When Brandon Beane arrived to the Buffalo Bills as the next general manager, it was after the 2017 draft that featured the Bills drafting franchise players like Tre’Davious White, Dion Dawkins, and Matt Milano, all who have been franchise players for the Bills. So while Beane had a strong rookie class, he wasn’t in the draft room for the Bills.
His first year making the draft picks for the Bills was in 2018 that of course landed the Bills their franchise quarterback in Josh Allen. It has been Beane’s best high draft pick by over a mile, but it’s the only true star that he has drafted in the first two rounds since becoming the general manager.
He has drafted solid players in Rounds 1 & 2 but he has also had some misses. If there is one thing about Beane that fans know, it’s that he can draft some later round gems to fill out the roster and one of those players he has drafted is wide receiver Khalil Shakir.
As a 5th-round pick back in 2022, Shakir has exceeded expectations in Buffalo to the point where he has become a go-to guy for Josh Allen both when the Bills had a true No. 1 receiver and lacked one.
Khalil Shakir is one of many later round draft gems for Bills in recent history
Lauren Gray from Pro Football Focus (PFF) listed some of the best “mid-to-late WR gems” that have been drafted in recent history and Bills fans get the pleasure of being reminded that even though Beane has had a questionable drafting history, he has drafted some later round gems like Shakir. Gray also listed those wideout gems' counterparts for the 2026 season.
"Boise State used Shakir in the slot (1,004 career snaps), often as a screen threat. He recorded 324 yards, three touchdowns and 18 first downs off 43 screen passes in his final three seasons. He has thrived in a similar role with the Bills, with an overall 82.4 PFF receiving grade since 2023 and a fourth-ranked 85.8 PFF receiving grade on screens. He ranks third in screen targets in that span (72), with 65 catches for 470 yards (second most) and 22 first downs (tied for most)." said Gray.
Even though Shakir has not reached over 4 touchdowns in a season, he does have over 2,300 yards in four seasons off of 260 targets. He’s had one season with 100 targets and his last two years of production have skyrocketed the last two seasons compared to when he first started.
The Bills rewarded Shakir with a four-year, $53 million deal last offseason to keep him as the primary slot receiver for Joe Brady’s offense. While the Bills have had their wide receiver problems the last two seasons, Shakir has been able to step up as best as he can and now that D.J. Moore is part of the offense, Shakir might be able to take another step forward.
As for Shakir’s counterpart per Gray, Zachariah Branch from Georgia was compared to Shakir:
"Branch is a speedster (4.35-second 40-yard time) who knows how to evade and pull away from defenders. After two seasons at USC (2023-2024), he broke out at Georgia with 81 catches for 811 yards. Like Shakir, Branch was a screen weapon, with his 46 such targets ranking first in the class. " said Branch.
It wouldn’t make sense for the Bills to draft someone like Branch in the third round considering that they already have Shakir, but whoever drafts Branch might get a valuable player that no one is talking about.