The Buffalo Bills are headed into the 2025 season with sky-high expectations. In January, they lost in the AFC Championship Game, falling to the Chiefs in the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. The Bills entered the NFL Draft with a glaring need at cornerback and filled it in the first round. However, ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper says they failed to address another need.
“Not taking a receiver until No. 240 (Kaden Prather) was curious. The Bills’ first five picks went to defense, only the second time in the common draft era they’ve done that (2006). Chase Lundt is a depth right tackle. Jackson Hawes is a blocking tight end. While Buffalo walked away from the draft with some defensive upgrades, quarterback Josh Allen’s unit didn’t improve this month. Buffalo could regret not doing more there.”
The lack of weapons for Allen was the Bills’ biggest question coming into last season. They traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans, and Gabe Davis left for the Jacksonville Jaguars. But Allen won MVP with Khalil Shakir as his leading receiver with just 821 yards.
The Bills answered the questions last year with a lack of elite talent on the outside. But do Allen and the running game have enough juice to make it work again?
The Bills are pushing all of their chips in on Josh Allen
There is no reason not to go all-in on Josh Allen. He is an MVP, has been one of the four best quarterbacks for the last half-decade, and has had playoff success. The Bills were a lost franchise before bringing in Sean McDermott and Allen, and now they are perennial contenders.
It will be hard for any quarterback to succeed without elite talent catching the passes. Allen had that with Stefon Diggs early in his career, but he did not have that for his best year yet. As Shakir and Coleman develop, they may become good enough to suppress that need for the Bills.
That is the strategy the Chiefs have deployed since trading Tyreek Hill. They still had Travis Kelce, and the Bills have two solid tight ends of their own, but not any top-end wide receivers. Young products Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy have both proven their worth so far, but aren’t competing for Offensive Player of the Year like Hill was.
The Bills did get some great talent in the NFL Draft. Will it be enough to beat the Chiefs?
