Are the Bills Receiving an Issue?

As we grow closer and closer to the beginning of a new season, and the 2024 NFL Draft right around the corner, let’s look at the current status of the locker rooms of the Buffalo Bills. On the last edition of the Blue Devil Beat, we went over the status of arguably the most prestigious position of any team in football: The Quarterback. Since then, a lot has happened over the offseason to the Bills, especially in one position. With the 2023 season in the history books, let’s evaluate this one position and see what the future holds, or possesses in this case.

Wide Receiver: What Now?

To say that a lot has changed in the Wide Receiver room would be an understatement. As of writing this, the Bills have traded or cut Deonte Harty, Trent Sherfield, Gabe Davis, and probably the biggest of all, Stefon Diggs. Earlier in the offseason, the Bills were able to get former Washington receiver Curtis Samuel and ex-Falcon Mack Hollins in free agency. This means the only receiver to have caught a ball from Josh Allen this season is Khalil Shakir, and he was a slot receiver!

Before the Draft comes out, the current receivers on the Buffalo squad are Khalil Shakir, Justin Shorter, Tyrell Shavers, Curtis Samuel, Andy Isabella, Bryan Thompson, Mack Hollins, and KJ Hamler. As said before, only one of these receivers has caught a ball thrown by Josh Allen: Khalil Shakir. Speaking of which, let’s get into these receivers’ stats.

Stating the Stats

A good way to see a man’s skill is to look at his previous stats and how he holds up to your standards. This is rather difficult however as only four of the receivers listed above actually have stats. The clear top WR in this list is Khalil Shakir, so let’s go over him first. The #10 receiver was drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft in the 5th round at pick #148. Since then, he’s had 65 targets with 49 catches, 772 yards with an average of 15.8 yards per attempt, and three regular-season touchdowns. Shakir also had the longest touchdown of the entire 2023 season at 81 yards, which is also his career highest. Ever since the firing of ex-Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey, Khalil Shakir has been going insane. Before Week 11, he had a total of one touchdown throughout the season. After Week 10, including the playoffs, he had three, with two of them in back-to-back weeks. If the Draft were to never happen, Khalil Shakir would be the absolute WR1.

You know what they say. When there’s a WR1, there’s a WR2. If Shakir is the clear top receiver, I believe our second-best is Curtis Samuel. After his 7th year in the NFL, Samuel has a total of 3,383 receiving yards, 317 catches of 485 targets, and 22 touchdown receptions. He spent four years in the League with the Carolina Panthers, playing his best year in 2020 with over 800 yards, and played three years with the Washington Commanders and played his worst year in 2021 with only 27 yards. Although his stats have been shaky, one positive about the new receiver is his age. Curtis Samuel is only 27, which is pretty young in football years.

Unfortunately, not all players have the best stats. Andy Isabella has played five total years in the NFL, most of them on the Cardinals. Throughout his career, he has recorded only 33 catches for 54 targets, 447 total yards, and three touchdown catches. His first two seasons were his best with both of them combining for 413 yards, followed by two abysmal seasons combining for 34 yards total, and absolutely nothing to show from this season. From what the stats show, Andy was decent in the past, but he may be on a trend in the wrong direction.

Lastly, we have the ex-Falcon Mack Hollins.  Mack has played six years of football with four different teams, including the Eagles, Dolphins, Raiders, and most recently Falcons. After those years, he’s accumulated 1,691 receiving yards, 131 catches for 221 targets, and 10 touchdown receptions. He had his best year in 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he recorded 690 yards in that season alone. However, the earlier part of his career was pretty rocky, including his departure from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Miami Dolphins where he proceeded to not have a single catch for four straight games. It seems like Mack Hollins has some potential, but will most likely be a backup for someone else.

And that is every Wide Receiver the Buffalo Bills have to offer before the Draft! While there are some real shining spots on this roster, you can’t deny that it needs a LOT of work, especially with the departure of both Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs. If the draft were to never happen, the likely top three spots would be Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, and Mack Hollins. As we move to the future, we’ll see what this draft will do for us. Hopefully, they can draft some more Wide Receivers!