How the Buffalo Bills offense will perform following the departure of wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis is one of the NFL’s biggest questions leading up to the 2024 season, and some hints about how the unit will operate are beginning to drop.
Davis signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent in March and Diggs was traded to the Houston Texans in April. That duo combined to register 152 catches for 1,929 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, creating a massive void to fill.
Depth wideouts Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield also departed in free agency to join the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings, respectively. That leaves Khalil Shakir as the only wide receiver on the 2024 roster who made a catch for the Bills in 2023.
The situation puts a lot of pressure on quarterback Josh Allen and offensive coordinator Joe Brady to create a new identity for the group ahead of the new campaign in September.
Khalil Shakir Says Bills Offense Will Be Fluid
Shakir, who will likely contend with tight end Dalton Kincaid to emerge as Allen’s new top target, told reporters this week all of the club’s receivers are learning “every different spot so we can play fast and not have to think about it.”
“That’s the mentality [Brady will] tell us all the time, everybody eats,” the third-year pass-catcher said. “And that’s whether you’re running a certain route, you got to go and you got to clear for your buddy who’s coming running an out route or whatever it is. But like I said before, what goes around comes around. … It’s more of mentality of like, we’re all working together to make sure that play works, and you just keep building off of that.”
The biggest misconception about the Bills offense throughout the offseason has surrounded the idea the team needs to find direct replacements for Diggs and Davis. That’s not the case. Those two combined for 241 targets last year. It will be a far more balanced attack in 2024.
Buffalo drafted Florida State standout Keon Coleman in the second round and signed a fresh group of depth receivers, led by former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders playmaker Curtis Samuel.
One thing all four of the top options in the Bills passing game—Kincaid, Shakir, Coleman and Samuel—have in common is the ability to play inside or outside. The star power of Diggs and Davis is gone, but it’ll be a lot tougher to predict how the team will line up this season, which presents an opportunity to create mismatches.
Joe Brady, Josh Allen Will Test Various Ideas
Change takes time. So, even though there’s a lot of potential within the Bills offense, there will be growing pains throughout training camp and likely the early stages of the regular season.
Brady, who replaced Ken Dorsey as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator in November, suggested they’ll use a trial-and-error approach to see what best suits Allen’s game.
“Right now we have a lot of newness in that receiver room and there’s so much good and so much excitement with it, and it’s trying to get a comfort level on the field for some of those guys,” Brady said. “It’s Josh Allen’s offense, but it’s also about what your players do well, and so this is the time right now that we’re experimenting with some things like, ‘Hey, can this guy do this? Can this guy not do this?’ And we’ll continue to evolve and come September we’re hoping that we’ll have a good feel.”
That suggests versatility will be crucial when general manager Brandon Beane, head coach Sean McDermott and the rest of the staff begins to trim the roster down to 53 players. In turn, the onus is on receivers like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chase Claypool, Mack Hollins, Justin Shorter, KJ Hamler and Andy Isabella to show they can make an impact in multiple ways as they battle for the final spots on the WR depth chart during camp.
Ultimately, the Bills offense is going to operate a lot differently in 2024, but that doesn’t automatically mean it will be worse. The unit got stagnant at times last year. Clearly the initial plan is moving guys around the formation to ensure that’s no longer a problem.
Only time will tell whether the offseason reorganization is a success.
Main Image: Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
