Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 postseason, frequently looked to a wide receiver. This player gained the quarterback’s confidence and, at the conclusion of the team’s two-game run, became the only wide receiver on the roster to catch a playoff touchdown pass (actually reaching paydirt twice).
Stefon Diggs, a dependable Pro Bowl player, wasn’t it. Gabriel Davis wasn’t even a complementary choice.
Instead, it was Khalil Shakir, who had a fantastic playoffs, catching 10 passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns, to finish off his breakthrough sophomore career. When the chips were down, the 2022 fifth-round draft pick continued his 2023 regular season performance, catching 39 receptions for 611 yards, including 20 touchdowns.
Shakir became a staple in 11-person sets thanks to the young playcaller, a choice that the wideout’s production quickly validated. Although his performance may not have received much attention nationally, it undoubtedly had an impact on Buffalo’s management. The team parted ways with Diggs and Davis during the offseason, and while they replaced their departures with players like Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and second-round draft pick Keon Coleman, none of these names—possibly with the exception of Coleman—are particularly noteworthy.
Given that Shakir is the only wide receiver on Buffalo’s roster who has received an in-game ball from Allen, it is reasonable to anticipate that his performance will grow this fall. The Bills’ offseason wide receiver plan indicates a great deal of trust in Shakir for both immediate and long-term output. Even at the young age of 24, one could also anticipate Shakir growing exponentially as a player in the coming years.
Although Shakir has many reasons to be optimistic, the average football fan may not be familiar with him just yet. For this reason, Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated has named the receiver the Bills’ “most underrated” player heading into the 2024 campaign. Orr recently praised the young pass catcher and again compared him to a former NFL Offensive Player of the Year in a piece that broke down the most underappreciated player on every AFC team.
The third-year player from Boise State, Shakir, “would have to imagine that he played a major role in the Bills’ decision to approach the offseason the way they did,” Orr wrote. “Buffalo did not trade for a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver to replace Stefon Diggs. traded back when the opportunity arose to draft Keon Coleman at the back end of the first round. Shakir had a really solid season in 2023, hauling in 86.7% of his targets and accounting for 611 receiving yards. These catches were also not simple.
