ESPN ranks all 32 NFL rosters (including the Bills) ahead of 2024 season

Posted by Admin July 21, 2024 NFL

ESPN has gone through each position, individually, and ranked the top-10 players at each spot on the field this offseason after polling NFL executives, coaches, and players.

A few of them saw the names of Buffalo Bills players pop up, most notably Josh Allen in the quarterback poll.

Now they’ve throw all 32 teams together, with their entire roster included, and ranked the whole lot of them head-to-head. Following the turnover and changes in Buffalo throughout the offseason, where do the Bills land heading into 2024?

ESPN’s breakdown on the Bills can be found below, along with the full 1-32 list:

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Biggest strength: Quarterback. Josh Allen has finished no lower than sixth in QBR each of the past four seasons (third or better in three of those seasons, including 2023). He also finished top 10 in dropbacks, attempts, completions, passing yards, passing TDs, carries, rushing yards and rushing TDs during all four of those campaigns. The departure of WR Stefon Diggs will place more on Allen’s shoulders, but the 28-year-old has shown he can carry the load. — Mike Clay

Biggest weakness: Wide receiver. I wrote about the Bills’ WR depth concerns in this section last year, and the team has since said goodbye to starters Diggs and Gabe Davis. Buffalo has potential reinforcements in place, but the group has plenty to prove. That list starts with second-round pick Keon Coleman, who may need time to develop considering his age (he turned 21 in May). Veteran Curtis Samuel has settled in as a short-range No. 3 receiver in recent years, whereas third-year Khalil Shakir is an interesting wild card/breakout candidate after a strong finish to 2023. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mack Hollins and Chase Claypool are among those also battling for work. — Clay

X factor for 2024: Receiver Keon Coleman. He is so specifically important because of all the reasons that Mike listed in the previous section. It would be incredibly hard for the Bills to find offensive success without one of these receivers — most likely Coleman or Shakir — breaking out. If not, Buffalo will have a hard ceiling. — Seth Walder

Nonstarter to know: Cornerback Kaiir Elam. The Bills played base defense 3% of the time last season, so cornerback depth is very important to them. Former first-rounder Elam is the first man up if one of the starters gets hurt, but he had a 21% success rate in pass coverage last season and a 31% success rate the year before. He will have to do better if forced into the lineup this season. — Aaron Schatz