Bills NFL Draft: Do Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis Need Rookie WR - Or DeAndre Hopkins Trade?
We don't think it's a raging debate inside of Buffalo Bills HQ. Stefon Diggs is of course seen as a premium receiver, maybe the game's best. And Gabe Davis as a No. 2? There are certainly teammates who think he's among the best in the business in that role.
And yet ... there is a sentiment among Bills observers that more help is needed there. That view certainly fuels some of the lingering rumors about a DeAndre Hopkins trade to Buffalo. And it seems to be some of the reasoning for NFL insider Peter King pushing Josh Downs, the wide receiver from North Carolina, to Buffalo with pick No. 27 in this NFL Draft.
King notes, specifically to the draft process, that Downs "getting picked ahead of Quentin Johnston of TCU and Jalin Hyatt of Tennessee would be an upset, and I can’t predict with certainty this happens.'' But he adds that "the Bills like him, and scouts think he can be a day-one starter in the slot.''
A Day-1 starter? In a Josh Allen-led offense that already features Diggs and Davis?
King suggests the trio would combine as first-teamers, and works to project Downs' college numbers to Buffalo, writing, "Imagine this production over the last two seasons in a per-game average: 8.1 receptions, 98.5 yards, 0.7 TDs. That’ll play in a Buffalo offense that fizzled toward the end of the 2022 season.''
In the latest mock draft from King of NBC Sports, Downs ranks as the fourth-best receiver in this class; that may be so. But his strongest point is about that aforementioned "fizzle.''
The Bills of course struggled in their final outing of the 2022-23 season, scoring only 10 points in the AFC Divisional playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. That happened despite Buffalo ranking second in total offense last year.
Is Josh Downs a magical solution to what ailed the Buffalo offense late? Is pick No. 27 better utilized as a lure to Arizona to consider a Hopkins trade? How important, really, is a third receiver to the Bills offense? Answers are on the horizon.
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