Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is facing a tough challenge ahead of the 2024 NFL season: Find a way to keep up the elite production of the offense without All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the lineup.
The answer, in the eyes of many lies in rookie Keon Coleman, who is already expected by many to have the most important job among the receivers. However, chances are the recreation of Diggs within the Bills offense will have to happen, as Brad Pitt tells his staff in the movie Money Ball, "in the aggregate."
That includes everyone, from Coleman to the rising Khalil Shakir, and even 30-year-old Mack Hollins, who isn't projected to start in the first place.
Allen mentioned Hollins specifically after the Bills' first practice after the unit focused on getting everyone the ball in the end zone in day one of training camp.
"If you saw me throwing after with Mack Hollins, I can't throw the ball high enough," Allen told reporters on Wednesday when asked about having taller options at wide receiver. "Even if I get them jumping, it's still not where they want it."
Height will be huge for the Bills offense (no pun intended)
Hollins isn't the only one who will raise the bar for Bills wide receivers in terms of height. For contrast, consider the measurables of the top four receivers in spans from the 2023 season:
- Stefon Diggs, 6-0
- Gabe Davis, 6-2
- Khalil Shakir, 6-0
- Trent Sherfield, 6-1
And compare them with the projected Top 5 from 2024, excluding Curtis Samuel, who is expected to be used as a WR/RB hybrid:
- Keon Coleman, 6-4
- Khalil Shakir, 6-0
- Chase Claypool, 6-4
- Marques Valdes-Scantling, 6-4
- Mack Hollins, 6-4
The overwhelming injection of height into the Bills WR room should prove to be a cheat code for Allen's offense, something that should scare the rest of the NFL with how dangerous the quarterback has proven to be. Now, 50-50 balls in the red zone are a much more viable possibility.
"I got to keep getting it as high as possible and creating as much separation as I can against those DBs and utilize their height and their tools to go up and catch a ball," Allen added. "So it's something we're going to keep working on, I'm excited, obviously really haven't had guys of that stature in the past, so it's it's going to take some adjusting to get used to, don't get me wrong, but excited nonetheless."
In each of the last three years, the Bills offense has ranked Top 10 in red zone scoring percentage. The rise of James Cook combined with taller wide receivers should only give this unit a boost and you can tell Allen is ready to leverage it.
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