The Buffalo Bills tended mostly to their defense in this year’s NFL draft, adding support in the trenches and depth in the secondary.
The approach allowed the Bills to address their biggest area of weakness, the defense that fell flat again to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, but also left their offense without any meaningful new additions. The Bills did use their final pick in the draft in adding a wide receiver, but an inside predicts he will now face a challenge in making the final roster at the end of the summer.
Bills Expected to Cut Rookie Receiver
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia offered a pre-training camp prediction of Buffalo’s final roster, suggesting that the team will keep six wide receivers and part ways with seventh-round rookie Kaden Prather.
Prather is coming off a college career where he made 162 catches for 1,966 yards with 12 touchdowns across two seasons at West Virginia and two at Maryland. He finished strong, racking up 1,290 yards and nine touchdowns in his final two seasons with Maryland. Prather was also used a bit in the rushing game, putting his career yards total over 2,000 yards.
Buscaglia predicted that special teams would be an important differentiator, leading the Bills to keep one more wide receiver than they have in recent years.
“The Bills have generally kept five receivers on their 53-man roster, but in this version, I’ve got them keeping six — one of which for a clear special teams reason,” Buscaglia wrote. “[Khalil] Shakir, [Keon] Coleman, [Joshua] Palmer and [Curtis] Samuel are all locks, Elijah Moore seems like he’s close to a lock, but [Lavishka] Shenault is a clear bubble player.”
Buscaglia wrote that Shenault’s proficiency as a kick returner will give him a roster edge, giving the Bills a boost at a time when the NFL has implemented new rules encouraging more kickoff returns. Shenault’s inclusion would push Prather off the roster bubble, along with some other talented players like K.J. Hamler, Jalen Virgil, and Tyrell Shavers.
The Bills would likely look to bring Prather back on the practice squad with the hope he can continue to develop and make the roster next season, while also providing some depth in case the wide receiver room is hit with injuries during the season.
Bills Face Early Roster Decision
Buscaglia noted that the Bills could face a new round of roster cuts in the early part of the season. Two of their biggest free agency additions to the defensive line, Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi, were hit with six-game suspensions for violating the league’s rules against performance-enhancing drugs.
When they are set to return, the Bills could look to the crowded wide receiving corps to find room on the roster, and Buscaglia suggested that Shenault could on the chopping block depending on how much he is able to contribute on special teams.
There is still plenty of time before that comes, and the Bills could end up clearing roster spots if any players are injured and need to be placed on injured reserve.
Bills Predicted to Cut Ties With Rookie WR After 2,000-Yard Career