Is the #2 WR already on this team?

[Nephilim17]

Shakir can eat in the slot. Draft a traits guy in the 1st. Diggs is the 1A guy first half of the season and rookie is 1B. Second half, rookie (hopefully) gets more comfortable and rookies becomes 1A and an aging Steff settles as the 1B guy.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

Short answer: No.

 

Longer answer:

 

Don't get me wrong. I like Shakir. Over the back end of the year I think it's fair to say that he's been our most reliable WR. He has absolutely earned the chance to take a turn in the offense. But looking at his stats from 2022 and 2023 while he has absolutely come along his stats are similar or worse then Gabe Davis. People seem to forget that Davis was a hot option in 2020 and 2021. ~600 yard, 6-7 touchdowns a year, plus postseason TDs.

 

Being the #3/4 guy on the roster can mean that you get superior matchups. Teams are less likely to focus on shutting down your tendencies. Gabe thrived when he had John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to take heat off of him, and he all saw him struggle to be a consistent reason not to bracket Diggs.

 

Bring in a guy who can push Diggs for the starting job or someone who can take the top off the defense. Let Shakir, Kincaid and Cook thrive underneath.

[gordong]

no Shakir is a good / great #3  going forward. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

Knox and Kincaid are going to drive a lot of two tight end sets. That means the majority of our snaps are something like Knox, Kincaid, Shakir, Diggs and Cook. We don't even have a ton of snaps consistently available for an outside #2 receiver. I think what the team needs is a one trick pony speedster on the outside. With the only real skill set being speed. Perhaps the Bills can find that player in free agency as the cost would be a little lower for a player with only one true skill set. A player with the skill set of Marquese Goodwin comes to mind. We need to find the younger version of Goodwin in today's NFL. 

 

Now, we could look long-term and try and find a replacement for Diggs in round 1 this year. 

 

I would certainly expect the duo of Shakir and Kincaid to hopefully be 1-2 in receptions on the team next year. I think that would point to further and greater development of both players. 

[FilthyBeast]

I like Shakir and he showed a lot of promise taking a big step this year, but I feel it would be deja vu all over again to assume he's ready for an expanded role next year and we'd be going down the Gabe Davis rabbit hole once again.

 

If Beane does make any big move in FA it has to be at WR, in addition to likely drafting one early in a few months.

[Eastport bills]

2 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Now that the dust has settled, I’ve really looked at the statistical production of some of our guys. 
 

I knew Shakir had a good year, then I really looked at his production. 
 

He had a PHENOMENAL year. 
 

39 catches and 2 TDs are decent numbers for a ‘#3 WR,’ but can we talk about his 86% catch rate? That is outstanding. Caught 10 of 12 in the playoffs for 2 more TDs as well. 
 

282 Yards after catch? Love it.

15+ yards per reception.

133 QBR when targeted.

 

Ready for this?

 

45 targets. Zero interceptions when Allen looked his way. 
 

57 targets when you add in the postseason. Still zero INTS.

 

Fifty Seven targets. Zero drops. Zero. ZERO. Bills were in the bottom of the drop statistic this season. 
 

I don’t think Shakir should come off the field. He’s the slot WR and should be the #2 WR target. 
 

I’d love data on if he lined up outside when the team went to 2 WR sets after Gabe’s injury, or if he came off the field. 
 

Shakir has shown BIG TIME potential, and it’s the little things that hint to it.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

🦬

Shakir is an up and coming star. He makes catches other receivers routinely drop and gets YAC with the best of them. Two catches that defines how clutch and brilliant he is are the catch behind him against the Chargers and the go ahead TD against KC.

[BarleyNY]

I like Shakir. Let him do what he does best. Find an outside WR this year and then another next. 

[Brandon]

It seems like their longterm plan for Shakir is to leave him in the slot role.  They still need another starting level WR on the outside.

 

Either way,  it doesn't matter.  Even if he can play outside,  that means they need a slot guy.  They run enough 3 WR sets that they need a quality player there,  too.  It really just affects the type and role of the player needed,  but the degree of need would be the same.  

[r henderson]

Yes! Stefon Diggs! Bills need to whatever it takes to get one of the top 3 wr in the draft. I know everyone is thinking about the Sammy Watkins trade, but Sammy was a beast who became lazy and lost interest when we didn’t have a legitimate qb. The only wr I would think of signing would be Tee Higgins, but he will be out of our price range and I believe Cincinnati will franchise tag him. Stef is a great number 2 at this point in his career. Go get your number one wr and watch our offense explode!

