Buffalo Bills: 5 wide receivers to draft leading to a Gabe Davis trade

Let’s not beat around the bush, here. The Buffalo Bills are maybe one playmaker away from being a real Super Bowl contender, at least offensively speaking.

Josh Allen is a top-5 quarterback in this league. The Bills run the ball plenty, giving them a balanced offense. Stefon Diggs is an elite weapon. Dawson Knox is one of the league’s best, young tight ends. Just one more surefire playmaker could make this offense unstoppable, which is what the Bills will need if they’re going to compete with the likes of Cincinnati and Kansas City.

With that said, the breakout which we expected to see from Gabe Davis last year simply didn’t happen. The Bills have one more year of Davis’ contract, and if they wanted to go all-in on trying to find a dependable playmaker, maybe they could justify trading Davis after the draft.

It should be time for the Bills to find another option which they can have for the next three or four years, and if they drafted one of the following guys, trading Davis would become a real possibility.

Wide receivers the Buffalo Bills can draft, making Gabe Davis expendable: Rashee Rice, SMU

The first receiver prospect which could allow Buffalo to trade Davis is SMU standout Rashee Rice. What’s great about Rice is the fact that the Bills wouldn’t have to spend a high draft pick on him. Drafting him in the third round is absolutely a possibility.

Rice stands 6-foot-1, giving him solid size for an outside wideout. He has good enough speed, but his leaping ability and body control is where he wins. Josh Allen loves to sling it, and Rice is one of those guys who can go up and get it.

One other aspect of Rice’s game which Allen, specifically, will love, is his ability to work with a scrambling quarterback. Allen got hit a lot last year, and he’s a mobile quarterback obviously, so Rice’s knack for allowing a quarterback to find him in those situations is going to come in handy.

Last year, Rice caught 96 passes for 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Wide receivers the Buffalo Bills can draft, making Gabe Davis expendable: Zay Flowers, Boston College

Real quickly, before we get into the details on Zay Flowers and his physical ability, this might be the only guy on the list who doesn’t necessarily make Davis completely expendable. That’s due to the fact that Flowers is more of a slot receiver than anything, standing 5-foot-9.

But, drafting Flowers, trading Davis and potentially signing another outside receiver still out there in free agency could be an option. Think more along the lines of a Julio Jones or someone like that, looking to win right now at this stage of their career.

Now, Flowers is one of the most electric players in this draft class. He’s a possession guy. With the ball in his hands, and just a little bit of open field, he’s dangerous. He has 4.42 speed which is plenty fast, but he’s more shifty and slippery with the ball than anything else. He’s also got the ability to work past man coverage and beat his man deep.

The Bills offense would improve a whole lot with someone like Flowers on the field with Diggs. Both of them are great with the ball in their hands, but the threat of a home run from Flowers ensures the defense is always on their feet. If the Bills wanted him, they’d have to take him at 27 for sure.

Wide receivers the Buffalo Bills can draft, making Gabe Davis expendable: Jordan Addison, USC

Like Flowers, another first-round talent the Bills could look at is USC wide receiver Jordan Addison. The one-time Pittsburgh standout turned-Trojan playmaker enters the draft as one of the top three wide receivers in many minds, and he would undoubtedly make Davis expendable.

Addison stands 5-foot-11 and has the ability to play both outside and from the slot. Some of his best attributes include the ability to run crisp, sudden routes as well as slip past defensive backs on the outside, beating them along the sideline.

Draft expert Lance Zierlein compares Addison to Tyler Lockett of the Seattle Seahawks, and if the Bills were to land a talent like that, watch out. Diggs excels in just about every area of the field and is a much more balanced wide receiver. But, if the Bills got someone like Lockett, in Addison, the field would open up a whole lot.

Addison’s ability to run any route in the book takes a lot of pressure off Allen, and that’s something which Davis cannot do, unfortunately. Over the last two seasons, Addison has gone for over 2,400 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns.

Wide receivers the Buffalo Bills can draft, making Gabe Davis expendable: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State

We have now come to the point in the draft where the Bills are going to have to trade up, no matter how you spin it. There is a possibility someone like Addison or Flowers are there around 27, or maybe a couple of picks beforehand. But, if the Bills want to get their hands on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, they’ll have to trade up in a significant manner.

With only six picks this year, a trade up would likely include a pick next year, just to save Brandon Beane from completely wiping out his capital for 2023.

Smith-Njigba is regarded as maybe the top receiver in the draft, and if you thought Addison was a strong route runner, you’re now looking at the best and most polished route runner in the class in Smith-Njigba.

Although many think he’s solely a slot receiver, Smith-Njigba’s size and well-rounded ability allows him to line up anywhere. At 6-foot-1 and nearly 200 pounds, he has ideal size for the next level. He’s fantastic at catching the ball in traffic, and also knows how to get himself away from opposing defenders.

To put it in perspective, his last full season was 2021 before suffering an injury last year. In that season, he also played alongside first-round receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson at Ohio State. Smith-Njigba led the team that year, hauling in 95 passes for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns.

Wide receivers the Buffalo Bills can draft, making Gabe Davis expendable: Quentin Johnston, TCU

Lastly, the Bills could look at another one of the guys fighting for the title of “top receiver in the draft,” moving up to select TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston.

Out of all the receivers on this list, Johnston has the most size to offer. Standing 6-foot-3, weighing 208 pounds, this is a man’s man out there on the field. He has the size and strength to overpower opposing defensive backs and win downfield.

Johnston is a wideout who will win on the outside because of his size and catch radius. The only real concerns with him are some inconsistencies when it comes to making contested catches that he should come down with.

Being able to separate due to his long striding speed, Johnston is a big play waiting to happen on every play. He’d be someone Allen could look for on those deep shots, a lot like we’ve seen him do with Davis over the past couple of seasons. Over his career at TCU, Johnston averaged 19.0 yards per reception, proving he’s able to take it the distance at anytime.