Bills QB Josh Allen, WR Khalil Shakir top the NFL in this encouraging stat

PFF recently published a metric that effectively illustrates how dynamic the connection between Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen and WR Khalil Shakir is.

Kyle Silagyi | Aug 15, 2024

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“GOCTB.”

This acronym, which stands for “get open, catch the ball,” is one that Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen oft-uses with his receiving corps, and it’s one that Khalil Shakir has seemingly taken to heart. The former fifth-round draft pick emerged down the stretch of his sophomore campaign, demonstrating an excellent understanding of defensive coverages and a seemingly innate ability to get open and make himself available for his quarterback. He caught 39 passes for 611 yards throughout the 2023 campaign, catching another 10 balls for 75 yards and two scores in the postseason.

The most impressive part of his stat line? Shakir received only 45 targets in the regular season and 12 targets in the playoffs; when a ball was thrown at the wideout, he was coming down with it more often than not.

This can be attributed to a bevy of factors, among them Shakir’s own ability. One of the league’s best quarterbacks in Josh Allen throwing him the ball doesn’t hurt, either. Pro Football Focus recently put out a statistic that effectively illustrates just how dynamic the connection was last season; the outlet published an article ranking 2023’s top quarterback/wide receiver duos by “catchable target rate,” with Allen and Shakir sitting atop the league in the metric.

Allen, per PFF, targeted Shakir 56 times last season, with 51 of these throws being considered “catchable.” That’s good for a catchable target rate of 91.1%; they’re the only duo in the NFL with a catchable target rate of over 90%, with the next closest being Geno Smith and Jaxon Smith-Njigba at 85.1%.

“From Week 7 onward, Shakir had 10 games with multiple receptions, forming a reliable connection with Allen, and earned a 76.6 PFF grade,” PFF’s Thomas Valentine wrote. “Despite a smaller sample size, the Allen-to-Shakir connection was the most accurate in the NFL, as 91.1% of his targets were deemed catchable (49) with an average depth of target of just 7.4 yards. Shakir’s production mostly came from the slot, too, and his 7.5 yards after the catch per reception ranked top five among all slot receivers.”

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Though it’s encouraging to see the two sit atop the league in a favorable metric, their placement isn’t necessarily surprising to those who watch the Bills. Shakir’s a smooth route runner who simply knows how to get open; he doesn’t play like someone who has only been in the league for two seasons. Allen is among the league’s best signal-callers in several physical and statistical categories, and thus, it’s not shocking that a metric would suggest that he puts his receivers in positions to succeed; the quarterback sitting atop the league in an accuracy-centric statistic should go a long way in silencing some unfounded social media critics, however.

As Valentine notes, Shakir’s sample size wasn’t too substantial in the 2023 campaign, and this figures to change this season. Buffalo parted ways with perennial Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs and key complementary option Gabriel Davis in the offseason, with Shakir expected to ascend into a more prominent role in the receiving corps in their absences. He’s looked promising throughout training camp, and given his demonstrated rapport with Allen, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the 24-year-old set career highs in several statistics this fall.

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