1. What have we learned from Buffalo's moves this offseason?
With free agency winding down and the NFL draft less than two weeks away, The Athletic wrote an article about what they have learned about all 32 teams. For the Bills, it has to do with the weapons around Josh Allen and how they can help him succeed.
Last year, the Bills signed wide receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley, and they drafted running back Devin Singletary. This offseason, they traded for Stefon Diggs. One reason why that deal was attractive — even given the compensation — was because Diggs is on a team-friendly deal compared to other No. 1 wide receivers.
Buffalo has a new receiver, but much of their team remains the same. In a year where offseason camps are in question, this could be a huge advantage for the Bills come their first game.
Buffalo returns all five starters on the offensive line. Allen improved from year one to year two, but the offense finished 21st in efficiency. The expectation should be for the Bills to make a leap into the top 10 or 12.
2. Charles Davis on why he thinks Stefon Diggs is a difference maker
NFL Network's Charles Davis joined the Howard and Jeremy show on WGR 550 this week to share his take on why Stefon Diggs and the Bills will be a great pair. Davis thinks the receiver is just what a third-year quarterback in Josh Allen needs.
"What do you do with a big, strong-armed quarterback who might not be as accurate as you want at times," Davis asked. "You want a big receiver who can help mitigate some of that. That's why they were looking for that type of a guy who can go up and get the football, go make plays downfield, short and intermediate. Diggs can do all those things for him. Plus the type of confidence that Diggs plays with, I think it's the type of confidence that rubs off on the rest of your team and the quarterback, where you say I can take a chance with him downfield and he'll make it right for me."
With the first-ever virtual draft set to take place, Davis thinks teams who rely heavily on their general manager, player personnel and scouting departments will be better off than teams who rely on their head coach. Davis explained head coaches aren't able to really help scout until the season is over, which could be as late as February.
"This is not normal," Davis said. "They have a way of doing things, a way of getting information, a timeline in doing it. That has been interrupted. To me the teams that have done the best pre-work without knowing that they needed to do that are probably going to be better situated."
3. Here's what Brandon Beane thinks of the running back room
General manager Brandon Beane spoke to PFT’s Mike Florio this week to discuss the virtual draft, the potential of no offseason and his current roster. Beane was asked about what type of workload Devin Singletary would have in year two, as well as the state of the running back room.
"I think Devin can do either, he's an unselfish player," Beane explained. "I think if we want him to be the workload guy, he can definitely do it. I think year two is going to be better for him. He had the hamstring injury earlier in the year, which cost him. I think if he didn't miss those three or four games he really could have pushed closer to 1,000 yards. Again, I think he can do it. We are always looking for competition too, so if the right guy was there we wouldn't hesitate to add him. We feel good about T.J. Yeldon behind him. T.J. has started some in this league, he's a versatile three-down back as well. We feel comfortable with those two as we head in."
Singletary finished the season playing in 12 games rushing for 775 yards on 151 carries and added four total touchdowns.
