Buffalo receiver Stefon Diggs has seen his fair share of noise in the press this offseason, so if anyone knows that feeling it may be the Bills WR1.
Like Diggs, however, the team’s WR2 role has been a hot topic since last season’s end.
Some outside the organization have questioned whether the team has a legitimate second threat in the passing game for QB Josh Allen.
Gabe Davis, who is entering his fourth year at the pro level and a contract year as well, has connected for some big plays with Allen over his past two campaigns, particularly in the postseason.
During 2022, however, an early season ankle injury and inconsistency with dropped catches. While some believe in the Diggs and Davis duo, others began to wonder if the Bills had a viable WR2 on the roster and to call for the team to select one in the first round of this year’s draft.
You can count Diggs as a believer, as he said this week that he thinks Gabe Davis is in for a big season during his first press conference of training camp.
“I feel like Gabe Davis will have a breakout year,” Diggs said. “I feel like he had got nicked up a little early last year, but I think this year he’s gonna have an amazing year. He’s damn near wide receiver one in my eyes. I feel like if I wasn’t here, Gabe Davis would be a WR1 and it’s something that I can hang my hat on when I say that. He’s an extremely hard worker.”
It’s worth noting that Davis still had a good receiving year in 2022, second only to Diggs in that respect, as he caught 48 passes for 836 yards with seven touchdowns.
What brought his play more into focus was that he also had nine dropped passes, more than his first two seasons combined (8). Only four receivers in the NFL had more in the NFL last season, and his his drop percentage on catchable targets (11.1%) was the highest among players with at least 90 targets per Pro Football Focus (PFF).
High-ankle sprains are rotational injuries that can impact and limit a player’s explosiveness and strength and can take months to fully heal.
“Hurting my ankle the way I did … I just felt like I lost a step,” Davis said to the press this week. “Really couldn’t do the things that I wanted to do that I was doing early that (training) camp. So it definitely was something that I was struggling with mentally, just having that pain on my ankle, trying to figure out ways to get my head out of it and kind of just play my game.”
The mental impact of a player experiencing an injury after preparing for a role like WR2 was not lost on him either.
“It pulls you a little bit just because the type of work and sacrifice you put into the offseason to be this player you’re trying to be then all of a sudden something like that ends up happening and everything feels great but it really messes with your head,” Davis added.
In addition to his teammates, his offensive coordinator voiced his support as well.
“He’s a very big piece of what we’ve got here,” OC Ken Dorsey said to the media. “He goes in there and he runs the deep routes, and he obviously doesn’t get a huge volume of targets in the last couple of years, but he’s still produced some really big numbers. And again, trying to maybe get some more easy ones for him and allow him to catch and run. The way that he works is very inspiring. Guys see that, and it makes guys work harder.”
As Davis aims to bounce back from last season, the support of Diggs was noted as well. He has trained with and mentored Davis over his young career, helping him with his route running and development,
“He’s like a big brother to me,” Davis said of Diggs, before commenting on the WR1s support of him.
“He’s the best of the best to do it. If a guy like that is saying that, a guy that knows football, then everyone should be saying the same thing.”
Apon making that remark, Davis paused in thought then walked off in a sort of mic drop moment, where he appeared to believe there was nothing that remained to be said on the topic.
Davis’s focus, of course, will be letting his actions on the field speak instead.
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