Khalil Shakir

Shakir looked like a steal in Round 5 of the 2022 Draft, coming out of Boise State after averaging more than 62 yards per game in three straight seasons. He's neither physically dominant nor lacking, having run a 4.43 40 at 6-0, 196, with mediocre marks for jumps and agility drills at the 2022 Combine. Shakir was the Bills' fourth or fifth WR as a rookie and into his second season, finally getting a bigger opportunity in the second half of 2023 after the Bills got next to nothing from Deonte Harty/Trent Sherfield and had TE Dawson Knox miss a month due to a wrist injury. While he never drew more than six targets in a single game, Shakir hauled in 39 of his 45 chances during the regular season, finishing with 611 yards (13.6 YPT) and two TDs. He then got more snaps in the playoffs with Gabe Davis absent, capitalizing to the tune of 10-75-2 on 12 targets across two games. Now Davis is gone, as is Stefon Diggs, though the Bills brought in Curtis Samuel and second-round pick Keon Coleman to make sure the burden doesn't totally fall on Shakir. That's probably smart, considering enthusiasm over Shakir's massive per-target production in 2023 is largely tempered by his extremely low rate of targets per route run (13.3 percent). The rate figures to rise with Diggs out of the picture, but Samuel, Coleman and (especially) TE Dalton Kincaid also have arguments to be the team target leader. Shakir is much more likely to settle in as a solid second/third WR than he is to truly break out. Read Past Outlooks