Without target magnet Stefon Diggs, the Buffalo Bills will spread the wealth more than in the previous seasons, but the club doesn't expect a falloff in production.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady plans for everyone to get a bite of the apple.
"(Brady) tells us all the time 'everybody eats,' " wide receiver Khalil Shakir said on Tuesday, via the team's official website.
The Bills famously traded Diggs after watching Gabe Davis walk to Jacksonville in free agency. Buffalo drafted Keon Coleman at the top of the second round and added Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mack Hollins and Chase Claypool to a mix that includes Shakir, Justin Shorter and K.J. Hamler.
The mix makes offseason OTAs vital for an offense trying to figure out how all the parts fit together.
"You gotta be really intentional about it, because at the end of the day, like there's only one guy in the receiver room (Shakir) that's even caught a ball from Josh (Allen) in a game," Brady said on Tuesday. "And so every rep in practice, the individual, there's such an intention behind what we're doing and why we're doing it."
In the four years Diggs was in Buffalo, he led the club in targets by at least 50 each campaign. In 2023 -- a down year by the star wideout's standard -- he earned 160 targets; No. 2 was tight end Dalton Kincaid with 91.
With the new concoction, the Bills will rely on each receiver's strengths and let Allen distribute like a point guard.
"There'll be some elements of things that I believe in," Brady said, "but it's more of like, tell me who we have on our football team and the guys and what they can do well, and we're going to do that.
"At the end of the day, this is Josh Allen's offense."
Toss in tight ends Kincaid and Dawson Knox and running back James Cook, and the Bills have enough weapons to make things work. If Coleman becomes a legit No. 1 target, they should keep pace without missing a beat.
The offense will go as far as Allen drives them.
"Your offense is Josh Allen's offense, but it's also about what your players do well, and so this is the time right now that we're experimenting with some things like, 'Hey, can this guy do this? Can this guy not do this?' And we'll continue to evolve, and come September, we're hoping that we'll have a good feel," Brady said.
