Who had breakout seasons for the Buffalo Bills this past year?
This past season the Buffalo Bills got great performances from their top stars like Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, and Micah Hyde. However, the Bills wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what they did in 2021 without the help of other players who took that next step in their careers.
These are four players that had breakout seasons in 2021 and look to be key parts of this team moving forward, starting with a player who should be the answer at tight end that Buffalo has desperately been looking for.
Dawson Knox
The tight end position has been a pain point for a number of years for the Buffalo Bills as they have struggled to find a player who could challenge a defense and bring a different dynamic to this offense. The team appears to have finally found that answer in Dawson Knox.
Knox was entering his third year in the NFL after the Bills selected him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. In his first two years, he showed flashes but lacked consistency and dealt with drops and it would have made sense for Buffalo to add to the position in the offseason.
They didn’t do that and it paid dividends as Dawson Knox had a career year with 49 receptions, 587 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns in the regular season to go along with seven receptions, 98 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns in the playoffs.
The nine receiving touchdowns in the regular season would be tied for the NFL lead among tight ends and he would join players like Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Hunter Henry. It was a great season for Dawson Knox and he should be a big part of this offense in 2022.
Devin Singletary
Devin Singletary’s breakout season didn’t come until the second half of the year once the Buffalo Bills made him the featured running back. The coaching staff had been operating a running back by committee for most of the season but wasn’t having much success.
Then in Week 14 against the Tampa Bay Bucs, Singletary would get a majority of the work and from that point forward would stay in that role.
He would be on the field for 68% or more of the offensive snaps every game, including 100% of the offensive snaps against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round. In six of the final seven games of the season, Singletary would have 75 or more yards from scrimmage and would finish the year with nine total touchdowns.
The Buffalo Bills will likely add to the running back position this offseason but the focus may have shifted from finding a featured running back to one that can complement Devin Singletary, who should enter 2022 in the same role he finished this past season.
Gabriel Davis
Another player on the offensive side of the ball who likely earned a starting job in 2022 based on the way he finished this year is wide receiver Gabriel Davis. While most will remember the record-setting performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round with 201 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns, the second-year wide receiver was playing great football before that.
Davis started the year struggling to find playing time as veteran Emmanuel Sanders was ahead of him on the depth chart. However, Sanders suffered a knee injury against the Bucs that seemed to bother him down the stretch and Davis got his chance to be a bigger part of this offense.
In his final six games of the season, Davis had 449 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. The front office is going to have some decisions at this position this offseason with Emmanuel Sanders and Isaiah McKenzie both set to be free agents. However, they should be confident in the fact that they have their number two wide receiver to play alongside Stefon Diggs already under contract in Davis.
Harrison Phillips
One player who broke out, but isn’t under contract next year with the Buffalo Bills, is defensive tackle Harrison Phillips. The former third-round pick had an excellent finish to the 2021 season and is now set to be a free agent this offseason.
However, he will likely be a top priority for Buffalo to bring back because in the second half of the year he, alongside Ed Oliver, was a dominant force on the interior of this defensive line.
The point the season seemed to turn around for Phillips came in Week 13 against the New England Patriots. While the Bills defense struggled against the run, it wasn’t at the fault of Phillips who had eight tackles, and one tackle for a loss.
From that game on, he would be the starter at defensive tackle and had 28 total tackles, three tackles for a loss, one sack, and four QB hits. It will be interesting to see if Harrison Phillips and the Buffalo Bills can agree to a new contract because he was a big contributor on this defense down the stretch.