Bills Roster Rankings; Buffalo in Top 5?
Did the Buffalo Bills close the gap on the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason?
According to Pro Football Focus, not quite. In the site's "early NFL roster rankings," the Bills have the No. 5 overall roster in the league. As to which teams they were trailing, it was the usual cast of characters. The Chiefs and Bengals ranked just ahead of Buffalo at No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, while the San Francisco 49ers at No. 2 trailed only the Philadelphia Eagles.
Whether or not the Eagles have a hangover following their Super Bowl loss, it is hard to argue that any team has a better roster than they assembled. The Eagles added two more first-round Georgia players to their vaunted defense in defensive tackle Jalen Carter, arguably the most talented player in the class, and edge rusher Nolan Smith.
But what did the Bills do? In the draft, they added a weapon offensively in Utah's Dalton Kincaid at tight end. While tight end wasn't a need for the Bills due to already having Dawson Knox and Buffalo ranked last in the league for using two tight end sets last season, the selection does check a box.
PFF named Kincaid as the "rookie to watch," while quarterback Josh Allen was the Bills' "biggest strength" and "X-factor," which is also no surprise.
But what does the advanced analytics site see as the Bills' biggest weakness? "Receiver depth."
"Outside of Stefon Diggs, there aren’t too many pass catchers on the roster that strike fear into the hearts of defensive coordinators," PFF writes. "Gabriel Davis will have the occasional big game, but he isn’t much of a volume guy, as his single-game high for receptions in 2022 was six, which he accomplished twice."
The Bills know what they will get out of Diggs weekly but are hopeful that Davis - heading into the final year of his contract - will develop into a consistent second option. The Bills' depth at receiver was not aided by the releasing of slot receiver Isaiah McKenzie, who, despite being productive, turned into a cap casualty.
Yet, with the selection of Kincaid, McKenzie could've been rendered surplus to requirements anyways if the Bills plan to run a lot of two tight end sets, which could have Kincaid play out of the slot.
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