cole Beasley is available 🙂
They’ll sort it out.
They lost with him. I think the choice was lose with him or dump the clown, save the money and lose without him. If we’re gonna lose either way, dump this guy.
Diggs played like a #2 WR or worse for much of last season. Over the last 11 games he had zero 100 yard games and only two with more than 75. Five games under 35 yards and his catch % went way down. Throw in whatever locker room issues they were having and letting him go makes a lot of sense.
The Bills have a great team culture. McDermott, for all of his game management flaws, is a great coach administratively. You take the bad with the good. He and Beane have built a team of great guys, leaders, guys who love football.
They botched it with the wr plan and I love they are transparent and honest with their self assessments. When they make a mistake, they own it and they always pivot once they know. Great leadership. They’ll get it solved.
A big hole in the roster against Houston was Oliver out. That was a big difference. Let’s have it, Allen was just off. Everyone carping about the last three plays overlooks Allen had Samuel open on 3rd down, had time and threw it in the dirt. It was a last second loss too a top flight team in their stadium on a 59yd fg at the buzzer. Get a grip.