Analyst makes bold statement about Bills offense without Stefon Diggs

No one knows if the Buffalo Bills' offense will be better or worse this year, having traded receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans.

While the Bills don’t have one singular weapon as dynamic as Diggs, they do have a solid stable of receivers, led by first-round rookie Keon Coleman, and two capable tight ends to complement one of the top run games in the NFL.

For that reason, ESPN’s Mina Kimes believes Buffalo could be a top-five offense again this season, and she said as much during Thursday’s episode of “First Take.”

“We saw in the second half of the season last year when [Diggs] role was diminished after Joe Brady took over as the offensive coordinator, the offense didn’t really lose a beat,” Kimes said . “…I think that this offense might have some ups and downs in the first part of the season as everybody kind of feels each other out and you’ve got that rookie receiver, but by the second half of the season, I think they’ll be as good as any offense in the NFL, which is what they’ve been the last three years — a top-three offense by any metric.”

Despite firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey midseason and replacing him with Brady, the Bills still finished with the No. 4-ranked offense and the eighth-best passing offense — and that was with Diggs being a non-factor, having not one 100-yard game in any of his final 13 contests, including the playoffs.

Adding Coleman to a WR corps includes Curtis Samuel, who’s logged 60 or more receptions three times and 600 or more yards four times in his career, and Khalil Shakir gives quarterback Josh Allen three solid options to target.

Coleman was one of the top playmaking wideouts in college football the last two seasons. He averaged 13.5 yards per reception with 18 combined touchdowns and won nearly 45% of his contested catches.

Allen also has two tight ends to help make life easier: Dalton Kincaid, who had 91 targets and 673 yards as a rookie, and Dawson Knox, who caught 14 combined touchdowns in 2021 and 2022.

“You saw them lean more on Dalton Kincaid, who was their [top] tight end,” Kimes added. “Young tight ends tend to be better Years 2 or 3, so I only expect him to develop further. You really saw Josh Allen lean more on him as an intermediate target, a man-coverage beater — both things they would look to Stefon Diggs [to do], and that’s without even getting to their addition in the first round this year, Keon Coleman.”