[Aussie Joe]

tldr … he is good but not good enough 

[JMM]

No. Unless we want to start think of Diggs as #2. Beane says he is still a #1. I think the jury is out on that. But the answer is a no.

[djp14150]

4 hours ago, mabden said:

Shakir is our slot receiver that can line up outside on occasion. 

 

The team needs a burner with great hands to challenge the defense down the field on a consistent basis. 

 

That receiver is currently not on the team.  We should be able to draft one in the first round this year.

The receiver they signed for camp. KJ Hamler, a mid 2nd round pick 2020 by denver, played for Penn state has under 4.4 speed.  Hrs small at 5-9 and had issues route running and drops.

[Don Otreply]

3 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Yes, but Davis’ reception percentage, drop rate, and interception issues stayed consistent poor his 4 years. 

In the roll of a #3/4 he was useful, as a #2 he was in over his head skill set wise, Davis should never been put in the #2 spot, he was more useful when he was going against teams 3rd or 4th CBs, 

[bills6969]

Let’s not forget about Shorter…curious to see what he brings to table next year 

[Warriorspikes51]

Just now, bills6969 said:

Let’s not forget about Shorter…curious to see what he brings to table next year 

 

He should have an uphill battle.   

Diggs (?)

UFA / Round 1

Shakir

Round 2-3

Harty (?)

Shorter 

[TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th]

Yes Diggs is the #2. I know the bills have no cap space and poor draft postion but could you imagine this offense if they miraculously found a WR #1. 

 

For example:

Great offensive line

James cook

Mike Evans 

Diggs

Kincaid 

 

Defense:

Benford

Douglas

Taron 

Oliver

Milano 

 

If only the team had more cap space ... the contracts of von miller ,tre white and knox really hurt us right now. We will be able to cut a lot of guys and free up space post June 1 2025. Sadly it feels like 2025 will be our year to see Josh with elite weapons. 

[BobChalmers]

Yes - Diggs is the #2 - they need to get a #1

[Mister Defense]

11 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Now that the dust has settled, I’ve really looked at the statistical production of some of our guys. 
 

I knew Shakir had a good year, then I really looked at his production. 
 

He had a PHENOMENAL year. 
 

39 catches and 2 TDs are decent numbers for a ‘#3 WR,’ but can we talk about his 86% catch rate? That is outstanding. Caught 10 of 12 in the playoffs for 2 more TDs as well. 
 

282 Yards after catch? Love it.

15+ yards per reception.

133 QBR when targeted.

 

Ready for this?

 

45 targets. Zero interceptions when Allen looked his way. 
 

57 targets when you add in the postseason. Still zero INTS.

 

Fifty Seven targets. Zero drops. Zero. ZERO. Bills were in the bottom of the drop statistic this season. 
 

I don’t think Shakir should come off the field. He’s the slot WR and should be the #2 WR target. 
 

I’d love data on if he lined up outside when the team went to 2 WR sets after Gabe’s injury, or if he came off the field. 
 

Shakir has shown BIG TIME potential, and it’s the little things that hint to it.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

🦬

 

Thanks for the great data and analysis.

 

I told people for the last year that he reminded me of Andre Reed, smooth, with great hands and excellent route running.

 

And he trained with Moulds this past summer.

 

I have been calling for much more of Shakir since last year and feel it is one the best examples of why Dorsey was so bad at his job--it was crystal clear that the guy needed to get more touches.  See how he does and go from there.  But he only started to use him when the public pressure on him mounted.

 

The Bills could often not even get first downs, let alone score. Shakir is the kind of player who could have helped to get the team in gear, get drives going,  but he was ignored.  Unforgivable, as the season was slipping away..

 

They will get a great #1 in the draft, have Diggs #2, and Shakir in the slot++

 

How good that group could be depends on how good of a player they get in the draft.

 

But I think that will be a superb trio.  It should have happened this past year as they clearly needed a better starting wide out.

 

 

 

 

[buffblue]

Shakir could be an elite slot/WR3. Projecting him to be more than that would be making the same mistake as we did with Davis. We need a speedy and physically gifted outside receiver, period. Khalil is not that guy

[Wizard]

No, unless you believe Diggs is now the #2.