Expectations are high in Buffalo heading into the 2022 season, where the Bills sit as a favorite to make it to the Super Bowl, and Josh Allen leads the offseason odds to win NFL MVP.
It's the quarterback's dynamic ability as both a runner and a passer -- highlighted in the playoff overtime loss to Kansas City -- that has sent expectations soaring.
Joining SiriusXM NFL Radio, Bills tight end Dawson Knox was asked what it's like to play with a quarterback like Allen, who can make jaw-dropping plays with his arms and legs.
"I mean, it's every receiver, tight end, running back, it's everyone's dream to play with a guy like that," Knox said. "I mean, he can put the ball 70 yards down the field, or throw off his back foot back across himself, or make plays with his legs and extend plays. There's nothing that guy can't do. We've seen him stiff arm defensive ends to the ground. He's jumping over linebackers, and just trucking guys. It's insane. We're trying to tell him to slide more often, but with the way he runs the ball, it's hard to tell him to go down when he can make crazy plays with his feet, too. But he's another guy that everyone loves off the field as well. He's a perfect leader for us, he's not necessarily the rah-rah guy in the locker room, but the way he plays and the way he leads by example is second to none."
Outside of Allen's MVP capabilities, there are few, if any, holes on the roster.
The wideout crew is led by Stefon Diggs, who owns league-leading potential, and bolstered by rising stud Gabriel Davis and veteran Jamison Crowder. Buffalo teamed Knox with O.J. Howard to provide a 1-2 TE punch. Rookie James Cook joins a backfield with Devin Singletary and Zack Moss. The offensive line is solid and as deep with vets as any in the league. On defense, the Bills added Von Miller and Tim Settle up front and have 2021 first-rounder Greg Rousseau, who could be in for a breakout campaign. And they boast one of the best secondaries in the NFL led by Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Tre'Davious White and newly added first-round rookie, Kaiir Elam.
Anything short of a Super Bowl trip would be viewed as a disappointment in Buffalo.
But Bills players like Knox are not concerned about expectations, just playing to their potential each Sunday this fall.
"This time of year, everyone's always making predictions, and trying to predict records, and who's going to make the Super Bowl, and who might make the playoffs, and we always try to stay away from all that," Knox said. "We always just want to focus on what's ahead of us, and right now, it's just getting everyone to camp healthy and then just starting to build that chemistry and that teamwork that comes with camp. And we'll be back in Rochester this year, which is great, the old cliché of taking it one game at a time and not focusing on what might be five or six games down the road.
"Everyone's talking about how our first six or seven games are supposed to be pretty tough, but we've got the mentality of, 'you know, they have to come play us,' they've got to deal with the Bills on their schedule, so that's the kind of mentality we're taking into the season, we're taking it one game at a time and not think too much about the opponent, and just control what we can control."
