The Buffalo Bills’ approach to the wide receiver position throughout the 2024 NFL offseason has been met with some national pushback. The team allowed Gabriel Davis to depart in free agency before trading perennial Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans, eliminating a combined 152 receptions, 1,929 yards, and 15 touchdowns from their receiving corps. Buffalo supplemented their departures with former Washington Commanders pass-catcher Curtis Samuel and rookie Keon Coleman alongside several value free agents, creating an intriguing, but largely unproven group that doesn’t offer much in the way of demonstrated production.
The approach, though questioned by some, signaled an internal confidence in the pass-catchers already on the team’s roster, namely second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid and third-year contributor Khalil Shakir. The wideout, in particular, shined down the stretch of the 2023 season, becoming a mainstay on 11 personnel sets en route to a 39-reception, 611-yard season. Shakir is the only receiver currently on Buffalo’s roster who has caught a pass from quarterback Josh Allen in a regular season game, with many expecting that the signal-caller will look to the wideout early and often in the 2024 season.
Sports Illustrated writer Connor Orr is a member of this camp. In a recent article listing 100 bold predictions for the 2024 NFL campaign, the analyst wrote that he expects Shakir to lead the Bills in receptions next season, even comparing the 24-year-old to an elite wide receiver.
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“Former coworker and current blood rival at The Athletic Gary Gramling was first on the Shakir train back when Buffalo selected the Boise State product in the fifth round,” Orr wrote. “After the Bills cleared out their wide receiver room, they made way for a pass catcher who gives off serious Cooper Kupp vibes.”
A Kupp comparison is very high praise for Shakir, as the Los Angeles Rams wideout, when healthy, is one of the best wide receivers in football. He’s been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, but he’s just two years removed from a 145-reception, 1,947-yard season in which he earned NFL MVP votes.
Expecting that level of production—or anything comparable—from Shakir is a bit steep, but it’s fair to expect the third-year receiver to set new career highs in every meaningful metric this season given his opportunity. He’s been an ascending player throughout the past two seasons and is demonstrably comfortable in a Joe Brady offense—given his offseason leap up the depth chart, it’s fair to project a breakout for the former fifth-round pick.
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