From last season to now, the Buffalo Bills made massive upgrades to their weapons on offense, according to ESPN.
When the biggest move your club made over the offseason was adding a top talent in this exact area, you sure better be sitting pretty. The Bills did that with Stefon Diggs and looking well in this ranking as well. The world-wide leader ranked the playmakers on each NFL offense and the Bills landed in the top-10 at No. 8 overall.
Here’s the breakdown on Buffalo’s weapons on offense:
The Bills built an entirely new core of weapons for Josh Allen last year, and in many cases, they landed on hits. John Brown played like a legitimate No. 1 wideout, averaging 2.15 yards per route run. Cole Beasley wasn’t far behind. Tyler Kroft didn’t stay healthy, but Dawson Knox emerged as a matchup problem (albeit with drop issues) as a rookie and didn’t give the job back. Devin Singletary helped lead a comeback in the opener, averaged 5.1 yards per carry, finished 13th in DVOA and was versatile enough to take over as an every-down back by Week 16, but he fumbled four times on 180 touches.
Now, of course, the Bills have added a superstar wide receiver to that lineup in Stefon Diggs, who ranked third in yards per route run among wide receivers last season. The only guy who averaged more yards when targeted was A.J. Brown. Diggs adds a dominant weapon to the lineup and pushes everybody else down a spot. The 2019 version of John Brown could be the most overqualified second wideout in football outside of Chris Godwin. If the second-year guys such as Singletary and Knox make strides in holding onto the football, the Bills could be a top-5 unit in 2021.
Overall, the Bills’ weapons actually finished very well in the AFC, third-overall, behind only the Chiefs (1) and Browns (2). However, those two were ranked very well last season, too. The Chiefs landed at second in this same ESPN list in 2019, while the Browns were in third. Over the past two seasons, the Bills were at 29th in 2018 and only 25th last season. Significant improvements.
Still, those improvements don’t come without a bit of a worry: Allen is now on the hot seat, sort of. There’s no reason to look at anyone but the QB himself if he doesn’t improve in 2020. Not only are his weapons some of the best in the NFL, his complete offensive line from last year returns, too.
The Bills’ playmakers very much out-rank the rest of the AFC East as well in little surprise. The Pats slot in second in the division at No. 21 overall, while the Jets and Dolphins are at 29 and 30, respectively.
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