Sean McDermott started training camp by comparing the Bills’ revamped receiver group to a kitchen drawer full of utensils when it’s his turn to unload the dishwasher.
He admitted he isn’t completely sure where everything should go, but he’s confident that every piece is important.
“We don’t really know what we have, but we know what we have,” McDermott said. “It’s interesting to see they’re a very diverse group. And I know a lot of people talk about we don’t have a true No. 1 and this and that. I think these guys will rise to the occasion. I really do.”
Replacing Stefon Diggs hasn’t been considered an easy task since trading him to Houston four months ago. In his four years with Buffalo, Diggs contributed 30% of the team’s receiving yards, 28% of their catches, and 26% of their touchdowns.
The Bills hope to make up for the lack of a proven star by working as a group.
“I guess we’ll find out,” quarterback Josh Allen said, noting that the team also has to replace Gabe Davis, who left in free agency.
Buffalo’s updated receiver lineup includes players with different sizes (Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mack Hollins, and Chase Claypool are all 6-foot-4) and speeds (Curtis Samuel and K.J. Hamler). Khalil Shakir, the only receiver who has caught a pass from Allen and showed improvement during his second year in Buffalo, adds reliability.
Don’t forget tight end Dalton Kincaid, who set a record for the most catches by a Bills rookie and the most catches by a tight end in franchise history, and running back James Cook, who finished with 1,122 rushing yards and 445 receiving yards.
“In this offense, everyone is going to eat,” said offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who is starting his first full season after taking over midseason last year when Ken Dorsey was dismissed.
“You don’t just sit there and just say you’re going to replace a player or replace a scheme or targets,” Brady said. “The numbers are never going to be the exact same, so let’s just figure out how we can get our players into the best position to have success.”
Samuel’s ability to play both wide receiver and running back during his seven seasons with Washington and Carolina is a key factor. Samuel also had his best season in 2020 with Carolina, where Brady was the offensive coordinator.
Shakir demonstrated an ability to play many different roles last year. The Bills are now counting on rookie second-round pick Keon Coleman to play in various positions and use his long reach to make catches.
“Our mentality as a receiver room is everybody’s trying to learn every different spot so we can play fast,” Shakir said. “So I definitely think us trying to spread the ball and get everybody open, get everybody involved, allows us to have so much more targets.”
This approach is necessary and aims to keep the opposing defenses uncertain.
Allen is focusing on finding mismatches in an offense where a running back can line up as a wide receiver, a receiver can move into the backfield, and there are different formations with two tight ends.
“I feel like we’ve found a sense of identity in what we are and what we want to do with the football,” Allen said Wednesday as the Bills get ready to play against Chicago in a preseason game on Saturday. “There’s a bit of unpredictability for us. And that’s kind of fun as a quarterback.”
Allen’s challenge is to throw in rhythm and quickly find his best option, rather than just targeting Diggs as he did before. This shift started in the second half of last season when Brady emphasized spreading out targets and relying more on the run game.
It remains to be seen how effective this group will be, as the Bills don’t have anyone who has ever surpassed 1,000 receiving yards or had 100 catches in a season, while Diggs did both in each of his four years with Buffalo.
The reason for trading Diggs is still somewhat unclear. Although general manager Brandon Beane mentioned potential future salary-cap savings as a benefit, he also said there were other reasons he did not want to reveal.
There’s a view that Diggs may have become a problem after a series of vague social media posts that suggested he wanted to leave Buffalo, along with several sideline outbursts. A notable issue Diggs kept to himself, related to the end of the 2022 season, led him to skip Buffalo’s voluntary practices the following spring.
