When the Buffalo Bills finalized their 53-man roster for the 2024 regular season, the wide receiver group naturally drew a large part of the attention. Gone was top target Stefon Diggs, who had been traded to the Houston Texans to link up with quarterback C.J. Stroud and fellow pass catchers Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and Dalton Schultz. Gone was secondary target Gabe Davis, who had signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars to help former top overall pick Trevor Lawrence realize his potential. In their place were holdovers Khalil Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid paired with newcomers Curtis Samuel and top draft pick Keon Coleman to round out the top four.
Many at that point discussed whether the pass catchers as a whole were better on September 1 than they were back on January 1. The talk primarily revolved around talent. The phrase “everybody eats” was used to describe the new approach, one which would be matchup based and not focused on a single receiver getting 150 targets.
But there were two aspects of the Bills’ group that some observers, myself among them, had notable concern: verticality and the ability to separate against man coverage. This was a large part of the pre- and post-draft narrative surrounding Coleman when the Bills selected him 33rd overall out of Florida State. He had ball skills and the ability to create after the catch, but his ability to separate from man coverage was a question mark in his profile. He also didn’t profile as being a consistent vertical threat. In short, Coleman didn’t check any of the boxes that gave a portion of Bills Mafia heartburn.
Immediately after the draft, Buffalo signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the speedy former Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers wide receiver. This addition may have alleviated part of that concern, but MVS’ work as a very small role player doesn’t grant an offense the vertical threat it consistently needs if he’s not consistently on the field. In addition, Valdes-Scantling didn’t address the Bills’ need to be able to get wins inside structure against man coverage without Josh Allen needing to jump-start the scramble drill.
Unless Allen or Joe Brady (through the magic of pick plays and backfield/bunch geometry) manufactured separation from the wide receivers, would the Bills be able to have a receiver just go “get a bucket” when the defense played man and simply bet their people could beat yours? In addition, the Bills had a few pass catchers many projected to be at their best from the slot: Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, and even Keon Coleman were thought by some to be ideally inside players. Where was the true X receiver you could count on in isolation to win a backside dig route or a 15-yard hook against a number one corner? Would that come back to bite Buffalo?
Those fears, for those who had them, manifested for Buffalo in the last few weeks. The Bills continue to see man coverage at a markedly above-average rate, and Allen looked increasing uncomfortable inside structure against man coverage. Over 40% of his pass attempts this season have been into man coverage where the defender has help, per FTN data. Only two teams (the Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys) have more. Back shoulder throws to Coleman have been a welcome addition, but defenses are willing to live with that low-percentage chance of conversion because they understand the numbers will benefit them over a large-enough sample size.
Enter Amari Cooper.
Coming off the most statistically productive season of his career, Cooper is the tetromino the Buffalo Bills desperately needed to complete their Tetris. Known throughout his career as a refined route runner who’s also coming off a stellar 17.2 yards per reception mark in 2023, Cooper was incredibly productive down the stretch for the Cleveland Browns last year when Joe Flacco guided the franchise to a playoff berth.
Matt Harmon of Yahoo Sports charted Cooper as having a 83.3% success rate on post routes, a 87.1% success rate on dig routes, and a 91.3% success rate on out routes during the sampled games of the 2023 season in a Browns uniform. For a team that watched their receivers get locked-up down the field in the last few games, those must be the most beautiful percentages since you found out you passed your last college final.
In addition, Cooper has played over 78% of his snaps as an outside receiver over the course of his career. Offensive scheming is a beautiful and wonderful thing. It’s also beautiful and wonderful when it’s not as necessary and you can have a player just win a route against another player. The Bills got used to that during their time with Stefon Diggs as the WR1 in Buffalo, and they have an opportunity to have a player who can bring that ability to Orchard Park, NY yet again.
Verticality: check.
Ability to win versus man coverage: check.
Pure outside receiver: check.
Sounds like the prescription for what ails the 2024 Buffalo Bills. Predictably so? Perhaps. But a remedy late is better than a remedy never.
It’s likely we’ll be back having a similar conversation in a few months. Cooper is a free agent after this year. Do the Bills pay up for a receiver who will be 31 years old after spending this offseason trying to get younger and cheaper at key positions? If not, who will do the types of things I spent the majority of this article outlining?
But those are problems for Future Brandon Beane. For now, Present Brandon Beane got the right medicine for the right problem for the Buffalo Bills. So I’ll take one of these and I’ll call you in the morning.