Former Bills WR says Stefon Diggs’ departure will allow Josh Allen to be ‘loose’

Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson feels as though the team's offense will remain productive after the departure of Stefon Diggs.

Kyle Silagyi | Aug 14, 2024

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Buffalo Bills | News, Scores, Schedules & Standings

Reality and logic seem to have triumphed as the commencement of the 2024 NFL season nears, but there are still a few national football pundits who have concerns about the Buffalo Bills offense ahead of the new campaign.

The team revamped its receiving corps this past spring; gone are perennial Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs and key complementary option Gabriel Davis, replaced with a mishmash of overlooked veterans and promising rookies like Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, and Keon Coleman. Buffalo hopes that its new hodgepodge group will combine with returning offensive contributors Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, and Dawson Knox to balance the team’s offense; the new weapons corps should, in theory, allow quarterback Josh Allen to take an egalitarian approach to aerial production, spreading the ball relatively evenly amongst his targets as opposed to funneling the offense through one or two players.

Allen has demonstrated strong connections with the majority of his weapons both new and returning at training camp, providing at least initial credence to the team’s new offensive philosophy. Beloved former Buffalo wideout Stevie Johnson has fully subscribed to the Bills’ new theory, recently telling Kyle Odegard of SportsCasting.com that he does not expect a drop in production from the team’s offense this fall.

“It’s perfect for Josh,” Johnson said. “There is nobody you need to force it to. I don’t think there will be a fall-off at all. The only fall-off will be by the eye, when there’s no guy with 1,200 yards. They may not have that, but what you’re going to see is a more loose quarterback, because instead of thinking about two options and then needing to scramble, there’s so many options.

“It’s good for a quarterback to have a balanced, clear head, knowing that I can use any piece – not forced to look this way for a certain amount of time.”

Johnson, who played for the Bills from 2008–2013, is one of the more beloved Buffalo wideouts in recent memory, sticking out as a bright spot in what was an admittedly dark era. He caught 301 passes for 3,832 yards in a Bills uniform—he knows a thing or do about producing in Orchard Park.

And Johnson feels as though the team’s reworked receiving corps will be immensely productive this fall. He mentioned the fact that Diggs wasn’t necessarily a superstar when Buffalo acquired him in the 2020 NFL offseason; he feels as though the team could potentially have a sleeping star on the roster—they just need the opportunity to catch passes from Allen in order to ascend to national prominence.

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

“But that’s why I said there’s no fall-off with [Davis and Diggs] leaving,” Johnson said. “Because management has brought in guys that aren’t necessarily stars, but they’re veterans and hungry to be in that position Diggs was in when he came over from Minnesota—that opportunity for an elite quarterback to throw to them.”

Several of Buffalo’s premier wideouts could potentially establish themselves as stars this season; Shakir showed a burgeoning rapport with Allen down the stretch of the 2023 campaign, finishing the year with 39 receptions for 611 yards and two scores. Samuel—on top of being an immensely talented former second-round pick who has never played with a quarterback of Allen’s caliber—is re-uniting with the offensive coordinator who led him to the best production of his professional career in Joe Brady. Coleman has the physical makeup of a bonafide alpha wideout—it’s simply up to him to put it all together.

The Bills’ receiving corps, while lacking the marquee names it’s had in recent years, is not bereft of talent. Buffalo will attempt to prove this throughout the 2024 campaign.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI —