Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, met with the media following Thursday’s training camp session at St. John Fisher University. He was prepared to assist reporters in making connections between their most pressing issues at the moment. Wide receivers were a hot topic, as they have been all summer, and Allen was happy to share his opinions on the team’s revamped receiving group.
Despite the repeated claims that the redesigned offence lacks a clear-cut WR1, it’s hard to overlook Allen’s relationship with wide receiver Khalil Shakir. As a result, when invited to consider Shakir and his work this summer, Allen responded with passion.
For the Bills, Shakir was the most dependable and productive wide receiver in the latter part of the 2023 regular season. The team’s six-game winning streak, which included their home victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Wild Card Weekend and their fourth straight AFC East Division title, coincided with that effort. Shakir performed brilliantly in pivotal moments, virtually always catching passes sent his way. He caught six passes in the regular season and failed to complete them. Six in all, spanning 17 games. Shakir hauled in 39 receptions on 45 targets for 611 yards (15.7 ypc) and two touchdowns by the end of the regular season. Shakir, not Stefon Diggs, was the one who dominated as an unorthodox alpha receiver on the postseason the field, scoring two touchdowns and gaining 75 yards (7.5 ypc) on another 10 receptions on 12 targets.
Thanks to their experience together, Allen and Shakir have a clear chemistry, but it doesn’t always mean that the other receivers—tight ends, running backs, and traditional wide receivers—will suffer as a result. In order for players to be effective as plug-and-play positionless skill players anywhere on the offensive line, regardless of where they are on the chart, offensive coordinator Joe Brady likes to execute a scheme that requires players to have a 30,000-foot conceptual knowledge. Allen clarified why the team’s new offensive strategy, in which “everybody eats,” would be effective in forcing defences to play more defensively and strategically.
Allen thinks that once the regular season begins, the squad will be in a strong position to succeed because of “the sense of trust and affection we have for the guys in that room.” Additionally, he and rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman have bonded quickly.
Josh Allen, his blindside protector, gave a touching response when asked what it meant to hear that left tackle Dion Dawkins wants to be an All-Pro player for him: “Yeah man, it’s a lot of love.” Dion is my favourite. I would go to great lengths for that man right there.