Buffalo Bills Trade Stefon Diggs; Is Curtis Samuel Ready to Be Josh Allen's WR1?

The Buffalo Bills have traded away Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans. Is receiver Curtis Samuel the new WR1 in Western New York?

Nov 12, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Curtis Samuel (4). / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Stefon Diggs spent four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, establishing himself as one of the league’s most dominant targets and helping to precipitate quarterback Josh Allen’s ascension to the pantheon of the NFL’s elite.

On Wednesday, his time in Western New York came to an end. The Bills traded him, along with a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round selection to the Houston Texans for a 2025 second-rounder. 

With his departure comes several questions about Buffalo, its competitive window, and how it intends to fill 160 vacant targets. Who will be the Bills leading receiver next season?

That question may not be answered until Buffalo makes its first-round pick (28th overall) in April’s NFL Draft. Now, more than ever, a receiver looks to be atop the Bills’ board, and in a class as deep as this one, there won’t be a shortage of talent.

Among veterans on the current roster, several names emerge as potential top options. None provide the kind of ceilings Diggs did with his four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, but nonetheless project to make an impact in 2024.

Sep 24, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White (27) intercepts a / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Khalil Shakir outproduced Diggs down the stretch and tight end Dalton Kincaid was everything Buffalo could have asked of its 2023 first-rounder. Chief among them, though, may be Curtis Samuel.

If Samuel is truly going to be the team’s leading option in 2024, it probably won’t be on a fully-aerial basis. He’s at his best when he’s contributing all across the formation as both a running back and receiver à la San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel (minus 20 pounds). 

He won’t be taking very many between-the-tackles carries away from running back James Cook, but getting him the ball in space will be a priority. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady – who held the same role with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 – has seen Samuel’s impact firsthand.

In that season, Samuel saw 77 catches on 97 targets for 851 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, he found an additional 41 carries for 200 yards and two scores.

The path to Samuel finding success likely lies in a similar manner as 2020. Get the ball in his hands, whether it be via screen, toss, jet-sweep, or anything else, and let his athleticism create chunk plays.

Where this strategy runs into trouble is when the going gets tough. On key passing downs, especially late in games, Diggs could be trusted to simply line up against his man and win. No one on this roster can offer that same brand of confidence, and without additional moves, looks to be a point of contention for the Bills in 2024.

As such, Samuel should project to see a litany of touches – perhaps approaching the 118 he saw in 2020 – but produce disproportionately worse than his team-leading counterparts on late passing downs.

Combatting this problem may render Buffalo additionally reliant on the ground game and the force that is Allen’s physicality.