Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel made his team debut in Saturday afternoon's preseason loss to the visiting Chicago Bears in Orchard Park, grabbing both of his two passes for 23 yards in the defeat. To jump-start Buffalo's 18-play scoring drive in the first half, quarterback Josh Allen connected with Samuel for 15 yards on a screen pass to the right. Although Samuel registered a measly 9.9 yards per reception over 62 catches with the Washington Commanders a year ago, he's set to operate as one of the Bills' regulars in three-receiver sets along with rookie second-rounder Keon Coleman and Khalil Shakir in 2024. The 28-year-old veteran wideout is going to need an uptick in volume if he wants to work his way onto the weekly WR4/flex radar this fall, considering it's rather unlikely he'll make a significant number of splashy plays, but Samuel should also get some work on the ground to furnish a high floor in fantasy.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir led the way with a team-high 28 receiving yards in Saturday afternoon's preseason loss to the visiting Chicago Bears at Highmark Stadium, bringing in each of his three passes in the defeat. On a fourth down early in the second quarter, he had a 19-yard gain to keep an eventual scoring drive alive. Shakir is staring a massive opportunity approaching his third year with the Bills, with top targets Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis now being off the roster. The 24-year-old slot receiver fell almost entirely under the radar throughout most of 2023, but he quietly led the entire NFL with 13.6 yards per target among qualifying wideouts over his 45 regular-season targets. He'll be working alongside newcomer Curtis Samuel, who spent the majority of his time in the slot last season, but Shakir has demonstrated a clear rapport with quarterback Josh Allen. Treat him as a WR4 with WR3 upside in 12-team fantasy drafts.

Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore Jr. showed some juice in Saturday afternoon's preseason loss to the visiting Chicago Bears in Orchard Park, carrying the ball a team-high seven times for 21 yards and catching three of his four targets for 16 yards in the defeat. Gore posted a long run of 12 yards on the day. The 22-year-old Southern Mississippi standout went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft with uninspiring workout metrics, and like his father before him, Gore will likely need to overcome a lack of explosiveness to make an impact at the next level. He's currently the No. 5 back on Buffalo's RB depth chart, but Saturday's performance against the Bears at least prevented Gore's stock from dropping even further. If he has any chance of making the Bills' roster over journeyman Darrynton Evans and veteran Ty Johnson, he'll need to stand out more in next Saturday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Buffalo Bills running back Ray Davis had an uneventful day in Saturday afternoon's preseason loss to the visiting Chicago Bears at Highmark Stadium, rushing five times for a mere two yards in the defeat. However, he did come down with three of his four targets for 19 yards. Davis was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round of this past spring's NFL Draft to provide a change of pace behind starter James Cook in Buffalo's backfield, but he was outproduced on the ground by both the undrafted Frank Gore Jr. as well as journeyman Darrynton Evans on Saturday afternoon against Chicago. Standing at 5-foot-7 with a 218-pound frame, Davis has the ability to catch passes, as evidenced by his 11.0% target share over his four-year college career, and handle goal-line work after finding the end zone 20 times at Kentucky in 2023. He'll look to be more productive in next Saturday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A slight trend that has taken shape for Buffalo Bills starting running back James Cook in training camp this summer has been some ball-security issues near the end of his plays. On a handful of occasions, Cook has allowed the football to hit the ground, and it happened twice at practice on Wednesday. However, The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia wouldn't expect it to impact Cook's time on the field at this point. However, that could change if his ball-security issues carry into the regular season. For now, Cook is still the team's unquestioned RB1 by a good margin, and it will remain that way until further notice. The 24-year-old had four fumbles in 2023. Power running isn't Cook's forte, but he's a strong pass-catcher and should be more valuable as a high-end RB2 in point-per-reception leagues going into his third year in the NFL.