National Football League

Eight Buffalo Bills who need to make life easier for Josh Allen in 2023

Published May. 17, 2023 9:10 a.m. ET

Count me as one person who thought the Buffalo Bills would've landed Odell Beckham Jr. or DeAndre Hopkins by now. They seemed like a team in need of an upgrade in their passing game. And they made an upgrade — but in a surprising way.

The Bills drafted tight end Dalton Kincaid at 25th overall last month. Kincaid is a pure pass-catching tight end in the vein of Zach Ertz or Travis Kelce. Bills general manager Brandon Beane actually compared Kincaid to Cole Beasley, a high-volume slot receiver. So it's easy to imagine Buffalo using Kincaid as a pass-catcher. But even though he's like a receiver, he is still a tight end. And it's uncommon to see tight ends put up big production in the first year. I'm not counting it out. But at the same time, the Bills shouldn't count on Kincaid to be the No. 2 option in the passing game.

So they'll need to get more out of their returning pass-catchers to provide some help for Buffalo's offense. Stefon Diggs had the fifth-highest target share among receivers in 2022 (28.1%) and finished with 1,429 yards and 11 touchdowns. His targets weren't astronomical, given that Diggs is one of the league's elite receivers. But at times, it felt like the passing offense was all-or-nothing with Diggs.

Quarterback Josh Allen, meanwhile, buoyed the rushing attack. He had the second-most rushes on the team and third-most among NFL quarterbacks. Given his passing prowess, the Bills would likely prefer to cut down on that sizable share of the rushing game.

So here's who can help Allen and Diggs.

WRs coach Adam Henry

The Bills let Chad Hall's contract expire this offseason and he joined the Jaguars. Buffalo replaced him with Henry, who was the co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach at Indiana in 2022. He was previously a receivers coach at four different stops in the NFL: the 49ers (2015), the Giants (2016-17), the Browns (2018-19) and the Cowboys (2020-21).

The Indiana passing offense wasn't exactly booming in 2022 — the Hoosiers averaged 217.4 passing yards per game and the team finished 4-8. But Henry had a really special run with the Browns when he coached Jarvis Landry and Beckham, with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.

Henry will need to optimize the performance of the two most underutilized skill players in the offense last year: Gabe Davis and Khalil Shakir. If Henry can get that done, he'll change the complexion of this offense. And it will disprove the theory that the team hired him only to help with acquiring OBJ (who played under Henry with LSU, the Giants and Cleveland).

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WR Gabe Davis

Beane has really stuck by Davis. It seemed that there was no way he wouldn't break out in 2022. He seemed destined for a sizable target share. Instead, he became a bit of a deep-ball artist, with an insane average of 17.4 yards per reception. The only problem was that he caught just 48 of his 93 targets (51.6%), a brutal average compared to that of Diggs (70.1%).

"Coming off that Kansas City game [in the playoffs] the year before [when Davis scored four touchdowns], people probably had some unrealistic expectations," Beane said in March.

During the 2022 regular season, Davis was dealing with an ankle injury, according to coach Sean McDermott and Beane.

"Not to make excuses, but it definitely bothered him," Beane said. "You can just watch the film when he was coming out of his cuts; he was taking an extra step, which allowed that defender to stay attached to him as well. He had a few drops that he definitely wants back, but I've got a lot of faith in Gabe."

Coaches and GMs defend their underperforming players all the time. When push comes to shove, they need to decide whether that player can elevate his game. And the Bills didn't replace Davis this offseason, so it seems like they think he is the answer at WR2.

WR Khalil Shakir

The slot receiver did not have glowing statistics as a rookie. And given that the Bills just added a big slot in Kincaid, Shakir will have to fight hard for a spot on the field. But there are snaps on the table for the taking. Shakir might have logged just 10 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown in 2022, but maybe the former fifth-round pick can evolve in this offense in a bigger way in Year 2.

RB James Cook

Over the past 12 months, the Bills have traded Zack Moss, a third-round draft choice, and watched Devin Singletary, also a former third-rounder, depart in free agency. The room is clearing for Cook, even if he wasn't always excellent in 2022.

He finished the year with 89 carries for 507 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 21 catches for 180 yards and a touchdown. He bookended the season with issues. His first carry was a fumble. His playoff performances were rough, with an average of 3.06 yards per carry. But there were some brilliant performances in between.

I don't think Cook will suddenly be scoring a ton of touchdowns. That's what the Bills added Damien Harris for. When he was healthy in 2021 for the Patriots, Harris punched in 15 touchdowns. But the Bills should do everything they can to get the ball in Cook's hands at least 10 times per game.

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RB Damien Harris

Since I mentioned him, let's talk about his projected role.

I'll admit that, as with any veteran running back, there's always the chance Harris doesn't make the team. The arrival of Latavius Murray seemed to reset expectations for Harris. But like I mentioned, he is an outstanding goal-line runner, which can help Allen stand back and watch in those situations. Sure, Allen can play like Cam Newton. But Allen will have a longer career if he plays like Patrick Mahomes. A running back like Harris (or Murray) can bring some physicality, so Allen doesn't have to.

TE Dalton Kincaid

OK, I know I said Kincaid might not acclimate immediately. But he will have a role. Beane tipped off how he thought the Bills would use their new tight end.

"Elite hands. Really good route-runner," Beane said of Kincaid after the first night of the draft. "Really good at setting guys up inside. There's always the [playbook] telling you as a player what to do: ‘Eight yards here, there.' But sometimes the defense changes, and he's got great feel, great instinct. You guys saw it from a different position — Cole Beasley, great feel. This guy [Kincaid], in a different body type, does that."

We've covered how Davis was a low-percentage target last season. Well, Kincaid should be just the opposite. The Bills hope they can get him looking like he did against USC, when he caught all 16 targets for 234 yards and a touchdown.

Guards O'Cyrus Torrence & Connor McGovern

The Bills went out and acquired a pair of guards. They needed at least one starting-caliber interior offensive lineman after deciding not to re-sign Rodger Saffold. And then Ryan Bates wasn't so good that he's irreplaceable. We might see the Bills decide to replace both guards — which could have a major ripple effect across the offense.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.

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